WHITEFISH - The director of Montana's lone 100-mile foot race announced the event's cancellation this week, explaining that lingering mountain snowpack would jeopardize runners' safety and make the requisite 36-hour finish time virtually impossible.
Dubbed the Swan Crest 100, the ultra-marathon race runs from Swan Lake to Columbia Falls through the Flathead National Forest, using U.S. Forest Service roads and alpine trails that take runners up, along and over the crest of the Swan Range.
Race director Brad Lamson said he recently hiked lengthy sections of the course and encountered deep snow covering the network of trails, including the Alpine Trail No. 7 that serves as the race course's primary route.
Lamson estimated that half the course remains buried under several feet of snow, concealing signs that mark critical trail intersections. The snowpack will not have melted out before the race is scheduled to start July 29.
"There is just no way to safely execute the Swan Crest 100 on July 29," Lamson said. "We really thought the snow would melt, but after venturing on two separate sections of the course this past weekend it became obvious that the snow was not going to melt in time."
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Last year, a conservation group raised concerns about the route because it leads runners through proposed wilderness areas and specially protected grizzly bear habitat. Keith Hammer of the Swan View Coalition suggested the course be moved onto trails in less sensitive areas, and threatened litigation if it were not relocated.
Read full story at the Missoulian.
