City of the Lakes Loppet and The Minikahda Club

Let me begin by saying I'm not a cross country skier.  I do own a nice set of skis, but I feel like a deer on ice when I strap them on.  I just can't seem to master trying to skate up a hill without catching a tip and falling face first into the snow.  It's much easier to just ski down than ski up.  Yes, I admit I would rather spend my time taking the lift to the top of the hill or mountain and let gravity help me make it to the bottom.  I also have to admit that when I found out the City of the Lakes Loppet was going to be using the ski trails here at The Minikahda Club, I didn't think it was that big of a deal.  Well, I was wrong.

We have been grooming trails here at Minikahda for over 15 years.  Over the years we have refined our system, upgraded our grooming equipment, modified our trails and even expanded into a heavily wooded area on the golf course, providing a ski trail distance of close to 4K.  Not only do we provide trails for skiers but for walkers (yes dogs are welcome) and for snowshoe enthusiasts.  Some country clubs invest a great deal of time and money into ice skating rinks and platform tennis and yes The Minikahda Club provides these activities as well, but I believe, for a group of amateur trail groomers, we provide a very nice ski trail for our members and guests.

It really is an honor for our staff to know the City of the Lakes Loppet has chosen to add our trail system to the races.  One of our members, Tom Haeg, who is also Chairman of the Nordic Committee, was greatly involved in getting our trail system included in the Loppet and has been a big help in preparing us for the event.

Our staff will be grooming our section of the race trails as the City of Minneapolis crews have enough to deal with on the miles of trails they are preparing. Assistant Superintendent Isaac Kasper, has been doing the majority of the grooming this season and will have it dialed in for this weekends event.  I'm hopeful the competitors will feel favorable about the condition of our trails. I for one will be a spectator, watching up close as some incredible athletes ascend upon the golfing grounds of The Minikahda Club, and cruise past me at speeds I can only reach on my downhill skis.

Below is a link to the Loppet as well as the overall map which includes Minikahda's portion of the race.
City of the Lakes Loppet

City of Lakes Loppet Ski Map

Thank you to Skinny Ski for the wonderful comments regarding our trails.  

skinnyski.com article