Some of the best multisport athletes in the world are headed to Snowbasin Resort in Utah to race in the first-ever XTERRA Winter World Championship on March 8.

Included among them are former Winter Triathlon World Champ Nicolas Lebrun from France (pictured), the last two winners of the USA Winter Triathlon National Championship (Josiah Middaugh and Mike Kloser), Brian Smith (who beat both those guys head-to-head in a Winter Tri last year), adventure racing phenom and former XTERRA World Champ Michael Tobin, former snowshoe national champ Greg Krause, and a fast but unknown Czech racer named Jirka Chaloupka.

On the women’s side there’s U.S. Ski Mountaineering team member Jari Kirkland, one of the best trail runners in the world Jenny Tobin, former Collegiate Ski Champion Caroline Colonna, endurance sports legend Patty Jo Struve, XTERRA amateur national champion and former British National Champion skier Emma Garrard, XTERRA Pro Lisa Isom, and possibly Colorado-based Winter Sports superstars Monique Merrill and Keri Nelson.

The race starts with the mountain bike – two 5k laps on 30-foot wide, relatively flat, hard-packed and groomed Nordic trails at the base of the resort. Next up is a 5k snowshoe trek featuring 500-feet of climbing and descending through aspen and pine trees in pristine deep powder. The third leg is a 5k run on groomed access trails that weave through a breathtaking route in the forest. The final stage is ski mountaineering (or randonnee) where racers will climb 1,300 feet to the first of several transition areas, take their skins off and ski down through giant slalom gates to the next checkpoint. There are four climbs/checkpoints totaling 2,200 feet of vertical gain. The men’s winner is expecting to take about two hours to complete the event.

Many of the above pros will also try to win the PowerSox U.S. National Snowshoe Championship race the following day on March 9.

XTERRA Winter Worlds Update: Biker’s Edge is the place to rent a ride for the weekend – with $65 mountain bike rentals available to event participants (Thursday or Friday pick-up and drop off on Saturday after the event). To reserve a bike athletes can email zach@bebikes.com or call 801-544-5300.

NEW XTERRA TRAIL RUNS IN NEW YORK

XTERRA welcomes New York State’s Hudson Valley to the 2008 XTERRA Trail Run Series line-up. Race organizer John McGovern from Catskill Mountain Multisport (just 90 miles north of NYC) will host three races; the XTERRA Black Bear Hollow 8k (May 24), XTERRA Twin Lakes 12k (July 6), and XTERRA Mohonk Preserve Xduro (Aug. 16). With 6,500 acres in the Shawangunk Mountains to run through – including cliffs, forests, fields, ponds, and streams – the Mohonk Preserve promises to be an epic setting for the off-road half-marathon in August.

Up next on the XTR Series calendar is a “ditch the city” experience outside of Atlanta as the off-road half-marathon Thrill in the Hills “Xduro” hits Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA. The 21k is the 4th of 5 races in the XTERRA Georgia Series. Top finishers in the Series earn free entry into the XTERRA Trail Running National Championship (Sept. 27). For more details visit www.xterratrailrun.com.