Blitzing Mount Baldy

Mount Baldy looms left of center in the background

The Baldy Blitz, has a 30ish-year history.  The Blitz is a race up and back down Mount Baldy in the Bridger Range in mid-May each year.  It was started by a group of climbers.  Timing was basic the way timing was not too many years ago.  The “Race Director” would put his watch around the antennae of his car, and a clipboard on the hood.  He’d yell go to the 10 or so people that had gathered; he’d join the race to the top of Baldy, down Sypes Ridge on the west side of the mountain, then along the foothills trail back to the car.  Each runner would check the watch when they returned and record their time on the clipboard.

The Big Sky Wind Drinkers took over the Blitz in the early 2000s and began formalizing it to include pre-race signups, and timing chips. The Forest Service stepped in as the race’s popularity grew—there were 68 of us this year.  It nixed the Sypes Ridge return a few years back because it’s not an official trail.  This might have been for the best, as that trail is often buried under snow in mid-May and impossible to discover for the first 1,000 vertical of descent. 

Pre-race instructions

The Blitz, now and out-and-back on the Ridge Trail, is Bozeman’s version of a Vertical Kilometer Race; it is both easier and harder than some of the major VK races around the world. 

It’s easier in that it doesn’t quite qualify as a VK race.  The official criteria for a race to be categorized as a VK is that it has to gain at least one kilometer of elevation in no more than five kilometers distance.  The Blitz gains substantially more than one kilometer; my Garmin tracked 1.2 kilometers of climbing, but this climb is over roughly 3.96 miles.  Does it at any point gain at least one kilometer in 5K or less?  Not quite.  It starts off with a sufferingly difficult 2100-foot climb in 1.35 miles up to the top of the first knob on the ridge—Alden’s knob on my map.  I named it in honor of a memorable hike where I carried my adorable sleeping 11-month-old grand nephew Alden to the top of it on my back—he was wide awake, screaming and somewhat less adorable on the way down: that’s what made it memorable.  But 2100 feet is only 0.64K.  The top of the second knob, which I have not named for any screaming relatives—perhaps this summer—gets us 2700 feet, or 0.82K of vertical in 2.05 miles.  At this point, we’re getting close to the 1K (3280 feet) of climbing needed to satisfy the VK criteria and we still have 1.05 miles to get there, but now the trail flattens and we don’t cross that threshold until we are 3.55 miles along the trail, or 5.7 kilometers. 

Not to worry, more than one of the VK races on Strava’s list “Five of the World’s Best VKs,” do not satisfy these criteria—it seems that these criteria are more guidelines.  And here’s the thing that makes the Blitz tougher than even the steepest of these races—we have to run back down.  Most of these races, including the Rut VK, take place at ski areas and racers get to take a tram or chairlift back to the bottom.  Oh wouldn’t that be sweet, we could chat and sip champagne on our trip to the bottom.  “How was your race, Lovey?”  “Why it was simply exquisite, but perhaps they could pave the trail for next year so we could ride up in our golf cart.”

All of these races take place in mountain areas and like the Blitz are subject to the vagaries of mountain weather, but all are either at lower elevations or take place later in the season.  Snow, I expect, is much less of a factor for them.  I have run this race four times.  The quantity of snow this year wasn’t exceptional, but a lot fell in the days before the race, and winds had not yet blasted the ridge, so the snow was uncompacted.  Folks were having a hoot, slipping and sliding down the upper section of Baldy with reckless abandon—I am a party pooper, I donned spikes for this section. 

So our little race is and isn’t a VK race.  Not that that matters.  It’s challenging, it’s fun, it’s downright wild at points.  It’s a great season opener that lets us know how well our training is coming along—not great in my case this year—and it’s a chance to mingle with folks we may not have seen since last year’s racing season ended.  “See you at Old Gabe Lovey.”