Loppet ski-racing looks to New Zealand

Press, 3 June 1981, Page 28

Loppet ski-racing looks to New Zealand

Bv

ALAN BRADY

New Zealand coulu become part of an international cross-country ski-ing circuit which would bring several hundred top Nordic ski racers to this country each winter.

The World Loppet League, which organises a series of 10 long-distance cross-coun-try events in Europe, the United States and Canada each year, has indicated it would like to include New Zealand on the circuit. And the area most suitable for staging such an event is likely to be the rolling Pisa Range between Wanaka and Cromwell. The outstanding American cross-country skier. Bill Koch, skied' in the Mt Pisa and Cardrona areas last winter and was enthusiastic about the possibility of a world classic cross-country event being organised in this country. "Now the secretary-general of World Loppet. Anthony Wise, has written to the New Zealand Nordic Ski club endorsing the idea. "It is my great desire that New Zealand, Australia. Chile and Argentina could become members of our league and thereby give us a chance to ski races in the southern hemisphere during

our summer months, - ’ he says in a letter to John Trueman, captain of the New Zealand club. If New Zealand is added to the exclusive World Loppet passport, several hundred cross-country skiers from round the world could be expected to compete here. In its brief, two-year history. the World Loppet (loppet is Norwegian for race) has already become the “Olympics” of the crosscountry sport. The concept originated at a meeting of American and European officials at Telemark in the United States on February 24. 1978, and the World Loppet was officially formed on June 10 that year in Uppsala, Sweden. The idea was to give “citizen" skiers anywhere in the world a chance to compete on an international level against similar skiers —

each one seeking to complete all World Loppet races sometime in his or her lifetime and earn a World Loppet medallion.

Trueman and his wife. Doris, who is a member of the British cross-country ski team, are at present living in the Cardrona valley and will help stage the first New Zealand cross-country championships on the Pisa Range in September. If all goes well, a New Zealand citizen's loppet will be held in conjunction with the championships and Trueman believes this could be the first step towards having this country included in the World.Loppet League. “Membership would be a huge boost to the sport and to the whole winter sports industry here,” he said. "As many as 70,000 skiers are expected to compete in the 10 existing races this year and many of them take part in all 10 to accumulate points towards a World Loppet medallion.”

About 60,000 skiers competed in the nine original races in 1979 and 1980 with Sweden’s Matti Kuosko winning the elite championship both years. Fourteen citizen skiers have so. far earned World Loppet medallions. The 10 countries on this year’s circuit were Austria, Italy, West Germany, Canada, France, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway.. All the races were over a distance of between 42 and 90 kilometres — the last was the Birkebeiner Rennet in Norway on March 22. Cross-country ski-ing is one of the fastest growing winter sports in the world. In the United States after Koch won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics, the sport boomed and from a relatively minor recreational activity, it now has over six million regular participants. In New Zealand difficulty of access to suitable terrain and the unavailability of suitable equipment have restricted the sport to a few enthusiasts. However, commercial operators in Queenstown, Cromwell and Wanaka have been operating cross-country ski trips for two seasons.