Norwegian-Canadian ski pioneers
'Ski' is an old Norwegian word, which originally meant a split piece of wood. With a couple of planks strapped to their feet, the Norwegians have used skis as far back as 4,000 years ago. Up until 100 years ago, skis were in fact the only practical means of transport during the winter. Norwegian emigrants in the nineteenth century brought their skiing skills with them, and introduced the sport to North America. One of them, Herman Smith-Johannsen, came to Canada in 1901. In his youth he skied with the famous Norwegian polar explorers Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen. Herman Smith-Johannsen, also known as 'Jackrabbit', introduced the joy of skiing to Canada. He organised and established several ski clubs before he died at the age of 112. Even to this day many ski clubs in Canada run Jackrabbit programs for young skiers.
Birkebeinerrennet
In 1206 the civil war was raged in Norway. One faction fighting for the throne were the birkebeiners, which in english means birch leggings this describes their footwear. Because they were the underdogs, often in such dire need that they had nothing but the bark of the birch-trees as footwear. The word birkebeiner has come to mean a man strong in adversity, never daunted by trials and hardship.
After the birkebeiner chieftain Haakon died on New Years Day in 1204, the baglers saw a dangerous rival in his infant son Haakon Haakonsson. His life was in grave danger, and the birkebeiners wanted to bring him to safety in Trondheim. On Christmas Day in 1205 the party came to a small farm in Lillehammer, where they stayed in hiding over Christmas. They found it too risky to follow the route up the Gudbrandsdal valley, so they cut across the mountains to the neighbour valley in east, Østerdalen. Due to bad weather and difficult snow conditions the two best skiers, Torstein Skevla and Skjervald Skrukka had to go ahead with the two year old prince.
"On this trip they suffered much from the cold, snow and wind". Behind this succinct account of the saga lies a deed of valour and strength with an appeal to skiers of all ages and nations. The 5,5 kilo pack carried by the present day birkebeiners symbolizes the prince, who later became king Haakon. He brought an end of the civil war, and the birkebeiner expedition went down in history as an amazing feat.
Celebrating the 800th anniversary of the rescue of Prince Haakon Haakonsen, today the Norwegian Birkebeinerrennet still parallels this historic route over the mountains between Lillehammer and Rena. In 1985, the Canadian Birkebeiner started with only 100 skiers. Now thousands of skiers replicate the legend of King Haakon Haakonson here in Canada, skiing a 55 kilometre distance with a 5.5 kg pack representing the weight of the infant prince. This event is currently held at one of Canada's largest cross country ski trail systems at Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area, 35 kilometres east of Edmonton, Alberta.
Ski for Light
Ski for Light is a program of cross-country skiing, or ski touring, for visually impaired and other physically handicapped people. The Canadian Ski for Light is modeled after the Knight's Race (Ridderrennet) in Norway, held annually since 1964 with international participation.
Ski For Light (Canada) Inc. is an outreach program of Sons of Norway. The concept was the idea of a Norwegian named Erling Stordahl who had some sight as a child but became totally blind as an adult.
The idea came to him during an army exercise, near a place in Norway called Beitostølen, some military vehicles had passed through leaving deep, wide tracks in the snow. He jumped into one of the tracks to try to ski in it. Later, he said, "It was an experience I will never forget! I followed the tracks to the end, approximately 10 km. I could ski without fear of colliding with anything. I felt a physical and mental relief. I felt like I had regained part of my eyesight. I could stop whenever I liked to enjoy the wonderful surroundings. I felt like a part of nature. My immediate reaction was that I must share this wonderful experience with my visually impaired friends." In 1964, using this concept, Erling Stordahl began Ridderrennet (the Knight's race) in Norway. The concept was expanded by using two sets of ski tracks side by side so that a guide could ski with a blind skier to shout commands and let the skier know what was coming up, e.g. turns or hills. Ski For Light Canada now has a six-day event which incorporates lots of skiing, fun skiing, training sessions, social evenings, which culminates with the race itself on the Saturday followed by the awards banquet and dance that evening.