I used to be a halfway active person.\u00a0 Basketball, football (the American kind), even a little track and field.\u00a0 At one point I even ran a half marathon.\u00a0 And by run, I mean stumbled slowly across the finish line, but close enough.\u00a0 Now my activity is limited to skiing (the downhill kind) and walking. A lot.\u00a0 Both of which work quite well in the winter months.<\/p>\n
There were two winter activities in Sweden though that never really caught my attention.\u00a0 Skiing (the long distance kind) and ice skating (also the long distance kind).\u00a0 These sports seem to be extremely appealing to your average Swede.\u00a0 It might be the ease and accessibility.\u00a0 Sweden does tend to get a bit of snow and ice during the winter, and it is a relatively flat country.\u00a0 The weather and geography lend themselves well to cross country skiing and long distance ice skating.\u00a0 And of course, cross country skiing has been around for centuries in the area.\u00a0 It helps that skis made life and transportation just a little bit easier back in the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with the accessibility though, comes the promotion of the sports.\u00a0 Cross country skiing takes center stage in Sweden every February with Vasaloppet, a 90 kilometer race in Mora, Sweden that is said to follow the same path that Gustav Vasa took in 1520.\u00a0 Thousands upon thousands of people have completed this race.\u00a0 I have not.\u00a0 Please see above for my sporting abilities at this point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I quite enjoy sports, but it is hard to watch 90 kilometers of cross country skiing on TV.\u00a0 Yet there it is, every February, pulling in an incredible TV audience, not to mention the numerous spectators on hand and the skiers themselves.\u00a0 The whole event has become a sort of folk festival, which may also help to explain the popularity of cross country skiing in the country.<\/p>\n
Even long distance ice skating, once again, long a mode of transportation, is incredibly popular.\u00a0 As soon as the lakes freeze to an acceptable level, countless people can be seen out in the middle of the frozen landscape making the long slow strides that epitomize long distance ice skating.\u00a0 And, not to be outdone by Vasaloppet, there is a race for those so inclined.\u00a0 This one is called Vikingar\u00e4nnet and is also held in February, although a week or two before Vasaloppet.\u00a0 The course follows the frozen waters of Lake M\u00e4laren and goes 80 kilometers from Uppsala to Stockholm.\u00a0 And once again, I have never even attempted to finish.\u00a0 Maybe one day.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
So what do you think?\u00a0 Sound like a good way to spend your February? Any plans to ski 90 kilometers or ice skate 80 kilometers in the coming months?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I used to be a halfway active person.\u00a0 Basketball, football (the American kind), even a little track and field.\u00a0 At one point I even ran a half marathon.\u00a0 And by run, I mean stumbled slowly across the finish line, but close enough.\u00a0 Now my activity is limited to skiing (the downhill kind) and walking. A…<\/p>\n