One skier’s perspective on the 2026 American Birkebeiner

by sgowtham.com

After a disappointing DNF in 2025 – my only one so far in cross country skiing and I had no one but myself hold accountable for it, my primary goal for the 2026 edition involved something I had done several times before … complete both the 29 km Kortelopet and 53 (or 55) km Birkie … except switch the order of events: 53 km Birkie Classic on Wednesday during Open Track and 29 km Kortelopet on Friday and volunteer on Saturday. As plans tend to do, they changed prior to (read: work commitments) and during (read: Mother Nature) the Birkie Week. Apart from getting a good measure of improvements since the SISU Ski Fest, Noquemanon Ski Marathon, Pre-Birkie and North End Classic and taking stock of things that need to be worked on, these changes and new mistakes brought plenty of memorable experiences my way.

In the days leading up to the event, Mother Nature decided to try out some of Her Spring-y outfits and in turn, throw some curve balls … at least for kick waxing. As I had done prior to every event this Winter, I submitted my waxing protocol / recipe for these two events as homework to MikeY on Sunday night. He made time amidst his busy schedule to help me understand the intricacies of waxing – grip and glide – under such variable weather conditions: (a) What do you feel is most important (grip, glide, etc.)? (b) What can you live without? (c) How much of the course has what condition? (d) How long can you suffer? etc.

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Posted March 1, 2026 at 8:00 am