Wax technician Cheryl and SkierBob at the finish line of the Lake Louise to banff loppet
Participating in the loppet means I didn’t take any photos, but my wax technician had her I-phone going, and I’ll add photos today as I get them downloaded.
If you have a loppet story to share, please leave a comment. I’m always interested in hearing about other skier’s impressions of the conditions, or if you had any “incidents” to share.
In the mean time, here’s a video of the start(if you can pick me out as I’m casually double-poling, it sure doesn’t appear that I’ll be winning this race with the lackadaisical effort that I’m putting forth!):
I survived! Better than that, I had fun most of the way. The 2K climb near the end on the Hillsdale split was a testament to willpower overcoming fatigue. For the fifteen minutes that I struggled up that long climb, I had time to reflect on the toll taken on my body from six-decades of hard living. I decided that I didn’t regret any of it!
Mark Thorsteinson at the pre-race meeting. It’s never too early to have a smoke. Photo by Mike Freeman.
Here’s another video as I start the final kilometre.
Congratulations to the overall winner, John Groeneveld, who finished in a time of 3:03:09. He was six minutes faster than runner-up Jeff Holmes. When I say overall, I mean he was also faster than any of the teams.
The fastest team, Foothills Masters, finished in a time of 3:18:20
See Full Results.
Getting ready at Castle Lookout. The outfit didn’t slow her down.
Even with the cigarette in his mouth #43, Mark Thorsteinson(the Keith Richards look-alike), finished 16 minutes ahead of me. Mike Freeman has posted some excellent photos.
A huge thank you to all the loppet volunteers. I’m glad you didn’t have to stand outside in frigid temperatures this year.
