Winning conditions included bright skies, tons of new snow and record attendance for this 40th anniversary edition of the Morin-Heights Viking Loppet!

Sunday, February 26th, the Municipality of Morin-Heights and the Viking Ski Club jointly hosted the 40th edition of the Viking Loppet. 467 participants registered this year. The sun was out all day and the atmosphere was festive! 152 volunteers led the way, assisting with registrations, handing out refreshments, manning road crossings, and encouraging both skiers and snowshoers along the way to the finish line. This great convivial event, also part of the Tour de ski des Laurentides, attracts outdoors and winter sports lovers to our region.
Sophia Jensen and Maeve Prior are the two youngest skiers to complete the 33 km race at only 10 years old! This time again, for her third participation, 5 year old Kiara Marshall, was the youngest girl to race and Chad Walsh, 5 was the youngest boy. Three gentlemen over 80 took on the challenge, Mr. Karel Pelz (81), Ricardo Izquierdo (84) and Lawerence Irany (83) as well as three ladies over 70, Mrs. Wilma Christiansen (74), Elke Taivassalo (72) and Janet Boeckh (71) also won medals in their categories.

After the race, a well earned lunch was served to all racers, followed by the medal presentation. The results were announced efficiently as provided by the Sportstats team, thanks to their ChampionChip technology.

The two fastest athletes under 15 to complete the 10 km race were Parker Courte-Rathwell (10) and Charlotte Beauchemin (14). Their names will be added to the Desjardins trophy. James Coulton will see his name engraved on the Munk trophy, awarded to the overall fastest man in the 33 km. His fastest female counterpart was Christiane Clavel, winner for two consecutive years. Her name will be engraved on the Berg & Dohrendorf trophy.
Teams of first-responders were posted at strategic locations in case of an emergency. The day ended at the Town Hall with a volunteers’ party where they were thanked and given prizes, which were generously donated by local merchants and sponsors.
Thanks to everybody for a great day! Many thanks to the major sponsors who make a big difference in the scale and impact of this wonderful event.

Visit www.skiloppet.com for detailed results.

Photgraphers are Tara Kirkpatrick and Bernard Dumont.

The Town Hall is opened from
Monday to Thursday
8:30 to 12:00 and from
12:45 to 16:30, and Friday
from 8:30 to 12:00

567, chemin du Village
Morin-Heights (Québec)
J0R 1H0

Telephone : 450 226-3232
Fax : 450 226-8786
municipalite@morinheights.com