Maplelag Resort kicked off the 2015 portion of the ski season, hosting a successful High School Nordic Ski camp, with teams from Minnetonka, Minneapolis South and Visitation over the weekend of January 2nd-4.
The camp was the second of five camps to be held at the resort this season. The first camp was cancelled due to lack of snow but still had two teams come for limited skiing on the lake and alternative training methods, those teams were St. Paul Highland Park and Cooper.
The camps represent over 10,000 skier visits over the course of the season with teams coming mostly from the Minneapolis/St Paul area but also includes the Rochester Nordic ski team which has grown to 200 members in recent years.
“We are quite inspired by the growth of the high school Nordic ski teams in Minnesota and glad to be a part of this movement,” Maplelag resort owner Jay Richards of Maplelag Resort "Even with the challenging weather in recent years the coaches have been very creative with training to keep the interest high and foster the growth".
A typical weekend includes skill work, time trials, ski games and team bonding in the main lodge in between three home cooked meals daily.
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Maplelag has long been a supporter of high school Nordic skiing, providing scholarships to skiers who would not be able to attend otherwise, providing season ski passes for the Detroit Lakes Nordic ski team since its inception, donating to team fundraisers and has a scholarship program for graduating seniors each year to be applied to their college education.
“It has also been fun to watch the skiers that have participated at Maplelag ski camps go on to compete at a higher level including the Olympics and National Championship.”
Kyle Bratrud of Eden Prairie is one.
Bratrud won the 15k skate race at the U.S. Nationals competing for Northern Michigan University earlier this week, beating out former Olympians.
