Birkebeinerrennet 2009

April 27, 2009

Sunny race in Norway.

Skiers who are experienced with Birkebeinerrennet always worry about the weather and snow conditions in Norway. Wind, heavy snowfall, temperatures ranging from -4/-6°C in the morning to +6/+8°C at noon on the sunny day, can make the race very difficult because of unwaxable snow conditions.  March weather can bring a surprise like the very strong wind out of a sunny morning that forced the organizers to cancel the race last year.
Despite these threats skiers are massively coming to Norway to run the last Worldloppet race of the season and to enjoy skiing in the beautiful area around Sjusjoen which is considered the best prepared, biggest and one of the most beautiful cross country regions in Europe. Those who arrived this year a few days before the race could enjoy beautiful sunny weather and perfect snow conditions on hundreds kilometers of ski tracks.
Record number 13494 skiers arrived on the sunny Saturday at Rena to run a 54 kilometers distance to Lillehammer through Norwegian mountains and high plains. They were divided into 20 start groups. No bottlenecks occurred after the start although it was quite crowded on the course during first 10 km and not everybody could ski at his own pace. It is worthwhile to note that Birkebeinerrennet reached the size of Vasaloppet and with good start arrangement it still has capability to grow.
As usually the morning temperatures were below zero and with the sun rising high they went up very quickly. This made the waxing difficult but feasible even for less experienced skiers. The course was well prepared but with the huge number of skiers passing through, it deteriorated gradually and last waves’ skiers were struggling with slippery and destroyed tracks catching klister left on the snow by thousands of preceding competitors. It seems that with a big number of competitors, sunny weather and high temperature it is beyond the control of organizers to make tracks being in good condition until the last skier finishes.
Jerry Ahrlin of Sweden won at the time 2:36:58 which being compared to previous years confirms that the race was fast but not a record one.

As always some IAWLS members’ results:

This page was last revised on September 27, 2009