US Ski and Snowboard Super Tour Takes Place at Spirit Mountain

DULUTH, Minn. — The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Super Tour presented by the National Nordic Ski Foundation, wrapped up at Spirit Mountain on Sunday. After Saturday’s perfect conditions for the sprinting events, Sunday brought about some different weather, which didn’t stop the races from going on, as this group has their sights set on Beijing.

This weekend is the first of four race weekends in the Super Tour Series that will all be used as part of the selection criteria for those trying to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing for 2022.

Over the next few weeks, athletes are working towards scoring points, but starting the process right here in Duluth means a lot to the community.

“To get more kind of notoriety for Duluth, the entire city of Duluth and the fact that we can provide this kind of skiing, these kinda of competitions are really what bring in that national attention,” Gary Larson, Chief of Competition, said.

Spirit Mountain has hosted local and regional races before, but this is the first national event they’ve held, which is a big accomplishment.

“An event like this really brings our ski community together, in Duluth we have a really strong ski community, home of multiple Olympian’s,” Siiri Morse, Chief of The Organizing Committee, said.

There were teams from Alaska, Utah, Vermont and New York, and having the ability to bring a wide spread amount of teams to one central location is one of the reasons organizers enjoy these national events.

“One of my favorite things about organizing is reconnecting with the ski community. I’ve been around in the ski community for a long time and you get to see the people you only get to see in the winter,” Morse said.

While winter has just started to stick in the Twin Ports, some skiers were concerned about Sunday’s weather.

“The forecast leading into this was much more snow and higher winds with drifting and it could have been a real difficult day but we had the snow kind of held off and it didn’t snow as much, and then it kind of stopped, so we re groomed it but from the standpoint of putting the race on, we really have to say we lucked out,” Larson said.

Sundays events were the 5 and 10 k races, while Saturdays sprints were 1.3 k, but the compete level was high as earning points is key here.

“The added kind of incentive for racers that this is the first weekend of the season that they can start showing their prowess in hoping to make the Olympic team,” Larson said.

The next weekend on schedule of the Super Tour Series will bring the athletes down to Cable, Wisconsin for 3 more races, then they will have two weekends left before knowing who makes the Olympic team.