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Mike Foote Wins Whitefish Whiteout

Foote, 35, also won ski mountaineering race last year and holds record for speediest ascent of Big Mountain

By Tristan Scott
Mike Foote broke the world record for most vertical feet skied in a 24 hour period at Whitefish Mountain Resort on March 17 and 18, 2018. Justin Franz | Flathead Beacon

Ski mountaineer racers braved blustery wind and a foot of fresh snow Feb. 23 as the 11th annual Whitefish Whiteout race got underway, sending competitors up and down a challenging course, the difficulty of which was compounded by a winter snow storm.

Mike Foote, 35, of Missoula, took top honors in the men’s long course, conquering Big Mountain’s toughest race in a total time of 2:07:40.58 after setting a blistering pace along the Benny Up route to the summit in 30:14.40. A North Face-sponsored endurance runner and skimo racer, Foote won the Whiteout last year and holds the record for speediest ascent of Big Mountain.

Kalispell’s Jeff Shehan, 35, placed second while Caleb Ambrose, 34, also of Kalispell, placed third.

The Whitefish Whiteout is a mountaineering race, where competitors skin and bootpack up a variety of terrain, then remove their skins and descend challenging terrain.

In the women’s division, Whitefish’s Lizzy English, 35, won the long course in a time of 2:46:26.58.

Behind English were Kalispell’s Amber Steed, 39, and Cassady Daley, 25, also of Kalispell.

The race drew 45 competitors who skied up and down Big Mountain at Whitefish Mountain Resort, bootpacking up steep chutes while enduring freezing temperatures, howling wind and deep powder snow.

The full results can be found at competitivetiming.com.