Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Northern Advocate
Sixteen skiers left the La Ronge Legion to ski in the 41st annual Saskaloppet, two-day kupesewin overnight, on Friday, Feb. 28.
Among the group were long-time participants, Rob and Nancy Howse, of Saskatoon; and Dave Bauber, of Hudson. Bay, Sask.
For the overnight, skiers trek to the Summit, where they set up their camps, have some food, and conversation, before hitting the sack for the night. They ski back in the morning.
Some kupesewin events have seen temperatures at -40, while this year was considerably warmer.
The Saskaloppet is one of the only loppet events that includes the overnight.
There were also a mixture of some former participants and some new.
Rob Green, who has skied in all but one Saskaloppet, skied the Sasquatch, which means he carried all his gear and food for the overnight with him. The kupesewin involves 77 km skiing for the longest trek.
Devin Jackson weighs the gear of veteran Saskaloppet Kupesewin Sasquatch participant Rob Howse.
Other options include spending the night and not carrying your gear and food; it is ferried to the overnight site by volunteers.
On Saturday, there is a variety of skiing opportunities, from the longest, 55K to shorter ones and events for the younger skiers as well, the Jackrabbits.
