Meeting of Worldloppet Masters in Germany
October 8, 2008
End of September Thomas Huber invited worldloppet masters and master candidates for a weekend meeting to Villingen / Black Forest / Germany.
19 enthusiastic skiers followed to have a nice time.
- Christian Litscher, Walter Abächerli from Switzerland,
- Peter Kuznetsov and Guerman Mikhailov from Russia,
- Wolfgang Ballester, Hella and Jakob Karrer from Bavaria,
- Ralf Hellmann, Richie Arheit and Karlheinz Jäckel from Karlsruhe,
- Franz Auer, Thomas Brandmüller and Georg Dieter Heldmann from Württemberg,
- Hartmut Capteina, Rainer Wursthorn, Rolf Kiefer and Joe Schönthier from SC Villingen
Accommodation was the cottage from SC Villingen near Furtwangen in the middle Black Forest. An old restored farmer house far away from civilization, sleeping with sleeping bags. Friday evening was arriving of the first guests. Some haven’t seen each other before, so an interesting conversation was starting. On Saturday morning after breakfast in Brend restaurant we moved with ski club bus and two private cars to Rinken, a small place near the mountain Feldberg, the highest place in the Black Forest with altitude 1493 m over sea. We had big luck with the weather, cold in the morning, but sunny the whole day. From the parking place we started a 3 hour hiking tour around and over Feldberg. First stop was Zastler cottage, from there to Wilhelmer cottage. The cottages are mostly public restaurants with easy meals and drinks. Then we climbed to the top of Feldberg, from there we had a nice view around the Black Forest, to Vogesen in France and Swiss Alpes. Over Raimarti cottage we came back to Rinken.
On the way home we crossed the Hexenloch valley, a typical natural valley for this area. Main point in the evening was presentation from Wolfgang Ballester about Arctic Circle race with digital pictures.
Peter Kusnetzow gave us information about Russia Loppet and especially Avatschinski Marathon in Kamtschatka in a well prepared presentation.
Jakob Karrer showed us pictures from boarder to boarder adventure race in Finland.
Thomas Huber presented slides from his August trip to Merino Muster in New Zealand and Kangaroo Hoppet in Australia. So many impressions and suggestions to think about next winter were given.
On Sunday morning some local places were on the to do list, for example we watched a rollerski biathlon race in Schönwald, also in winter main training place from SC Villingen because of artificial snow, snow safety and light in the evening. One more stop was an restored dam with historical meaning. Since one year the water power is used again for getting electricity. Sunday afternoon was generally start for returning home. All were happy and enjoyed the region, for most it was new.
Now we think about a yearly meeting in autumn with changing locations.
This page was last revised on January 2, 2009