BirkieTour, Scheduled For Saturday, Has Been Cancelled Due to Snow Conditions

While the American Birkebeiner is still on for February, a related annual event has just been cancelled.

According to a press release from the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation, the BirkieTour scheduled for this Saturday, January 19, has been cancelled due to poor trail conditions and skier safety concerns. The recent one inch of new snow has not bonded to the ice base on the Birkie Trail. The new snow will be quickly sheared off, especially on downhills, exposing the solid ice trail base and creating hazardous ski conditions. While more snow is predicted, we do not expect conditions to improve enough to hold a safe and quality event on Saturday.

“We are very sorry to make this announcement,” says Ned Zuelsdorff, Executive Director of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. “This non-competitive, fully supported 25/50K distance fun-ski event each January has become a popular tradition for skiers preparing for the American Birkebeiner in February and for novice skiers alike. We want to offer participants in all our year-round events the best experience possible, and trail conditions this week cannot provide that. We do, however look forward to our big 40^th Anniversary event and celebration, February 21-23. This will be our biggest Birkie ever, with 10,000 skiers registered for our Saturday’s races alone.”