March 24, 2014 (Lillehammer, Norway) – As previously reported, bad weather caused officials to cancel the 2014 Norwegian Birkenbeiner (Birkebeinerrennet), a 54km Worldloppet event scheduled for Saturday, March 15 from Rena to Lillehammer. Race officials made the call early on Saturday morning, citing wind speeds of 25 metres per second on parts of the trail reported NRK.

There was one previous cancellation due to high winds – in 2007. Apart from that, the Birkenbeiner has been run continuously since 1932, missing only the years of German occupation during World War II (1941-45). Women have apparently been competing in the Birkenbeiner since 1976.

Many of the 17,000 skiers who had registered for the 2014 Birkenbeiner apparently took this turn of events in good stride. The irony was that both the start and finish of the Birkenbeiner had blue skies and calm winds, but the trail in between was a different store.

“There wasn’t a cloud in the skies. It looked perfect. Then we got the news; it was cancelled because of the wind,” explains Francois Tornier in a short video clip (see below). “We understand; it could be dangerous. We’ll be back next year.”

Other skiers were less hospitable about the 2014 cancellation and subsequent decision to offer no refunds, setting out on the trail regardless reports Wikipedia. Thousands of them apparently made it through to Lillehammer and were critical of the decision to cancel. This was similar to what happened in 2007.

The Birkebeiner renders homage to loyalists who skied the trail carrying the infant Håkon Håkonsson – an heir to the Norwegian throne – to safety in 1206. All participants today carry a backpack weighing at least 3.5 kg, symbolizing the weight of the then-one-year-old Håkonsson. The Norwegian Birkenbeiner is the inspiration for the American Birkenbeiner, held in Wisconsin, and the Canadian Birkenbeiner held near Edmonton, AB. The Norwegian word “Birkenbeiner” seems to loosely translate as “birch gaiters.”

NRK report (in Norwegian) here.
Previous SkiTrax report here.
Wikipedia here.