Tour Duluth, an urban ski challenge this weekend

You know how in a Broadway musical, they start with an overture that includes snippets of all the great songs to come? What if they did the same thing at the end of the musical as well? An epilogue...an “outro”?...the grand finale?

That’s just what’s happening on Duluth’s cross country ski trails this Saturday, March 9. Thanks to Duluth XC Ski Club for sponsoring a great event.

 

Hans Slade, Tour Duluth 2012

It's all about Duluth
Tour Duluth is a year-end celebration of cross country skiing in Duluth. Skiers are encouraged to ski as many of Duluth’s ski trails as they can in one day. There are six trails and over sixty kilometers of trail here in town.

I challenged myself last year to ski at least 2 km at every trail in Duluth. Toward the afternoon, temps were in the 40s and my son was skiing in shorts. and some people actually ski every last bit of trail.

This year: Better, not bigger
The Tour is a bit easier this year because the ski trail at Chester Park is closed and they’ve consolidated some of the long trails at Spirit Mountain. Last year, there were eight area and about seventy kilometers of trail

Conditions are looking really good this year, plenty of snow with more on the way. Organizers are asking that you download a kilometer tracking sheet.

There are suggested starting times for each of the ski trails. The fun starts at 8:00 AM at the Spirit Mountain Nordic Center, off of Skyline Drive. They will have hot cocoa and refreshment there from 8-11. From there it moves to Piedmont trails, then to Snowflake Nordic (Free skiing for Tour participants), then to Lester. There will be more refreshments at Lester from 2-4. The tour ends at UMD’s Bagley and finally Hartley Nature Center.

Late afternoon on the Hartley Park cross country ski trail

The day wraps up with a big taco dinner at Hartley, 5:30-7:00. Preregistration is requested for the taco dinner.

See you out on the trail!