“As far as possible, as fast as necessary”
Folly (dictionary definition)
n., pl. -lies.
- A lack of good sense, understanding, or foresight.
- An act or instance of foolishness: regretted the follies of his youth.
- A costly undertaking having an absurd or ruinous outcome.
Recipe: Take two layers of Gatineau Loppet, 53 kms classic and freestyle. Serve on top of 160 scenic kms of the Canadian Ski Marathon. Viola! Close to 270 kms for all three events, four days on some great skiing terrain, over two consecutive weekends. A challenge and a delight: particularly for visitors who can get it all with a 10 day stay in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
You may ask why one would do the “Triple”. My skiing friend Peter Hoffman who is a World Loppet Master put the worm in my head when he attempted do it on his 64th birthday. He almost succeeded except for missing some sections of the CSM because of an upset stomach. So I wondered whether I would be able to do it. Then my friend Trevor Plestid has been doing the CSM and the Keski 53 Classic over consecutive weekends for the past few years, always going faster than me, and often bragging about it. Of course, I had to do one better than him.
Some skiers from outside this region, particularly World Loppet Master skiers, want to maximize their participation and challenge having traveled all the way to the region from a far. Like the Australian World Loppet Master skier, Nic Bendeli whom I met on the CSM. He also successfully accomplished the “Triple” this year.
How did my “Triple” go? I had a great time on
the CSM ( see http://www.xcottawa.ca/articles
So, I’m proposing to the XC Ottawa folks inaugurating a “Triple Folly Challenge” where all skiers who complete the "Triple", have their names on a web page on the site for bragging rights. They are thinking about it… I do believe this would also be a great co-operative opportunity between the CSM and Gatineau Loppet organizations to promote the “Triple” as a world-class distance challenge to get more international skier interest in both the CSM and the Gatineau Loppet…
Parham Momtahan
PS
I’d like to extend a hearty thanks to my Nakkertok fellow masters who
encouraged me all season (being called a nutter was definitely taken as an
encouragementJ) and
providing waxing suggestions and feeds for me over the weekend: in particular
our head coach Mike Vieira who impressively also won the 16 kmc while
supporting the Nakkertok racers all weekend, assistant master’s coach Jo-Ann
Holden, and fellow master Derek Ferguson who came out and supported us even
with a bad cold.
All right reserved. Copyright, Parham Momtahan, 22 Feb 2008
Links to other ski stories by the author:
- http://momtahan.com/vasa2007 - 2007 Vasaloppet in Sweden
- http://www.xcottawa.ca/articles
.php?id=737 - 2007 Keskinada Classic 53 - http://canadianmarathonstories
.com/Stories/Parham_Momtahan .htm - 2006, 40th Canadian Ski Marathon - http://www.momtahan.com
/csm2008/ Updated version of 2008 CSM report