Happy holidays! Lucky for us skiers that the start of ski season coincides with the start of the holiday season. Holiday markets around Europe are bustling, the Alps are covered with a blanket of snow and the mulled wine is flowing. With gift giving on the mind, here are some of Lumi Experiences’ favorite gift ideas from our favorite brands for your favorite skiers this winter:
Hot Stuff
US skier Julia Kern’s new Skida print is out: Hot Stuff. Julia was inspired by the chili pepper pattern as a reminder to “bring the heat this winter… keep things spicy… taking risks, challenging the norm, skiing with more fire, and keeping things exciting.”
Lumi guests will receive Skida hats on their trips this winter, but you won’t find this pattern. Gift a Hot Stuff headband, hat, or neckwarmer to your favorite skier whose taking on a new challenge this winter, like skiing their 1st or their 10th Worldloppet! Part of the proceeds will benefit Julia on her 9th World Cup circuit this winter.
Go Julia!
Icelandic Pönnukökur
Tis the season for Pönnukökur – golden Icelandic pancakes traditionally enjoyed at a celebration in Ísafjörður, a small town in Iceland’s Westfjords region where you can ski the Fossavatn ski marathon on the Lumi Iceland-Fossavatn trip this April.
Similar to crepes, Icelandic pancakes are made with more eggs so they are golden, custardy, and easy to flip, especially when cooked on medium-high heat using a 10.5” Lodge cast iron pan. They make a hearty breakfast or post-ski treat. See the recipe & enjoy!
Cowbells
If you or your special someone will be joining us in Minneapolis or Norway for World Cup races this winter, or you want to join the Lumi trip to Trondheim, Norway for the 2025 Nordic Ski World Championships (launching soon), there’s no better way to cheer for your favorite racers like Julia Kern than with a MOEN Cowbell from Norway (the same supplier for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer).
Modern Indigenous Cuisine
Lumi guests on the 2024 Minneapolis World Cup trip will wrap up the much-anticipated World Cup weekend with a farewell dinner at a popular restaurant in Minneapolis called Owamni. Chef Sean Sherman’s menu at Owamni highlights the foods of Indigenous communities across North America.
Why not sample a taste of modern indigenous cuisine before your trip? Sherman’s cookbook, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, specifically highlights recipes from the Dakota and Minnesota territories.
Lagrein & Mont d’Or
A bottle of Lagrein is a Lumi favorite. The Lagrien grape variety originates from the Alto Adige / South Tyrol region of northern Italy, which Lumi guests visit during trips to Seefeld & Seiser Alm, Dolomitenlauf & Marcialonga, and Marcialonga & König Ludwig Lauf.
A glass of Lagrein with Mont d’Or cheese—a special winter delicacy in the Jura Mountains of France—make a great pairing. Named after a peak on the French-Swiss border, Mont d’Or meaning mountain of gold, is traditionally served warm and melted with a baguette to scoop out the creamy gold colored cheese. Taste it in season on Lumi’s ski vacation to France!
Prince Haakon
Calling all Birken skiers! To celebrate the history of the Norwegian Birkebeiner, which follows the same path along which Prince Haakon Haakonsen was skied to safety by Birkebeiner warriors in 1205-1206, all Birken skiers must wear a 3.5 kg / 8 lb backpack (symbolizing the little Prince) when skiing the race.
If you don’t already have one, this is one of our favorites: Salomon Trailblazer 20 backpack. The 20 L volume is big enough to carry everything you’re required to carry for the Birken, plus a camera or other supplies, but not so big that you end up carrying too much.
Skin Skis
With inevitable temperature fluctuations throughout the day, it’s much easier to “grab and go” with skin skis than to have to pack waxes, a cork, and re-apply wax along the trail.
With skin skis, you can ski to your favorite trailside restaurant on a cold winter morning, enjoy Pönnukökur or a hot goulash soup with friends, and then clip back into your skis for a snowy and slightly warmer ski back to your hotel, without any wax adjustments!
If you or your favorite ski buddy is looking to try skin skis for the first time or wants to buy a new pair, New Moon and Pioneer Midwest ski shops sell all the main brands. We recommend them for classic skiing on all Lumi trips.
Trees for Carbon
Traveling this winter? Consider making a donation to an innovative carbon offset program in Minneapolis. Green Minneapolis is working to expand the urban tree canopy across the city, and by doing so, providing carbon offsets to individuals or companies who want to offset their carbon emissions.
Bliz Shades
Lumi trip leaders love their Bliz sunglasses from our partners at Enjoywinter.com!
A Lumi Gift Card
Let your favorite skier choose their favorite 2025 winter vacation with a Lumi Experiences Gift Card!
From Iceland to Italy, our boutique trips introduce travelers to winter cultures where nordic skiing is a part of everyday life.
$100, $500, and $1000 gift cards available with extra savings until December 31.
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Hopefully one or more of these gift ideas is the perfect fit for your favorite skier(s) this holiday season. Wishing you a very happy holiday time with family, friends, good food and wine, and hopefully some excellent skiing.
Happy holidays!
Garrott
P.S. Check out Lumi’s 2025 trips! Where will you ski next winter?
