Broken Arrow SkyRaces at Olympic Valley, CA, take place the week before Western States 100mi at the same starting location: Palisades Tahoe on Squaw Mountain. The races include the VK, 46km and 23km distances, along with a triple crown including all three, and an Iron Face challenge which includes the Tahoe Via Ferrata course. Broken Arrow race directors, Brendan Madigan and Ethan Veneklasen, are committed to making the event one of the most competitive fields in the United States while still maintaining an unforgettable experience for every participant. Prize purses total $50,000, and elite racers can apply for comped entries and local accommodations making it an early season who’s-who amongst short distance runners.
Broken Arrow 23km is also part of the Salomon Golden Trail Series drawing international and Salomon team competition in the traditional “sky” short-distance race. This year the loop was shortened to 12.5mi due to record high snow levels. The 46km event is two laps of the loop, normally totaling 28mi, or 25mi in 2023. The 2023 snow covered nearly 3/4 of the course making for long stretches of steep and slippery uphill and downhills, slushy and sloggy cat tracks and even a zippy section steep enough to glissade (glide down on one’s backside while giggling madly.)
The course, although not very technical, does include one short section of ladder up a steep cliff, and a few areas where ropes are in place to help as needed with winter conditions. Each lap includes nearly 5000ft of gain, or about 4200ft in 2023, making for an intense steepness factor. Especially given the altitude of 6000-9000ft, and the full sun exposure, the gain per mile quickly slows the crowd down to a hike after a few miles into the first lap.
Despite the challenges and deep competition, the race is incredibly fun and beautiful. The views from the ridge lines are absolutely stunning with the clear blue skies and snow capped peaks of the Eastern Sierras, with emerald forests of lodgepole and Jeffery pines studding the silver granite landscapes below.
And no detail is overlooked with these races. The course is clearly marked, volunteers are at every junction and keeping watch over challenging sections, the aid stations are brilliantly well stocked and incredibly fast with volunteers smiling at the ready to help fill waters in moments. Outside of Western and the Rut, I’ve never seen a course as dialed as Broken Arrow. And interestingly, the vibe is friendly and encouraging. There’s no elbowing or shoving, whacking people with poles, stepping on feet, cutting the course or cutting people off, as usually occurs in a race of this magnitude. Tahoe has some secret magic over people.
If there was an award for best directed race weekend, Broken Arrow would have that title secured.
Back at the finish, the race pavilion rivals that of European championships with vendor tents, post race food and beers for participants, interviews and panel discussions with elites, and crowds of spectators. Over a thousand racers take part in Broken Arrow SkyRaces overflowing the Palisades base area with early-season race stoke. The race ensures every participant is loaded with shwag and finishing gifts. The results are posted within the weekend, the winners go home with thousands of dollars, and the live tracking is accurate enough for friends and family to follow down to the number of people you’ve passed where you’re at on the course.
Getting there:
Getting to Tahoe from Montana is a bit of a challenge. Driving from Missoula takes over 14h. While a flight to Sacramento or Reno with a car rental may cost about the same as driving, budget accommodations are fairly limited to camping along highway 89 or sleeping in a car at the start. Camping can be secured early on Recreation.gov.
Personal Race Re-cap:
For this race, my process goals were related to my key race for the summer: TDS by UTMB which is about 4 times the distance and gain of Broken Arrow 40km.
My process goals included getting an intense short-distance effort without losing too much training volume to taper or recovery. So rather than a full taper, I shortened my Monday through Wednesday workouts and took a couple days off on Thursday and Friday before the race.
Nutrition goals were similar to a long distance race, I aimed to eat 200-250cals per hour, opting for Honey Stinger Waffles and Gu gels with a great result. Energy levels were consistent throughout the 6h with absolutely no GI distress or bathroom breaks. I’d practiced with these fuels previously so I was confident it would work for the event. They’re light and easy to carry as a bonus. For a longer distance, this will probably change as I add in more solid bar and block varieties. The aid stations had Spring electrolyte beverage which I used along with water the second lap which worked well in the heat. My first lap I got away with one 17oz water bottle but grabbed the second on the next lap which was wise as the temps increased.
Another process goal for this race was pacing conservatively on the first lap and pushing the effort in the second lap. This was a bit challenging as the field goes out fast and the first 3.5miles are runnable single track gaining abput 1000ft. I ended up in a pack of guys running along at a higher intensity than I would run on my second lap, but once we hit the steep uphills the pace of the group slowed substantially and it wasn’t realistic to pass much as the route was a boot pack up a snow slope. Instead of wasting energy passing I chatted with some locals about the area and the course.
Over the years the distance has changed from year to year. This year’s course was one of the snowiest, and about 1.5mi was cut off the distance due to the conditions. There are about 3 main climbs up to the high point where the Stairway to Heaven ladder ascends the last feet to the summit of Squaw Peak. The top of the course is only about 9000ft but it was clear those of us from low altitudes were feeling the thin air.
The second lap, the direct sun and heat was more intense but I was able to ascend at my own pace and ended up passing about 27 people in these sections. On the first section from the Village to Snow King aid I passed 14 people but had a slower split than lap one. Going on to Siberia I passed another 12 and ran about 50sec/mi faster than lap one. Then on to High Camp I only passed one person but again ran faster than lap one. This was a big win for me in terms of training. My main goal was to get a relative short (sub-ultra) intense early season effort, with minimal downtime. And with two uphill sections being negative splits for me, it confirmed I’d met my main process goal which was to push hard on the second lap. Additionally, I found out later my vertical speed on this course was almost exactly the same as Yakima Skyline 50km in April, even with the altitude and snow. So generally it went pretty well on the ups.
Note: this strategy ended up putting me in a very low position in the field (28th) at the end, which is the lowest I’ve ever placed in a race. but remembering this is not a goal or key race for me, I still felt a sense of accomplishment for achieving this main goal. I purposely put myself in a super-competitive environment to mimic what I’ll experience at TDS. And I purposefully worked hard to stay conservative and present in the first lap although staying in the pack was a bit slower than anticipated. I didn’t watch my heart rate but I did monitor my breathing and RPE. That allowed me to go stronger in the second lap and honestly I felt like I could have run another lap (or two). This distance is only 25% of what I’m training for, so it really couldn’t be a key event for me. But I do think there is value in running races that aren’t in your comfort zone.
This is a very important lesson I can’t emphasize enough: if you know your process goals for a race, you have your own barometer to measure your effort. Results are arbitrary.
What could go better?
The downhills. After coming off the top, there is a collection of steep downhills and cat tracks covered in snow making for a sloppy, sloggy descent back down to the base area. On my second lap a few locals easily passed me on these sections as I was not as well trained for slip-sliding and postholing this year. I avoided snow after RUFA trying to avoid falling on my elbow as the ligaments continue to heal after surgery. But generally most folks were flying down these sections and it was super fun nonetheless. I focused on staying safe and successfully kept my feet under me. I also got off track somehow on the last downhill and had to double back on the course which cost about 3-5minutes and about 2-3 places in the results. But it didn’t drive me mad and I ended up running a 400, 800, and mile PR for 2023 trying to catch up on the descent so that was a bonus! Overall, I need to continue working on confidence with downhills.
The altitude was a challenge for me. It’s difficult to ascent above 6000ft in Montana until mid-june when the snow line starts to push up to 8000ft. I could have spent more time running in snow at about 5-8k altitude, but living at 3000ft is a distinct disadvantage when racing at altitude. If this was a key race for me, it would make sense to drive the extra distance and take the extra time to make it happen. But right now for TDS I’m working on increasing my running speed at 20+ mile distances, so lots of snow slogging hasn’t been in the program. Every detail is important when going into an extremely competitive event like Broken Arrow, so if it is your key event, altitude acclimation is necessary.
All in all, I’ve wanted to run Broken Arrow since it’s inception over 5 years ago. I’ve signed up and had to pull out several times. I made a commitment early on and didn’t want to pull out again. I would love to see it in a year with more distance and less snow but it was an unforgettable experience anyway, and I highly recommend this race to anyone. This is especially true for those young up-and-coming speedsters who really enjoy blasting a 12-24 mile distance with a lot of gain at high altitude. It’s perfect for a hi-octane, hi-anaerobic threshold kind of experience!