Marcialonga - Long Weekend in the Dolomites

After the cancellation of the Jizerská 50 and the Dolomitenlauf, Worldloppet skiers were waiting impatiently for the news about Marcialonga. On the 16th January, Tuesday of the week preceding the race week good news were announced "Marcialonga 2007? Certainly Yes!” was the message on the race web site. The following days were very warm and rainy and organizers had a great dilemma. Cancel the race, which seemed to be the most rational decision at that time, or take a risk hoping for a miracle and weather improvement.

Finally organizers decided to face the challenge and announce that Marcialonga would take place against all odds.

This proved to be brave and right decision. Colder temperatures allowed starting snow cannons and some natural snowfall was also helpful. The risk was rewarded.

 

Start/finishLavazèloppet is a small race organized at the beautiful Lavaze Pass on the picturesque course of 22km on Thursday before Marcialonga weekend.

Those who think that a 22 km race must be an easy one may be disappointed. The altitude over 1800m and about 600 m of climbs make this short race quite a challenging “warm up” before the Marcialonga.

This year the ski conditions were excellent. Fresh snow, mild temperature (-8 C at the start) and friendly atmosphere made this race a very pleasant event. We recommend it to all skiers that come to Val di Fiemme/Fassa a few days before Marcialonga.

 

Robert Stefan PiotrMarcialonga was shortened to 57 km. The organizers made a big effort to prepare the course, which was in excellent condition considering weather circumstances before the race.

The photo shows some expert skiers practicing the necessary technique of applying klister is a few seconds before the final climb to Cavalese.

With the start moved up the valley to Campestrin, there was only 5 km of uphill skiing to the turning point at Canazei. From Canazei it was almost all the way slightly downhill with just a few minor climbs. Sunny weather, moderate temperatures and fast snow, mainly man made in the second part of the course, contributed to the fast pace of the race. The winner Jerry Ahrlin from Sweden completed the race in 2:07:17 ,6 with the average speed 26,87 km/h!

New, revolutionary start arrangement for Marcialonga this year is a milestone for Worldloppet races. Because of it’s importance we gave this issue a special coverage on our web site and we hope it will be adopted by other races.

 

Some results of IAWLS members:

Lavazèloppet

 

231 skiers finished the race. The winner was Moriggl Thomas from Italy at 57:03.

Marcialonga

 

This page was last revised on September 15, 2007