The Team

These are the volunteers who do the work for IAWLS as members of the Executive Committee:

Colin Addison (AUS) was born in Melbourne in 1956. He began cross country skiing at age 30.  When Colin first heard of the Kangaroo Hoppet he thought that a distance of 42 Km would take at least a long weekend to complete.  However, he completed his first long distance race in 1995 and then completed his first WL Master in 2004. He can be readily identified on the snow by his prominent knee brace and his wife Judy who skis with him in most overseas races. Colin also participates in many other outdoor activities including kayaking and surf life saving. Before entering the Executive Committee in January 2007, Colin had already helped the Executive Committee with pertinent advice, in particular for overseas travels. Colin is a 3 x WL Master. Colin can be reached at colin@worldloppetskier.com.

Thomas Huber (GER). Thomas was born in Villingen, Black Forest, in 1968. He began XC skiing at the age of 15; his first long distance race was the 60 km Black Forest Marathon in 1986. Thomas likes to combine holidays with XC skiing, to meet nature, cultures and people. He has skied more than 300 XC races in 19 countries and reached placements in the top ten in Transju CT and Gatineau CT. In summer Thomas practices mountain biking, including races like the Transalp with 20 km of climbs on a distance of 700 km. Thomas is in the executive committee of the Villingen ski club and organizes trips to races for friends. Thomas is four-fold WL Master and Euroloppet Master. He speaks German and English. Thomas can be reached at thomas@worldloppetskier.com.

Jacek Jaskowiak (POL). Jacek was born in Poznan in 1964. When spending his holidays in the Karkonosze (The Giant Mountains) in 2002 he fell in love with cross-country skiing on the trails prepared by the Bieg Piastów Race Association.  Encouraged by Mr. Julian Gozdowski (Head of the Bieg Piastów Race), Jacek participated in that race, member of Euroloppet. At the Euroloppet races Jacek learnt about the prestigious Worldloppet. He immediately got the virus and became soon an assiduous WL skier with an impressive series of participations in only a few years. Jacek is a triple WL Master. In 2008 his dreams came true and the Bieg Piastów Race joined WL.  His other sports love is cycling. Jacek speaks Polish, German and English and understands Russian. Jacek can be reached at jacek@worldloppetskier.com.

Christophe Joanblanq (FRA) was born in Bayonne in 1962. He touched cross-country skis for the first time in 1985 during his telecom engineer studies. A few years later Christophe decided to take part in the Transjurassienne two months after having tried skating for the first time. Thanks to the good weather and fast snow that year, he was able to complete the race, though with several cramps. He skied again the Transjurassienne in 1992 and 1998, and decided that year, after the Engadin Ski Marathon, to complete his first Worldloppet Master at a slow but steady rate of 2 races per year, which he did in 2002. Nowadays Christophe regularly skies 2 to 5 WL races every year, mainly for the pleasure of skiing, travelling and meeting nice people sharing the same passion. He is a 3 x WL Master. Christophe lives in Russia since 2008, speaks fluent French and English, good Polish and average Russian. Christophe can be reached at christophe@worldloppetskier.com.

Bengt Karlsson (USA). Born in Stockholm in 1944, retired. Bengt has double nationalities, Swedish and American, and lives in the USA. He began XC skiing in his boyhood in Sweden. If Bengt is not skiing a WL race during the season, he may be found training on the excellent tracks around his house in Jackson, New Hampshire, www.jacksonxc.org. Other interests are hiking, particularly the Munros in Scotland, chopping wood and model trains. Bengt entered the IAWLS Committee in December 2004. He is the IAWLS web master. Bengt is 4 x WL Master. Bengt can be reached at bengt@worldloppetskier.com.

Minoru Matsuyama (JPN). Born in Tokyo in 1958. Member of the IAWLS Committee since 2001. After settling in Sapporo as a doctor in 1997, Minoru was inspired by a good XC instructor who had spent long periods in Finland. No wonder that Minoru has named his son Suomi! Minoru’s summer activities include marathons and mountain races. Minoru is a sub-chairman of the Seven Star Ski Organization in Hokkaido Japan. Minoru is 4 x WL Master. He maintains his own web page with information about races, particularly the ones in Japan. Please check it out at web.mac.com/genkiti21/. Minoru can be reached at minoru@worldloppetskier.com.

Boris Petroff (FRA). Boris was born in Paris in 1949. He stopped smoking and began cross country skiing at the age of 28, inspired by a film on this sport. Boris’ first XC ski race was two years later in 1979. In 1980 he skied the first Transjurassienne. Boris was journalist and decided to create a magazine devoted to XC skiing. Bad idea: a good magazine but no business!! And he entered the administration, he is now responsible for sustainable development and democracy in a big area (1.3 million people) near Paris. Boris is 5 x WL Master (and his wife twice: they are the Royal Couple) and covets to be the first French skier to enter the Veteran club in Vasaloppet (that requires 30 participations). Boris speaks a little Russian, English and German, and perfect French! Boris can be reached at boris@worldloppetskier.com.

Piotr Szkarłat (POL). Born in Gdynia in 1957. After a number of Bieg Piastow races in his home country and Jizerská Padesátka races in the neighbor country he started seriously skiing WL races in 1996. Before entering the IAWLS Committee in early 2005, Piotr gave over a period of two years some important contributions to IAWLS work. Piotr is 3 x WL Master. Piotr can be reached at piotr@worldloppetskier.com.

Lars Vagle (NOR) was born in Sandnes in 1973. He was educated to a Master of Science in computer science and works with software. Lars has been skiing as long as he has been able to walk. He has a cabin in the Norwegian mountains but travels abroad as much as possible. Lars likes traveling and to arrange group trips to WL races for fellow Norwegians. Before entering the Executive Committee in January 2007, Lars had already given important contributions to the Executive Committee’s work, thanks to his computer skills. Lars can be reached at lars@worldloppetskier.com.

This page was last revised on March 28, 2010