Viking Magazine - December 2020 - 19

On any given day,
the population of Hayward, Wis.,
hovers around 2,300-except for one
weekend each February, when tens of
thousands of people from nearly all 50
states and dozens of countries descend
on the town, roughly two-and-a-half
hours northeast of Minneapolis, to
celebrate Norwegian culture and cheer
on cross-country skiers in a 50 or 55
kilometer dash to the finish line.
We're talking, of course, about the
American Birkebeiner-or the Birkie, as
it's lovingly called.
" There is something about looking
down Main Street and seeing thousands
of spectators with this white blanket of
snow, the quaint shops lining the streets
and the bridge in the distance with
international flags lining the bridge, "
says Nancy Knutson, the director of
marketing and communications for the
American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation.
" There's skiers with their brightly
colored suits racing down Main Street,
and it's this kaleidoscope of color. It's
just amazing. "
Today, the Birkie is the United
States' largest and most prestigious
cross-country ski race-and one of
20 races around the globe part of the
Worldloppet. But its beginnings are
much more humble.
A Birkebeiner King
Founded in 1973, the American
Birkebeiner wouldn't exist today if it
weren't for Tony Wise, the Hayward
native who first encountered skiing
while serving as a soldier in Germany
in World War II. After the war,
Wise traveled to Norway,
where he witnessed the
Birkebeinerrennet, a
54-kilometer cross-country
race from Rena to Lillehammer,
established in 1932 to pay
homage to a pivotal moment in
Norway's history.
As the story goes, fighting
between two parties-the
Baglers and the Birkebeiners-in the
early 1200s was the cause of much civil
unrest in the country. King Haakon
Sverresson, a Birkebeiner, was on the
throne, but had no legitimate children
within the castle. His only direct heir, the
infant Haakon Haakonsson, was a son
he conceived out of wedlock with Inga
Olavsdatter of Varteig.
To preserve his family's claim to the
throne, King Sverresson sent his two
best warriors, Torstein and Skjervald,
through the Norwegian mountains on
skis to transport the young Haakon
from Østerdalen to Trondheim.
Upon his arrival at the
palace, he became Prince
Haakon, and eventually
King Haakon IV, going
on to rule for 46
years.
To this
day, the
Birkebeinerrennet
is meant to
mimic that journey, even requiring
all participants to carry a backpack
weighing at least 3.5 kilograms (or
about 8 pounds) to represent the weight
of the baby prince.
" [Wise] was so impacted by the
race that he came back to Hayward,
bought land, built the Telemark Lodge
and eventually held [the American
Birkebeiner], " says Knutson.
A Twist on Tradition
While participants in the American
Birkie aren't required to carry a
backpack, the race is very similar to
its Norwegian counterpart: Amateur
and professional cross-country skiers
alike take to a 100-plus-kilometer trail
starting in Cable, Wis. Weaving through
the area's forests, across Lake Hayward,
and over the American Birkebeiner
International Bridge, the race culminates
in a sprint to the finish down Hayward's
Main Street, where 75 to 80 truck
loads of snow are dumped every year to
create the ideal terrain. " The American
sonsofnorway.com VIKING DECEMBER 2020 19
PHOTO BY LAYNE KENNEDY / GETTY IMAGES
http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - December 2020

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