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A classic comeback Sometime in the mid-'80s, the American Birkebeiner, like all cross-country ski races, evolved from a classic race into a freestyle race. The change came gradually over a few years as more and more competitive skiers learned the new racing technique. According to Ned Zuelsdorff, executive director of the American Birkebeiner, the race declared itself a freestyle event on the 1986 Worldloppet schedule, the first year that races received either a FS (freestyle) or CL (classic) designation. It took until 1997 for the race to recognize classic skiers separately in the results. In 1989, I signed up for and skied the Kortelopet, my first Birkebeiner experience. Lacking confidence, I opted for the shorter race, which at the time was a 29K ski from Hayward to Highway OO, the old north-to-south route. I skated the race (I had never once classic skied) using V-1 to the left side the entire race – uphill, downhill and on the flats – because that was the only technique I knew. I flailed away like an eggbeater out there, relying on fitness more than technique. My equipment was crude by today's standards. My Peltonen skis, old classic boards, had javelin tips, and unlike other skiers, I hadn't hacked them off. I used the old Adidas 50 mm bindings with low-cut boots. Salomon had just introduced their new high-top boot and binding system designed exclusively for skating, but at the time they weren't readily available. My poles were too short for classic poles. The following year, I skate skied the full Birkebeiner with the new Salomon system and in a fresh pair of Fischer RCSs – the old model with the metal underneath the P-tex, an idea stolen from downhill skis. I also bought longer poles, which were probably too long by today's standards. Moustache to eyebrow high was the current pole height formula in the early '90s. After a few years of skating, however, and seeing the fluid grace and sheer power of some of the world's top classic skiers – film of Ulvang and Smirnov and then live at a 1994 World Cup race in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and the World Championships the following year – I was convinced that I needed to learn to ski in the centuries old tradition. Their speed and style on a brutally hilly course at Big Thunder proved to me just how fast a classic skier could move across snow. Like many competitive skiers who got into the sport after the skating revolution in the mid-'80s, I never learned to classic ski. The new skate technique was a power technique, appealing to cyclists and in-line skaters, whose numbers took off in the mid-'80s. (It should be noted that recreational skiers of that era never really took to skating either.) I jumped straight into skate skiing. After all, it was faster, and that's the point of racing – going as fast as possible – and the races, from the Birkebeiner down to the local 10K, didn't care which technique skiers used. What mattered was who got to the finish line first, not how one got there. Even today, many adult beginners who are aspiring racers forgo classic and jump straight to skate skiing. Tim Swift, owner of Riverbrook Bike and Ski in Seeley, Wisconsin, told me that of their racing skis, skate skis outsell classic skis four to one. This makes sense since the majority of the races in the Midwest are freestyle, and skating in almost all situations is faster than classic skiing. Many skiers have difficulty mastering one technique, let alone two, so classic skiing gets neglected. Some skiers don't feel like they can afford two separate racing packages since classic requires another set of boots, bindings, skis and poles. Fortunately, young skiers tend to classic ski more in part because they receive better coaching, and often they are more coachable. They listen when a coach tells them that classic skiing is important. Many programs, from the Bill Koch League to the college level, stress both disciplines, dividing time between the two equally. Consequently, the younger skiers who come through these programs tend to race in both disciplines. The Wisconsin High School Nordic Championships even use a pursuit format, the combined time of a skate and classic race. Greg Kresse, a Wausau East and West ski coach, emphasizes classic skiing, which teaches complete weight transfer, as well as ankle and knee flexion better than skating. "The reverse isn't true," Kresse said. "It's a subtle thing." Although Kresse feels that it takes a lot longer to learn how to classic ski well, it is worth the effort. Good classic skiers learn to transfer all their weight to a ski, otherwise the grip wax slips. Classic skiers also develop strong double poling, which helps skating, particularly the V-2 and open field skate techniques. In recent years, classic skiing seems to be gaining some traction among adults who realize the benefits of the traditional technique. Skating still remains the dominant technique in racing circles. Even so, a few classic-only races have a dedicated following: the Seeley Hills Classic, the North End Classic as well as the striding races at Noquemanon, the City of Lakes and the Mora Vasaloppet. The ranks of traditional skiers have swelled at the American Birkebeiner. According to the Birkie office, in both the Birkie and the Korte, classic skiers comprised 21.7 percent of the 2005 field, increasing to 25.1 percent in 2007, with a significantly higher percentage of classic skiers in the Kortelopet than the Birkie. In 2006, 20.3 percent of the Birkie skiers were striders, while 40.9 percent of the Kortelopet skiers skied classic with a higher percentage of the women using diagonal stride. In 2007, 41.7 percent of first-time Birkie skiers used classic technique, as did nearly half of the new skiers in the Kortelopet and the Birkebeiner. Hopefully, many of these new skiers won't "graduate" to skate skiing and give up classic skiing. In 2006, 119 skiers in the first three waves at the Birkie classic skied. In the last three waves (8, 9 and 10), 755 skiers preferred the traditional technique, roughly six times as many skiers. For the most part, the higher the wave number, the more classic skiers within the wave. Skiers choose between skate and classic techniques for many reasons, but it seems to me that skiers with more at stake (i.e. wanting to ski the race faster) tend to skate, while a skier more interesting in finishing the event might choose to stride. I've heard many elite skiers say they'd love to stride the Birkie but they don't want to give up their place in the elite wave. No doubt first- and second-wave skiers skate the race for the same reason – they don't want to give up a hard-earned wave – a coveted ranking in the hierarchy of the Birkie. In the near future, I don't expect classic skiers to outnumber skaters in popular Midwest races, but as more young skiers disciplined in both techniques age and as more adults take up classic, the percent of traditional skiers at races will continue to increase. It also doesn't hurt that many races have begun to cater to classic skiers, building separate trails, separating them in wave starts, letting them start at different times and handing out awards within a classic-only divisions. So it's looking a little brighter for those of us who like to keep the skis pointed straight ahead using a technique developed centuries ago. Mark Parman lives in Wausau, Wisconsin, where he teaches English and journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County.
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