News

Loppet limbo

 

BY RICHARD CHIN

Pioneer Press, MN

January 29th, 2006

 

Organizers of the City of Lakes Loppet, the cross country ski marathon scheduled next Sunday in Minneapolis, are trying to walk the line between cautious and optimistic on what skiers can expect.

 

The 35-kilometer race, now in its fourth year, had to be canceled last year because of inadequate snow, and race organizers issued a news release last week lamenting the lack of snowfall in January and warm temperatures this winter.

 

"I don't want anyone registering with the idea that things are perfect," said race director John Munger. "I want to make it clear that I'm not in charge of the weather."

 

But Munger remained optimistic the race can be pulled off.

 

Thanks to heroic grooming efforts, snow conditions on the trails in Theodore Wirth Park, where part of the racecourse is planned, are better this year than last year.

 

"The coverage in Wirth overall is pretty good," Munger said.

 

Snow conditions are worse on the Chain of Lakes, where part of the racecourse is also planned. But last week, volunteers with ATVs and plows were on the ice, plowing the thin layer of snow into a single thicker path that can be groomed for skiing.

"You know someone with ATVs and plows? That's what I need right now," Munger said.

 

According to Munger, the ice on the lakes is safe, but there is a small gap under the Lake Street bridge between the Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun.

 

Munger said the race organizers are working on a solution that may involve a small wood or metal snow-covered bridge spanning the opening that skiers can double-pole across.

 

Another problem: The weather hasn't been cold enough to operate snowmaking machines. The race needs three to four days of continuous snow making to make piles big enough to cover a short portion of 31st Street and Hennepin Avenue for the planned finish at Lake and Hennepin.

 

"If we are unable to make a large amount of artificial snow between now and the time of the event, the Hennepin Avenue finish will be in jeopardy, even if we find a solution to the Lake Street Bridge problem," according to the race news release. "However, we have identified alternate routes into Uptown and will make every effort to achieve a grand finish to the Loppet."

Munger said without new snow, the course may have to be shortened slightly to about 30 kilometers.

 

He said he was hoping for about 2,500 to 3,000 participants in the event, but registration last week was about half that number.

 

Although there has been more skiable snow on trails in the metropolitan area this winter compared with last year, "it has been a real bad psychological winter," because of the warm weather, Munger said.

 

He also said, "The year after you cancel an event is always a hard year, registration-wise."

 

To try to attract more participants, race organizers decided to freeze registration prices in January for people who register online with the provision that prices would rise $1 for every inch of snow that falls after Jan. 15.

 

"I feel like someone who has started an event after global warming came on the scene, but it's also part of skiing," Munger said. "I think it's got to snow sometime."

 

Munger said last year's cancellation may have made it a little harder to find race sponsors, although most of last year's Loppet activities were held.

 

The two-day event has continued to expand into a series of spectator and participant activities beyond the big 35-kilometer freestyle race. This year's events include a candlelight ski tour, a daytime ski tour, a classic race, a kids' race, a youth race, a sprint competition, a skijoring race and a vendor village.

 

A major sponsor of the Loppet, law firm Dorsey & Whitney, turns the event into a business-development activity, booking the Uptown restaurant Lucia's on Saturday night and inviting clients and their families to watch or participate in the kid, candlelit and sprint skis scheduled that day.

 

"It's just a neat event," said Bill Dossett, a Dorsey partner and race volunteer. "The clients loved it," he said of last year's Loppet party.

 

Richard Chin can be reached at rchin@pioneerpress.com or 651- 228-5560.

For more information about the Loppet, visit www.cityoflakesloppet.com.