A record number of cross country skiers took part in this year’s annual Northwestel Yellowknife Ski Loppet. A total of 276 skiers registered for the event, presented by the Yellowknife Ski Club on Sunday, April 5^th, at the Bert Mockford Ski Trail.

“Last year, which was our 30^th anniversary, we enjoyed a record 250 skiers,” said loppet coordinator Jennie Rausch. “This year we were surprised and delighted to surpass that number and set a new record, with 276 registered participants. We even ran out of bibs and had to make up some last-minute bibs for skiers. It was just an awesome day, with amazing weather.”

The day started with temperatures around minus six degrees Celsius and then warmed up to plus two degrees Celsius in the mid-afternoon.

“I think the warm weather helped to bring out more skiers, especially families with young children,” added Rausch. “Our youngest participant was a two-month-old baby in a backpack. It was so warm that one young man started the loppet in shorts with long johns underneath, but part-way through, he got rid of the long johns and finished skiing just in shorts.”

The loppet is a non-competitive event and is not timed. Instead, it has a recreational and social focus, with lots of food and visiting at each checkpoint. All participants received a buff, which can be worn as a headband, hat or neckwarmer. Skiers who completed the 25-kilometre route also received a surprise gift, a fridge magnet that reads “I’ve skied the Bert Mockford Trail. Have you?”

“Northwestel has been sponsoring this event for about a decade and we are so pleased to see how much people enjoy it,” said Anne Kennedy, Northwestel Director Communications. “It’s a great event for the whole family and a wonderful way to enjoy the outdoors and come together as a community.”

Most of the loppet participants, 115, skied the longest route of 25 kilometres. Another 94 skiers skied the 15-kilometre route and 68 skied the 6-kilometre route. A few skiers did the 25-kilometre route two or three times, or skied both the 25-kilometre and the 15-kilometre routes, for a total of 40 kilometres.

A record number of volunteers, just over 40, assisted with this year’s loppet. Volunteers helped with grooming the trail, prepared and served food, and worked at the checkpoints. The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society helped event organizers keep track of skiers as they passed through checkpoints and the St. John Ambulance Society provided first aid.

In 2008, Northwestel contributed more than $670,000 in cash and in-kind donations to many northern community groups, including the 2008 Arctic Winter Games. Throughout its history, Northwestel has played a key role in the economic, social and cultural development of the North. Northwestel is recognised as a key contributor to the well-being of northern communities through its community investment program and the volunteer contributions of its employees.

Northwestel provides complete telecommunications solutions in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, northern British Columbia and High Level, Alberta. The company’s operations span nearly 4 million square kilometres of the most remote and rugged areas of Canada.