If you thought your ExEd training of hiking up Tiehack was difficult, think again. How about hiking up and skiing down all four of Aspen’s ski mountains in one day with 60 mph winds and dumping snow?

On Saturday March 1, Aspen Ski Co hosted its annual Power of Four race, which includes a 12,000 foot vertical gain over 25 miles, of skiing, hiking and skinning Snowmass, Buttermilk, Aspen Highlands and Aspen Mountain.

Among the estimated 100 teams who participated in the race, there were two teams of AHS students for the first time in history; a girls’ team and a boys’ team. The girls were juniors Julia Budsey and Sonya Padden, and the boys were sophomores Graham Houtsma and Nick Sweeney.

Budsey and Padden trained for months for this race, and it sure did pay off.

“Sonya and I began training at the beginning of cross country season in September. Instead of competing in the meets, we would go on long hikes every weekend. Then we started training more seriously in January when we could start skinning,” Budsey said. “We started off with one mountain at a time and then made our way up to three, but we had never done Aspen Mountain before the race. To say the least, I had no idea what I was in for.”

Sweeney and Houtsma are both members of the AHS Nordic team and used their endurance training skills to prepare for this race. They both wanted to enter the race to see what ski mountaineering was all about. When Budsey and Padden saw a women’s team ski into the finish at last year’s race, they decided that they could do it too.

This feat is not only physically exhausting, but mentally taxing too. The race begins at 6am at Snowmass, and before the accent up the bowl, there is a checkpoint that allows you to continue on or not, depending on if you make it by that certain time. Because of high winds this year, teams could decide to hike up the bowl. Highlands Bowl was closed for a portion of the day. When winds died down, teams were given the choice to hike or follow the alternate route.

“We were one of three girls’ teams to do the bowl. We decided that we had to do it to get in the full experience, and not feel as if we cheated ourselves,” Budsey said.

On top of an already exhausting challenge, the conditions on the day of the race were about as bad as they could have possibly been. It snowed around 18 inches and the wind was recorded with 50 to 60 mph gusts on the top of Highlands Bowl. These brutal conditions certainly slowed down many of the teams.

“The conditions on top of the Bowl were Himalayan,” Budsey said.

Everyone competing in the race not only had to get themselves up the mountain, but their partners too. It was a team effort, and protocol says that partners cannot be more than 10 seconds behind their partner on the uphill, and no more than 5 seconds behind their partner on the downhill.

“Graham and I did a good job of staying together, but we had to stop in the Highlands patrol shack for 45 minutes because Graham’s plantar fasciitis was severely causing him pain,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney and Houtsma finished in 8:54 hours, not including the Bowl, and Budsey and Padden finished in 9:52 hours, including the Bowl portion.

Both teams agreed to compete again next year to improve from this year, and to always continue competing with themselves.

“I just want to thank everyone who supported us because we received so many generous gifts and sponsorships that made it possible for Sonya and I to do this,” Budsey said.

Budsey, Patten, Sweeney and Houtsma certainly showed the world that four AHS students have the power to accomplish great things!