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May I introduce myself: Gunnar Zlöbl, WORLDLOPPET MASTER Number 5181! And here are 10 pictures I made at 10 unique skiing destinations:

There was a time when I stopped professional skiing. “Ok Gunnar, you have tried and you failed,” I thought. I couldn’t imagine that there are other ways to make your hobby skiing to your profession, then to become a professional skier. But a short time later I got a call. From Italy. “Pronto, this is Angelo Corradini speaking!” “Angelo who?”. President of Marcialonga and back in time President of Worldloppet. And this is where my comeback to cross-country skiing started. Now I’ve finished my 5th season working for the Worldloppet International Skifederation – the world federation for popular cross-country skiing. Together with my boss Epp Paal, I am traveling around the world to visit the greatest xc-skiing destinations from USA to China, from Norway to France. This work allows me to participate at the greatest skiing events in the world. Ironically this season I finished another 2 ski marathons and fulfilled my 10th international ski marathon. This makes me a Worldloppet Master. One of 5181 in the world. I have achieved a goal I never had. But man, am I glad about it!

• I got to know cultures, which normally would never land on my vacation list. I have been on the great wall, experienced Chicago by night, ate a “krabby patty” at the Krusty Krab in Moscow, did ice fishing in Sibiria, sea angling in Iceland, visited St. Moritz, Schloss Linderhof….

• I have friends all over the world: Kristbjörn Róbert Sigurjónsson from the most northern place I know: Isafjordur, to Davide Stoffie and Anna Crosignani from Italy to Ben Derrick Australia, Ben Popp and Dennis Kruse USA, Epp Paal, Torbjörn Pettersson , and and and (can not mention all of them now).

• When my daughter was born, she got wishes literally from all around the globe! I guess, this is the reason, why she has gotten an Islandic second name.

10 Pictures from 10 unique skiing destinations

At my first AGM I always heard the sentence: “You will see, Worldloppet is like a family!”. In the beginning I thought like: “Yeah, this is just a saying!” But soon I realized (and now I am 100 % sure about it), that’s true! Everywhere I go to, I am getting a warm welcome. I am sure, I could decide today, to spend summer vacation in USA or Sweden or Norway or Italy, and there would be friends who would host me warmly. Being involved with Worldloppet is a big privilege for me and I can only recommend to everybody who somehow is into skiing: Join the family, get your passport and start skiing around the world!