Text by Jean Bristow and Photos by Dave Rees
January 2014 was earmarked in our calendar a year ago as the month when we would complete three Worldloppets and the Masters World Cup – an ambitious undertaking but a good way to spend the month of January.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature was a little uncooperative at the start of our Adventure. Although there had been good snow coverage in the Czech Republic in November, it had all melted away before Christmas and as a result our first Worldloppet, the Jizerská 50, was cancelled on January 6th, the day of our departure from Canada, and six days before it was due to happen.
The 2014 Jizerská 50 Worldloppet race trail
Undaunted, we hastily rearranged our itinerary and were able to spend an extra couple of days in Prague doing some sightseeing which was an excellent substitute for a 50 kilometre race!
Prague by night
From the Czech Republic we drove south for about 7 hours to Obertilliach in the Austrian Tyrol for the Dolomitenlauf and there was no shortage of snow!
Our next Worldloppet, the Dolomitenlauf, was held on January 19th. Although there was plenty of snow, waxing conditions were extremely challenging as the temperature hovered around zero and there had been fresh snow overnight which made the tracks quite soft during the pre-race phase. However, once the race started the tracks quickly became glazed, icy and packed like concrete as close to 800 skiers raced out of the start grid.
This certainly played havoc with the kick wax on our skis, but we were not alone in our distress, as all along the route there were groups of skiers standing to the side of the track, cork and wax in hand, trying to achieve a little bit of grip. Both of us opted to double pole as much as we could, which made it a tough race as there is a 7 kilometre climb which begins at about the midpoint of the 42 kilometre course.
The race course, which starts and ends at the Ski Centre near Obertilliach, winds its way close to several other small villages, follows a river for several kilometres, and then climbs up the mountainside through dense forest before descending down to the valley floor once again and through a series of open areas which are cattle pastures in summer.
Our next stop was the PillerseeTal region of Austria for the World Masters events… a half day’s drive north of Obertilliach.
Lunch stop about 25 kms from our destination, parked on what would normally be a ski trail!
When we arrived on January 21st, we discovered that here, too, a lack of snow was causing logistical headaches for the Masters World Cup Organizing Committee. However, after the first two days of shortened races on a limited course it snowed…enough new snow that subsequent races were held on the ten and fifteen kilometre loops.
Official Training Day at PillerseeTal, January 23rd
The World Masters is a unique experience – multiple languages are spoken, old friends from opposite sides of the world greet one another, and there is an international feeling of camaraderie as everyone prepares to “put it all out there” on the start line.
We enjoy watching all the age classes (skiers attain Masters status on their 30th birthday), but find it particularly inspiring to watch men and women in their sixties, seventies and eighties racing as hard as they can.
I, Jean, look at my own fellow-competitors, in the F8 category which is women aged 65 to 69, and I see a group of kindred spirits, many of us grandmothers, out there having fun, pushing ourselves to the limit, and then celebrating a good race as we cross the finish line with hugs, smiles and congratulations in many languages!
In 2014 the oldest competitors were two men aged 85 and the oldest woman was 82.
In 2011 when the World Masters was held at Sovereign Lake, Vernon, BC, the most senior competitor was an American man, 93 years young.
Awards ceremony for category M12 (men 85-89)
Snow conditions had improved dramatically by January 25th!
There was time on the official rest day for a trip to Salzburg, about an hour’s drive away, where we discovered it was Mozart Week, as the great composer’s 258th birthday had been just the day before we arrived. A gorgeous city which exudes culture and elegance (although we are not sure that applies to the rubber ducks designed to look like Mozart…)
Our final destination was Oberammergau, Germany for the Konig Ludwig Lauf, our last Worldloppet. This is normally a 50 km race but again owing to a severe lack of snow, it was touch and go up to a week before the event as to whether it would be possible to hold it. Happily, a fall of snow allowed the organizers to groom a 23 kilometre loop, which we skied twice.
Konig Ludwig, or King Louis, lived in the 19th century and was King of Bavaria. He was a strong admirer of Louis XIV of France and built several castles which he decorated in the most elaborate fashion in order to emulate the Palace at Versailles, where the French king had lived a couple of centuries before. The usual 50 kilometre race course winds through the castle grounds, but our shortened version did not go that far up the valley, disappointingly.
Once again it was a challenging wax day with temperatures hovering around zero, overcast skies and a fresh fall of snow in the pre-dawn hours. The snow was wetter and softer than in the Dolomitenlauf, so the track did not get packed down quite as hard, but nonetheless it was a double poling exercise once again. At the finish, skiers were entitled to a very welcome dish of hot pasta, sandwiches and pastries along with a glass of beer and the usual post-race analysis of how it had all unfolded.
All in all, we raced about 140 kilometres in a two week period, we visited Prague, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Oberammergau, we enjoyed wonderful hospitality in three different countries and we created a host of lasting memories. Is there any better way to spend the month of January?!
And of course, there were the daily cappuccinos!