Locals compete in Andorra Randonnee race

Local ski-mountaineering racers Brandon French and Ben Parsons competed recently at the Ski Mountaineering World Championship in the Pyrenees mountains of Andorra and finished with good results among a stacked field of elite European racers.

French placed 46th out of 82 senior racers on the individual course, which took competitors up and down nearly 6,000 vertical feet. He crossed the finish line in 1:51:08.4, about 20 minutes back of the overall winner Didier Blanc, of France.

Parsons placed 64th among 84 in the vertical event, which challenged racers in a sprint featuring 2,888 feet of climbing. He finished the course in 52:23.

Racing together in the team race, the two snagged 19th place — the best finish for a U.S. team. The team course included 7,526 feet of vertical gain and loss through mostly high-alpine terrain and topped out at 9,524-foot Font Blanca.

The final event of the four-day championship was a relay where the U.S. team, featuring both Parsons and French, as well as Max Taam and Travis Scheefer, took 10th place out of 13. They finished ahead of teams from Poland, Canada and Japan.

Ski-mountaineering races, which are popular in Europe, challenge skiers with multiple ascents and descents over a variety of terrain. Top-tier competitors must be in outstanding physical condition and be able to ski technical lines on lightweight Randonnee gear. The Italian, French, Swiss and Austrian teams dominated most of the races at the World Championship.