American Birkebeiner
The Nation's Greatest Ski Marathon
By Jerome P. Poling
An exhilarating behind-the-scenes journey into the history of America’s largest cross-country ski race
Each February, cross-country skiers from across the nation and around the world descend upon the sleepy northern Wisconsin town of Hayward to compete in the American Birkebeiner—the largest cross-country ski race in North America. In American Birkebeiner: The Nation’s Greatest Ski Marathon, author and skier Jerome P. Poling traces the remarkable history of the famed “Birkie,” from its modest origins in the early 1970s to its modern incarnation as an international Nordic-themed festival and multi-day racing event drawing more than 30,000 skiers and spectators.
American Birkebeiner offers an up-close, behind-the-scenes tour of all things Birkie—from pre-race preparations and skier profiles to race-day highlights and history-making finishes. It also tells the story of visionary race founder Tony Wise and his efforts to popularize the sport of cross-country skiing in the Upper Midwest. The book delves into the origin and evolution of the world-class Birkebeiner Trail and the communities that support it, as well as the ways the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation is adapting to climate change to help ensure the event thrives for years to come.
American Birkebeiner sparks with lively, narrative-driven prose and is based on extensive archival research, reporting, and personal interviews. The lavishly illustrated book also features 150 photographs, including intimate portraits of athletes pushed to the limits of their endurance, sweeping aerial shots of skiers and cheering crowds, and awe-inspiring winter vistas. An exquisitely crafted ode to an extraordinary race, American Birkebeiner will inspire winter sports fans and outdoor enthusiasts alike.
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PRAISE
"Jerome Poling's American Birkebeiner is a delight for Birkie enthusiasts past and present!"
—Bill Koch, 1976 Olympic silver medalist and 1982 World Cup Champion
"This fascinating, well-researched, and important history of the American Birkebeiner chronicles not just a half-century of ski races but the genius of founder Tony Wise, Telemark Lodge, the trail, and the people who have helped make this world-famous event a reality."
—Ernie St. Germaine, the only skier to complete the first 50 Birkebeiner races
"For the tens of thousands who have skied the American Birkebeiner and wondered how this iconic race and trail came into being, Jerry Poling's American Birkebeiner: The Nation's Greatest Ski Marathon answers all these questions and more. From the marketing genius behind the race, to the race's ups and downs over the past half-century, to many of the competitors and how they caught “Birkie Fever,” this book is a must-have for any cross-country skier. The historic pictures alone are worth it."
—Peggy Shinn, author of World Class: The Making of the U.S. Women’s Cross-Country Ski Team
"What a great story Jerome Poling recounts in his impressive book, American Birkebeiner. Actually, he tells four terrific, interwoven stories: first, a fascinating and poignant account of the larger-than- life visionary, Tony Wise; second, the birth, growth, and maturity of the remarkable race (and associated events); third, the development and constant improvement of the Birkie trail; and finally, several heart-warming snapshots of volunteers and participants through the past half-century. Nowhere else in our country do so many Nordic skiing enthusiasts gather to test themselves and to celebrate the joys of the sport, and Poling does a masterful job of capturing that energy."
—John Morton, U.S. Olympic biathlete, founder of Morton Trails, and author of Don't Look Back
"If you want to know why people ski the Birkie forty times, this comprehensive and insightful book will clue you in. There really is no race like it in the country, as tens of thousands of people arrive in the remote countryside each year to celebrate the toughest sport on earth."
—Bill McKibben, environmentalist, author, and avid skier
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Journalist and author Jerome “Jerry” P. Poling has skied more than twenty American Birkebeiners and has reported on the race for more than thirty years. He has published four other books, including two on the Green Bay Packers, one on Henry Aaron, and one on the history of the University of Wisconsin at Stout. He lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
AN INTERVIEW WITH JERRY POLING
The American Birkebeiner has been a major part of your personal and professional life for decades. What about the race keeps you coming back, and what made you want to tell the race’s story?
Gliding through snow-covered woods or across a prairie or frozen lake is so exhilarating. The American Birkebeiner is a chance to celebrate a love for the sport with thousands of people who love it just as much as you. Pushing past the pain and fatigue, the thrill of finishing on Main Street in Hayward to the cheers of thousands makes every skier feel like an Olympian, a thrill that doesn’t get old. Once you’ve done it, you soon become part of a community, one you want to be with on the last Saturday in February in Hayward and Cable.
It was important to me to tell the Birkie story because I’ve seen it up close—from the starting pen to the final hill—and know how it’s appreciated and valued by the legions of skiers who keep coming back. Plus, its financial impact on the region and impact on the sport of cross-country skiing are so significant. I’ve witnessed or been part of close to 80% of the Birkies, as skier and reporter; I felt my lived race experiences, accumulated knowledge of the sport, and understanding what research was needed were valuable perspectives that I could bring to readers.
The Birkie story is worth telling, too, because it’s more than a race. It’s a week of celebrating winter, snow and skiing in the north woods with multiple events, such as the Kortelopet (half-marathon) and the Barnebirkie, one of the largest such children’s races in the world. It’s a reunion of family and friends, a weeklong party in February in Wisconsin.
The Birkie is an international event, with racers and supporters coming yearly from around the world. How does American Birkebeiner shed light on Wisconsin’s own history with Nordic skiing and the state’s impact on the sport?
Frankly, there wasn’t much Nordic skiing in Wisconsin until the Birkie came along. However, the Birkie, in retrospect, seems like it was an idea waiting to happen. It’s an outgrowth of Wisconsin history socially and geographically.
The state became home to thousands of Scandinavian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of them Norwegian. Tony Wise had Norwegian ancestry and developed a Norwegian-themed alpine ski resort, Telemark, in 1947. He then patterned the race after the famous Norwegian Birkebeinerrennet, so it all seemed to fit. In addition, northern Wisconsin is a perfect site for such a race, with generally reliable snow cover above the 45th parallel, extensive forest lands and rolling, post-glacial terrain.
As the Birkie grew, so did the region’s impact on the sport. Excellent trail systems, ski clubs, and other races followed all across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as skiers latched onto the sport. The Birkebeiner and Birkie Trail have become a destination for cross-country skiers and so has Wisconsin.
Many describe the Birkie experience as electric. What was your approach to writing the book to convey the “Birkie Fever” you see on the streets of Hayward during the event?
A major part of my research was conducting more than 60 personal interviews with current and past race officials, skiers, volunteers, and Tony Wise family members. I tried to dig deep into race history and operations to convey their stories and personal connections to the race.
In the opening chapter, I take the reader through a modern race week and race day from the skier’s perspective, describing the sights, sounds, and nonstop action during what otherwise would be a quiet time in and around Hayward. Traffic jams on a winter Saturday in rural Wisconsin? Twenty-thousand people on Main Street? Cow bells ringing? Visitors from 20 nations? It only happens during Birkie week.
A chapter called “Birkie Fever” attempts to describe why skiers, young, middle-age, and older, keep coming back for years and even decades. Also, I go behind the scenes to show how volunteers, up to 2,000 a year, many of them with their own brand of “Birkie Fever,” are a major reason why two small communities can stage such a complex event.
A major part of the book talks about Tony Wise, who founded the American Birkebeiner in 1973. How has Tony’s story inspired you in your own work on the book and in general?
In some respects, the book is an homage to the legacy of Hayward native Tony Wise, what he initiated and put his heart and soul into. He didn’t create just the race but the Birkie trail and the Worldloppet organization. I felt a real responsibility to fully tell his story, where he succeeded and failed, and as a historian to then chronicle the race beyond the Tony Wise years.
Tony was such a visionary, but he gifted us his eternal optimism by creating the race. People who ski the Birkie have to be visionaries too—they have to push themselves, imagine themselves coming down Main Street, and then go out and do it. We all have a little bit of Tony Wise in us if we believe in ourselves.
What do you hope readers take away from this book?
I hope readers realize, if they don’t already, that the Birkie is a force, an international treasure, an extreme physical challenge, a feel-good day and explosion of color in the north woods when the days are cold, gray, and short.
If readers are familiar with the Birkebeiner, I hope that the book reaffirms their love for the race but also deepens their appreciation for its rich history. If readers aren’t Birkie skiers or are somewhat unfamiliar with the race, I hope the book reveals how special it is—a celebration of winter, of life and culture in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest, of Nordic skiing. Maybe the book will inspire them to do the Birkie too.
You have raced in the American Birkebeiner more than twenty times. Do you have a favorite memory that comes to mind from your Birkie racing experience?
One of my favorite race memories was from my first year, when I wasn’t sure I could actually ski 30-plus miles. Late in the race, as I was coming down a hill, it hit me that I indeed was going to make it to Hayward. It was such an intense feeling of accomplishment, of joy, of personal triumph, something that I’d never felt as an athlete. I imagine this is what many first-time Birkie finishers experience and one of the reasons it keeps them, like me, coming back.
Many Birkies stand out because the weather and snow conditions make them even more challenging. One year, skiers faced sub-zero cold at the start and only single digit high temperatures—I felt like a popsicle when I finished. One year it was in the 40s, so it was a long slog through mushy snow and then standing water on Lake Hayward. Another year a blizzard hit about a day before the race, and the soft snow on the course made for thick uphill climbs and not much glide. The battle of the Birkie is three-fold—within yourself, against the course, and versus Mother Nature.