Honour the memory of Mora-Nisse – ski in a red cap
This year marks 100 years since Nils ”Mora-Nisse” Karlsson (1917-2012) was born. And of course we are celebrating. We now ask all participants starting in the 93rd Vasaloppet on Sunday, March 5, to do so wearing a red cap. The goal is to make a gigantic tribute to an athletic star and Vasaloppet's greatest icon through the ages.
Nine victories out of ten Vasaloppet starts. Olympic gold and World Championship bronze, 37 Swedish Championship golds, the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal and the Holmenkollen medal. Nils ”Mora-Nisse” Karlsson was not only a fantastic cross-country skier and a beloved idol; in his work as course manager and chairman of Vasaloppet’s organization committee he also helped develop Vasaloppet into what it is today. One of Mora-Nisse’s most known characteristics is the red cap he wore in as good as every competition from 1942 and on.
”Mora-Nisse was a strong profile and ambassador for Vasaloppet. We now want to honour his memory by adding extra colour to this year’s race, and that is why we are asking all participants to start in a red cap on Sunday, March 5,” says Eva-Lena Frick, CEO of Vasaloppet.
Why Mora-Nisse started using the red cap is not completely certain, but all evidence suggests that it had its origin at the Svenska Turistföreningen mountain station in Vålådalen which was, for many years, the place where Swedish elite athletes polished their form before World and Olympic Championships. Gösta Olander, the mountain station’s leaseholder and trainer, had the idea of bringing a red cap for his guests, and Mora-Nisse took his cap with him and wore it during competitions. Eventually the red cap became part of IFK Mora’s ski uniform.
After his active career, Mora-Nisse continued to work within Vasaloppet. He was course manager 1961–1967 and then competition director and chairman of Vasaloppet’s organization committee 1968–1985. It was during his years as course manager that Mora-Nisse made sure Vasaloppet was given the route that largely remains to this day and which made it possible to have more race participants and development during summer as well as winter. In 1985 there were, for the first time, over 20,000 people registered for Vasaloppet and Öppet Spår. Today there are over 60,000 registered for the races during Vasaloppet’s Winter Week 2017.
”Wearing a red cap will be a concrete way to pay homage to an individual who has meant so much for Vasaloppet. Of course all our functionaries will wear red caps during the whole Winter Week and we will, in every way, encourage our participants to ski with a red cap,” says Eva-Lena Frick.
The Mora-Nisse exhibition in Vasaloppet’s House
During the Winter Week 2017, a special exhibition about Nils ”Mora-Nisse” Karlsson opens in Vasaloppet’s House. The exhibition, which has free admission, will show Mora-Nisse’s life in text and photographs, as well as parts of his awards collection, and it will tell the story of his Vasaloppet work, as course manager and more.
