Welcome to the Lumi Experiences blog, where we share stories and tips related to our trips. It’s more than just a collection of stories though. Scroll through the posts or click the dropdown menus below to search by country, topic, and year for updates about upcoming trips, travel tips or just to check out the photos. Enjoy!
This Lumi Experiences self-guided trip testimonial was written by guest Kort Longenbach about a trip he took with his family over the New Years holiday in 2020. Kort is also the Board Chair of the Mansfield Nordic Club in Vermont. You can find the original post on the Mansfield Nordic Club blog.
Read MoreLumi Experiences is excited to announce its recognition as an official tour operator of the Worldloppet.
The Worldloppet is an international sports federation of cross-country ski marathons in 20 different countries. The aim of Worldloppet is to promote the sport of cross-country skiing, by focusing on popular skiing through ski events around the world. Lumi Experiences aim to bring people together and facilitate the best cross country ski experiences possible is on the same track as the Worldloppet.
Read MoreChad Salmela is a man of many words, in many languages. He is perhaps best known for his jubilant “Here comes Diggins!” commentary at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Those who have met Chad know that he has a talent for talking. We featured Chad’s three tips for learning a new language last week.
Read MoreA few tips for learning a language, from Olympic commentator, Chad Salmela.
Read MoreOver the past three years, increasingly more guests have been bringing skin skis on their Lumi Experiences ski vacations and we have learned a lot.
Read MoreBut it’s only September! That’s right. The world’s largest folk festival starts in September and goes until the first weekend in October in Munich, Germany. The first Oktoberfest took place in 1810, to celebrate the wedding of Princess Theresa to Bavarian Prince Ludwig. The party was so popular that the celebration became an annual tradition, starting earlier and earlier to draw out the party and take advantage of Munich’s notoriously good weather in late-September. The Theresien Wies’n is the meadow, named after Queen Theresa, that hosts the annual event--just a short walk from the cobblestone streets of Munich’s old town.
Read MoreAltenmarkt, Austria sits in the valley below the face of the Dachstein mountain. The lush green valley is home to 4,000 inhabitants and about as many grazing brown cows. On the edge of town, past the cobbled pedestrian streets lies the Atomic - Salomon ski factory. It is not hard to understand why this valley might attract skiers, surrounded by alpine ski hills on almost all sides.
I stopped in to check out the facility and get a better understanding of how skis are produced. Jean-Marc Draeyer, Salomon’s head of race ski production, took time away from selecting skis for the world’s top racers and specialty Nordic shops to take me on a tour of the facility. Photos are not allowed, but the process was enlightening, especially how the flex is literally baked into the ski to perform for specific conditions.
Read MoreIn the event preparation cycle, event organizers often build new infrastructure at least a winter before their big event. Oberstdorf, Germany will host the 2021 Nordic World Championships for the third time (1987, 2005). Oberstdorf is best known as a ski jumping venue, familiar to many as the “agony of defeat” jump; the intro to “Wide World of Sports” when Vinko Bogataj falls on the inrun. The ski flying hill is home to at least 20 world record jumps and the ski jump venue is the first stop on the annual Four Hills Tournament. The cross country trails in Oberstdorf are also a regular stop on the Tour de Ski. In 2020, however, there will be no Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, as they are hosting a full World Cup weekend in late January, as a test event for the 2021 World Championships.
Read MoreHappy 4th of July! To celebrate, Lumi Experiences is announcing a special trip to the Minneapolis World Cup, the first World Cup in the United States in almost 20 years.
The events are being hosted at Wirth Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country. The Loppet Foundation has grown cross country skiing in Minneapolis for close to 20 years, hosting events such as the City of Lakes Loppet, which brings in over 10,000 participants.
Read MoreThe International Olympic Committee announced this week that the 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be hosted by Milan & Cortina, Italy … the first time the Winter Games will be held in central Europe since 2006 in Torino, Italy. Although Milan and Cortina are around 250 miles apart, the IOC cites the sustainability of Milan-Cortina’s bid as one of the main reasons for the decision. They will use many of the existing venues in northern Italy to host events.
Read More“The practice of sport is a human right.”
- Olympic Charter
The World Masters Games were founded in 1985 to bring athletes over age 30, of any ability, together to compete internationally. The 2020 Winter World Masters Games (WWMG) are heading to Innsbruck & Seefeld, Austria from January 11 - 19, 2020. Seefeld is the site of the 2019 Nordic World Championships. The WWMG are only held every 5 years -- in contrast to to the Masters Cross Country World Cup, which happens annually. The WWMG brings athletes together from many winter sports, including cross country, biathlon, ski jumping, ice hockey, figure skating and more. In 2020, WWMG expects over 3,000 participants to compete in Innsbruck.
Read MoreNope, this isn’t about the Paris Roubaix or Tour de Flanders. This is about Ski Classics: the Worldloppet and the VISMA Ski Classics. What are these international events? How can you participate?
The Worldloppet is an international series of some of the world’s most popular ski marathons. In 2019, the Worldloppet celebrated 40 years since the organization started with 10 events in 1979, including the American Birkebeiner. Since then, it has expanded to include 20 ski events in 20 countries.
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