2023 North American Vasa Registration is open!

Sat, Oct  15, 2022 - By Gussie Peterson

Get Ready for Vasa 2023!

With that crisp feeling of Fall in the air, it’s time to start thinking about SNOW! And SKIING! And RACING! And the 47th NORTH AMERICAN VASA! Mark your calendar for February 11 & 12, and plan to join us for another great skiing and winter sports bash.

October 15 is opening day for registration. As always, early registration is a fantastic bargain. The fee goes up on Nov. 30 and monthly after that. Come to the Vasa Ski Club “Ski Swap” on Saturday Oct. 22 at Brick Wheels in Traverse City for an additional $5 off coupon for most races. See Vasaskiclub.org for info. There will again be no onsite registration, and registration closes Wednesday, February 8 at 6:00pm.

After our pandemic-modified, 99% outdoor event of 2022, the big news this year is that the fun and fabulous Vasa will return in full swing in 2023! In other words, the party will be back!

The race menu will be the same as last year, BUT, by popular demand, we will add a 27K classic race to the menu on Sunday. We will also bring back the 6K freestyle race on Saturday for the high schoolers who were not able to attend last year due to conflicts with the HS Championships.

Vasa Vice Versa will be back too. All ski courses will be in a counter-clockwise direction. You’ll still do Jack Pine, Headwaters, and the Nipple. There’s no dreaded Wall this year, but you will be going up Wall junior, aka “Anita Hill.”

The prestigious Michigan Cup Challenge will be back, combining the best times from the 27K George Kuhn Half Marathon and the 15K Lombard Loppet, and identifying the best overall skiers of the festival. The top male and female winners will be crowned King and Queen Vasa and be given a fistful of cash - $500 for the winner, $250 for 2nd place and $100 for 3rd. You get a price break if you register for both races of the Michigan Cup Challenge.

The 35K and 17K Fat Bike races will return on Saturday with a new Race Director, Jennifer Donohue. We are proud to be a part of the Short’s Fat Bike series again this year. Go fatties!

The Vasasaurus will be kicking off the 6K snowshoe race again. Be sure to come over and get a selfie with him!

And of course, we will host the Junior Vasa which has been growing in fun! Kids 12 and under compete in various distances and earn a scrumptious Cherry Republic Boomchunka Cookie and a GoGo Squeeze treat. Best of all, there is no fee to participate this year. Pre-registration is still required, however.

Finally, we would not be able to put on this celebration of winter in TC without the support of our co-title sponsors, Huntington Bank and Serra Subaru Traverse City. These are community-oriented companies that we are proud to be affiliated with. Huntington Bank is a top U.S. regional bank, with dual headquarters in Detroit and Columbus, Ohio. It has a long history of supporting community programs including Pelotonia, a three-day series of cycling events in Columbus that has raised over $236 million for cancer research. Serra Subaru Traverse City is a long-standing Vasa sponsor. They are part of the Serra Automotive Group headquartered in Fenton, Michigan and rank among the top ten of privately held retail automotive groups in the US. Serra Auto operates in seven states and includes 51 dealerships and represents 63 automotive franchises. Subaru vehicles have been a fa