International Association of Worldloppet Skiers

Here we have a new nice race report by Boris Petroff.

Both english and french. They are in PDF format so just click them and Acrobat or you web-broser will display all, including pictures.

Fossavatn 2016 PDF english and Fossavatn 2016 PDF french

At the same time, please have a look at a french race report from the same race.

China Vasa 2016. Report by Minoru (Team SUOMI)

In 2016,Team SUOMI visited China where is near Japan, but China is becoming political far country nowadays. It is so expensive of the tour with European travel company that I had decided all our flight tickets and accommodation for China Vasa by internet. Our flight from Sapporo via Beijing, we were surprised at air pollution in Beijing was so bad!!

In Changchun anyway the outside temperature is ordinary so cold at minus 10 degrees (Max) minus 20 degrees (Min). We participated in trial skiing at the previous day, but a guide in a course wasn’t enough and we lost our way then we canceled our skiing and went back to the bus. On the race day morning, the bus to the start point was no heating system like a freezer, is this China way ?!

There were some tents for skier’s locker rooms and waiting rooms near the start point, but there were only small size that we couldn’t enter and use, so we stayed still in the bus even just before the start.

Chinese skier’s manner was not so good just after the simultaneous start, two classical trucks were maintained from a start to a goal, but a course was solid old snow. There were several times of short steep climbing, but descent was gentle we need double pole to get speed, and there were also no dangerous points in long descent part .

The latter part of a monotonous flat course was worried by cold against wind around the lake, for 50km skiers two laps of 25 km course was boring and hard work under the so cold weather! I didn’t take so many pictures, I could not find the beautiful scenery especially! Though they use a chip, what happened, I can’t check our result of my wife and my son’s time of 25km yet. After the race we wanted to wait in the tent near the start area because I participated with the family but most tents were removed after the start.
The party after the race is so magnificent that feeling was as enhance the national prestige, lacked of the atmosphere of skier’s friendship.
Team SUOMI three family skier’s impressions about China Vasa was same. Will you ski again China Vasa? Our answer is no more!

We hope China Vasa to be a wonderful WL race someday.

Race report by Hannes Larsson

This was my first participation in the Russian Worldloppet race, the Demino Ski Marathon. A group of three French skiers came together: Boris Petroff, Joseph Luce and I. Boris’ forebears were Russian and he has a sufficient knowledge of the language, which is an advantage, especially when it was necessary to ask the direction when we were lost, because Boris does not use GPS devices.  Our flight arrived at the Tsherementievo airport in Moscow in the evening of Wednesday and we stayed at an airport hotel, rented a car on Thursday morning and drove to the Demino sport center, located 350 km north-east from Moscow near the city of Rybinsk. We were accommodated at the Sport hotel at the sport center itself, we just had to walk 300 m to the ski stadium.

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At the Demino Ski Marathon foreigners are warmly welcomed. Worldloppet Masters had a bib with their name and the number of Worldloppet Masters they had accomplished printed on it. My bib had the text 27 x Worldloppet Master, Larsson Hannes. In the Saturday 50 km FT race I had bib No. 1 which meant that I started in the elite group. That necessitated to be careful when 1600 Russian skiers overtook me in the first few kilometers. Indeed the level of Russialoppet skiers is very high. Boris told me that whereas in other Worldloppet races he places in the middle of the participants, in Russialoppet races he is in the last 10 %. This bib will be a valuable addition to my collection of some 350 bibs. Another jewel is bib No. 11111 from a Birkebeinerrennet.

The course of Demino Ski Marathon consists of a 15 km loop followed by a 10 km loop, to be done twice. After the climb on the hill above the ski stadium the course of the first loop is practically flat except a couple of descents and uphills over a depression. In the descent to the ski stadium one can admire the view on the mighty Volga river. The second loop is more challenging in the first 5 km with three climbs and a couple of descents that maybe were frightening to slower skiers. But after the turning point the last 5 km back to the start/finish area are again flat, except the descent to the stadium. In the 25 km CT race on Sunday the course was the same with only one 15 + 10 km loop. The total climbs of the 25 km race amount to 173 m, the double in the 50 km race.  The course winds through forests and fields, sometimes near houses. On one of the attached pictures the painting on the Sport hotel wall shows the course map and below it the profile (the first 3 km are cut off). The weather was warm, near zero at the start of the 50 km race and going up to +3 °C. On Sunday the temperature remained near 0 °C. It had been warm the previous days and the snow was transformed. Probably most skiers used klister on Sunday. Sunday PM the place at the entrance of the stadium was crowded with families who enjoyed a concert of singers and folkloric dances, in a very festive mood.

A nice pasta party was offered to the participants on Friday PM. During the party Worldloppet Masters were invited to an adjacent room where they received gifts (a Russian winter hat with the text Master Worldloppet on one side and Demino Ski Marathon on the other). The president of the race welcomed the participants. The Russian Iron Lady ski legend Ludmila Kolobanova talked about her experiences and thanked the organizers. I brought the greetings of international Worldloppet skiers. About 60 of them were able to come this year, many more will come in coming years. Boris, Joseph and I had brought 23 copies of my book to the race. The organizers offered them to the skiers present at the ceremony and I wrote a dedication in them.

Our return to Moscow on Sunday PM followed the scheme of the outgoing journey with a few corrections resulting from taking the wrong road. Finally we were in the restaurant of the airport hotel at about 11 PM and enjoyed our well merited dinner. On Monday morning we flew back to Paris, happy with the nice experience of Demino Ski Marathon.

Hannes Larsson

A nice race and trip report made by our members Scott and Paulette Smith. Click PDF link to read it all.

Finlandia Hiihto Worldloppet Ski Race and Ski Vacation