Midwest Racing Season Preview

November 1, 2015

The 2015-16 season brings some of the biggest changes to the Midwest racing calendar in recent memory. The impact of the American Birkebeiner can not be understated in the citizen racing scene, and this year we’re calling it the “Birkie Quake”. For most skiers, the Birkie is the benchmark race. And for other races, it’s the event they schedule around. This year, the Birkie is on Saturday, February 20th. For Birkie organizers, it’s their normal date -- the eighth Saturday of the season. The “quake” comes when you look at the February calendar and realize Feb 20 is the third weekend in February. In almost every year, the Birkie ends up being on the fourth weekend in February. (Last year was a minor variation, as Feb 1st fell on a Sunday, a scenario which many races consider the first weekend in February.) This compression is repercussion of the starting weekend of the year -- Jan 2-3 is the opening weekend, and traditional races avoid this weekend as it is too close to New Year's Day. So we end up with one less racing weekend before the Birkie.

The “Birkie Quake” has caused a big shakeup on the racing calendar as those events in February have had to fight for weekends. Most years, those races schedule based on number of weeks before the Birkie and/or the weekend position in February. The Vasaloppet and Pre-Birkie are usually two weeks before, the Minnesota Finlandia the week before. The City of Lakes Loppet is typically three weeks before the Birkie, and always the first weekend in February. So this year, the Finlandia has moved to the weekend after the Birkie, while the Loppet and Vasaloppet hold their standard weekends, with each a week closer than normal to the Birkie. The Pre-Birkie sticks with two weeks before the Birkie format, putting it against the Loppet this year. A number of other races have made shifts in their “normal” schedule as well, so check the calendar closely.

(Note: This scenario came up in 2010, but that year the Birkie shifted to the ninth weekend, staying with their usual fourth weekend and running the race on a very late Feb 27th. Be warned, the scenario will occur again in 2021!)

While the SuperTour series doesn’t have a dedicated event in the Midwest this year, the region will host two National caliber events. The US Nationals return to the Michigan Tech trails in Houghton in early January, and then in March, Junior Nationals come to Cable, WI. Both of these events should benefit the Midwest elite athletes, not only with a reduction in travel costs, but also with waxing experience. And while not part of the Midwest, there will be some huge excitement in March as the World Cup circuit finishes in North America with a week long series stretching across Canada, simply named Ski Tour Canada.

There are a number of new events again this season. CXC has joined forces with some of the bigger marathons to offer a new series -- the CXC Marathon Cup. The series features two races in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan each, and offers a number of divisions to offer something for everyone (including teams). Three Rivers Park District gets into the Nordic racing scene with their own major race, the Ski Rennet, on the improved Hyland Lake trails. And for those looking for a solid training event, Gear West is hosting a new weekly racing series, the Wednesday Night Warmup at Hyland.

Finally, as typical there are some casualties on the racing calendar. Rainbow Resort has decided to shutter their skiing operations this winter. Also gone from the calendar are the Hidden Valley Holiday Games, the Baker Shaker, and smaller events like Ski the Peak, Ski for School and Retro Ridgerunner. There are also some events hosted by Endurance United that are still under consideration, and we’re waiting on final event dates for a couple of other races as well, so check the calendar for updates (as well as short notice events).

Enjoy the season and do fire up those snow dances!

Full Racing Calendar