Norwegian Birkebeiner

In honor of the upcoming Lake Placid loppet and the Canadian Ski Marathon I posted another short video of one of the most famous long-distance events in the world. At 55K it is not nearly as long as the Vasaloppet, however it does climb up and over a mountain! As with many of the Scandinavian distance ski events, it is tied directly to an important historical event.

In this case, almost a 1000 years ago, there was a civil war, with rival claims to the Norwegian throne. Legend has it that two burly warriors skied Prince Hakon to safety, thus all the competitors carry a 3.5 kg pack to symbolize the infant prince. (A recent historical novel suggests that Hakon's mom may have accompanied the two warriors over the mountain.) A couple of my recent graduates skied it last year with their Proctor Academy teammates. Lucy and I plan to ski it when she turns 16. The race usual draws about 15,000 participants. I have skied the American Birkebeiner, which had 9,000 entrants the year I skied it, and I managed to finish in the top 100.