Dolomiten Lauf

What began as the biggest disappointment possible, ended as a great weekend of individual skiing at Obertilliach. Past weekend, the Austrian Dolomitenlauf should have taken place with a Classic and a Skating race day. Everything seemed to work out and hundreds of skiers from Austria and all around the world have travelled to the region around Obertilliach. 

But only 22 hours before the start, the local authorities have made a final decision: No to Dolomitenlauf 2022! Every effort the organizers have made to come up with an alternative solution were not working out, not even a concept of an open track formula. So, the Dolomitenlauf 2022 had to be cancelled a day before race day. Of course, the disappointment was huge. Not only on the organizer’s side, but especially on the Worldloppet skiers’ side: A lot of them have travelled from far away, to get a stamp in their passport. 

“More than 500 skiers from 20 nations are already here in the area, but now there won’t be a race…”, said OC chief Franz Theurl, after the final decision on Friday. 

A solution for Worldloppet skiers

On Friday evening the OC of Dolomitenlauf and the Worldloppet Office have met, to find a solution for this situation. What to do with the skiers from USA, New Zealand, Russia and even Chile, who have travelled to Obertilliach, but now have no chance to get a stamp? 

Finally, the officials have agreed on an alternative: Skiers with a Worldloppet Passport can ski the original track – it was perfectly prepared, signposted and start- and finish area was built up – and track their session with a sportswatch or smartphone. With this proof the skiers could get a stamp in their Worldloppet Passport. In total around 130 passports were stamped on this weekend. In the end, the big disappointment from Friday turned into two great days of skiing, on a perfectly groomed course with nice sunny winter weather. 

“Of course, this was not a replacement for the real Dolomitenlauf. This would have its very own flair. But at least we were able to offer something to our most important clients, the skiers who are travelling around the world to ski.”, says Epp Paal, Worldloppet CEO, who has been on site, to stamp the passports on her own. 

Covid-19 travel information and race regulations

The past weekend has shown us, how important information is, especially nowadays. This is the reason why we have collected all the official travel informations from the Worldloppet nations and the applying race regulations at the different Worldloppet races. We update this information regularly: