Loppet Foundation leader elevated Nordic skiing in Minnesota, revitalized Wirth Park in Minneapolis

In his nearly two decades leading the Loppet Foundation, John Munger helped elevate cross-country skiing in Minnesota and revitalize Wirth Park, the largest park in Minneapolis' system.

The cross-country skier and former attorney was the first executive director of the Minneapolis nonprofit, which added activities, trails and a $11.6 million lodge to Wirth. He also organized events — from the City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival to year-round multisport programs.

Munger, 51, who lives in north Minneapolis, resigned July 10 after 18 years with the Loppet. He said he's not sure what his next job will be, but he's eager to spend time with his wife and two daughters.

"I feel like I accomplished a lot of the big things to establish the organization and I think it's time for new leadership," he said, adding that the Loppet is shifting from a period of growth to stability with strong management.

"I think I'm good at growing things," he said. "The next couple years are probably not going to be about growing things so it feels like probably a time for someone else."

The board named Ray Aponte, the Loppet's adventures director and a former Minneapolis school principal, as interim executive director.

"It's pretty difficult to imagine some of the signature achievements that this organization … achieved without John's vision and just relentless drive to see his vision to reality," said board president Jonathan Van Horn, who's worked with the Loppet as its lawyer and on its board since 2014.

Aponte added that, while the Loppet is known for skiing, the nonprofit does much more, increasing access to sports and the outdoors for students of color, especially on the North Side.

"Folks of color have a hard time kind of feeling comfortable … outside sometimes and [Munger's] providing an opportunity to kind of change that," Aponte said. "This organization was created by him but is being carried out by thousands of people that care about the environment and care about everybody getting outside."

Munger, who has degrees in mathematics, teaching and law, never planned to be a nonprofit leader.

In 2002, the skier aimed to improve ski trails while R.T. Rybak, then the mayor of Minneapolis, pushed to start an event like the American Birkebeiner in Wisconsin. John Erwin, a Park Board commissioner, showed up to a meeting and was surprised that the room was packed.

There was "more interest in cross-country skiing than we appreciated," said Erwin, who now lives in Maryland.

The City of Lakes Loppet, a race from Wirth to Minneapolis' Chain of Lakes, was born. By 2005, Munger started leading the then-City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation. The nonprofit grew from one ski race to a weekend of events including the Luminary Loppet, which draws 10,000 people along a path of candles glowing inside ice blocks.

"Minneapolis was all of a sudden an epicenter for cross-country skiing," Erwin said. "John had a huge impact on the city."

Bruce Adelsman, who runs skinnyski.com, a site for cross-country skiers, and has worked with the Loppet, said Munger was the "driving force."

"He was the person who made the Loppet happen," he said. "He went from a ski race … to this much larger organization."

The Loppet also began partnering with the Park Board, with the Loppet managing snow-making and building the Trailhead at Wirth, which was donated to the park system.

"It's a unique organization for sure and that was part of the challenge: building an organization that there wasn't really a model for," Munger said.

Jon Olson, a former park commissioner, added that "it hasn't always been smooth in terms of the relationship with the Park Board. But I think they've done a tremendous amount of work."

Rybak, a Loppet honorary board member, said Munger's dogged work revitalized the urban park and elevated skiing, but Munger always put youth development programs first.

"Thousands of kids have exposure to skiing and mountain biking and adventure sports because of John Munger's leadership," Rybak said. "They are one of the top ski organizations in the country, and maybe the world. But that was always secondary to their mission of helping kids. This is more than a race; it's about closing gaps and opening doors."

The Loppet grew to host programs and events year-round, including biking, running and snowboarding, and boost access to sports such as by teaching skiing to north Minneapolis kids and encouraging young people, especially from the East African community, to get involved in running.

Munger said he's proud that the Loppet built the Trailhead facility, engaged North Side residents and brought the World Cup cross-country ski races to Minnesota.

But they also marked low points, he said, such as financial issues with the Trailhead (in 2018, contractors said the Loppet owed more than $404,000, which followed a dispute over a water line break bill) and cancellation of the World Cup due to COVID-19. Some 20,000 fans and athletes, including Olympic gold medalist and Afton, Minn., native Jessie Diggins, were expected to attend the World Cup, the first time it was to be held in the U.S. in nearly 20 years.

Even though the event was canceled, Munger said it shows that it's possible to bring a large event to Minnesota.

In June, U.S. Ski & Snowboard honored Munger and the Loppet with its Paul Bacon Award for contributing to organizing competition.

Now the Loppet, like other nonprofits, is losing money from canceled or scaled-back events in the pandemic, and cut 11 positions. A $135,000 grant in the spring from the Jaket Foundation and a $400,000 Paycheck Protection Program federal loan helped with expenses through June.

But Aponte said the nonprofit, which has a $3.4 million annual budget, has a strong future, with turnout for summer and fall programs exceeding 2019's.

"It's in good hands," Munger added. "It's too important to people to have it disappear."

Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141