This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. After the 2018 Olympics, workers at the Minneapolis Parks and Rec Department had to start putting up posters in the old Theodore Wirth Park chalet to “Clean up your glitter.” Thousands of...
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. This has been a terrible winter for skiing in much of North America, particularly in the midwest. With temperatures consistently above freezing and little snowfall, most races in the region have either been...
What are European World Cup skiers asking ahead of the circuit’s first-ever visit to Minneapolis next February? According to Jessie Diggins, “They’re like, have you heard of the Mall of America?” In a recent media event held at Theodore Wirth Park, Diggins—with fellow Minnesotan US Ski Team member Zak Ketterson—highlighted plans to make the first FIS World Cup held in the United States in 22 years an even bigger Twin Cities attraction than a mall...
In 2024, Minneapolis, Minnesota will host an FIS World Cup. That fact has been the source of pure excitement across US Skiing, and also of déjà vu. For many skiers and ski fans, the cancellation of the planned World Cup races at Theodore Wirth Park in March 2020 will forever be associated with those uncertain first days of the COVID-19 pandemic. American World Cup athletes had come home, the banners and bleachers were up, when...
Canmore, Alberta—February 9-13, 2024 The Alberta World Cup Society (AWCS) will host the COOP FIS Cross-Country World Cup for three race days at the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park and one City Sprint in Calgary from February 9-13, 2024. This marks the seventh time that AWCS has invited the world’s best skiers to experience Alberta’s world renowned Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park. And a new challenge has been undertaken by the organizing committee, hosting a...
A look at what’s ahead for the Birkebeiner, and its former home at the Telemark Lodge. When I reached out to American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF) Executive Director Ben Popp before Christmas to set-up an interview discussing the Birkie’s plans for the now-defunct Telemark Lodge property, he was already putting plans into action. An interview would have to wait until after the holidays, because that weekend ,the Birkie was hosting a SuperTour race which would...
To trace the thread of the past, present, and future of American cross-country skiing, all you have to do is look at a golf course in Minneapolis that touches 3 of those 10,000 lakes in Minnesota; Theodore Wirth Park. Over the past week, America’s most-skied loop played host to the US Ski and Snowboard Junior Championships (formerly Junior Nationals, or “JNs”), bringing the top under-20 year old skiers from across the nation together for the...
In early July, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation announced the launch of the Team Birkie professional racing team. The elite post-graduate training group would pull from the three primary midwestern clubs, the Loppet Foundation, Central Cross Country Skiing (or CXC), and the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. While the midwest has a strong culture of cross country skiing with a breadth of strong youth and masters racing teams, it has been nearly a decade since the...
NEWS RELEASE Media Contact: Heidi Ledermann marketing@loppet.org TEAM BIRKIE LAUNCHES! Three of the largest cross country ski organizations in the Central Region combine forces to start a professional racing team Minneapolis (July 2, 2021) — Central Cross Country Skiing (CXC), the Loppet Foundation, and the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF) are teaming up to create a high performance racing team – so that the next Jessie Diggins can stay home to train, inspire...
Since 2011, Brian and Caitlin Gregg have been residents of north Minneapolis. They added daughter Heidi to the mix a year and a half ago. They are close to Theodore Wirth Park, an urban magnet for cross-country skiing with amenities like snowmaking, homologated trails, and mountain biking in the non-snow months. The Loppet Foundation, a local non-profit, was poised to host the first World Cup in the U.S. since 2001 until concerns and regulations...
In this episode, we connect with John Munger, Executive Director of the Loppet Foundation in Minneapolis and Garrott Kuzzy, former U.S. Ski Team member who grew up near Wirth Park. From impressions of Wirth back-in-the-day to exploring how the World Cup ended up in Minneapolis, we drill down on most (but not all) things Minneapolis World Cup. That event goes down on March, 17. We cover the cost of hosting, infrastructure demands, and how the pieces...
Join the Loppet team! The Loppet Foundation creates a shared passion for year-round outdoor adventure in the Minneapolis area, with programs and events serving everyone from fourth-graders learning to ski to competitive racers. We are now hiring for customer service, communications, merchandising and more! Join this stellar team and help elevate cross-country skiing and endurance sports widely at our home base in Theodore Wirth Regional Park. See all career opportunities here.
(Press Release) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Alora Jones Phone: 612-900-6890 Email: jones@loppet.org Website: loppet.org Winter’s Early Arrival — A Season of Firsts at Wirth Park First snow trail of the season opens, new community-based programming, and a first-of-its-kind 759-acre ‘gym’ Minneapolis, MN — Staff and volunteers at the Loppet Foundation have been hard at work this season transforming Theodore Wirth Regional Park into a winter wonderland amidst uncertain weather conditions. Thanks to the completion...
The questions started rolling in this spring. How’s training going? Are you going for 2019 World Championships? What’s the plan for next winter? When you’re Caitlin and Brian Gregg, Olympians and local superstars in the Midwest, it’s hard to keep your athletic profile on the DL. Since buying a house on Theodore Wirth Park seven years ago, the couple has immersed themselves in the greater Minneapolis community — both in and out of skiing. They’ve...
Following the 2017 World Cup Finals in Canada, John Munger, executive director of the Loppet Foundation, received a phone call from a fellow Minnesotan. Jessie Diggins had just completed her 2016/2017 season, and she had a question for Munger. If Quebec could host a World Cup, why couldn’t Minnesota? “She was really jealous of her colleagues in Canada,” Munger recalled in a phone interview on Sunday. The North American home crowd in Quebec City had...
(Press release) The International Ski Federation (FIS) today officially confirmed that Minnesota will host a World Cup cross-country ski event in Minneapolis in March 2020. U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the Loppet Foundation will serve as hosts of the World Cup event, taking place at the new ‘The Trailhead’ facility in Theodore Wirth Park. “A Minnesotan who brought home a gold medal has now helped us bring home the World Cup,” said host committee co-chair RT...
(Press release) Minneapolis, MN — Big changes are coming to the annual City of Lakes Loppet Festival! Now in its 17th installment, the multi-day winter festival has become a Minneapolis staple for celebrating the wonder, adventure, and fun of the winter season in Minnesota. Now with the completion of The Trailhead, the Loppet Foundation’s long-awaited headquarters, most of this year’s City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival events will be centered in Theodore Wirth Regional Park...
(Press release) Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Loppet Foundation celebrate opening of The Trailhead in Theodore Wirth Regional Park New facility will serve as a jumping off point for full slate of year-round, world-class outdoor recreation opportunities On Tuesday, July 17, 2018, officials from the Loppet Foundation and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) were joined by a crowd of supporters and Theodore Wirth Regional Park users for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked the official...
(Press release) The International Ski Federation (FIS) has awarded the
Register here MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (January 5, 2018)– The World Masters Association has approved a motion to extend registrations for the 2018 Masters World Cup, happening January 19-26. “The WMA Executive Committee decided that the early dates of this particular MWC required additional time for registrations to come in. We understand that some folks — particularly in the Upper Midwest — are still building fitness and having another week to decide to participate in the MWC2018...