The Birkie

On 10 Feb we competed (participated?) in the famous Birkebeiner cross country ski race near Edmonton. It was particularly special this year being the 800 year anniversary of the event it honours. In 1206 Norway was frozen in a civil war tht left young heir to the throne, Haakon Haakonsson, in hiding near Lillehammer. Two brave Birkenbeiner warriors rescued the prince, carrying him 55 km across two mountain ranges. The young prince was later crowned Norway's king and the civil war ended. This year also marks the 75 year anniversary of National Parks here and the 20th anniversary of the Canadian Birkebeiner. The real hardcore racers compete in the full 55km race - either without pack, or with a pack of 5.5 kg resembling the crown prince. These competitors are incredible. And unbelievably there are 6 racers honoured who have competed in every single 55km race since it began here 20 years ago. They're amazing - all in their 50-60's and really put us to shame slogging it out for the mini birkie (13 kms). At the award ceremony (a viking feast) they bounded up onto the stage fresh as a daisy - real legends! It was just such an honour to be a part of the special race. We're not sure of our exact time , but they'll be posted onto the birkie website soon. It was around 2hrs though and respectable enough for us,,,, but believe it or not the winner of the lite 55km event came home in around 2 1/2 hours - an olympic medalist of course!

January Jaunts

It seems that January has just flown by and we're steaming head first into Feb! It took us a while to recover from our 8 days skiing in a row over Xmas but managed to fit another 3 dayer at Banff in mid Jan, interspersed with several Cross Country skiing sessions - which we are yet to master and are now in a bit of a rush to 'learn it properly' in preparation for the upcoming famous Birkie XC ski race in February.

On 6 January we were thrilled to celebrate the Ukrainian Xmas with friends and enjoyed the most delicious feast. Then the whole town braced itself for what was touted as the worst blizzard in 18 years... we were soooo excited,,, and it was incredible,,, we even went out walking in it one night! So we are now in the dead middle of winter here - by the way - Edmonton is about the same latitude at Macquarie Island - Australia's island antartic territory! - We are going white white white,,, and Ian has lost all his tan marks. He can never remember not having any! There has been snow constantly on the ground here since 18 Oct and no sign of it leaving anytime soon. The river is mostly frozen over, and occasionally a small channel appears (as in this picci). One of the real delights here is the hoar frost - where ice particles amass on the branches and create this gorgeous white landscape - truly magical!