By Kayla Bruch

P.A. hosts first cross-country double-header

Feb 8, 2015 | 2:53 PM

The recent dump of snow in Prince Albert and area may have caused complaints amoung highway drivers and travelers, but for cross-country skiers it means perfect conditions for the Cosmo Classic Loppet.

According to first-time Loppet organizer Mike Horn, the social skiing event on Sunday couldn’t have turned out better.

“We’ve had some unfortunate conditions in past years, too cold, not enough snow…lots of hurdles to overcome but you know what this year everything came together, we got snow just in the nick of time and we got good weather,” he said. “A Loppet is all about fun and people ask ‘what is a Loppet?’…it’s our skier’s marathon and you know we just encourage people to come out.”

The Loppet in Prince Albert has been hosted off and on for around 20 years. Horn said this year’s event was one of the largest turnouts ever, with about 85 skiers skiing anywhere from 6.4 to 30 kilometers.

Glenn Wright said this was his first time traveling to Prince Albert for the Loppet. Wright brought his whole family and his father to the event. He said it would be fair to say his father is the one who got him interested in cross-country skiing at the age of eight.

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“We’ve never been to the Prince Albert Loppet before but the snow has just been so bad around where we are south of Saskatoon,” he said. “It snows and then it melts so it’s all ice. This sounded like a great way to come up and experience the Prince Albert Little Red Park.”

Horn said they really rely on marketing and word-of-mouth to get people out to the Loppet.

“Hopefully when they come and they have a great time they’re going to tell their friends and come back next year and it’ll just keep growing,” he said.

Following the event the skiers had the chance to win door prizes and eat a meal at the Cosmo Lodge. Horn said the Loppet concluded a great weekend of cross-country skiing.

“We thought, you know, let’s have a double-header weekend,” he said. “It’s never really happened in the province before you either go to a Sask Cup race or you go to a Loppet…they’re never in the same weekend.”

To read more about the Sask Cup that was on Saturday click here.

kbruch@panow.com

On Twitter: @KaylaBruch1