Industry News
The next time you find yourself on a chairlift (hopefully soon), ask the person sitting next to you what the most famous ski traverse in the world is. Chances are, they might respond with one of the Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America, like the Uber Tour or Watson’s Traverse, or they might conjure up one of the iconic hut-to-hut traverses of the Alps like the Haute Route. But, if the chairlift you’re on happens to be a classic fixed grip at one of the Midwest’s small and well-loved resorts, the answer is probably the ski traverse between Cable, Wisconsin, and Hayward, Wisconsin—better known as the American Birkebeiner Ski Race.
The Birkie, as it is more commonly called, is a 34-mile (or 31 miles if you skate-ski) cross-country ski race that has been held almost every year since 1973. Over the years it has exploded in popularity from just 35 starters in the first edition to more than 10,000 racers the last several years. The Birkie is part of the 20 Worldloppet races, which consist of some of the best cross country ski marathons in the world. Though readers who reside in the Western U.S. may be shocked to learn that there are actually hills in Wisconsin, the Birkie is among the hilliest of all the Worldloppet events with over 4,800 feet of elevation gain on the course.
The American Birkebeiner is based off the Norwegian Birkebeinerrennet, a 34-mile ski race that runs from Rena, Norway, to Lillehammer, Norway. Participants in the Norwegian Birkie are expected to race with a seven pound pack to symbolize the infant heir to the Norwegian throne, Haakon Haakonsson. In 1206, Haakonsson was in hiding in Lillehammer after his father, King Haakon Sverresson, was killed. Two warriors with birch bark bound to their legs for protection, Birkebeiners, smuggled the baby out of Lillehammer and skied with him 34 miles over two mountain ranges in the dead of winter to Trondheim, Norway. Haakon Haakonsson would later go on to become king, ending the civil war in Norway. The Norwegian Birkebeinerrennet has commemorated this winter ski tour that changed the course of history every year since 1932.
- Related: History with SnowBrains: How a Legendary Rescue inspired the Birkebeiner Cross-Country Race
Since the American Birkie’s start in 1973, the race course has seen many changes, most of which have been driven by weather. The course has been shortened at least nine times since 1978 due to low snow, and was canceled in 2000 and 2017, according to the race records of Bob Britz, who has skied the Birkie 46 times. Britz is among a select group of dedicated skiers who show up to Cable, Wisconsin, year after year. Ernie St. Germaine competed in every Birkie from 1973 through 2024, finishing his 50th Birkie at age 76. The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation raised $650,000 in 2018 to build snowmaking infrastructure to support the race in future low snow years, and is hoping to raise another $1.2 million for snowmaking in the coming years.
That snowmaking capacity came in handy in 2024, when organizers were forced to change the course to a 10 kilometer loop course made completely from artificial snow. The “feast or famine” nature of the Midwest snowpack means the Birkie likely has a few more “loop years” ahead of it. But despite course changes, shortenings, and cancellations, the race remains one of the most popular events in the Northwoods, drawing close to 3,000 volunteers to support the more than 10,000 racers. Birkie Race Week now includes a slew of other ski races of varying distance and discipline. In addition to shorter cross-country ski races, there is now the Barkie Birkie, where skiers team up with their favorite furry companion for a little extra horsepower, er, dogpower. If a dog isn’t enough extra juice, there’s the Giant Ski Race, where six person teams strap on 25-foot skis to sprint through a 50-yard course, usually in costume.
As fall colors begin to blossom across the Midwest, many racers will begin to feel the first symptoms of “Birkie Fever” coming on. Roller skis on pavement will be tolerated for the next several weeks while everyone patiently waits for the snow to fly. Let’s hope it’s not another loop year.
More from Zach Armstrong:
- Sierra Nevada Resiliency Team Enters Second Season Supporting Ski Patroller Mental Health Across California and Nevada
- History with SnowBrains: The Incredible Notes from a Swiss Avalanche Researcher’s Travels to Western USA in 1949
- Why Ski Patrollers at Park City Initiated The Biggest Ski Patrol Strike In History
- The Battle Over The Future Of Palisades Tahoe
- How Eldora, CO, Ski Patrollers Finally Got Their Union
