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 Three: The Holmenkollen at Night
After spending the morning and afternoon at the Oslo ski shops, Dave and I went back to the Holnmenkollen for some night skiing. Actually, we hitched a ride with Terje and his kids (Fredrik age 8 and Cathinka age 6) who had decided to go skiing as well. After several warm days and cool nights, the tracks were in klister condition mode. Terje grabbed his kid’s skis and torched in some klister, Dave and I followed suit. Since Dave and I had planned to ski several hours, Terje took the kids in a different direction and we headed off by ourselves. Our plan was to take the train back to Terje’s house. Anyway, we started skiing at dusk and soon we were kicking our way down the icy trail. Now, I’ve got to tell you, the view of Oslo at night, all lit up, was fantastic. Even in those difficult conditions, there were plenty of people out skiing, maybe a couple of hundred. Among those on the trails were several junior ski clubs with the kids wearing their team colors plus many adults of all ability levels.
We continued to press on and skied down some hills when we realized we weren’t in Kansas - I mean the Saint Paul Comenkollen - anymore. In other words, the trail conditions, especially the down hills, were a little dicey. As a result, Dave and I decided to head back but we wanted to take a different route to the train station. Basically, we thought we were going towards the station when in fact we were going in the opposite direction. Our new course took us on some more downhill sections which were becoming increasingly bare due to the daytime melting. We were still skiing on lighted trails but the snow was disappearing the lower we got in elevation. We came to the conclusion that we were going the wrong way and took our chances with an unlit section of the trail. As it turned out, we skied a kilometer or so and found our way back to the stadium area.
When we got back to the Holmenkollen stadium, we found ourselves right in the middle of a race. Several clubs were holding a kids event that night. Let me set the scene, the stars were out, the lights were on and the “Center of the Cross Country Skiing World”, “the Cradle of Skiing”, was in a magical, mystical mode. With the aura of the Holmenkollen surrounding them, the racers, about 200 eleven year olds, were flying around the course. Those kids were fast and they had flawless classic technique. Parents were everywhere cheering their young ones on while the racers hammered around the stadium loops. The race, which was an interval start event, finished under the lights beneath the famed Holmenkollen Archway that Prokurorov skied under during his 50 Kilometer win on Saturday. Everyone was cheering loudly, it was an incredible spectacle for someone from the United States.
After watching a bunch of the kids finish the race, we hopped the train back to Terje’s house. That evening gave me sense of what we in North America are facing when we take on the Scandinavians in cross country skiing. Basically, we’re competing against countries that have an astounding commitment, national pride and an essence of culture associated with a sport. Skiing is ingrained into their kids from a very early age, tiny children have excellent technique and balance, practically everyone ski tours and Scandinavians love to be outdoors. In order for North America to compete, we need to emphasize programs, community participation and an early introduction to skiing. However, family ski touring is where it all starts.
