American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Records (NAHA 2020/014)
- Title
- American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Records (NAHA 2020/014)
- Identifier
- NAHA 2020/014
- Description
- The American Birkebeiner was started in 1973 by Tony Wise, a founding member of the Worldloppet federation of cross-country ski marathons. The race is held in February in Hayward, WI. Wise drew on his Norwegian heritage in starting a race named after a famous event in Norway. The American Birkebeiner, also called Birke, is named after Norwegian Birkebeinerrennet. This race commemorates an important historical event when in 1206 a group of Birkebeiner party soldiers, who fought for Sverre Sigurdsson and his descendants in the Norwegian civil war, smuggled the illegitimate son of Norway's King Håkon Sverresson from Lillehammer to safety in Trondheim.
- Language
- English
- Subject
- American Birkebeiner, Wis
- Wise, Tony
- Cross-country ski racing--Wisconsin
- Hayward (Wis.)
- Worldloppet Ski Federation
