Kongsbergers at Play: Seventy Years of Tour Racing
Photo: Birkebeiner.no
Kongsbergers have been participants in the Scandinavian tradition of the tour race (Norwegian “skiturrenn”) for about seventy years, probably longer. They feature mass participation, though they often have elite skiers racing. In Norway they are very popular. Club president Rune Harkestad tallied twenty some such events across Norway in the first weekend in March 2024, one of which he skied in himself.
Vasaloppet was begun in 1922, Birkebeinerrennet in 1932 and Holmenkollmarsjen and Finlandia-Hiihto in 1974. The American Birkebeiner began in 1973 with Kongsberger-to-be Per Johnsen in the running. The John Craig Memorial in Oregon was begun in 1934 but skied only intermittently until 1970. Paul Kaald’s participation in 1955 is the first in such an event by a Kongsberger of which this writer is aware. Bert Larsson, Ozzie Nordheim, Einar Svensson and Jim Lindsey were early Kongsbergers skiing in the great Scandinavian events, beginning around 1970. About that time Paul entered the Koenig Ludwig Lauf in Germany. June Lindsey skied Holmenkollmarsjen not long after that, and in 2022longtime Kongsberger Ginny Price won Birkebeinerrennet in the women 70+ category.
The following lists document tour races entered by Kongsbergers, first by races, then by participants. Among Kongsbergers entering the most separate events, with fifteen reported events each, are Einar Svensson, Paul Kaald and Jim Lindsey. Numerous Kongsbergers have skied in more than a score of these races, sometimes the majority of them in the same event. Joy Cordell reports that she and Jeff Clark skied in the Cariboo Marathon some 25 times! Doug Holton and Jim Felty were the first among any skiers to ski Birkebeinerrennet and the Canadian and American Birkebeiners in the same year.
Note: Races with an asterisk have detailed accounts of interesting individual races which also offer an overall description of the race in question. They are found in the appendix. As Debbie Kolp likes to say, this “is a living document.” Send your list of events and any comments to Rob or Debbie. Those who have already contributed are welcome to make additions. Additions will be made periodically.
List of Great (and less great) Tour Races Entered by Kongsbergers
Great by virtue of distances, renown or participation:
American Birkebeiner 55km classic, 50km skate
*Birkebeinerrennet. 55km, classic, Norway (see Appendix, Rune Harkestad, Per Johnsen)
Canadian Ski Marathon. 160km over two days. Not timed. There are different categories of achievement.
Engadin, Switzerland 42km Skate, with classic track
Finlandia Hiihto 75km point to point
Finlandia Hiihto 62km circular in recent years. Classic/ Free on successive days. Lahti, Finland
Holmenkollmarsjen. Classic. 42k point to point until 2011 and thereafter 55k. Since 2022 a 36k circuit, Oslo, Norway.
Koenig Ludwig Lauf, Germany. originally 90kms, after 1980 50kms free and classic
Marcialonga 70km. Italy
Skarverennet, Geilo to Ustaoset, Norway. 38 km. Below and beside Hallingsskarvet, a rock scarp. In the1970’s Norwegian old timers at the KSC gave that name to the rocky outcrops on lower Amabalis seen from the old Stampede tour race course on Swamp Lake.
Tour of Anchorage
Vasaloppet 90km, Sweden
Note: the following major long race has not yet been skied by a Kongsberger
La Transjurassienne, France. 76kms. Freestyle. David Tower was enteredin“La Transju” several years back but it was cancelled.
Also raced/toured by KSC members in Europe
Fossavatnsgangan, Iceland. 50km
Grenerdierloppet. 90km, Norway
Inga-Laami. Women only. 30k, 15k, 5k. Birkebeiner Stadium, Lillehammar, Norway
Mylla Rundt, 22km Nordmarka, Norway
Marxa Beret, Catalonia, Spain 42km
Oppet Spar 90km, 43km, 28km A classic tour on the Vasaloppet course.
Rajaltarajellehiihto The Tour Across Finland. 370kms in 7 days, Russia to Sweden.
*Reistadloppet 40k. Tromsoe area, Norway (see Appendix, Rune Harkestad)
Vidarloppet 35k, Norway
In Canada
Black Jack Loppet. ca. 30km
Canadian Birkebeiner 55km
Cariboo Marathon, BC 50km point to point; later it was a loop race with a part repeated.
Nakkerloppet 25km Ottawa
Nickel Plate Loppet, ca. 30km, BC
Noquemanon Classic, ?km, Canada?
Payak, 50km, Whistler, BC
Salmon Arm Loppet ca. 30km
Sovereign Lakes 2 Silver Star 42k and 21k, classic and freestyle on successive days
Vancouver Island Loppet 30k
Whistler Loppet, 30k
In the United States
American Birkebeiner Korteloppet, 29k, skate or classic
*Barlow Trail. Government Camp, Oregon (see Appendix, Jay Bowerman)
Boulder Mountain Tour Sun Valley, Idaho
The Great Nordeen Mt Bachelor, 36k
The Great Ski Race Tahoe to Truckee, CA. ca 30km?
Hog Loppet, WA Mission Ridge to Blewitt Pass, ca 20km?
Jackson Hole Moose Chase 25km, Wyoming
*John Craig Memorial 32km over McKenzie Pass, Oregon until about 1973, then 20km, west to summit from near Sisters and return. It was intermittently held from 1934 on, with heyday in the 70’s on the first weekend in April, when it drew nationally and had a banquet. It is now a low key ski tour. Often benign red klister conditions at the start it could be snowing and blowing at the summit. (See appendix, Jay Bowerman)
The Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race. Run in the 1970’s on the lowest slopes of Amabalis and on Swamp Lake. Ca. 18km? In the year of the Norwegian American Sesquicentennial, 1975, the Norwegian Ambassador to the United States inspected the course! Another time it was started by the Sheriff of Kittatas County with a shotgun blast!
Methow Pursuit 30km up valley, 30 km down valley, different techniques on successive days
Minnesota Vasaloppet
Mission Ridge to Kongsbergers 160 kms. Event skied once, by one, its creator Don Brooks!
Mt Catherine Loop Race, Hyak ca 20km
Mt. Spokane Loppet 50km
Oosik 25k Talkeetna, Alaska
REI Gold Rush ca. 20km Gold Creek to Cabin Creek, Snoqualmie Pass
Rendezvous (Methow)
Silver Rush, 30 km Royal Gorge, California (also a Gold Rush, 45km and Bronze Rush, 15km)
*Sea to Ski, Mt Baker, WA. Though not the conventional tour race, Kongsbergers have had roles in all legs of this classic Northwest sporting event and in its evolution, as well as being on the winning team overall or by category on several occasions. Ozzie Nordheim’s ability in the first leg to get to the top of the skier’s climb and then back down again on cross country skis well ahead of the pack reputedly had a role in the change of format to include cross-country skiing. (See Appendix for Scott Tucker on KSC member Dick Arkley as King of the Hill in this race.)
Ski to the Sun, Ski Around the Sun ?km, Methow
Teacup Classic
The Tug Hill 50k. Osceola, New York. A shorter race in recent years, perhaps 20k.
Up, Down and Around, Hyak (10k)
West Yellowstone Rendezvous. 30k
In Australia
The Kangaroo Hoppet, Victoria, Australia. 42km
KSC Individuals and Their Tour Races
Dick Arkley
Barlow Trail 1976 3rd.
John Craig Memorial Jim Slyfield reports that his brother Fred commented (maybe with
some disbelief) on Dick’s approach to that race in the mid-seventies. In wind blown sections near the summit there were extended stretches of bare pavement, a common occurrence in that race. Dick did not bother with convention and take off his skis. With typical Arkley intensity and determination, he just ran right over the pavement at speed! (The author refers the reader to the appendix entry by Jay Bowerman where this move, among others by a wiley junior skier, won the John Craig against one of the best skiers in the country!)
Ski to Sea Race. Dick was associated with this race from its inception, though usually on the demanding uphill scramble by the downhill skier. I believe he was on the winning team in the first running of the event. Memories of the Sea to Ski inspire Scott Tucker’s tribute to Dick included in the appendix.
Sam Baker
Black Jack Loppet
Boulder Mountain Tour
Cariboo Marathon. After running in this event Sam queried if cow manure might be more
effective than Klister! (For other novel approaches to waxing see “The History of Ski Waxing” by Thor Gotaas, published by NRK and publicized by the Edmonton Nordic Club.)
Methow Pursuit. Sam’s favorite loppet was in the Methow, and of his own invention to
celebrate his 75th! 30km up valley, 30km down valley, 15km more and a final kilometer “to grow on!” Sunny. Cold. Blue klister. Classic technique.
Nickel Plate Loppet
Rendezvous (Methow)
Salmon Arm Marathon
Ski to the Sun
Tour of Anchorage
West Yellowstone Rendezvous
Susie Main and Dale Bohm
The Tour Across Finland
Peter Boveng
The Tour of Anchorage. Scenic, with urban wildlife. Fast approaching a potentially dangerous confrontation with a moose, and with rising alarm, Peter was relieved when he realized that the animal was standing next to a course worker!
Don Brooks
Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race
Minnesota Vasaloppet
Mission Ridge to Kongsbergers. 160kms. Don’s amazing personal ski marathon!
Tour of Anchorage
Vasaloppet
Eric Brooks
Noquemanon Classic, 52k. Canada. Eric skied it with Per Johnsen who “pulled away at the end!”
John “Spider” Burbank
American Birkebeiner
Finlandia Hiihto 75km 1996
Finlandia Hiihto 62 km 2006 2024
Fossavatnsgangan. 50km 2016. Run in blizzard the entire way!
John Craig Memorial. 20km. 1975. Winner!
Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race 1975. Winner! Norwegian American Sesquicentennial!
Jim Cahill
American Birkebeiner
Great Nordeen (3x)
Methow Pursuit
Ski to the Sun 2019
Tour of Anchorage (8x)
Whistler Loppet 2009. A pre-Olympic year, US combined skier Bill Demong and three Swiss World Cup skiers had started ten minutes behind. “They were all talking to each other as they went by while I struggled up a hill on the Olympic course!”
Natalie Carson.
Ski to the Sun
Ski Around the Sun (low snow 2024)
Joy Cordell and Jeff Clark
Caraboo Marathon (25x!!!)
Gatineau Loppet. Quebec. Coldest winter in 250 Years. Brrrrr! Classic at -13F and skating thenext day at -25F and wind chill, was like skiing on the proverbial sandpaper!
Boulder Mountain Tour
Up, Down and Around, Hyak
Silver Rush at Royal Gorge, California
Teacup Classic
Rob Corkran
Barlow Trail. In one running Rob watched the field go by from his upside-down viewpoint, head at the bottom of a tree well! (See Appendix, Jay Bowerman)
John Craig Memorial (ca. 8x). In 1972 Rob was passed by Dyrol Burleson, Oregon track
star and American record holder in the mile, who was on the run and carrying his skis. When he had to put his skis back on Rob and others were able to repass him.
The Great Ski Race, Tahoe to Truckee, 1979
Holmenkollmarsjen. 1985 Driving rain changing to snow! Rob stopped to chow down on several delectable smorbrod and subsequently missed his marker by some seconds. Hearing this story at dinner that evening Gil Lund’s brother handed him a Holmenkoll medal from his Oslo closet stuffed with them!
Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race
Teacup Classic
Suzanne Corkran
REI Goldrush, Gold Creek to Cabin Creek, 1978. A minefield of ice chunks, many participants were in survival mode! Norwegian Steiner Hybertsen, three time NCAA winner at Wyoming showed up to claim first prize, a round trip air fare to Norway!
John Craig Memorial (3x)
Teacup Classic
Pat Engberg
American Birkebeiner. 1977, 3rd! 1984, 2nd to Vigdis Roenning of Norway!
Jim Felty
American Birkebeiner, Wisconsin
Canadian Birkebeiner, Alberta
Birkebeinerrennet. Norway. All three in one year with Doug Holtan. First to do so! It took him until June to recover!
Grenerdierloppet, Norway, 90k. Jim finished before the timing tent was taken down!
Berit Flora
Inga-Laami
Tour of Anchorage
Sam Flora
Tour of Anchorage
Rune Harkestad
Birkebeinerrennet.
Mylla Rundt, 22k. 2024 2nd Leading the race, Rune was unnerved when he was passed by an “older than the hills looking” guy. Engaging in a see-saw battle with him, the skier turned out to be in his age class! “So much for looking old…”
Reistadloppet 40k. 2023 Above Arctic Circle. 200 of 800 entrants were elite skiers. Gorgeous! Long climb, with steep herringbones! Televised live to all of Norway.(see Appendix, Rune Harkestad.)
Doris Brown Heritage
The Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race
Doug Holtan
American Birkie
Canadian Birkie
Birkebeinerrennet. Again, all three Birkebeiners in one year with Jim Felty. First two to do so!
Rainey Hoffman
American Birkebeiner. 2020
Race to the Sun 2023
Race Around the Sun 2024
Alex Horner-Devine
Canadian Ski Marathon “Don’t think I ever finished the last section!”
Nakkerloppet
Birkebeinerrennet
Great Race, Tahoe to Truckee
Trina Hosmer
John Craig Memorial 1970. Snowing continuously from the start, Trina was the first woman to finish!
Per Johnsen
American Birkebeiner Per skied in the first race in 1973 and almost all of them since. He
won his age class several times. This author considers him a Master of the American Birkebeiner.
Birkebeinerrennet. In 2007 the race was cancelled after six waves, including Per, had started. (See Appendix, Per Johnsen)
Noquemanon Classic
Sandy Johnsen
American Birkebeiner
American Birkebeiner Korteloppet
Paul Kaald
American Birkebeiner
American Vasaloppet 2nd (or 3rd?) in age class!
Barlow Trail
Birkebeinerrennet
Boulder Mountain Tour.
Cariboo Marathon. Volunteers in scrubs offered shot glasses with spirits; Paul did not refuse. He notes the barnyard characteristics of this race, as do Sam Baker and Victor Woo.
Engadin, Switzerland. Paul skated this race at 83, though he double-poled most of it.
Holmenkollmarsjen
John Craig Memorial (ca. 15x, including in the first revival in the 1950’s)
Koenig Ludwig Lauf, ca. 1970. Usually 90 kilometers then, Paul said that it was 67 km the year he did it.
Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race. Paul led the Norwegian Ambassador to the US on hiscourseInspection in 1975, the year of the Norwegian-American Sesquicentennial!
Methow Pursuit
REI Goldrush
Tour of Anchorage
Vasaloppet
Pat Kaald
American Birkie Korteloppet
American Vasaloppet. 3rd in age class!
Barlow Trail
Boulder Mountain Tour
Engadine. Finishing almost, but not last, Pat had spent some time assisting at a cardiac emergency on the course.
John Craig Memorial, multiple times
Methow Pursuit
REI Gold Rush
Tour of Anchorage
Tom Kilroy
The Tug Hill 50k. 1983. Osceola, New York
Debbie Kolp
Birkebeinerrennet (5x)
American Birkebeiner (2x)
Vasaloppet (5x)
Cariboo Marathon. (ca. 10x). Podium once!
Hog Loppet
Inga-Laami (2x) A favorite of Debbie’s, she had one of her best 30k races there, setting personal records for both time and place. “Super fun with short, steep uphills and delicious long swooping downhills.”
Oppet Spar (2x)
The Tour Across Finland. Debbie highlights day 6, nominally 60k. She and Joan Nordheim got lost and stumbled across an elegant lodge set for dinner with crystal and silverware on linen. They were served tea and cinnamon toast while they awaited a ride!
Bert Larsson
Vasaloppet. Multiple times. One year Bert and Einar Svensson looked all over central
Sweden for the perfect pre-race meal…bison! The cut that they found was so expensive that Bert’s mom. refused to cook it! A picture in the KSC cabin stairwell shows Bert in the 1976 event.
John Craig Memorial Fourth in 1975.
Hog Loppet. Skied with Jim Slyfield’s number!
Mary Drobka and Tom Lenchek
The Tour Across Finland
June Lindsey
Boulder Mountain Tour 30km
Cariboo Marathon 15km (3x)
Holmenkollmarsjen. 42km. Finishing her race, June discovered that the Jim and Ozzie had left her. After several hours in transit in two trains and a walk in the cold of several kilometers, June got to the house only to find the boys drinking aquavit and offering no apology!
Inga-Laami 2004 A super fun tour with Joan Nordheim, Debbie Kolp, Berit Lund, Berit Flora and daughter Ann,
John Craig Memorial (3x) In 1972 with daughter Betsy, 12.
Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race. Multiple times.
Oosik 25k 2017. “Only once, thank God!”
Royal Gorge Gold Rush 25k (3x)
Tour of Anchorage (15x?)
Vidarloppet 35k 1981 Women started first and June being the oldest started the very first. She was passed by 3,000 skiers!
Yellowstone Rendezvous 25km
Jim Lindsey
American Birkebeiner (1975)
*Birkebeinerrennet (10x)
Cariboo Marathon (6x)
Holmenkollmarsjen. (4x)
John Craig Memorial (3x)
Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race
Oosik 25k
REI Gold Rush
Royal Gorge Gold Rush 50k (3x)
The Sovereign Lakes Tour 30k. 1975
The Tour Across Finland (with daughter Ann)
The Tour of Anchorage 50k (16x)
Vasaloppet 3x. Jim earned a “marker” in 1976.
Vidarloppet 35k
Yellowstone Rendezvous 50km
Gil Lund
Holmenkollmarsjen. 1985
The Tour Across Finland
Berit Lund
Inga-Laami 2004
The Tour Across Finland
Jody and David Miner
Tour of Anchorage
Payak, Whistler, BC. YUK! No explanation but Jodie really hates this one.
Vancouver Island Loppet. “By far the friendliest race ever…also the best baked goods!
Mt Spokane Loppet
Lisa Newton
REI Goldrush
Joan Nordheim
Cariboo Marathon (2x)
Inga-Laami
The Tour Across Finland. “I was never so happy to see a finish line in my life!
The Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race
Ozzie Nordheim
Birkebeinerrennet Having made his age group marker fifteen times, Ozzie holds the Silver Cup in this race!
Cariboo Marathon
Finlandia Hiihto,
Holmenkollmarsjen
John Craig Memorial
Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race
Ski to Sea, 1980. Open Division winning team, with Eber Teter et al.
The Tour Across Finland
Vasaloppet
Heather Patrick
Nickel Plate Loppet, BC. Women’s winner. Reported by Joy Cordell.
Martin Rosvall
Marcialonga. 2006, 19th
Vasaloppet. 2010, 15th. Martin forged into the lead at the 88th kilometer! He reveled in his short stay at the head of the train of over 10,000 skiers. He knew he could not match the pros in the final sprint.
Ginny Price
Birkebeinerrennet. 2022. Age class winner, F70-74!
Aaron Sheedy
Jackson Hole Moose Chase, 2001. A super fast drag race with top skiers from three states,
Aaron hung in there until the field was exploded by one of the pros. “I cried my way to the
finish!”
Victor Shestakov
S2S. Sovereign Lakes to Silver Star 42km (2) Also 21km Classic/Free on successive days!
Victor recommends it, noting that mid-winter conditions often prevail in April.
Jim Slyfield
American Birkebeiner ‘14,’16, ‘19 and virtually ‘21
Canadian Birkebeiner ‘21 with Jim Felty, Doug Holtan and Gunnar Unneland
REI Gold Rush. ‘74 and ‘75 in the Gold Creek Valley and ‘76 on top of Hyak.
Jim notes that he is featured at the bottom of one of the pileups in the opening minute of the ‘74 edition pictured on our cabin’s dining area wall!
Hog Loppet. Jim’s bib raced! Jim was called to duty and his bib went to Bert Larsson, who
skied with Elizabeth for a while before taking off double poling as he was wont to do!
Einar Svensson
American Birkebeiner
Birkebeinerrennet
Holmenkollmarsjen. Winner, over 49 age class! The King of Norway presented him his
award!
John Craig Memorial. 2nd, 1975. The Svensson’s history at the John Craig was
eventful. Marlys reports that one year, in support at the finish during heavy storm, she
had their pickup camper stuffed with “Norwegian Sardines”…the entire Kongsberger
contingent! Einar once went down to Oregon early to prepare. Arriving later Marlys and Joe McNulty found Einar prostrate on his motel bed and in a daze. Hanging by his feet from a door brace he had fallen on his head knocking himself out. Race day was spent in a hospital getting his head scanned.
Kangaroo Hoppet, Victoria, Australia 42km
Marxa Beret, Catalonia, Spain 42km. An all-time favorite of Einar’s because of the terrain and the beauty.
Mt Spokane Loppet
Nickel Plate Loppet
REI Gold Rush, 1978. Gold Creek to Cabin Creek
Skarverennet, Geilo, Norway
Silver Rush, Royal Gorge, California
Tour of Anchorage
Vancouver Island Loppet
Vasaloppet
Yellowstone Rendezvous 50km
Eber Teter
Barlow Trail
John Craig Memorial
Kongsberger Stampede Tour Race
Ski to Sea, 1980. Open Division winning team, with Ozzie Nordheim.
Gunnar Unneland
John Craig Memorial. 35km 1970. Winner! Gunnar followed Jay Bowerman breaking trail in storm to the summit, where they repeatedly exchanged the lead. At the finish it was still snowing. With Gunnar in the lead the finish appeared abruptly right after a switchback. Olympian Jay had no time to pounce and Gunnar won by two seconds! (See Appendix, Jay Bowerman, for a more detailed description, and his generous salute to Gunnar.)
Birkebeinerrennet Involved in a collision that broke a binding, Gunnar walked several
kilometers to the finish!
Canadian Birkebeiner 2017. Jim Slyfield reports that at 86 Gunnar was the oldest entrant!
Victor Woo
Cariboo Marathon Victor raced this one with Ozzie Nordheim on several occasions. Though he is not given to complaint, fellow Kongsbergers heard about his discolored boots and socks after he had skied through melting horse pucky. (Story from Paul Kaald)
APPENDIX
1. 1970 John Craig Memorial. Jay Bowerman. An Olympian and Biathlon Hall of Fame skier is defeated by KSC member Gunnar Unneland!
2. 1971 John Craig Memorial. Jay Bowerman. Mike Devecka, four time Olympian and a national champion in both combined and cross country vs. wily junior Ernie Meissner, who skates then skis across asphalt to win!
3. Barlow Trail in the 1970’s. Jay Bowerman. Down a Bobsled run and up a 300 meter herringbone!
4. Birkebeinerrennet 2024. Rune Harkestad. Perfect, after a day’s postponement! An excellent abbreviated summary of this famous course.
5. Reistadloppet 2023. Rune Harkestad. Spectacular, but a tough course with multiple herringbones.
6. Birkebeinerrennet 2006. Per Johnsen. What could go wrong in a major tour race? Per, who had skied more American Birkebeiners than all but a handful of people, had this one shot at the Norwegian classic. It was cancelled after many had started! Mayhem unrolled!
7. Ski to Sea, 1979. Scott Tucker. He pays tribute to Dick Arkley.
1. Jay Bowerman, Biathlon Hall of Fame and two-time Olympian on the John Craig Memorial 1970. Bowerman vs Kongsberger Gunnar Unneland.
By way of greater detail, here's what I remember of the race. I don't necessarily think it was the worst track, but it was definitely not very good. The course had been groomed the night before, but there was new snow and it was somewhat above freezing by the time we crossed the summit at the Dee Wright Memorial. Because of the new snow, it was relatively slow and whoever was out in front was doing all the work. An initial group of 5 or 6 of us had taken an early lead, but whoever was breaking trail in the front was doing a lot of work and couldn't go very fast and it wouldn't be long before they tired. As we ascended from the east side, others who had been well behind over the first mile or so would catch up with the "peleton" and surge into the lead, only to quickly bog down. Thus, we reached the top with a group of a dozen or more largely skiing single file, and changing leaders as someone in front would tire and step off and let the group go past then jump in behind and rest a bit on the well skied in snow at the back. From the summit headed west, there's a long series of open flat stretches, perhaps 4 miles before the highway starts to descend more steeply and lose elevation. Across that area the the large group began to thin as the younger, stronger skiers, taking turns breaking trail gradually began to drop racers one at a time. Gunnar was always right there and we traded the lead several times. Eventually, he and I had dropped the rest of the pack, and as we emerged at the end of the steep series of switchbacks of the McKenzie Pass highway, the terrain flattens a bit but continues to descend. However, no one coming from the east could know where the finish line was. The timing crew, having clocked the start of the race outside of Sisters, had to drive around the to where the McKenzie Highway connected with Highway 20 to Eugene, then drive back up until they came to the snow line, and set up the finish there. Over the last 2-3 miles, Gunnar and I exchanged lead several times, but never knew until we rounded the next curve whether the finish line would come into view. There were several such curves that we would round only to see nothing but open road for another 100 meters of so and on we would go. When the finish line finally came into view, Gunnar happened to be in the lead and we didn't have a straight-of-way down which to sprint--the finish line was "right there" as we rounded the corner and he crossed first. He was a worthy victor and I always looked back on that race as one of the greatest of any of the races I participated in--a perfect head-to-head, one-on-one challenge.
2. Jay Bowerman, on the John Craig Memorial, 1971. Junior Ernie Meissner vs four time Olympian Mike Devecka!
There was another John Craig race in which a "local" took on and beat an Olympian. I believe it was the following year after Gunnar and I dueled it out. In this case, I was directing and timing the race and not on skis. I was waiting at the finish line, which was again at an unknown location from the point of view of the racers. We had gone as far as we could up the road on the west side and when we ran into snow, we set up the finish line. Mike Devecka, who not only made 4 Olympic teams in Nordic Combined, but had won national championships not only in Nordic Combined, but also in Jumping and in the national 30K championships, was the hands down favorite. It was spring skiing conditions with mixed klister (purple and silver I think) the wax for the day. Devecka, as would be expected, had opened up a sizeable lead by the time they reached the summit, but up on top in the long open flats, the snow was softening and as it got wetter, created drag. Ernie Meissner, was probably a senior in high school by then, and had picked up an 8th place medal at the Jr. Nationals but generally would have been no match for Devecka. However, Ernie had grown up on skis as his folks and grandmother all worked at Willamette Pass from the time he was a toddler until they moved to Bend after Mt. Bachelor opened. Ernie had a natural feel for the snow that only comes with his kind of background and a lot of alpine skiing. Up on the flats, Ernie quickly found that the suction of the wet snow was broken when he had a ski up on edge, and he tucked his poles under his arms and began rhythmically skating (years before skating became a "thing”). Over the next 3 miles he not only caught Devecka, who was still striding and double poling, but actually took a slight lead as they headed down the switchbacks. Once again, it was two guys going head-to-head as they tried to figure out where the finish line was. Devecka was faster than Ernie in this lower area and started to open up a lead. This year, however, it turns out that on several of the flats near the bottom the snow was gone from stretches of the road. Devecka, who had retaken the lead took off his skis and ran across the first bare patch and then put his skis back on. Devecka had the then new Klua bindings that required inserting a horizontal pin through a tang on the front of the boot and it could take some doing. While he was putting his boots back in his bindings, Ernie caught him and they took off together. Devecka reached the next bare patch and again took off his skis. Ernie, however, left his skis on, ran across the bare patch and just kept going, opening up a good 100 meter lead, and found the finish line before Devecka could catch him
3. Jay Bowerman on the Barlow Trail Tour Race, 1970’s
Ah, the classic tour races. I never participated in any of the really big tour races like the Birkie and such, but I have great memories of the two regional races, the John Craig and the Barlow Trail Race at Government Camp, which I'm sure was another that saw a bunch of Kongsberger participants. I'm confident that Eber was in at least one or more of the few times I raced the Barlow. .
The Barlow was unique for both the first and the last kilometer of the race. The mass start provided a few hundred meters of open flat skiing before a harrowing descent down the "bobsled run" to the shore of the lake. For most races, I generally preferred making a moderate paced start to avoid early oxygen debt, but at the Barlow, that approach inevitably led to entering the steep down-hill switchbacks in a pack of people where there was inevitable carnage and tangles that could tie you up for minutes while the leaders just pulled away. Thus, there was always a mad sprint to try to get to the top of the bobsled run without getting caught up in the crashes. [editor’s note: Rob Corkran watched most of the race go by from the bottom of a tree well on the bobsled run!]
The whole middle rest of the race circled the lake and was mostly flat. After circling the lake, the race finished by climbing back up to the level of the start straight up a steep incline under the power line, and was nothing but herring-bone. I don't know how long the climb was--it seemed interminable, and was probably a good 300-400 meters of wide herring-bone such that if you slipped, you'd be on one knee with your poles braced behind you to keep from sliding back down the hill. As in the John Craig race with Gunnar, the typical snow conditions at Govt. Camp created a situation in which the lead skier was inevitably hampered and slowed by fresh or wet snow, the result of which was that no one was able to break way and soon there would be a train of skiers in a peleton skiing around the lake, with more catching the train until we reached the bottom of the climb. At that point, it came down to just pure guts, grit, and what the Finns called "sisu" (I believe that's the term). It was lung-bursting oxygen debt getting to the top. There was still a few hundred meters to the finish from the top of the climb and I remember I always felt I'd left so much on the climb that someone was going to just ski past me before the finish. But the truth was that everyone else was just as wasted by the top, and I don't recall there being much change of position between the top of the climb and the finish.
4. Rune Harkestad, Kongsberger president, leading American masters skier and multiple times medalist at the Masters World Cup, on Birkiebeinerrennet, 2024
The weather on the original race day, Saturday March 16, was just horrendous, with strong winds, dry snow on top of the mountain and rain below. It would have been a miserable day of racing all around and completely unsafe, so good call on the part of the organizers to postpone the race to Sunday, which by the way, turned out to be spectacular with temps well below freezing, blue wax conditions, sunshine and most importantly, no wind!
I started in wave 2 and followed my usual routine, let the wave go, wait for 3 – 4 minutes and then start my race. There is a mat start, which means your time doesn’t start until you pass the mat so there is no time penalty for waiting. The advantage is that the wave of more than 500 skiers will have stretched out so that when I start passing skiers, I most always have a clear track to ski and avoid the rubber band effect skiing uphill in a large group. And uphill it is -- the first hour is a solid climb -- so there is no advantage in drafting anyway. Skis were great, both kicking and gliding well and I truly enjoyed the perfect, solid tracks and excellent conditions. This time around the skiers around me looked fairly young and that always helps on the motivation as well….
The two hardest and most challenging parts of the Birkebeiner are the hills climbing up Midtfjellet and the downhills from Sjusjøen. The Midtfellet hills are about two hours into the race and those hills just seem to go on forever, and steep they are as well. But, one stride at a time and soon I crested the top and enjoyed the flat double pole section to Sjusjøen, where as always, the crowds are big with people cheering, loud music, and all sorts of liquids being offered for the last few kilometers, all of which I declined.
The section from Sjusjøen and down is the second part of the race which I find very challenging. Some find the speed of 40+ miles an hour through turns and with trees a few feet away on both sides of the trail exhilarating but at this stage of the game, I have turned more cautious and will have one foot outside the track for balance and to slow down the speed, if necessary. Good thing there were no fallen skiers that I could observe and no loss of speed compared to skiers around me, although the speed felt crazy fast at times. By the time the downhills end, the rest of the course is only a few kilometers of flat double poling, but as we know from the US Birkie, even the lake at the end can feel like it is uphill, the entire lake! I reached the finish in a time of 3:30, which for me is relatively slow compared to previous years but I ended up 18th in my age group out of 411, so all in all, a beautiful day and a great race.
5. Rune Harkestad on Reistadloppet, 2023.
Bardufoss, the finish of the Reistadløpet, is a two-hour drive from Tromsø towards the east away from the fjords going inland. Here we stayed at Bardufoss Hotell, where many of the Visma Ski Classic teams stayed as well. Not that I was snooping on the nutrition of some of the top skiers, but I couldn’t help but notice the choice of simple carbs (will not mention names): i.e. a six-pack of chocolate bars and a liter of soda for night snack, or four slices of white bread with jam and a sugary soda for breakfast.
The start of the race is in a nearby town called Setermoen, a 30-minute drive from Bardufoss. Setermoen is a military town where I was stationed to serve my one year in the Norwegian Military in the mid-80s. At the time, I couldn’t wait to get out of there and back south to warmer (or less cold) weather, but this time around, I could appreciate the dramatically beautiful landscape surrounding the town. I guess that is the difference between being forced vs choosing to go somewhere.
Reistadløpet is the last race in the Visma Ski Classic season, with all the elite long distance skiers present in addition to some World Cup skiers, like Rosie Brennan, Erik Valnes and Martin Nyenget, to name a few. It is a 40k race with some brutal climbs. It is the only race in the Visma series that has never been won by double poling only. The conditions were just what one could hope for, minus 1 C at start and the sun starting to peek through.
There were just shy of 800 people registered for the race, with close to 200 of those being in the Elite divisions.
The women elite started first at 10 am with helicopters, snow mobiles and cameras everywhere (the race is broadcast live on Norwegian television). Then everyone else going at 10:30 with the Elite first and then the rest of the participants. There was some sort of seeding system, although I am not sure how it worked, and I ended up starting in the middle of the pack. The first 8k of the race is moderate to flat and it took about 5k before I had passed enough people that I felt I could ski at a decent race pace. I had a vague memory of the trail from my military days and from studying the course profile, I knew that from 8k to 14k was one continuous hill, climbing about 650m of elevation. In my mind, I thought of it as skiing to the top of Amabilis. True, but not exactly. The Amabilis trail is rarely ever steeper than a 10% incline. This course, however, has several long herringbone hills at 15 – 20% incline. There is a 1k stretch that is pretty much consistently 15%+. I had excellent kick, but the tracks were so chewed up in the steeper sections that herringbone was the only option.
At about 500m above sea level, the vegetation ends and it was the naked mountain with a strong headwind to the final peak, 14k into the race, 700m above sea level. I figured that the next 26k to the finish would be mostly gentle terrain with gradual downhills. This was mostly true except that many of the remaining uphills were surprisingly steep and again…. herringbone hills. I don't think I have ever herringboned as much in a race. After the peak and a couple of long downhills, the trail was now below the tree level winding between and up and down smaller peaks. With the sun shining, this was an absolutely gorgeous part of the course. With 7k to go and still skiing at an elevation few hundred meters above the finish area, I figured the rest of the course ought to be moderate, only to round a corner and staring right into another long herringbone hill (think strawberry hill on the Viking, but three times as long). I admit I let out a loud “WTF!!” when I saw the hill. But, one step at a time and soon this hill was behind me as well. The downhills were fast (my fastest speed was 60k/hr) but never dangerous.
The last few kilometers were mostly downhill (about time!) and I ended up finishing 5th in my age group (50 – 59) out of 76. My time was close enough to medal that I think a 2nd or 3rd would have been within reach with a better start position.
All in all, a wonderful experience and a race I would highly recommend, just practice a lot of herringbone beforehand. Augustina, my wonderful wife who is such a trooper going to all these remote places with me, asked if I would do this race again. My answer was…. Absolutely!
6. Per Johnsen on Birkebeinerrennet, 2007.
Per at the time of writing had entered more American Birkebeiners than all but a handful of people and had won his age class a number of times. This was to be his first Norwegian Birkebeiner. Instead it became a lesson on what can go wrong when one of the world’s great ski races is cancelled mid-race!
After years of being ribbed about not having skied in the real Birkebeiner, I signed up this year. Sandy and I were going to Norway in March to visit my sister Turid and my dad, so I had the chance. A large contingent of friends from Wisconsin and the Twin Cities were also going over, plus a group of Kongsbergers, including the Clarkes, the Lunds, and Ozzie and Eric Nordheim, and former Kongsbergers Mac Dunstan and Linda Grob. All were staying at the Rustad Hotell og Fjellstue in Sjusjøen, at the 40k mark of the course. My sister joined us at Rustad, in addition to the nearly 25 friends already there. We also met Gunnar Unneland and Elaine May. Other Kongsbergers may also have been present, staying elsewhere. (Debbie Kolp notes that Rune Harkestad was there also.)
We skied a little in the days prior to the event and discussed at length the advantages of Rode versus Swix klisters and the extent to which 3 or 4 layers of hard wax would be needed. We had plenty of snow, and generally perfect klister conditions. The temperatures for race day were forecast to hover right below freezing, until the afternoon in Lillehammer at the finish, when we would have temperatures above freezing. We paid secret visits to the closet where the internet computer was found and consulted trusted sources of inside information about the course and conditions. To avoid race day headaches several friends decided to go with no-wax skis, having already conducted extensive glide and grip testing in the previous days. As a traditionalist, I just couldn’t do that and had my waxed skis ready, convinced that they would be fine. Otherwise, I would just double pole until my arms fell off.
The morning of the race greeted us at 4 a.m. with about 3 inches of new snow, and all the hard wax calculations needed revising. We knew that hard wax would be needed on top of
the klister. After breakfast at Rustad, we were picked up by bus for the 2½ hour trip to the start in Rena. Ozzie and Jeff Clarke took the 4 a.m. bus, since Ozzie was starting at 7 a.m. and Jeff was in one of the early waves and wanted the time at the start. Buses arrived from all directions in Rena and they took us to the starting area above the little town, and we were joined by the rest of the 12,000 entrants. The weather was sunny with temperatures in the mid 20s. We heard continuous announcements from the race officials, with information about the starting procedures. One item of information included readings of increasing winds over the mountains, but they were within an acceptable range. Right before I started, the last report was of some gusts in the mountains of about 45 mph, and I was glad to have my windbreaker in my pack.
As a result of extensive e-mail exchanges with the Birkebeiner office during the preceding months, I had been able to get a Wave 6 starting placement, despite not having any result from any recognized qualifying race. Finally, the Gunnar Hagen race was used and they relented, moving me from Wave 13 to 6.
Precisely, at 8:30, my wave started and we headed up out of the valley. Conditions were great, and my skis were perfect: three layers of klister topped with 4-5 layers of hard wax. The first food station is about 10k into the race and all was going well. I was feeling good, skiing easy, and arrived well ahead of schedule to that point. A few minutes afterwards, a few skiers met us, heading down. Seemed odd, and one of them said: “Rennet er avlyst,” (The race is cancelled). No one reacted, thinking that those skiers were just giving up. At the next food stop, a little after 15 k, suddenly the course was blocked by officials and people at the food station. (A friend of ours from Wisconsin in an earlier wave didn’t understand that the race was stopped. He thought they were being stopped to weigh their packs.) The officials announced that, due to extremely high winds in the mountains, the race was stopped, for the first time in 70 years. We could already feel the wind whipping. What was curious to us was that no fast skiers from Wave 7 were in sight. We found out later that the wave had been held for 30 minutes and then the organizers had decided to cancel. So Wave 6 was the last one to start. Thereby only a quarter of the field got to ski at all.
The atmosphere suddenly changed, and a creepily quiet race, where no one spoke, turned into a friendly outing, now that everyone had some unusual circumstance to talk about. So, we turned around, and headed back down, each wave having been stopped at about the same time. At the first food stop, the personnel tried to hand us more to drink, but got no takers, and they were stuck with hundreds of liters of XL-1 and no further customers. The tail wind helped and the trip down to the start was ripping fast. Reports later from the mountains were that gale force winds whipped ski poles around and forced skiers to herringbone on the flats to make progress against the wind. The cancellation was the right decision, despite the protests of a few dozen racers who took their bibs off and finished on their own.
Back at the start, there was mass confusion, and the PA announcements were barely keeping up with the decisions being made. Imagine the headaches! I looked around, in the vain hope that I might see someone I knew, but thousands of people were dressed like my friends, in red and blue colors, and I had no luck. Then I sized up my predicament. In my pack I had a windbreaker, drink, ski wax, gel, and Cliff bars. But I had sent my change of clothes on the truck before the start, and I had no phone, no money, no credit card, and no dry clothes to change into. I concluded that they would have to get the buses back and take everyone to Lillehammer. I just needed to get back down to Rena. Like many others in the same situation, I was tempted by the snow-covered fields below the starting area. I figured that they would lead to town. So, with hundreds of others who didn’t know where they were going, I headed down, about two kilometres. At several points, no one seemed to know which way to go, and the crowd split, each group making new trails. Several farmers along the way came out on their tractors to see what was happening in their fields. We ducked under branches, stepped over fences, and hopped across ditches, but made it to town.
In Rena, more confusion. The town square was gradually filling to the top with skiers. That included those who didn’t get to start and who had their clothes bags, as well as those of us without much of anything. The first order of business was to find out where the trucks with our clothes were. Sleepy-eyed soldiers from a nearby camp, who had their quiet Saturday rudely interrupted, and sent into Rena to deal with 12,000 skiers, were equipped with walkie-talkies and directed traffic as best they could, but had no answers. After wandering around town, chasing the rumors about where the trucks would be coming back to, I finally learned that the clothes would be dropped off in “about a couple of hours or so.” I headed for the town square and drifted around, looking for a familiar face. I needed some help as I was there completely without resources. Then, I literally bumped into Mac Dunsten, who had a phone, and 100 kroner. I was saved. It turned out that Mac had been in my situation at the Swedish Vasa and was prepared. He had called Linda who told Sandy and everyone back at Rustad what had happened. We just needed transportationl back. At one point five buses pulled into the square, which was filled with thousands of skiers. I felt like I was an extra in a refugee movie about wealthy skiers about to be hauled away to some camp. But one of the buses stopped with its open door directly in front of us, and the driver said: “Lillehammer”. Even then, Mac and I got the last two seats. I decided that the clothes bag would end up in Lillehammer and I could get it later. Two and a half hours later we were in Lillehammer and caught the city bus back to Sjusjøen, where we could exchange stories with the others. I considered myself lucky: I got to ski about 30k and I was lucky enough to run into Mac, who had a phone and some money.
I might try this again. Maybe I will get a little farther.
7. Scott Tucker on Dick Arkley and the Ski to Sea.
A Ski to Sea Anniversary and Memorial
By Scott Tucker
May 26, 2024
Today is the 51st running of the Bellingham Ski-to-Sea race. Those of us who have been around that long remember that it was established in 1973 as the first multi-sport relay of its kind, and it was a phenom! A local phenom, that is, because it was just us yokels who thought it would be great to do a ski race at the end of May. The anniversary of the event reminds of a memorial, the passing of Dick Arkley (7/23/41 – 8/2/22). For me, Dick’s memory is inextricably entwined with my first Sea to Sea race in 1979 on a mostly high school team named Hot Times. My experience in that race says so much about Dick. It makes me chuckle to remember it.
Dick, or as we all referred to him at the time “Arkley”, was friendly and kind, and once I got beyond his swarthy complexion, wonderfully likable. I first met Arkley at the Kongsberg Ski Club in the 70’s, where I was a young high school brat learning to ski from the Norwegian legends at the time. I was never sure whether Arkley’s swarthy complexion was natural, or if he was just grubby. He was a gardener by trade, and I was once told that he preferred to dig with his bare hands rather than use a shovel. One look at his fingernails confirmed it. Did he bathe? It was unclear. What was indisputable, was that he wore the same clothes for gardening as for skiing, and I don’t think he ever washed them. You could see the grass stains! While the rest of us were dressing for skiing in Lycra onesies, Arkley raced in his red checked pants and grease-stained parka.
Arkley grew up in Bellevue and went to Bellevue High. He was the middle child of three, a bit shorter and darker than his siblings, and absolutely one of the warmest kids in the group. This is according to my stepmother who went to school with him since they were 4-year-olds. He also had a “photographic memory”. If ever a friend wanted to know some date or who was who, “just ask Dick” and you would have your answer. I remember when he once recalled my past five finish times in the Gunnar Hagen 30k down to the minute. I think he could recall every finisher’s race time. I wanted to think he was cheating somehow, but he could just do that.
Of course, it wasn’t just his hygiene habits that were different, he had tics, would guffaw at odd moments, and had a rambling speech pattern interjected with giggles. And while some found it annoying in long doses, I just thought he was funny.
Arkley was not much of a XC skier. His technique was once described as running on skis with nails driven through them. But he had a motor that wouldn’t quit. In the mid ‘70s when the Ski to Sea race had a single ski leg involving boot packing up the chairlift line and then skiing down, Arkley established himself as king. He wore leather ski boots, his trademark checked pants, and held his skis in his hands like ski poles as he climbed. Ski to Sea was his ideal race: brute force and no elegance. It didn’t matter that he skied down in an awkward snowplow, he would gain so much time going up, even Ingemar Stenmark wouldn’t have caught him.
Unfortunately for Arkley, that advantage all but disappeared in 1979 when they added an XC leg. For those who haven’t heard how the race was run back then; the alpine skier (that was Arkley’s leg) and the XC skier (carrying the team medallion) started at the same time. (Used the shotgun to start us back then too.) The alpine skier would ski to the base of the lift and then hike up as before, but the XC skier would take off on a different route up one of the ski runs and then meet up at the summit to pass the medallion to the alpine skier. If the alpine skier got to the summit before the XC skier, they had to wait. And vice versa. In 1979, they didn’t recruit Olympians to the Sea to Ski, it was a PNW affair. I knew everyone who could ski XC that showed up for the race and I knew I could beat them up that hill. But would it matter? Arkley was still king of the mountain and nobody really knew how long it would take to XC ski up vs. hike up. I did manage to ski up a few minutes faster than anyone else, and when I arrived, no alpine skiers were there yet. I waited….Argh! Why did I go so hard only to get here early?! Then, through the fog (I remember it being foggy, but it could be a foggy memory) I recognized the ungainly cadence of Arkley leading the train of skiers up the hill. He was ahead of my guy! But my teammate, Eric Albrecht, was a strong second and we still got the first handoff. We also ended up winning the entire race that year. 15 seconds of fame!
In later years, I did a stint as the alpine skier for a team. I was nothing like Arkley. Had I been the alpine skier back in 1979, I’m sure I would have been far behind Arkley, because that event is a 20-minute lactic acid burn. It takes a certain demented pain tolerance to go at his pace. Outside of our little KSC ski club, Arkley never got the recognition he deserved. I want to say, “three cheers for the kindly old guy. You were king for a day!”. May we all find ways to be as endearing as Arkley.
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