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Pete Swenson, the 2006 North American Series Champion, will both coach and race this season on the Trab Duo Sint Aero, a mid-fat version of the famous Duo Race. Pete dominated the 2006 series with wins at the Wasatch Powderkeg, Jackson Hole and Kirkwood. He finished 3rd at the Crested Butte race and 4th at Whistler. Pete also represented the US at the 2006 Cuneo world championships where he was the top US finisher in both the vertical race and the team race. Pete has been busy over the off-season starting the new COSMIC series of mountaineering races, this year he will more casually compete while coaching the team and organizing the new race series. Pete is a former pro mountain biker, having raced for RLX Polo Sport, Specialized and the Sobe/Cannondale teams.

Ethan, one of the more accomplished racers in the US, won the 2004 Wasatch Powderkeg and the 2004 North American championship at Jackson Hole. He also won the 2003 and 2004 Silverton races along with the 2006 Crested Butte race (where he placed 2nd in 2004). He finished 3rd in the overall point standings for the 2004 season even though he only participated in 3 of the 6 races, reaching the podium in all 3 races. Ethan narrowly missed the 2006 Powderkeg podium by a scant 37 seconds; he also finished in 4th place at the 2006 National Championships at Jackson Hole. He spent 2005 representing the US on the European Randonee race scene, where he finished 25th in the grueling Pierra Menta out of a field of 160 racers. Ethan has been a long time ski patroller for Crested Butte Mountain Resort and spends the off season racing mountain bikes.

Jari Kirkland will co-race for the Trab/Arva team and Team Crested Butte, an adventure racing team from Colorado. Jari has an extensive history of winning in a variety of adventure related sports, including the co-ed team division of the Elk Mountain Traverse where she posted the fastest time ever for a woman in the 2006 race. She has also won the overall women's title for the Crested Butte Nordic series, the 24 hours of Moab mountain bike race (where she set a new course record), Montezuma's Revenge and the Pro Women Summit Mountain Challenge series. Participating with Team CB she finished first at the Huairasinchi International Adventure race in Ecuador earlier this year, 5th at Primal Quest Challenge in Moab and 8th in the Raid World Championships in Australia.

Zahan Billimoria began racing the US Ski Mountaineering circuit in 2006 and finished 7th overall that year. He finished 2nd at Alpental, 8th at Crested Butte, 9th at the America's Cup event in Jackson Hole, and 10th at the Powderkeg. During the summer Zahan is a competitive Teton area trail runner. He won 20-29 age category winner at the Grand Teton Mountain Marathon in 2005 and finished 4rth overall in 2006. He finished 3rd at the Snow King Runner's Hill climb in Jackson Hole in 2006 and 6th at the Rendezvous Hill climb the same year. Professionally Zahan works as a Ski Guide and avalanche educator for Yostmark Backcountry Tours. He also owns and operates Z Language School, a foreign language school in Driggs, Idaho

Grant Guise finished 2nd at both the June Mountain and Kirkwood, CA races, along with a 7th place finish at the Powderkeg and 6th at the Jackson Hole national championships. He finished the season ranked 4th overall. Grant is the director of snow safety at the Arthur's Pass resort and has been a supervising ski patroller at Northstar ski area in Lake Tahoe.

Rick Knowles, of Seattle, Washington; is a ski patroller at Alpental Ski area and Cascade Backcountry Patrol. He also instructs with the National Ski Patrol, teaching both mountain travel & rescue and avalanche safety courses. Rick is a former Nordic racer for South Dakota State University, where he earned an engineering degree. Rick will represent Ski Trab in Washington and Oregon.

Ski Trab has manufactured high quality touring skis in Bormio, Italy since 1946. Ski Trab offers efficient touring designs that employ carbon fiber technology to save weight without sacrificing performance. Trab skis dominate the UIAA Ski Mountaineering race circuit and are very popular with European guides.

The AMGA encourages professional guiding standards through the only IFMGA certified training program in North America. AMGA also works locally and nationally for climbing and skiing access in addition to preserving guiding culture and raising the professional standards of American guides.

The COSMIC series will be the premier regional series and introduce new participants to backcountry skiing as well as challenge the veteran skier.

COSMIC EVENTS:

• Races are modeled after European randonee events with competitors beginning on foot and running to clip into their skis.
• Athletes skin uphill to the first gate, remove their skins, ski down to the second gate and back up to the third. This continues for four to five ascents and descents (including a boot pack for the race division).
• Race category vertical is approximately 4,500 ft, recreational 2,500.
• Race categories include: race, recreational, telemark, junior and snowboard divisions.
• Points will be collected at races throughout the series.
• All events have a post-race party and raffle.
• Event venues include Arapahoe Basin and Sunlight Mountain with more venues to be announced soon. Go to http://www.cosmicski.com for updates
• COSMIC events will often run concurrently with telemark and backcountry ski festivals.

For sponsor and participant info go to www.cosmicski.com or contact Pete Swenson at 720.289.6547 or pete@cosmicski.com.

Pete Swenson extended his podium streak to 3 consecutive races by winning the Jackson Hole America's Cup race. He covered the 6100 vertical foot course that included climbing up, through and out of the famed Corbett's Couloir in 2:01:45. Following his wins at the Wasatch Powderkeg and at Kirkwood, Pete finished with 162 points; 40 points ahead of his nearest competitor. He also placed 3rd at Crested Butte and 4th at Whistler-Blackcomb.

Karen Kingsley finished 1st in the women's point standings after taking 3rd at the Jackson Hole race. She ended the season with 159 points after winning the Alpental, June Mountain and Kirkwood races while taking 2nd at both Crested Butte and Whistler-Blackcomb.

"We had a beautiful Teton day with the best Ski Mountaineering Racers in North America competing in an exceptionally difficult race and I don't mean just the uphill," stated John Scott Executive Director of the USSMA. "The early morning skiing in spring conditions on steep chutes like C1 in Casper bowl will test anyone's skiing skills" said Scott.

Both Karen and Pete lead the 2006 USSMA point standings following the Kirkwood, California race. Karen has a commanding total of 140 points, more than twice her closest competitor. Pete leads the USSMA men's standings with a total of 72 points while Grant is tied for 3rd with 50 points.

Karen is the most promising new talent on the US Ski Mountaineering race circuit. A former member of the German national cross country ski team, Karen has been the California State high school cross country champion and a seven time competitor at the NCAA national track and field championships. Karen finished 3rd, than 2nd, than 1st in her first three ski mountaineering races. Her season culminated in winning the women's division of the Wasatch Powderkeg, finishing ahead of some of the visiting world cup racers. She will race throughout the US this coming season.

Pete finished 3rd last season in the overall US standings, his 1st full season of competition. He improved dramatically throughout the season, making it to the podium at the Jackson Hole National Championships. Pete is a former pro mountain biker, having raced for RLX Polo Sport, Specialized and the Sobe/Cannondale teams. He plans to participate in Ski Mountaineering competitions throughout the US and at the Cuneo world championships after supporting his brother Carl Swenson, a senior member of the US Cross Ski Team participating in his 3rd Olympics at Torino .

Both Karen and Pete will race on the competition dominating Duo Race Aero, an 835g carbon fiber race ski that won 5 out of the 6 podium places at the most recent world championships in Val D'Aran. It also took 4 of 6 podium places and 3 of 6 respectively in World Cup competition at the 2004 & 2005 Wasatch Powderkegs. Ski Trab, of Bormio Italy; manufactures high quality touring skis that use carbon fiber technology to save significant weight without sacrificing performance.

Trab skis exhibit the personality of a fine Italian sports car. All Trab skis combine torsional stiffness with extra hard edges to deliver exceptional edge hold and very responsive handling. All have high density sintered race bases that increase acceleration while improving durability (gouge and scratch resistant). All feature oversized tips and tapered tails to improve float in soft snow conditions and use shock absorbing rubber to eliminate chatter common to other light weight skis.

Every model is thoroughly tested, both in the factory and in the field. Trab utilizes four different testing machines to check for torsional and longitudinal rigidity as well as impact resistance and turn cycle durability. Trab's extensive network of racers compliments the in-house testing with daily feedback from those racers. In addition to the extensive testing, all skis undergo a 19 point quality control checklist. Each ski gets labeled with the individuals' initials responsible for that ski's production (assembly, finishing, raw materials and quality control), plus bar-coded and dated as part of the quality control process.

Trab offers 8 models of skis, ranging from 63mm race skis to 78mm freeride skis; plus a full compliment of skins, packs & poles. Depending on model the skis weigh between 3.8 lbs./pair to 6 lbs./pair and retail from $370 to $835.