Yes, there is fast and furious racing to be had, racing that tests the most fit, rewards the fastest and challenges all who choose to go for time over the distance.
But there’s more. The Birkie is an event, a celebration. The Birkie is part reunion, part spectacle and a considerable challenge for those who will never be fast. From the Barnebirkie on Thursday through the sprints on Friday, to the grand passage on Saturday (the Birkebeiner, the Kortelopet and the King Haakon Tour), the Birkie is more than just a race. The American Birkebeiner is a grand Nordic event.
Start with the unbridled enthusiasm and unsullied innocence of the kids on Thursday, the day of the Barnebirkie. By the hundreds they come, their big day, bundled up against the chill, on incorrectly sized skis with mismatched poles, in wool and denim and insulated parkas. A 7-year-old friend of mine spent evenings the two weeks prior lifting weights – 10 pounds! – high overhead. His brother skied wearing swim goggles. It was their day in the Nordic sun. It was their day – all 1,000-plus who showed up – to inherit the Nordic tradition.
Fast forward to Saturday, to the Birkebeiner – the grand old race with a direct link to the past, to the day nearly 40 years ago when a handful of skiers lined up and set off through the haphazardly marked woods and to Telemark Lodge. Did it end there or did it start there?
More skiers than ever
The Birkie has changed in near every way since. An old vet recalled the second running of the race, when a local farmer let his horses out of the barn and they galloped onto the trail, along with the skiers. Today, little about the event is left to chance. It has changed enormously while also staying the same – same in the sense that it still requires considerable effort from all who participate.
They set a limit on entries this year. Some scoffed at the perceived arrogance: “Fill the Birkie? With 7,500 skiers? Ha! Fat chance.” But not only was the cap reached, it was topped off. Some may attribute the record crowd to a resurgence of interest in the sport, some to an adequate amount of snow encouraging people on to get on their skis early and often. Who knows? But the Birkie filled – 8,300 skiers for the Birkie, Korte and Haakon combined.
A simple fact: You do not sign up 8,300 skiers if all you offer is a race. You do, however, if you offer an event. And that is what the Birkie has become: an event, and more power to it.
Still, you have to wonder why. Why here and now? The sport is not growing by leaps and bounds. We are living in economic hard times and the Birkie is not an inexpensive event to partake in.
Let me venture a guess as to why record numbers of skiers are showing up from the perspective of someone who has done 33 Birkies. This does not make me an expert or any smarter than the next guy, of course.
The first thing I’ve noticed is the Kortelopet evolving into a legitimate event on its own. And second, the improvements to the experience for classic skiers has brought more striders to the event.
Korte comes of age
From Day One there was the Korteloppet, though it was often referred to as the short, kids’ or beginners’ race. It didn’t get a lot of respect. It was difficult to work up a lot of enthusiasm for it. Korte skiers started with the Birkie skiers, continued to halfway or thereabout, and finished out there, in the middle of ... well ... not quite nowhere, but close. So Korte skiers got the best and the worst of it: They got to start with the fast skiers, had to deal with the masses, got their share of the glory but finished at Highway OO and hoped to find a bus home.
That changed a few years ago when the Kortelopet got its own – mostly – dedicated course. Yes, it’s shared by the Birkie skiers but eventually splits off and wanders a pleasant but decidedly challenging route to the finish at Telemark. It is, on its own, a very good event. The racers can ski it hard and fast and they certainly do. But the first timers are comforted by a course that is far more enjoyable than skiing the Birkie to halfway and far less congested in the latter hilly stages. Equally important, the volunteer support on the Korte course is exemplary.
Skiers have responded. Participation in the Korte is strong and enthusiastic. The Korte no longer has the image of an obligatory add-on. It has become an asset for the total event.
Classic tracks
The development of a segregated classic track for about half the distance of the Birkebeiner was long in coming. In bygone days there was classic skiing, period. Then the sport changed. Skating came on the scene and after some back-and-forth on whether to allow it, skating became an integral part of the Birkie.
I will not attempt to revisit the entire history but say only that the integration of classic skiing and skate skiing was not a smooth one. It is difficult over the expanse of years to remember the turmoil and heated emotions over that period. In the end a lot of long-time Birkebeiner classic skiers left the race. To them the race they knew and loved had changed too much and for the worse. Classic skiers who kept coming often found a stride track compromised or obliterated by the time they skied it.
Fortunately, that is now history. Any classic skier who says they will not do the race for lack of a good track hasn’t been paying attention. The new trail is exceptional. And classic skiers are back. The quality of the field is higher every year and some very good skiers now do the Birkie on classic skis.
Those two factors – the improvement of Kortelopet experience and the addition of the Classic Birkie Trail – are reason enough to give kudos to the organization. Both have helped immeasurably to maintain the American Birkebeiner’s reputation as a premier event.
Timing change for the better
This year there may have been one more change that will further improve the race.
Hidden away in the fine print in the race rules is a statement that says your official time now starts not when the gate goes up for your collective wave but when you, as an individual, cross the chip-sensitive starting line. This change means every skier will have an accurate time, especially if they’re late to start.
There’s more to this timing change worth watching. With the new rule, any skier can drop back a wave or two or three and not be penalized. Is this important? Yes. Now a skier can start in a later wave with family or friends and still have an accurate time. Until now, if you dropped back to ski with a son or daughter, friends or family, your time would reflect when their wave left, adding 10, 20 or even 30 minutes to the time of the skier assigned to a lower numbered wave. Now their time will be determined by when they actually left the start area.
I predict a lot of skiers will take advantage to ski with people they know, to support each other and further enjoy the journey as a true fellowship of skiers. This will make the Birkie and Korte less intimidating for many recreational skiers. It will not affect the race. After all, for a lot of skiers the Birkie is not a race as much as it is an event.
So we finish with this: The American Birkebeiner, with all of the combined distances and starts and techniques, has become, firmly, more than a mere race. This year only solidified its standing as a wonderful event heading into the future.
Mitch Mode started cross-country skiing some 35 years ago. He has skied every Birkie since 1978 but no longer races. He is the co-owner of Mel’s Trading Post, a sporting goods store in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, named after his late father who started the business in 1946.
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11/2/10 - 1:49AM