Community serves up Sisu VI

IRONWOOD - Excitement was high for the Taste 'N Tour leisurely ski event on Saturday, as part of the annual Sisu Ski Fest in Ironwood.

Participants gathered at Norrie Park Pavilion in Ironwood for their first top during the self-paced ski event.

The Taste 'N Tour is held in conjunction with the timed races of Sisu as another option for skiers to participate in the festivities without the competition side of it. This year, the event offered another version of the TNT called "The Nibble."

The Nibble was a shorter route participants could follow if they did not feel comfortable skiing in the cold weather.

The full event featured 9K of skiing, with four stops along the way, with hosted food and drinks form local restaurants. The four stops were the Norrie Park pavilion, the school bus garage, Manny's and ending at Brewster's.

The Nibble was a 5K, with only three stops, which did not include Norrie Park.

Almost 130 participants signed up for the event, which had a cap of 200 participants. Of the first group to head on the tour, there were about 50 leading the way, as the rest followed behind.

Many of the event's participants came with a large group for the weekend, with several members competing in the other timed-events.

A group of four from Madison, Wis., had two other members competing in the Heikki Lunta Half Marathon race on Saturday. This was the groups' first time participating in any of the Sisu events, even though they have been coming to the area for winter trips for nearly 40 years.

The consensus among the participants on trail conditions proved they were very slow. With high winds leading up to the weekend, participants said the trails were snowy from drifts and hard to get good strides.

A few skiers also mentioned it was tough to start skiing again after food stops as their muscles stiffened a little while inside. But most participants were happy and full, chatting with other skiers with cold rosy cheeks.