News & Stories

Puoli Loppet – Skate and REI Tour – Skate Start Time Delayed By Two Hours on Sunday

With temperatures predicted to be around 5 to 10 degrees below zero at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, organizers have decided to move the start times for the Puoli Loppet – Skate and the REI Tour – Skate to 11 a.m. The Loppet Marathon Skate race will start as scheduled – with the Best of the Loppet wave going out at 10 a.m. and the other waves following at 5 minute increments as planned.

Starting later will hopefully make for a better experience for Tour and Puoli Loppet participants and will make for a better, safer experience for the many course marshals and aid station volunteers along the course. The downside is that there will be more congestion on the trails as the shorter course skiers merge in with the marathon skiers. On balance, we believe that this change will make for a better and safer experience for everyone involved. We ask that skiers be respectful of each other. It is a long race and the course opens considerably once participants reach the Chain of Lakes. In the end we are all out there to have a good time so please keep a positive spirit while out on the trails and recognize that the race will not be won or lost on any one section of the trails.