Vasaloppet
This is the finish line of the Vasaloppet, held annually since 1922. The sign across the finish says: "I Fäders Spår för Framtids Segrar" , which means "In the footsteps of our forefathers for the victories of tomorrow"
I find that that is quite a beautiful sentiment.
The Vasaloppet is a 90 km ski race between Sålen and Mora in Dalarna county. It commemorates an actual event : in 1521 Gustav Vasa, who was trying to convince the Swedes to rise up in arms against the Danes (editorial note: the Swedes were only convinced to join his rebellion after the Danes lopped of the heads of 80 Swedish noblemen in Stockholm. The Swedes are a bit slow to get upset about things). The Danes were naturally not terribly fond of Gustav, and he was forced to flee for his life from Mora towards Norway (another editorial note: the modern Vasaloppet goes the other direction, having Gustav fleeing into the arms of his pursuers. Note to organizers: sort this out). This being Sweden, he had to flee on skis even though it was July. OK, I made that part up.
So future-king-Vasa fled on skis from Mora towards Norway and a bit afterwards news of the 80 dead guys finally reached Mora (the e-mail containing the news had been accidentally marked as "spam" and deleted). The Mora townspeople, realizing their grave error, sent off two of their strongest skiers to go catch up with him and bring him back to lead them in their struggle against their oppressors. Those two skiers were Lars and Engelbrekt (editorial note #3: heros should never be named Engelbrekt. They totally lose all credibility. It is like if Superman was named "Gus " instead of "Clark Kent"). So Lars and Engelbrekt finally caught up to Gustav Vasa in Sålen. He came back to lead the peasants and yadda-yadda-yadda they drove off the oppressing Danes and established the kingdom of Sweden.
In my opinion, the race should be called the "Lars and Engelbrekt"-loppet, but that just doesn't ring as nicely, does it? I mean, they are the real ski heros here, right? If Vasa had been a bit fitter, they would never have caught up to him. Just my 2 cents.
If you want more of the history stuff, go here.
posted by Jeff @ 10:08 PM
2 Comments:
As for your Note to Organizers: would you really like to ski 90km slightly uphill or downhill? Double polling or one-step?
It's been won by Orienteers the last two years. When being interviewed Oskar Svard said in 05 that his next challenge would be making his club's Tio-Mila and Jukola teams.
Nev
And just as we've taken authority over Hans Island (which belongs to Greenland... even though Canada hilarious claims that the island belongs to them), we will also reclaim the lost lands of Sweden and Norway... Eventually...
Wait and see. We'll come up with a invasion plan very soon. Just don't let anyone know that I told you this. It'll make things harder if they're prepared.
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