Archive : Sunday, February
25, 2007
SKIERS ENJOY PICTURE-PERFECT DAY
AT 35TH MORIN-HEIGHTS
VIKING LOPPET
Crisp blue skies, mild temperatures
and pristine trails warmed by the sun made for a picture perfect
day for some 300 skiers who took part in the Morin-Heights
Viking Loppet on Sunday, Feb. 25th.
Participants represented
cross-country skiers of all ages and skill levels. The youngest
skiers were only five years old; the eldest were 78. In fact,
approximately a fifth of the skiers who took pa
rt were 50 years
of age and over. And, for the first time in recent memory, teens
under 15 competed in the longer of the three distance events,
the 33-km Smith-Johannsen Loppet. Participants could also choose
to ski a 10km or 20 km trail.
The overall winners of the 2007
edition of the Morin-Heights Viking Loppet were well-know skier
Phil Shaw, of Rosemere, in
the men’s category and teenager Olivia
Nesbitt-Bouffard, of Morin-Heights,
in the women’s category who also earned gold in the category for
girls 15 and under. Phil completed the 33-km course in a time of
one hour, 48 minutes and 34.3 seconds. Olivia, meanwhile,
recorded a time on the same course of two hours, 34 minutes and
34.3 seconds.
To provide the precise
timing, the Morin-Heights Viking Loppet enlisted the services of
Sp
ortstats, the
largest timing
company in Canada. The company is involved in more than 220
events annually and uses “ChampionChip” technology, which
saw each Loppet skier fitted with an ankle bracelet containing a
passive silicon chip. Special mats buried under the finish line
recorded the skiers’ times as they crossed. The times were then
relayed via the Internet to the Morin-Heights
Elementary School where they were
posted and used to identify the winners.
Meanwhile, gold, silver and bronze
medals were presented to skiers in 52 age and gender categories
at the elementary school as participants enjoyed a hot meal
prepared by Wendy Waugh and her team of volunteers.
This year’s event was the 35th
anniversary of the Loppet and represented the sixth year of a
successful partnership between the Municipality of Morin-Heights
and the Viking Ski Club. The event is organized each year on a
non-profit basis and any surpluses are carried over to help
improve the following year’s Loppet.
The Loppet’s key event sponsors for 2007 were
Gourmet du Village, Camping et Cabines Nature Morin-Heights,
Liberal MNA David Whissell, and Caisse Desjardins de la Vallée
Saint-Sauveur. Many other local companies also donated money,
products or services.
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