Lappe Nordic Centre
The Lappe Nordic Centre (also Lappe Nordic Ski Centre) is a cross-country ski centre at Lappe, about 20 km north-west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, up Dog Lake Road.[1][2]
Olympian Reijo Puiras began cutting trails on his farm there in 1975, and the centre opened in 1979.[2][3] It has hosted the 2006 Canadian Colleges and Universities Championships, the 2013 World Junior/U23 trials and the 2015 Ski Nationals.[2] After Puiras's death in 2017 his family continued to run it; his son Timo is head coach of the National Team Development Centre in Thunder Bay.[4]
Puiras was a member of the 1976 Canadian Olympic cross-country ski team. Bayview Magazine credits the creation of a National Team Development Centre in the 1990s with giving "our nation's top young skiers" the chance to train on Thunder Bay trails.[5] A volunteer grounds crew that also worked the Sleeping Giant Loppet helped with many events at Lappe; "the pancakes at Lappe are a highlight", one volunteer told Bayview in 2016.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ "Cross Country Skiing, Trails and Wilderness". Northern Ontario Travel.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Death notice: Reijo Puiras, founder of Lappe Nordic Ski Centre. Cross Country Ski Ontario, August 2017.
- ↑ Builder profile: Reijo Puiras (inducted 25 September 1993). Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
- ↑ "Meet the family behind the Lappe Nordic Ski Centre in Thunder Bay, Ont.". CBC News, February 2022.
- ↑ Imrie, Diane. "High flying". Bayview Magazine, November 2017.
- ↑ Angus, Nancy. "The Community Crew". Bayview Magazine, September 2016.