Has anyone participated in the past? We will be in town that weekend (have tix for the Prairie Home Companion performance Saturday night), and thinking about taking in some of the non-competitive events both days. Looks like fun.

it is fun, my wife and i have done the night ski. my wife does the hoigaards ski with my daughter. i have volunteered as a race course official, set up gates, timing, etc. my son does the freestyle race. he has finished in the top 30 five times. this is a great race to watch, the section near wirth is very hilly, not an easy course. photo is 2008 elite wave at race start which at that time started on the old ski hill, going up. my son is in there somewhere. he finished 14th that year.

Hilly, indeed. Missing the Sat. night Luminary Loppet is the only downer right now, but the Surly Beer and Vendor Village is in play. :) Thinking about the Sun. morning REI 10K Tour, I downloaded the .kmz file and looked at the elevations... 370 ft of elevation gains, some with 20%+ upgrades... including a surprisingly hilly section in the south end of the park, north of 394. I called and asked about the fun level to be had by a family of classic woodenskiers, and was welcomed enthusiastically. Apparently, they plan a classic track alongside the skaters for as much of the entire length as possible.

you should see these people's idea of fun. the classic sections miss some of the worst (or best) hills. by all means come and have fun. there will be plenty of people on wood skis, on some of the hilly sections wood skis may be to your advantage as they typically don't have as stiff of a camber.


nordic racers dress pretty cool. i never have a problem talking my wife into watching a race.

When you say 'pretty cool,' perhaps you mean this:

Yikes. Now I know why I don't compete with these guys: the Freestyle 35K includes 1635 ft of total elevation gains; the Classic 25K offers 1280 ft of climbing.


Edit: Although, I just took a look at one of my favorite 5K loops around here, and it shows a very respectable 380 ft of elevation gains. :)