After ten days of murky, overcast Australian skies, I awoke on Saturday morning to bright sunshine streaming through the window. A bluebird day was the ideal backdrop to the 2010 Kangaroo Hoppet.
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With international travel and racing on hold, we reached back 10 years into the archives to share this 2010 update from Garrott during his first trip to the Southern Hemisphere.
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“The most pernicious zones of racism are the spaces where racial segregation continues to go unnoticed and therefore unquestioned.”
Anthony Kwame Harrison
From: Black Skiing, Everyday Racism, and the Racial Spatiality of Whiteness
Race is a term used often in competitive skiing. As in, “how was your race?” or “that was a great race!” Race… Racing... Raced... How about Racism? Skiing is one of many lenses through which we can observe the effects of systemic racism.
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“At a time of year when sunshine is rare, the skier leaves behind gloomy winter days in the city and finds enjoyment in the open country. Bright light and fresh air, as well as physical activity within a beautiful landscape, are the basis for people’s enjoyment of skiing and for its health benefits.”
So begins the International Ski Federation (FIS) Mainau Manifesto.
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Your preparation the week before the big race will not help you have the best race of your life; leave that to the other 51 weeks. The week before is for you to enjoy. It’s the best week of the year, when you can enjoy the fitness you have worked so hard to achieve. Planning your training, meals, sleep, equipment and travel will help you prepare, so you can glide to the start line with confidence. Ready to fly.
First, there is a fundamental question that will help keep the big event in perspective.
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This Lumi Experiences self-guided trip testimonial was written by guest Kort Longenbach about a trip he took with his family over the New Years holiday in 2020. Kort is also the Board Chair of the Mansfield Nordic Club in Vermont. You can find the original post on the Mansfield Nordic Club blog.
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Lumi Experiences is excited to announce its recognition as an official tour operator of the Worldloppet.
The Worldloppet is an international sports federation of cross-country ski marathons in 20 different countries. The aim of Worldloppet is to promote the sport of cross-country skiing, by focusing on popular skiing through ski events around the world. Lumi Experiences aim to bring people together and facilitate the best cross country ski experiences possible is on the same track as the Worldloppet.
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Chad Salmela is a man of many words, in many languages. He is perhaps best known for his jubilant “Here comes Diggins!” commentary at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Those who have met Chad know that he has a talent for talking. We featured Chad’s three tips for learning a new language last week.
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A few tips for learning a language, from Olympic commentator, Chad Salmela.
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Over the past three years, increasingly more guests have been bringing skin skis on their Lumi Experiences ski vacations and we have learned a lot.
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But it’s only September! That’s right. The world’s largest folk festival starts in September and goes until the first weekend in October in Munich, Germany. The first Oktoberfest took place in 1810, to celebrate the wedding of Princess Theresa to Bavarian Prince Ludwig. The party was so popular that the celebration became an annual tradition, starting earlier and earlier to draw out the party and take advantage of Munich’s notoriously good weather in late-September. The Theresien Wies’n is the meadow, named after Queen Theresa, that hosts the annual event--just a short walk from the cobblestone streets of Munich’s old town.
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Altenmarkt, Austria sits in the valley below the face of the Dachstein mountain. The lush green valley is home to 4,000 inhabitants and about as many grazing brown cows. On the edge of town, past the cobbled pedestrian streets lies the Atomic - Salomon ski factory. It is not hard to understand why this valley might attract skiers, surrounded by alpine ski hills on almost all sides.
I stopped in to check out the facility and get a better understanding of how skis are produced. Jean-Marc Draeyer, Salomon’s head of race ski production, took time away from selecting skis for the world’s top racers and specialty Nordic shops to take me on a tour of the facility. Photos are not allowed, but the process was enlightening, especially how the flex is literally baked into the ski to perform for specific conditions.
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