Skip to Content
Local News

Minneapolis Delivered Winter and Melted Hearts!

Volunteer Tom Hardel spreading grit. (Photos by Susan Lenfestey)

What do you do when you want to write about the winter-loving Minnesotans who managed to put on a World Cup Nordic ski race despite an epic thaw, but you know very little about the sport?

You find a neighbor who does. In this case, Chris Johnson, former cross country ski coach at Southwest High, aka Coach Pub. I would cover the vibe, and Coach Pub would cover the races.

Proudly sporting our Hill & Lake Press credentials, we made our way to the Wirth Park Chalet for the Friday press conference, featuring four members of the USA team including home state hero, Jessie Diggins.

While Coach Pub was paying attention to the skiers and positioning himself to ask good questions, I was sidling up to environmental hero and author (and Birkie skier) Bill McKibben, whom I’ve met at other climate events. I told him I was covering the races for the Hill & Lake Press. He’s a humble man, but he did mumble something about The New Yorker.

Being out of my league didn’t matter when I arrived on Saturday morning and saw the results of years of persistence and hard work by the Loppet Foundation and the 1,000 volunteers, many of them denizens of Hill & Lake-landia, who had worked on the Luminary Loppet just two weeks earlier.

The volunteers, wearing yellow and blue bibs (whether by chance or choice, the colors of Ukraine) were doing everything from spreading grit on slippery pathways to guiding traffic to sorting garbage, with others providing food and drink in the VIP tent, and still others stationed throughout the park, coordinating media or keeping the course pristine. The European team members and their fans said they’d never seen anything like our volunteer corps anywhere on the tour.

In front of the Trailhead there was a festive vibe, with a variety of food trucks and vendors selling ski garb and fan gear to a throng of exuberant people. Across the street the skiers’ tech trailers were secured behind fencing, their windows covered so competitors couldn’t see which waxes were being applied to the skis.

Once inside, spectators filled the bleachers near the start-and-finish line, while thousands more spread out over the course to shout encouragement to their favorite skiers. When the races got underway you could hear a roar coming from wherever Jessie Diggins was on the course, like a stadium “wave,” only coming from a grove of trees or the top of a hill.

Scattered throughout the park were kids, hundreds of them. Small ones tumbling down the sledding hill oblivious to the athletes gliding by on either side, babies burbling on blankets in the sunshine, ‘tweens with a swoosh of biodegradable glitter across their cheekbones, inspired by Jessie Diggins, who may be the Taylor Swift of Nordic skiing. Heck, everyone had glitter on their cheekbones, even geezers. Everyone was inspired.

And for once, no one was looking at their screens — except for the big one that showed the results — an upset win for Gus Schumacher of the USA Men’s team and a solid third for Jessie Diggins of the women’s team.

But Jessie and the Loppet Foundation and that massive corps of volunteers brought us all a much bigger win. They brought us the World Cup, and with it a reminder of who we can be in this city when we come together to make spectacular things happen.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Hill & Lake Press

Holidays on Hennepin: A Monthlong Celebration of Uptown’s Reopening

Holidays on Hennepin will brighten the corridor from Nov. 28 to Jan. 1 with lights, events, and a business passport program celebrating the long-awaited reopening of Hennepin Avenue South.

October 25, 2025

Help Hill & Lake Press Carry Its Legacy Into Our 50th Year

As Hill & Lake Press nears its 50th anniversary, we’re inviting readers to help preserve nearly five decades of local history — supporting digitization, small businesses and the next generation of community journalism in Minneapolis’ lakes district.

October 25, 2025

Letters to the Editor

Community voices weigh in on the future of Minneapolis — from Uptown revitalization and park stewardship to setting the record straight on DFL leadership and supporting pragmatic, results-driven candidates for City Council and Park Board.

October 25, 2025

Wishing For Snow 

As another chaotic election season collides with an unseasonably warm fall, gratitude feels complicated. Between politics, climate change and human suffering, maybe the best we can do this Thanksgiving is find small moments of hope — and wish for snow.

October 25, 2025

‘Minneapolis for the Many’ PAC: Issues Apology to Local Landlord

The progressive PAC Minneapolis for the Many was forced to publicly retract and apologize after falsely labeling Minneapolis landlord Jim Rubin a “negligent landlord.” The group admitted its claims were untrue and acknowledged Rubin’s work to preserve older buildings and maintain naturally occurring affordable housing — a rare reversal in the middle of an already heated election cycle.

October 25, 2025

Temple Israel Defaced Again, Less Than a Year After First Incident

In a disturbing repeat of last year’s vandalism, Temple Israel was defaced again — this time with Hamas-linked graffiti on the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks. Community leaders swiftly condemned the act as a hate crime, while police and the FBI launched an investigation into the antisemitic messages.

October 25, 2025
See all posts