St. Albert skiers are donning their Norwegian baby weights this week as they prepare for the first-ever Virtual Canadian Birkie.
The Canadian Birkebeiner Society announced Jan. 27 that it had cancelled the in-person edition of the 2021 Canadian Birkie Ski Festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event, originally scheduled for Feb. 12-15, was set to bring about 640 skiers from around the world to the Cooking Lake – Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area.
Established in 1985, the Canadian Birkie is billed as Canada’s biggest classic cross-country ski festival, and has been cancelled just seven times in its history. This was the first time it had been cancelled due to a pandemic (the other six times were weather-related).
Birkebeiner Society president Dave Cooper said the society spent thousands of hours trying to figure out how to run this year’s event during a pandemic. They capped attendance at 640 – way below last year’s turnout of 1,350 – spread athletes across multiple sites, and planned for individual spaced starts instead of the usual mass rush.
“It was completely safe; safer than a ski hill,” Cooper said.
But it was also an outdoor social gathering, and Alberta Health has capped those at 10 people due to the pandemic, Cooper said. With health authorities worried about new COVID-19 strains in the province, organizers didn’t see any chance that health regulations would change in time to make the Birkie possible.
“We believe we have a safe event, but it’s an event, and that’s the problem. There’s no events (allowed),” Cooper said.
St. Albert Birkie veteran Anne Bradley said she learned of the decision late on Jan. 26 as she had signed up to volunteer for the event.
“It’s absolutely a disappointment,” she said, but she wasn’t surprised either, given the COVID-19 situation in Alberta.
“I think it’s great they even went to the effort of trying to hold the event.”
St. Albert’s Basil Delaney, who has skied in 18 Canadian Birkies, said he heard of the event’s cancellation while he was training for it on Jan. 27 at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre.
“What can you do? Everything is changing in a pandemic world.”
Birkie online
Everyone who signed up for the 2021 Birkie will have their registration carried forward to next year’s edition of the event, said Cooper. Participants have also received a free pass for the inaugural Virtual Canadian Birkie, which takes place Feb. 12 to 21.
The virtual Birkie will see about 1,000 people from around the world ski anywhere from four to 55 km in one day and file their results online. Cooper said participants could do the race wherever they want, however they want – running, walking, cycling, skating, snowshoeing, roller-skiing, and skijoring (skiing while being towed by an animal or vehicle) are all allowed.
“You could walk around your living room 100,000 times,” he joked.
Delaney said he plans to a traditional 55 km ski run, possibly at the Strathcona or Blackfoot recreation areas. Like many participants, he would do so while carrying a 5.5 kg weight – Birkie participants carry these weights in reference to the event’s founding legend, which tells of how two Birkebeiner warriors skied the infant Crown Prince Haakon Haakonsson of Norway to safety in 1206.
Delaney said people should give the virtual Birkie a shot to get some exercise and enjoy some of the best skiing conditions this region has had in 10 years.
“Embrace winter and enjoy it.”
Visit canadianbirkie.com for details on the virtual event.
