Skiing the Norwegian Birkebeiner
By Jay Tegeder
(Reprinted with the permission of the author for exclusive use by xcskiworld.com.)
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In March of 1998, I had the opportunity to ski in the Norwegian Birkebeiner, one of the most demanding of the Worldloppet Races and the second oldest, going back 66 years. I made the trip with Dave Nelson, a fellow member of the Minneapolis Ski Club. What follows is my account of the trip which I think every cross country skier should make given the chance.
Part One: The Holmenkollen
Part Two: The Norwegian Ski Shops and Ski Federation
Part Three: The Holmenkollen at Night
Part Four: Friday and the Trip to Lillehammer
Part Five: The Birkebeiner Rennet
Part Six: Touring in Sjusjoen and the Trip Wrap-Up
Dave Nelson and I arrived at 2PM in Oslo on Wednesday, March 18th. My Norwegian friend, Terje Mathisen, picked us up at Fornebu Airport and after a quick tour of his office (he's the lead programmer for Norsk Hydro), we went to his house and immediately changed into ski clothing. In twenty minutes, we were standing on the trails at the fabled Holmenkollen. Wow! Sitting about 1500 feet above Oslo, the Holmenkollen's trails overlook the city and are undoubtedly, the most famous cross country ski trails in the world. In fact, the phrase, "the cradle of skiing" comes to mind. Needless to say, the Holmenkollen is the Lambeau Field and Mount Everest of nordic skiing.
Once in Oslo, getting to the Holmenkollen is easy, just find the world class ski jump, which is visible from just about anywhere in the city and aim your car there. Next follow the switchbacks in the road up to the parking area and youÕve arrived. When you get out of your vehicle, the first thing you notice is the imposing ski jump and the stadium area where so many World Cup races have finished. Next to the track is the ski chalet and timing building including the famous Holmenkollen archway. Legends have been born and made on both these jumps and the trails. History lives in the air surrounding the Holmenkollen and I was breathing it! In fact, there is a statue of one of Norway's most loved Kings, Olaf and his dog, beside the trail. Olaf, who died just a few short years ago, was a ski jumper in his youth and skied at the Holmenkollen with his dog many days each winter.
After Dave took my picture next to the statue of the King, we rushed to put our skis on and headed down the trail with Terje. The three of us skied about two hours on some of the 2600 kilometers of the Nordmarka which contains the Holmenkollen. We skied through pine and birch forests, on wide trails with lots of climbs, descents and hairpin turns. The vistas above the Oslo Fjord were fantastic and included many scenic overlooks of the city. At different places along the trail we would come across ski chalets serving food and beverages. Even those buildings fit right into the landscape.
The Holmnenkollen is the place where the legends of nordic skiing have traversed and we were there where Jernberg, Hakulainen, Mieto, Gronningen, Svan, Wassberg, Bra, Myrmo and Ulvang once roamed. In fact, the last World Cup Race of the year, the 50K Holmenkollen, had been held there just several days earlier. As a result, we were skiing in the same tracks that Daehlie, Prokurorov, Smirnov, Alsgaard, Kirvesniemi and Jevne had just been on. We weren't the only ones out there that day, there were fast racers training and plenty of people touring. To sum it up, we had a blast!
