On his blog, The Outside Out, Thoni wrote that he and his teammates knew they were well suited for the event, but they figured it was “a long shot to get in.”
Long shot or not, the team—The United States of Canada, as they’ve dubbed themselves because Smiley’s an American—made the cut.
The Waymaker isn’t a timed event, like the European ski mountaineering (skimo) competitions Thoni has been competing in all season. Rather, it’s a test of the entire team’s endurance, skill, creative route planning and resilience.
Before the event, the team will submit a route plan to be approved before the first day of the competition. Once the route is approved, the team is required to stick to that route, unless unforeseen weather systems cause a risk. The athletes will all be equipped with GPS watches, so the judges can keep tabs on their movements from start to finish.
Teams are also required to take a photo of each climb and descent. Those photos will later be submitted to the judges with some text describing the team’s route.
In Thoni’s words, the competition format “encompasses all aspects of route assessment, risk assessment, group dynamics, aesthetics, variety, technicality, vertical skied and, of course, finding those beautiful untracked lines.”
So, he says, training for the event covers “everything from building quick, efficient anchors to executing that one killer photo with efficiency and creativity.”
The winning team will be awarded 4,500 euros, which equates to about $6,025.
To learn more about the Atomic Waymaker, visit atomicwaymaker.com, or to follow along with Thoni and his team, visit .
