World Loppet skiers, Tomoko,Suomi and Minoru ski around the world to put stamps in their WL passports.

Sad skiers in 2007.
Courtney, Bob, Hannes and Bengt.

Windows or Mac?
Lots of snow this year.
Grant Mcleod, above the clouds.

Saul' s Winter Adventures
Czech Adventure
World Loppet (WL)is an international sports federation of cross-country skiing marathons. The federation was founded in 1978 in Uppsala, Sweden. The aim of Worldloppet is to promote the sport of cross-country skiing through the various ski races around the world.
With only one left undone I headed to the Czech Republic for the Jizerská Padesátka.
I was prepared, I had logged lots of km's in training for this early season race.
There are some things beyond our control.
Weather is one of those things.
And it was not cooperating.
The winter of 2007 was an unusually snowless winter across Europe. Instead of achieving my WL Global Skier Status by completing all 14 World Loppet Races, I was content to drive to Switzerland and enjoy 10 days of the only snowy valley in the Alps but no racing.
Last winter some health problems led to the cancellation of my racing ambitions.
This winter I was ready. 1000km's of rollerskiing and 800km's of early season snow that began November 16.
What are the chances of great snow at home, great snow in Europe and good health?
It all came together and I headed off to Europe for a winter with exceptional snow cover.
There was snow in Munich where I landed and even more snow all the way though the Czech Republic through Liberec (home to the World Nordic Ski Championships in February) and on to Bed?ichov. The roads were snow packed and treacherous. Where I saw green grass two years ago there was a winter wonderland. Temp -7 and lots of fresh cold dry snow, “A Blue Extra day” as they say in Norway, where the only question is; how many layers of Swix Blue Extra wax do you need? Three layers were all we needed for the next 4 days. We skied the trickier parts of the 50km "Padesátka" course though the Jizerska Mountains that boarder south western Poland. Temperatures ranged from -2 to -7 and lots of sunshine and spectacular vistas. Race day I awoke to clear skys and -7...easy waxing. For some reason I was given a first wave starting position some 10 minutes ahead of my 3rd wave friend and travelling buddy, Bob Palliser. We arrived with plenty of time to test our blue grip wax on the course. I headed up the first km from the start line. No surprise, the wax was still great. On my way back to the start I saw a couple of Norwegians testing their wax, the Aukand brothers. Thats the last that I will see them in this race. I am now ready to stash my warm-ups and head to the start. I didn’t know what to expect at the start. It was a Le Mans style start...very civilized. At 8:30 the gate opened, we carried our skis to the start zone. Put them on and headed off to the chirp of our timing chips. My plan, start slow and ease into my pace. There is a lot of climbing in this 50km course. It is uphill for most of the first 10km's. The three sets of tracks wind though the snow covered pine forest. Three km's in we have the first slight downhill to Nova Louca from here on the pack opens up and I am able to follow my own pace. I pass where I want to and get passed as necessary. The climb is steady. Wax and tracks combine for a perfect kick and glide up the hill to the height of land some 250 meters above the start. Ten km's of climbing in well under an hour. If that is the slowest part I'm in for a treat. The glide is not as fast as I would like. The fresh sharp snow means that I have to push to glide down and along the few flats. It is slower than I would like but I am making progress. It sure feels like there is more up than down. In fact as I reach the 35km mark I have the distinct feeling that it was all uphill to this point. With only 15k to go I visualize my 13km training loop at Horseshoe Valley with 350 meters of climbing. I can do this and I will finish in well under 4 hours. Before I know it I can hear the PA system announcing the finish line. With the confidence of completion I push through the winding finishing loops to the line. My timing chip chirps out at 3:49. I enjoy a hot drink of Cauldo Cauldo and watch the clock. Ten minutes and 11 seconds later Bob crosses the line.
I did what I could not do two years ago. Two years ago this would have given me the status of WL Global Skier for completing all 14 World Loppet Races. One complication, this year there is a new race in the fold. The Bieg Piostow race in Poland pushes the carrot just in front of my nose. After 9 years of skiing around the world, a World Loppet Master for completing 10 different WL races and 7 races into my second passport I am pretty happy. My global aspirations will have to wait.

Austrian Adventue
Next Day we drive to Austria for the Dolomiten Lauf 42km Classic and 60km Skate which I did in 2005.
We are staying in an apartment in the village of Obertilliach just steps away from the 42k classic course at 1400 meters in elevation. The temperature up here is a good 5 degrees warmer than in the valley where the cold damp air hangs like a wet rug below our sunny mountaintop location. The skate race is located in the cold valley near the town of Lienz. This is the Tirol. Back home ski architecture emulates a stylized version of Tyrolean charm. This is the real thing. Rough hewn lumber, post and beam construction with the spectacular snow covered Tyrolean Peaks as a backdrop. This is our playground for the next week. I can't think of a better way of preparing for the two ski marathons this next weekend. A short walk puts us on the trail that winds through open pastures, pine forests, up and down hills and into the Obertilliach ski stadium and Biathlon Centre. The next couple of days give us the opportunity to adjust to the elevation and explore the marathon course. The first day we attack the hilly 2nd half of the course. It is gently rolling with one major climb that goes up for a couple of km's and then winds down a series of twisty downhills to return to the stadium for the finish. The next day we explore the deceptive pasture loop. It zigzags through the spectacular open pasture with views of the Tyrolean Peaks, barns, village churches and homes. The zigs pack a lot of kilometers in a compact space. It looks like it is mostly downhill but the fresh slow gliding snow turns it into an uphill struggle down the slope to the river and a return to the stadium.
Race day is a sunny repeat of the past, another ‘blue extra day’.
The day starts with a two km ski to the stadium for the start. I’m not too worried about the uphill return of two more km’s after the marathon. It does make me think about all those past efforts to find that prime parking spot near the start line and those ‘athletes’ who insist on parking their cars as close to the health club as possible.
The start is a sensible mass start with about 600 skiers. My plan to start slow worked last time so it is my strategy again. At the second zig I see Bob ski by.
This was my first big mistake in strategy. I didn’t let him know he was ahead. Knowing the course is a big advantage. I skied with confidence and paced myself for comfort. At the bottom of the zigzag section I could see the elite skiers disappearing into the woods. I could see that there were just as many skiers ahead as there were behind, another middle of the pack day. By the time I turned into the woods the field was quite spread out. Following the river uphill back to the stadium my conservation of energy was paying off as I pass lots of skiers in the slow uphill grind. Up the big climb I could see the effect of pacing. I passed skiers who were having trouble keeping their skis in the uphill track. The downhill was a treat on the final return to the stadium and the finish. I finally caught up to Bob in the food tent. He thought I was ahead of him so he didn’t let up and finished well ahead of me.
Marathon number 3 is the feature event of the Marathon Cup. I am familiar with this 60km Skate course. The start line was drenched in icy fog that kept the temperature close to -10. Again a slow easy start was in order. It took about 7km for the field to spread out during which point I saw Bob speedily disappear ahead of me. In front of me I see a big pileup as skiers try to negotiate a narrow bottleneck up short steep climb through a gate. Last time I found myself squeaking through as skiers tripped on either side of me. I managed to navigate the ‘Parting seas’ of fallen skiers. I didn’t see another skier for at least 5 minutes. This time I was in the collapsing sea of skiers. The long flat course follows the long flat valley with only one climb in the village of Nikolsdorf. After the downhill I remembered looking for bodies to tuck behind to avoid the head wind up the valley. With the field so spread out it was difficult finding someone at the right pace. I did finally catch a skiers who was content to let me hand on to his draft. After 10km’s he faded as we entered the last feed. With only 10k to go I felt strong and well rested to take the lead and one skated away on my own. At the 58k mark I spotted Bob in the distance. I caught him with just 1.5k to go. Content to ski together we chatted for a while until Bob said go for it so I did. At the last couple of road crossings spectators wielding start lists looked me up and cheered me by name. What a lift. This gave me that final push under the bridge and onto the main street in Lienz to the finish.
I did it ; WL Master#1965, 14 out of 15 WL races completed and 7 out of 10 WL races completed in passport 2.
--Saul