2022 North American Vasa is 'All Systems Go!'

Mon, Feb  7, 2022 - By Pete LaPlaca

The North American Vasa is in final preparation week for the 46th annual Vasa Festival of Races scheduled for February 12-13, 2022 at Timber Ridge Resort in Traverse City. We are excited to host over 500 competitors this weekend. After a year of planning and a one-year hiatus, our 46th Vasa is “All Systems Go!” The efforts of over 200 volunteers and 40 sponsors will be on display over the weekend. Competitor ages will range from 5-80, and they will come from all over Michigan, several neighboring states and Canada.

Registration closes on Wednesday, February 9 at 6:00pm. There will be NO ONSITE registration, so this is your last chance to join in on the action!

Both the TART and NMMBA groomers have been working on the cross country and fat bike trails, and conditions are expected to be some of the best of the winter to date. Saturday’s events will include the Ted Okerstrom 15k and the George Kuhn half marathon 27k freestyle races. The Short’s Grand Fat 35k and Short’s-N-Fat 17k fat bike races will run following the ski races. The Junior Vasa will offer three age group ski races for the future stars of the sport, and adaptive skiers will also be duking it out on the ski course.

Sunday’s offerings will start with two classic ski races, a 6k event for the high school racers, and the Lombard Loppet Classic 15k race for adults. An untimed Fun Tour 6k event and Vasasaurus Stomp 6k snowshoe race are also scheduled.

Combo events will include the Michigan Cup Challenge, with cash awards going to the top three men and women with the best combined times for the 27k freestyle and the 15k classic ski. The overall male and female winners of this event will be crowned King and Queen Vasa! The Collegiate Challenge will be staged for all current college students and includes the 15k freestyle and the 15k classic races. We are expecting club skiers from Notre Dame, the University of Michigan as well as several individual skiers from other colleges.

Our new Race Director, Janice Davidson of North Mitton Events, says that we had to make a number of modifications to our traditional stadium layout due to Covid 19 precautions, so bring warm duds for an outdoor post-race celebration. We will be offering hot soup from Blue Tractor, North Peak Brewing Company, and Jolly Pumpkin, plus other snacks, and sipping on Short’s libations in our Celebration Zone while cheering on race finishers and award winners. Party!

If you’re not racing, consider volunteering! We could still use more help. Go to the website home page and hit the volunteer button to sign-up.

Hope to see you there!

For details, check out https://www.vasa.org.