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Warm Weather Slows Loppet Festival To A Walk

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Mild temperatures have organizers of the City of Lakes Loppet scrambling to come up with a Plan B this year.

Lack of snow isn't a problem, but warm temperatures are, and there have been plenty of warm temperatures the past few years.

Our recent warm spell has melted away about 4 inches of snow – down to bare ground in many spots – and it has been too warm to make any more.

In Theodore Wirth Park, however, snow-making equipment has been running since early in the season, and has provided two to three feet of snow along a mile-and-a-half loop called the Hap Lutter trail.

Theodore Wirth RACE Course
(credit: the Loppet Foundation)

That's where most of this weekend's events will be moved, similar to what happened in 2012. Despite the mild weather in January of that year, participants seemed to like the outcome.

"I think the big message for that year was 'Hey, you guys saved winter for us here in Minneapolis,'" Loppet Foundation executive director John Munger said.

The weather has also forced a change to the Saturday night "Luminary Loppet," which will be a walking-only event this year.

"We're actually able to re-open registration," Munger said. "As a skiing event, you can only have so many people out there before it gets to be an unpleasant experience for everyone."

Online registration will be accepted until midnight Tuesday, and in-person registration will be possible on Saturday at the Columbia store on Hennepin Avenue, in Uptown, Minneapolis.

Most of the other events, including the newly added Friday night fireworks, will go on as planned.  Check the Loppet's website for the full, updated, schedule of events.

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