The Ushuaia Loppet was fantastic. I Used VR55 because its one of two hardwaxes that I brought and I didn’t feel like messing with Klister! Most
of the course was flat though…
On August 18th, I took part in the 50k Ushuaia Loppet classic race. Skies were blue and temperatures hovered around 0 celcius for a perfect day of skiing in the southern part of Argentina. On the morning of the event, I waxed a trusty pair of old training skis, hopped on the start line and started the race with a couple hundred people. I certainly had no expectations of winning, as I had never seen a registration list, and was feeling sleepy and tired from travel and changes in diet. To my surprise I was the first woman to cross the finish line with a time of 2:53:46! My motivation during the race was the beautiful scenery and my teammates at Colby college, who I devoted 5k sections of the course to.
The Ushuaia Loppet and Marchablanca are part of the World Loppet series, which meant that tons of international skiers were here. It was novel to have Brazilians and Europeans as my main competition. Another bonus of being in Argentina was receiving several bottles of wine over the course of check in, reception and awards.
I’m lucky to be in Ushuaia for a full month, practicing my Spanish and ski training. It’s a completely new place with a different level of skiing facilities than the Methow Valley has. For instance, a running marathon is taking place on the ski trail this weekend and it’s unlikely they’ll regroom afterwards. The people are incredibly welcoming, and I’ve already given ski lessons to a class of 10 year olds, tourists and locals who have never been on skis before. Overall it is a fantastic adventure, and I’d love to share more about my experience with anyone who is interested!
