THUNDER BAY — There will no Sleeping Giant Loppet this year.
Coordinator Peter Gallagher confirmed Wednesday morning that organizers have called off the March 2 event due to a lack of snow on the Sibley Peninsula.
"There's just not enough snow at Sleeping Giant, and the forecast of warm temperatures this week, the lack of snow in the forecast, just made the decision. I'll use the term 'no-brainer'. There was no choice."
In anticipation the event would have to be called off, Thunder Bay Nordic Trails had already put a halt to registrations in mid-January.
"We will refund all the registrants that have registered so far . . . We've lost a fair amount of money in the process here, but we can manage," Gallagher said.
In 2007, the loppet was moved to the Kamview Nordic Centre because of poor snow conditions in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, but there's an issue with snow at Kamview as well this year.
"Unless we get snow between now and March 2, there won't be an event at Kamview. But if we do, then we'd like to hold the Kamview Tour, which is usually held the last weekend of January, but there wasn't enough snow then," Gallagher said.
He said this is the first time in the loppet's history that it's been cancelled due to low snow.
The event was also scrubbed in 2021 because of restrictions on gatherings in provincial parks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
First held in 1978, the Sleeping Giant Loppet features multiple events with distances for skiers of all levels and abilities.
