Pre-Race Grooming Grief
The Grand Mesa received 10 to 20 inches of snow Thursday and Friday. The CAT was contracted to groom the race course Friday afternoon or Saturday morning before the race. Kenton was on the Mesa at the crack of dawn Saturday morning and jumped on the snow machine to meet the CAT which he figured must be grooming since there were no signs of grooming at the trailhead at Skyway. He got out to Kannah Crossing and his snow machine sputtered to a stop and wouldn't start. There was still no sign of the Ken Simpson and his CAT. Good Grief! A stalled snow machine several miles from the trailhead on the day of the race. Kenton had no choice but to start walking back to Skyway. It took an hour and half to walk back to Skyway and still nothing was groomed. Kenton got on the other snow machine and started grooming Winslow and Sunset for the race.
Meanwhile Ken Simpson's CAT was sitting at Land's End Road and there was no sign of Ken. It was later learned that the CAT had mechanical trouble and Ken had to run to Grand Junction for parts to get the CAT back into action. The CAT got going that afternoon and groomed the race course after the race was over.
Kenton finished grooming Winslow and Sunset, entered the 20 km race, and still had the energy to do well as he always does. Kenton is and amazing guy and is admired by all of us. By the way, Kenton was back on the Mesa at the crack of dawn on Sunday to groom County Line.
