Birkebeiner

Although we now spend a good bit of time in WI, we had not until this year experienced the Birkebeiner. This annual cross country ski race and an associated set of additional skiing and cultural events has become legendary within the cross country skiing community.

Snow conditions were not great when we arrived about the second week in February, and though we experienced some seriously cold weather while there and did some cross country skiing ourselves, by the time the Birkie weekend rolled around, exceedingly warm conditions had destroyed much of the base and threatened cancellation of the event. We kept hoping for more snow, but it didn't arrive. Nevertheless, the organization succeeded in holding some of the early events, which we were able to see. Later, they also managed to schedule a shortened main event with a restricted number of the top skiers, though we had by that time decided to return home to avoid traveling through the storms that hit Iowa over this past weekend.

You can read all about Birkie and the events at their web site, but let us share with you here something of what we saw. It was great fun, and we look forward to seeing a more complete Birkie next year.

On Thursday, the Sons of Norway/Swiss Miss Barnebirkie, the largest children’s ski event in North America/Hayward, was held. Many of the Birkie events take place on Hayward's main street, and under normal circumstances, the main race would finish there as well. To do this, they cover the streets with snow, creating a trail from Lake Hayward into the main street of town. Below, you can see what this looks like, as well as one of the snow tractor/graders completing the trail across US Highway 63. Retailers try to dress up main street a bit, and there are plenty of good things to eat. We had cocoa and an Irish coffee at the Anglers Bar before the events began. Kathie tried out the ice chair sculpture, although you will notice she is sitting on her hands.




Some 1300+ children of all ages, shapes, and sizes completed this Barnebirkie event, which involves skiing from Lake Hayward to the end of the trail on main street. I don't know exactly how long this course might be, but it is a considerable distance, especially for the very young. Barnebirkie is not a race. Everyone who completes the course receives a medal and a trip to the cocoa and cookies tent. A parent or other adult can accompany the little ones.

Leading off were members of the Hayward High School Cross Country Ski Team, who displayed an appropriate array of flags. Then, over more than an hour, came a steady stream of children of all ages and sizes. Many were quite impressive skiers with good technique, even some very young ones. Others were simply cute. It was impossible not to take photographs. Here are just a few.









Later in the day, we also watched a few of the sprints. These were short races between pairs of some of the top skiers, many associated with sponsored teams.