Janicki fielded two teams for this year’s Ski to Sea race, a multi-sport relay stretching from Mount Baker to Bellingham Bay over Memorial Day weekend. The race includes seven grueling legs: downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, running, road biking, cyclocross, canoeing and kayaking.

Team Pulling Left put on an electrifying performance, securing a seventh-place finish in the corporate division and 77th overall. Will Whiton (retired Janicki employee) opened with the cross-country ski leg, followed by Ryan Barna in the downhill ski, Aidan Swenson on the run, Cesar Daou on road bike, and Ian Laursen and Fletcher Kurita in the canoe. Team captain Paul Goins rode the cyclocross leg, with Travis Freeman finishing in the kayak. Over half the team placed in the top 100 in their leg. Ryan Barna notably finished eighth overall in the downhill ski leg!

Team of Theseus placed 19th in the corporate division, overcoming last-minute substitutions and welcoming several newcomers to Ski to Sea. The team pulled together and did a great job. Captain Josh Carter led with cross-country skiing, followed by Ransom Cutshall on the downhill ski, Wyatt Brinkley on the run, Justin Plant on road bike, and canoe partners Noah Haworth and Jakob Mathisen. Casey Bloomer crushed the cyclocross leg, finishing 21st overall. Nic Sakuma closed the race, leaping from his kayak to ring the finish bell.

Employees celebrated afterward at the Fairhaven after-party with music, food trucks and vendors. Congratulations to all our competitors for their hard work and strong results among 503 teams. We already look forward to next year’s race.

Interested in learning about other employee events? Check out our Fun Events page.

For several years, Janicki has sent employee teams to Ski to Sea, which is an annual multisport relay race from Mount Baker to Bellingham Bay on Memorial Day weekend. The events include downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, running, road biking, cyclocross, canoeing and kayaking. Ski to Sea sold out early this year, with over 500 teams registered! Janicki put together three teams for 2024. Employees were divided up into two fun teams, whose levels of training for their legs varied greatly, and one competitive team, for those training to be the very best of their respective events.

WINVAR

Our first fun team did not place due to time chip issues but put up a top-ten performance in the tenacity department. Although a few Ski to Sea veterans were on the team, all eight WINVAR warriors made their first-ever attempt at their specific leg! Jack did the cross-country ski leg, Jessie took on the downhill ski leg, Clarie Denise did the running event, and team captain Paul peddled the road bike leg. Jeff rocked the cyclocross event, Colby and Ryan paddled the canoe leg, and Eamon wrapped up the race with the kayak event.

Tool Tech Titans

The second fun team also did not place due to early releases but had a great time. The cross-country ski leg was run by Erik, and Tony ran the downhill ski/snowboard event. Karen completed the run within an hour, and Danielle successfully peddled the long 42-mile road bike leg. Ian and Fletcher conquered the canoe leg relatively uneventfully, until Fletcher discovered his phone had been calling 911 accidentally several times while in a waterproof bag. Team captain Cody surfed through 2 miles of 8-inch-deep mud with his cyclocross bike and patched up a flat tire to make it to the last leg. Finally, the team’s kayaker, Calvin, paddled to the finish line with a speedy time of 52 minutes and 33 seconds. This put him in 48th place overall for kayakers!

Composite Commandos

Our competitive team started off on the wrong foot when Justin injured himself just five minutes into the cross-country ski leg. Amazingly, he was able to power through and finish, but the other legs had some ground to make up. Kevin passed 70 racers in the downhill ski leg and team captain Sam passed another 114 in the downhill run. Casey passed an incredible 153 road bike racers to pull the Janicki team into the 99th position overall. His effort was rewarded with the 30th fastest road bike of the day! Nicholas and Lars canoed the 18 miles at a speedy 9:05 minutes per mile. Will peddled the cyclocross event at an average of 12.2 miles per hour, and Nic braved the cold Bellingham Bay in the kayak to finish the race in 9 hours and 18 minutes! The Composite Commandos ended up in 13th place for the Corporate Division and 174th overall.

After braving the wind, rain, and cold throughout the day, the teams celebrated a job well done at the finish line in Fairhaven. A big shout out to all of our wonderful Janicki athletes and volunteers for making this another fun, successful Ski to Sea!

Interested in learning about other employee events? Check out our Fun Events page.