Birkie 2019 was full of ups and downs. We arrived to Hayward in the early evening on Thursday (February 21st) to get our bibs at the expo. The kids were excited to get to the cabin for dinner and were able to run off some steam with their friend Bjorn.
The Korte is now held on Friday and there were 4 of us skiing in that race. We enjoyed a leisurely morning and then Isaac and the kids dropped us off at the bus shuttle. I haven't had such perfect conditions for skiing at the Birkie ever! The snow was fast, the temperature was perfect and I skied almost a minute per km faster than I've every done before.
Unfortunately the perfect conditions did not hold. The following morning a beautiful but fast accumulating snow fell right before the start of the Birkie. This created slow conditions for all the skiers (even the elite wave). Isaac was very tired by the end of his race, but did well in his overall placement. Instead of getting to head back to the cabin for our usual post-birkie celebration, we headed straight home to La Crosse to avoid the impending blizzard. We got home just a bit before the ice began. Some of our friends were not so fortunate and got stuck in rural MN when I-90 closed down!
Through it all, the kids did quite well at the finish line and at the cabin. We are excited to get them involved in the Barnebirkie sometime soon!
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| Charlie loved walking all over among the skiers. |
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| The crew of Korte skiers; we had the perfect winter day for our race. |
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| Thank goodness for movies! This is how the Moms managed to clean the cabin while the Dads skied the Birkie. We had to cut our stay short to escape getting stuck in the blizzard. |
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| The only thing that kept the children happy and the Moms sane: Hot Cocoa! |
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| Seeing Dad after his Birkie. |
