Wisconsin’s beloved American Birkebeiner Nordic ski race, which draws thousands, heads to Colorado

The American Birkebeiner has been bringing thousands of cross-country skiers to northern Wisconsin for more than 50 years. Its annual race draws more than 12,000 participants across Birkie Week, making it North America’s largest cross-country ski marathon and the third-largest Nordic ski race in the world.

Now, the organization is taking its name and racing tradition west.

In 2027, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation will partner with Snø Racing and YMCA of the Rockies to launch Birkie West at Snow Mountain Ranch. The inaugural event will include youth competitions, equipment demos, an expo and competitive 21-kilometer and 42-kilometer skate races.

Organizers hope the new event will help grow the Nordic skiing community while bringing more skiers to Colorado’s trails.

The partnership also reflects a pressing concern: how to keep the iconic Birkie viable as winters become increasingly unpredictable.

The Wisconsin race has been canceled twice for lack of snow, in 2000 and 2017. In 2024, its 50th-anniversary race was held entirely on an 11-kilometer loop of machine-made snow, and last winter organizers came within inches of having to pivot after rain threatened course conditions.

“We’d be remiss to say that climate isn’t something we think about every day,” said Ben Popp, executive director of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. “Without snow we can’t have this sport.”

The concern extends well beyond Wisconsin. The Birkie is one of 18 races in the international Worldloppet series. Four events in the series were canceled last year, Popp said. Through his organization’s participation in the Worldloppet Council, he has heard from skiers who had invested months of planning and significant money to travel to races, only to have them called off.

“We realize how profound these experiences are, so having them in reliable venues is really important,” Popp said.

The foundation isn’t looking to move its flagship race from Wisconsin or replace it with the Colorado event. The two races will remain separate events, with Birkie West taking place about a month before the traditional Wisconsin race.

“We’re not saying we’re going to move the Birkie to Colorado in two years,” Popp said. “But the more reliable our experiences can be, the better.”

Snow Mountain Ranch, which sits at about 8,700 feet on 5,100 acres of mountain terrain, has historically been more resilient during lean snow years, thanks in part to its elevation and extensive trail network. SMR’s Nordic director, Jeff Paulson, who has skied at the ranch since 2005 and is in his third winter as Nordic director, said the facility managed to keep its trails open throughout last winter, despite above-average temperatures and a dearth of snow statewide.

“Was it the best skiing we’ve ever had? No,” Paulson said. “But we have terrain we can rely on even in a low snow year.”

Snow Mountain Ranch held all of its scheduled races last winter and even took on a couple of additional events. Still, it’s not taking future snow conditions for granted. The YMCA of the Rockies, which operates the resort, is exploring snowmaking and snow storage as potential tools, although existing water rights tied to historic agricultural uses could complicate efforts to introduce snowmaking for recreation.

A partnership years in the making

Birkie West marks the first time the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation has co-branded an event with another organization, although the idea has been kicking around for several years.

Former Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic director Bill Pierce, who came from the Midwest, first explored a partnership with the Birkie before the idea stalled during the pandemic. A ranch volunteer revived the conversation about two years ago, and the organizations began seriously working toward an event this spring, Paulson said.

For the folks at the Birkie, Snow Mountain Ranch checked several boxes. The facility, operated by YMCA of the Rockies near Granby, has 82.5 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails, extensive on-site lodging and dining, and enough terrain to accommodate both competitive racers and recreational skiers on the same day. It’s also relatively easy to reach from Denver and the Midwest. About 70% of Birkie participants come from the Midwest, Popp said, with the Twin Cities region its largest market.

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The partnership with Snø Racing is another important piece. Snow Mountain Ranch is the club’s title sponsor this season, and most of its athletes are expected to race Birkie West. Paulson hopes that having an elite team at the event will draw some of Colorado’s junior teams to the ranch to ski with the athletes and see what elite Nordic racing is all about.

Colorado has strong youth Nordic programs in clubs like Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail and Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. But Paulson said the state doesn’t have an equivalent elite racing team.

He also hopes Snø Racing athletes will bring some of their Midwest fans along.

“This club has a huge following in the Midwest, and we’re trying to bring more people out here to experience Snow Mountain Ranch, but also our mountains and everything we have to offer out here,” Paulson said.

A Colorado Nordic ski vacation

There’s a pretty good case for making a longer trip out of Birkie West. Historically, late January offers excellent skiing at Snow Mountain Ranch, Paulson said, with ample snow and stable cold temperatures.

“That’s honestly probably the most reliable and easiest grooming we have all season,” he said. “As long as it’s cold and we have nice, dry snow, that’s prime time.”

The first Birkie West will feature skate skiing only, with 21K and 42K courses on Saturday, Jan. 23. The 42K will use a looped course, similar to the format of the ranch’s 50K Stampede race. 

Organizers hope to attract about 500 racers in the first year, Popp said, but see room to grow well beyond that. The goal is to make the event about more than competition, with youth races, equipment demonstrations and an expo bringing together racers, recreational skiers and families.

And for skiers traveling from the Midwest or elsewhere, the timing could make for a particularly good Colorado winter getaway, especially if they want to experience multiple cross-country ski races.

The annual Stagecoach Classic at Devil’s Thumb Ranch is scheduled for the Sunday after Birkie West. The following weekend, Crested Butte hosts its beloved Alley Loop, another fixture on Colorado’s Nordic racing calendar. In between, there are miles of trails to explore at Snow Mountain Ranch and Devil’s Thumb in Grand County, and not to mention downhill skiing at Winter Park, Mary Jane and Ski Granby Ranch.

Snow Mountain Ranch itself has plenty of room to make a weekend — or longer — of it. The property can accommodate about 1,500 people in winter, Paulson said, with three lodges and numerous multi-bedroom cabins. He hopes that some of the first-year racers will become repeat visitors, returning to explore more of the region in winter or even coming back in summer to mountain bike and trail run.

Popp said the idea for Birkie West came down to bringing together the strengths of three organizations to create something bigger for the sport.

“We thought, this would be really great for the ski community — to partner with the amazing athletes of Snø Racing, you have a great venue, we have a reputation for putting on great events,” he said. “What if we put it all together to make a great event in the Rockies?”