American Birkebeiner

Join us for the 2nd Annual BirkieTour being held on Saturday, January 22, 2011! The "Tour" is pure fun and a great way to experience the wonderful Birkie Trail system. It's perfect whether you're a:

• A Birkie skier looking for a long, supported training day,
• A skier thinking of trying the Birkie event, but unsure you're ready, or
• A skier who loves to ski, but is not interested in ski racing.

The BirkieTour is an untimed, non-competitive, “open-track” style event open to skiers age 13 and older. Spend the day skiing with family and friends with a morning start time window, several distance options, aid stations (light) along the trail, food and beverage at the end of both courses, and a bus ride back to the start. You'll receive a great long-sleeve Tour shirt and a great pin, all at a very low fee.

Best of all, you'll be skiing, either classic or skate, on one of the best cross-country ski trail systems in the World. You can even get credit for skiing a Worldloppet event.

• Both tours begin at Telemark Lodge near the Birkie Start Line. Skiers should park their vehicles at the Lodge.
• The KorteTour follows portions of both the Birkie Trail and the Birkie Classic Trail to its finish at the highway “OO” road crossing. The total distance will be about 25K.
• The BirkieTour continues from “OO” for 21K to its finish at Hatchery Park outside of Hayward for a total distance of about 46K.
• The BirkieTour 50K participants will ski a loop at "OO" to complete the additional kilometers.
• Don't miss this fun, relaxed event!

Late Registration
Friday, January 21st

Saturday, January 22nd
(Times to be determined)

• All BirkieTour and KorteTour skiers can begin anytime between 8:00 and 9:00 AM.

The event is freestyle and both trails will be groomed for both skate and classic skiing.

There will be limited volunteer and medical support on the course. Skiers should plan on carrying fluids, energy products and snacks.

Mini-Aid stations will provide water and HEED Electrolyte drink at:

• Timber Trail
• Boedecker Road
• Highway "OO"
• Gravel Pit
• Mosquito Brook

Gear Bags
We will allow skiers to use their own bags as an alternative to using plastic bags, although plastic bags will remain available. There will be a size and weight limit set.

Several Birkie snowmobiles will be on the course to offer assistance, and Aid station volunteers will be in radio contact with event headquarters to obtain assistance, if needed.

Skiers will need to remove their skis and walk across the road crossings at OO and Mosquito Brook.

Bus transportation will be available from Hatchery Park and OO carrying skiers back to Telemark Resort.

Buses will be available every half hour:

• OO buses run from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Hatchery Park buses run from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

All Birkie/KorteTour skiers should reach County OO by 1:00 pm. Food will be served to KorteTour finishers until 2:00 p.m. at OO.

BirkieTour skiers should plan to reach Hatchery Creek Park by 3:00 p.m. Food will be served until 3:30 and the last bus will leave the Hatchery at 4:00 p.m.

Complimentary food, e.g. chili, hot dogs, hot chocolate, etc. will be available at OO and Hatchery Park for all participants.

T-Shirts & Pins

Participants registering by January 6th will receive a specially designed, high quality, long sleeve BirkieTour T-shirt. All participants will receive a special BirkieTour pin to wear during the tour. The pin is your "ticket" to receive the post-tour food and bus transportation.

Both the BirkieTour T-shirt and pin were designed by Birkie skier and artist, Kay Lum. Kay will be skiing the tour!

Skiers participating in the BirkieTour may use the event to obtain Worldloppet Gold credit (you must participate in the 50K BirkieTour ) or Worldloppet Silver credit (you may participate in either KorteTour distance.) Bring your Worldloppet passport for your participation stamp and participation verification.

Telemark Resort , located just a few hundred yards from the Tour start , is offering a special room rate for BirkieTour participants. Telemark Resort will subsequently donate a portion of the lodging fee back to the Birkie Trail Fund. Contact Telemark for more information at 715-798-3999.

Telemark Lodge will be holding a carbo-loading pasta feed in their Outpost restaurant from 5 - 10 p.m. on Friday night before the Tour. The feed includes all-you-can-eat pasta, salad, brownie and beverage for $10.

HAYWARD, Wis., January 23, 2010 – Despite a bleak weather forecast skiers of the first annual BirkieTour enjoyed a great day on the trail. The predicted ice and rain held off until the last skiers finished the event.

“Over 550 skiers registered for our first BirkieTour,” said Ned Zuelsdorff, Executive Director of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF). “We couldn’t be more pleased with the number of participants.”

“Skiers told us they had a great time,” said Zuelsdorff. “The BirkieTour offers skiers the opportunity to ski a fun, relaxed, untimed event on the American Birkebeiner Trail and Birkie Classic Trail with their family and friends.”

BirkieTour skiers started the event at Telemark Resort, skied on the Kortelopet course and then entered the American Birkebeiner trail system. Skiers skiing the short BirkieTour skied 22K and finished at the “OO” trailhead in Seeley while those participating in the long tour skied 44K and finished at Hatchery Creek Park in Hayward.

Skiers enjoyed a supported trail with mini-aid stations and volunteers who distributed water and HEED electrolyte drink. All Tour participants received refreshments at the finish lines including chili and hot dogs donated by Marketplace Foods, cookies and Swiss Miss hot chocolate.

Zuelsdorff said skiers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Canada, and from as far away as Russia participated in the event.
“The BirkieTour will be an annual event for the American Birkebeiner,” said Zuelsdorff. “We plan to host the second annual BirkieTour on Saturday, January 22, 2011. Registration for the event will be available this spring at www.birkie.com.”

The BirkieTour is sponsored by Miller Genuine Draft 64, Hammer Nutrition, Becker Law, ClifBar, Gear West, ActivEdge, GU Energy Gel and Marketplace Foods.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

An "Open Track" Non-Competitive Fun Ski Tour on the Birkie Trails.

22K-50K Options

Members of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation receive a $5 discount when registering for the BirkieTour. If you interested in becoming a member and receiving the discount click the Tour Registration Form for Members. You will be able to become a member and register for the Tour on this one form.

BirkieTour Fax Registration Deadline

Please submit all fax registrations by Noon on Friday, January 21st.

Thank you to Scott Brown, BirkieTour skier, for this great video of the 2010 event!

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