Skiing the Norwegian Birkebeiner
By Jay Tegeder
(Reprinted with the permission of the author for exclusive use by xcskiworld.com.)
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Part Six: Touring in Sjusjoen and the Trip Wrap-Up
Sunday, March 22nd, the Norwegian Birkebeiner was over! Man! I was stiff and sore...Dave said he felt even worse than I did. We knew we had to do some easy skiing to loosen up our muscles. Besides, when you're in the Sjusjoen area, it's tough not to put the skis on. Anyway, we went ski touring with Terje, his wife Tone and the kids. Their cabin is about one kilometer south of Sjusjoen and the Birkebeiner Trail. After getting ready, I started to put my skis in Terje's rocket box. He said to me; "What are you doing? We're going to ski right from the cabin!" I didn't notice the trail until we walked across the road about 20 meters and there it was. A nice single-track was heading off to the west. We all stepped into our bindings and took off. After about 200 meters, we came to a larger trail that was double-tracked and we were on our way. Once on the trail system, we noticed other tracks leading off in many directions. Thinking about it, I began to realize just how many trails the Sjusjoen region has.
After checking the maps, we made our way to town and hooked up with the Birkebeiner Trail. There were hundreds of people out touring under sunny, blue skies on a perfect day. Finally, I had the chance to take in the scenery without the oxygen debt and lactic acid buildup I enjoyed during the race! Sjusjoen sits right on top of a mountain, the vistas are fantastic as they gradually lead to the valley floors below. Subsequently, we continued to ski through town and then headed back to the cabin by way of the local lake. While on the lake, we ran into James Dundon who was out for a 15 kilometer tour. He was staying in one of the hotels in the area and was getting in one last ski also. Anyway, I couldn't stop thinking about what a wonderful ski destination the Sjusjoen area is. According to Terje, it's one of the most popular places for ski touring in Norway. Needless to say, we took some smaller trails back to the cabin, packed up and hit the road for Oslo.
Traffic was not much of a problem as we made it back to Oslo in a few hours. That evening, NRK (Norwegian Television) had their weekly sports show on TV. Terje knew there would be Birkebeiner Race coverage so we got the VCR tape ready. After showing hockey and football (soccer), they saved the best for last and aired twenty minutes of the Birkebeiner. Terje predicted that they would show the elite skiers starting, the masses on the trail, citizen skiers falling and drooling and finally, the elite skiers finishing. That's exactly how it happened! By the way, Erling Jevne won the men's race with Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeseth second. Trude Dybendal-Harz took the women's title followed by Bente Martinsen.
On Monday, March 23rd, Dave and I grabbed a cab for the airport and headed home. While at Fornebu, we ran into Dick Hunt (U.S. World Masters Representative and American Cross Country Skiers Executive Director), he too had skied the Birkebeiner and was going back to his home in Oregon. I guess running into Dick proves what a small nordic World it really is. All in all, skiing in Norway was a fantastic experience. I'd have to rate the Holmenkollen as the greatest place I've ever skied. Oh yeah, the Birkebeiner Trail wasn't too bad either!
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