The Nimrods have won the American Birkebeiner Giant Ski Race a record five times. But just when it looked like their skiing days were over, fate had other ideas.
Yes, another Nimrod giant ski movie is premiering at the Park Center in Hayward on Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and showing again during Birkie Week. All proceeds benefit the Share Winter Foundation to support youth winter sports programs.
Standing at the top I see the river in the distance far below
In between this mountainside is covered in a heavy coat of snow
My poles are in my hands and my favorite purple skis are on my feet
My mouth begins to water like it’s waiting for the taste of something sweet
Slipping from the edge I feel a smile slowly slide across my face
‘Cause skiing down this mountain is the closest that I’ll ever come to grace
I wrote this little ditty years ago after a day of skiing at Spirit Mountain.
Many people come to Hayward to ski, but only an elite few dare to giant ski. Last week Perfect Duluth Day shared the previews, the music video, the news coverage and the overall hype; this week we present the full-length feature documentary on the most storied team in the history of the American Birkebeiner Giant Ski Race. It chronicles the team’s past success, the rise to fame and stardom, struggles with selling out, and the uncertain comeback.
The Cloquet Ski Club promotes ski jumping and cross-country skiing at Pine Valley Ski Area.
In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
This highlight video shows the drama from the qualifying run and finals of the American Birkebeiner Giant Ski Race, held last weekend on Main Street in Hayward. The Nimrod Giant Ski Team recaptured the championship this year.
The Trophy Lodge opened in 2017 at the top of the ski hill at Mont du Lac. It’s just one of many recent developments than have radically changed the recreation area. (Photo by Jayden Erie)
For nearly 75 years, Mont du Lac has been primarily known as a neighborhood ski hill. A recent series of added features to the privately owned recreation area, however, is changing that image.
This year, for the first time in Mont du Lac’s history, more revenue is expected to flow into the business during the summer than the winter.
The ski scaffold in this postcard should not be confused with “Big Chester,” the jump that stood in Chester Park from 1924 to 2014. The postmark on this card is March 8, 1912.
What follows is an incredibly scientific and very carefully curated guide to Duluth area cross-country ski trails.
1. Do you want something unavoidably intense?
If yes, proceed to #2
If no, proceed to #5
2. Do you have a lot of time?
If yes, proceed to #3
If no, proceed to #4
3. Do you prefer constant climbing followed by constant descent, or insidious but varying slopes?
Up then down: Korkki
Beat me up: Mangey-Snively
The Korkki trail, located off Homestead Road between Duluth and Two Harbors, is a single loop out and back with cutoffs at various kilometer points. Like Lester Park, it features a steady rise on the outward ski and a steady coast downward on the inbound trail, only it is more intense in this trajectory, and reaches its climax at the far end of the loop, where there are a bunch of aggressive hills. (map)
As the national SuperTour race hits Spirit Mountain in Duluth this weekend, Minnesota Public Radio delves into the potentially harmful effects of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances found in the fluorinated ski wax used by elite cross-country ski racers.
I’ve only been in Duluth for 20 years, so in relation to George Hovland’s life, I’m just a newcomer. Even so, as a cross-country skier, my tracks crossed his over and over.
George always ran Snowflake Nordic Ski Center like a charity. The cashbox on the counter just sat there on the honor system. Each year, I signed up my kids for the KidSki program. This was during the window of time each fall where he gave a discount for signing up early. I paid full price because I could afford it. I also did it because, unlike a lot of things, I knew exactly where my money was going. I mean, outside of my family, cross-country skiing is my favorite thing. And each year when he got my check, George called me on the phone and said, “You shouldn’t pay full price. You can pay the discounted price.” And I said, “I know George. It’s me. I told you the exact same thing last year.”
One time, I was skiing classic style in the snow-blessed microclimate at Snowflake and George came up on me the opposite direction and said, “Great technique!” I was a little too pleased, but a comment like that from George, a 1952 Olympian, was like a benediction.
As documented on this old postcard, Duluthian John Rudd is credited as having performed the first somersault on skies. It happened at Chester Bowl, then known as Chester Creek Hill.
On Feb. 2, 1941, Norwegian ski-jumper Torger Tokle jumped 203 feet at the new 60-meter ski jump at Fond du Lac. He’s shown in images here hitting 197 feet. An estimated 5,000 spectators were in attendance. Duluth hosted the National Ski Jumping Championship the following year.
Sadly, the ski jumps at Chester Bowl were demolished in 2014, but the memories live on in this coloring exercise.
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your coloring and drawing pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Chester Bowl Ski Jump
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
The number of miles of groomed cross-country ski trails in Duluth is given as 24 in this 1993 activity book page. The Duluth Cross-Country Ski Club reports the modern-day figure as more than 50 kilometers, or roughly 30 miles.
