WAKING A SLEEPING GIANT
Thunder Bay's Sibley Tour is fun
andfriendly 50K way to end the season By Bill Baldus After reading this article, tear it out and put it in your "Ski Plans 2004" file. For years I had heard dreamy stories of the Sibley Ski Tour and the astonishing beauty of the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, where the event is held. Oh, Canada. But, like so many others, I ended my season with the Birkie (actually the Kortelopet of late since manhood has been
firmly established).
Most families are tapped out from a full season of weekend racing by mid February and run on fumes until the glorious end of February, when it is commonly understood that you're done 'til next year. Get that storage wax on, boy. Since ski seasons are getting shorter and shorter (record highs as I write this January 7), you have a strong case for an extension through the first weekend in March. The key, though, is to
avoid any midwinter surprises by making a decision to do it in the summer prior. This gives all family members and co workers time to get used to the idea and for you to get yourself organized.
After procuring clearance, two hurdles remain. First is getting the Friday before the race off for travel time. I'd recommend taking a traditional vacation day; calling in sick might produce guilt, which has a negative influence on technique. If you are a SWOK (skier without kids), you
just cleared your one and only hurdle jump to the next paragraph. For the rest of you, the second hurdle is the toughie finding some dear friends/relatives to take your future training partners for the long weekend. If you relish driving six hours from the Twin Cities and crossing international borders with children held captive in car seats, go for it.
Last year, my dad and I celebrated his 70th by signing ourselves up for
the tour. He injured himself during the season, and I signed up for the 50K to quell friends who claimed I couldn't even cover the distance anymore. Driving up the North Shore on a Friday during low tourist season is a wonderful treat. Since there is no other traffic, you can troll along at 15 mph and gaze out at spectacular Lake Superior. It's really not a terrible drive, and going through customs is kind of fun if you're into that sort of thing.
Tour coordinator Diane Ambro and her Thunder Bay Nordic Trails crew are known for putting on a low key event of the highest quality. They are so delighted to have U.S. skiers there it warms one's heart. Sibley has that down to earth, homespun Mora Vasaloppet feel to it. Their Canadian hospitality is legendary. Waiting for us in our hotel room was a basket of goodies and a "Welcome to the Sibley Tour" and "Thanks for coming" note.
The waxing options are a downside, and since our motel wasn't equipped for us to be waxing, we did it at home that morning. Advantage: relax driving up, knowing your only task upon arrival will be packet pickup. But hey, you can do that at the start if you want! Disadvantage: conditions can change dramatically in 12 hours, and if you're not prepared, you're screwed. Last year it was easy to roll the dice since conditions were supposed to be real cold and clear the next few days.
Friday night: Getting a bite at the Finnish Hospitality House. Not your ideal premarathon meal. A scoop of mashed potatoes and a creamed fish sandwich. I brushed my teeth as soon as I got back to my hotel room. The hotel room: Let me just say that our dining experience was followed by a similarly nonideal night of sleep or should I say, rest. Our hotel which will not be named happened to be host to athletes other than the two international caliber (you will get to say this, too) skiers from
Minnesota. Thunder Bay was holding the province wide collegiate wrestling championships. The hotel housed eight teams not eight wrestlers, eight teams of wrestlers. Did I mention that I had a wicked but brand new cold and felt that what I really needed was a good sleep: And guess what? The weeklong tourney ended that day and these scrappy young bucks were in the mood to have a number of celebrations to mark the end of their seasons and reflect on all their hard
work, sacrifice and dedication. The fasting from alcohol and refraining from making loud noises was officially over. These were wildmen. Beasts both loud and obnoxious. If you asked me to come up with a worst case scenario for a prerace evening and night, I would never have been able to dream up something like this. Well, maybe if both my dad and I started passing kidney stones at the 2 a.m. apex of the festivities, that would've been worse. Or if they had learned who kept calling
security on them and they challenged us to a little match right there and then on the scratchy hotel carpet. Not that my dad and I had any qualms about holding our own, but eventually the weight loss from a long ski season would do us in, as they had what sounded like, through the cinder block wall, four or five heavyweights in their group. We made as much noise as possible at 6 a.m. the next day.
It is a bit of a drive from metro Thunder Bay out to Sleeping Giant. Just
follow the cars. The provincial park is on an enormous peninsula jutting out into Lake Superior. Think ski racing in the BWCAW with occasional glimpses of ol' Gitchigummi. Incredible scenery and nice rolling terrain not cardiovascularly humiliating like that trail from Cable to Hayward.
When you arrive, there is some sort of summer camp dorm on the grounds where you can change into your ski clothes close to the start
area. The start had a few campfires and fellas dressed up in turn of the century (19th or 20th) military outfits struggling like mad to get their cannon to light, which served to start the race. Hey, they call it the Sibley Tour, but the guys I lined up with started really fast, as if it were a real race, so I followed them. It's a narrow, intimate start, but not at all a stampede, since there are only about 800 900 skiers there, max. Last
year was a pretty bad winter with minimal snow; let me tell you what they did to pull off this event last year. Diane Ambro's husband and a skeleton crew worked umpteen hours with a giant blue tarp and a snowmobile to drag snow to the trail. It was just fine and I had no regrets about using my good skis over the 50K course.
Fully aware that it was my first ski of anything near 50K, I settled into a comfy pace with a couple of Canadians and took in the surroundings.
The lead pack, a member of which I unfortunately was not, encountered a bull moose on the trail. He dumped in the diagonal tracks as he ran away from the colorful group. Big moose with antlers messing up your wax that's when you know you're not at Como Golf Course anymore.
They also have a 10K and 20K, but I wanted a grand finale and to be completely whipped upon crossing the line. I got just what I asked for, even a few pretty stars in my peripheral vision during the last two
kilometers. What those snow haulers and trail groomers did with that modicum of snow was nothing short of a miracle. I changed into dry clothes and headed back to the hotel for a whirlpool and a vital nap.
The awards banquet at the Italian DaVinci Centre is not to be missed. You can enjoy a Molson and some potluck type supper while they pass out the awards. Last year they were cute little ceramic seal pups.
If you're looking for more exercise on Sunday, there are scads of great
places to ski up there. A field trip to Lappe is a must. On your way into and out of town, if you're coming from the south, pass by Big Thunder, where they had back to back World Cup events that were so much fun to watch back in '94 and '95.
This year is the 26th annual. When you read this, it might be too late for 2003, but decide now to do it in '04. I think you should.
For more information, contact Kamview Nordic Centre at 807/475 7081 or Diane Ambro, tour coordinator, at ambro@tbaytel.net.
Also, there's plenty of information and entry forms at their Web site: www.nordictrailstb.on.ca.
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