City of Lakes Loppet

The infamous up-hill start is no more. Rather than starting in front of the Chalet as in years past, the start has moved to the new “stadium” area on top of the hill behind the Chalet.

To access the new stadium area, proceed from the parking lot up behind the Chalet, and go up the stairs and to the top of the hill near the snowboard area. The race will start in the stadium area facing the east/northeast. Look for the clothing bag drop near the stadium area and start line. Map showing details of the Wirth Park start area

This new start format will help to ease congestion in the first kilometer of the race.

This is the urban ski race. Participants start at Theodore Wirth Park, ski approximately 33K through woods, over parkways and across lakes to a grand finish before cheering crowds on the streets of Uptown. Skiers of all ages and abilities will be challenged and thrilled by this beautiful urban course. Go for your best time, or simply enjoy this unique ski experience.

Start format:
The freestyle race will have 6 waves with up to 200 people per wave. We will attempt to have an equal number of people in each wave. Skiers will be placed into waves based on their speed. Preliminary wave assignments will be made about 1 week before the event. All skiers registered at that time will be sorted from fastest to slowest by their qualifying time and then divided into 6 waves with an equal number of skiers per wave. Bib numbers will correlate to qualifying times with the lowest bib numbers going to the fastest skiers. Final wave assignments will be made 1 day before the race and may differ from the preliminary wave assignments due to additional registration activity. Qualifying times will be established from race results over the last 2 years. The City of Lakes Loppet will look-up results from the following events: City of Lakes Loppet, Birkie, Korteloppet, and the Mora 35K and 58K races. If you have not participated in any of those races and would like another race to be considered for a qualifying time, please include that with your registration or e-mail it to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you do not have a previous race result to use as a qualifying time, you will be placed into the last wave. To account for differences in race course distances, terrain, weather conditions etc, all results will be adjusted to a City of Lakes Loppet time. The adjustments are made by evaluating the results of those skiers who participated in both the Loppet and the other events and establishing a linear regression to correlate those results to the Loppet. If a skier has participated in multiple events over the last 2 years, their best time will be used as their qualifying time. Preliminary wave assignments will be published on our web site about 1 week before the race. If you believe you have been placed into the wrong wave, please contact us with the reasons why you think you should be in another wave. Reasonable requests will be gladly accommodated. Learn more about

how the Loppet determines wave assignments.

Awards:
All first time Freestyle race finishers receive Loppet medals. Multiple-time finishers receive special pins commemorating the number of years they have completed the event. Imported Austrian brass bells go to the top three finishers in each 5-year age class. Prize money is awarded to the top finishers - $1000 for 1st, $500 for 2nd, and $200 for third.

Middle-of-the-Pack Award:
The person who finishes exactly in the middle of the pack person of the freestyle race wins a trip for two on a Wilderness Inquiry Apostle Islands Three Day trip. The winner will be determined by the results list as of noontime, the Monday after the event. In case of an even number of finishers the faster of the two "middle" finishers wins. For example, if there were 700 finishers, the 350th finisher would win the Middle-of-the-Pack award.

Hoigaard's Challenge:
The City of Lakes Freestyle Loppet is a Hoigaard's Challenge event. Do either the Freestyle Loppet or the Hoigaard's Classic, then complete the Tri-Loppet and Trail Loppet in a single year and qualify for awards and recognition.

Double-Loppet Award:
Ski the City of Lakes Loppet and the Mora Vasaloppet in the same year and receive the "Double-Loppet" award. This participation pin goes to all skiers who complete a 25 kilometer or longer event at both the City of Lakes Loppet and the Mora Vasaloppet in the same year. Skiers competing in the 35 kilometer freestyle races at both events will also be eligible for age-class recognition on a combined time basis.