It is nearing the end of February and that can mean only one thing, it’s Birkie time again! The 2011 American Birkebeiner is shaping up to be a very exciting and fast race for every racer and participant. Part of the excitement and perhaps anguish leading up to the race can be related to skis and waxing. How should I prepare my skis? What waxes do I need? What wax tools do I need? What...
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The popular Norwegian ski marathon, Birkebeinerrennet, was sold out in a record time of 18 minutes after the registration went online last week. The organizers had reserved a total of 16,000 start bibs and all of them were snapped up in just 18 minutes. The Birkebeinerrennet will take place on 19th March 2011. Never before has the race has been sold out so fast. The sharp increase in interest is even more dramatic looking back...
Felice Beitzel leads a different life than most PhD holders. Since the spring of 2009, the 29-year-old Australian has been the soigneur with the Giant Bicycle team, which means she spends half of the year traveling around the world with some of the best mountain bikers on the planet. The other half of the year, she travels around the world chasing her own podiums, on skis.
Racing for hours at a time is an entirely different kind of challenge than racing a 5 or a 10k and especially in the United States, the longer of these challenges tends to receive far less attention on the professional level. However, the Central Cross-Country Ski Association (CXC) is making plans to move ahead with the creation of an elite Worldloppet team. Athletes on the team would compete in the American Birkebeiner and Vassaloppet, the...
Last month, a group of high school students from New England had the chance of a lifetime: to travel to Norway in time for the biggest and most culturally iconic ski races of the season.
I will admit I was a tad “miffed” at once again being left off the U.S. Olympic Team but after some self reflection I can hardly blame the Nordic “powers that be” for asking me to stay home. I am sure there were other recreational skiers similarly situated who didn’t get their ticket punched to Vancouver so I decided to let it be and focus my attention on the American Birkebeiner. With all the “big...
IMPORTANT RACE WAXING CONSIDERATIONS Forecast Friday night cold and partly cloudy. 0% chance of snow. Low 4F / -15C. 1-3mph NE wind. Saturday partly cloudy. High of 32F / 0C. Temps around 14F / -10C by 9:00 a.m., and 25F / -4C by noon. Humidity near 80% overnight, and dropping through the day. 5-7 mph N wind. 0% chance of snow. Course Conditions Track has firm base. Snow is moderately abrasive due to the sharp...
FIS announced Wednesday that the American Birkebeiner will return to its Marathon Cup circuit for 2009-2010. According to Birkebeiner Director of Race Operations Shellie Milford, the inclusion of the race in the circuit will bring additional elite skiers from Europe to compete for more prize money. Milford said that the decision to participate in the circuit is made by the Birkebeiner, rather than FIS. “It’s kind of a year-by-year decision,” she said. “We consider...
Though the battered economy has caused the cancellation of events in other sports, as well as the folding of the Saab/Salomon Factory Team, North America’s biggest ski races appear to be weathering the storm. While it is still early in the year, organizers of the American and Canadian Birkebeiners, City of Lakes Loppet, Craftsbury Marathon, Yellowstone Rendezvous, Noquemanon Ski Marathon, and Mora Vasaloppet all said that their races were proceeding as planned. Many did say,...
