FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Information

John Munger: 612 618-9681
John O’Connell: 651 402-6666
www.wirthwinter.com

Release Date: May 22, 2005

National Masters Groups Contribute $5,000

The Organizing Committees for the 2000 and 2005 National Masters Cross Country Ski Competitions have contributed $5,000 toward the Wirth snowmaking effort.

“This is a huge boost to the campaign and an indication that the entire ski community is behind the effort,” says Bill Dossett, one of the leaders of the snowmaking campaign. The National Masters Groups have been based in St. Paul, but this past year reached out to the west side of the river by holding the National Masters Relay Competition in conjunction with the City of Lakes Loppet’s Toko/Finn Sisu Sprints at Wirth Park.

For John O’Connell, a Co-Race Director of the 2005 National Masters Competitions, the decision to contribute to the fundraising effort was an easy one. “Snowmaking in the Twin Cities is critical to the future of the sport. Just look at this past year – we had to move all of our events except the Relays because of a lack of snow,” commented O’Connell.

“We see the addition of snowmaking at Wirth Park as very important to skiing in St. Paul. Wirth is convenient and as a ski community we recognize that there is enough demand for several snowmaking operations in the Twin Cities,” said O’Connell. “We know snowmaking at Wirth will be very successful and we expect that Ramsey County and the City of St. Paul will follow suit with an East Metro location once they see the demand at Wirth.”

With this contribution, the Foundation is on its way to a successful Phase I of its fundraising campaign (the goal of Phase I is to raise $100,000 from the ski community by June 3, 2005). In order to achieve the Phase I goal, however, individual skiers must continue to contribute.

Visit www.wirthwinter.com to make your on-line donation or to download a printable contribution form.

The City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation is the non-profit organization that runs the City of Lakes Loppet. The Foundation also works to develop ski trails in the Minneapolis area and to provide opportunities for Minneapolis-area youth to enjoy skiing and other outdoor activities. Become a member of the Foundation by downloading the membership application from the Registration page of cityoflakesloppet.com (http://www.cityoflakesloppet.com/COLNSFRegistration.pdf).

Find out more about the Foundation by visiting www.colnsf.com, send email inquiries to director@cityoflakesloppet.com or
call 612 618-9681 for more details.