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Changes come to Birkebeiner ski race because of lack of snow

Crews are racing against the clock to make and move snow onto a modified 12 km lap trail rather than the traditional 55 km point-to-point trail

HAYWARD, Wis. — On a normal year, the snow-packed main street of Hayward, Wisc., is packed with thousands of people watching the finish of the American Birkebeiner cross-country ski races.

This year, on the Birkie's 50th anniversary, there isn't a flake of snow in Hayward. And at the starting line at Mt. Telemark, there isn't a flake of natural snow either.

 "Every single snowflake you see up here has been made," said executive director Benn Popp. "We think of snowy northern Wisconsin -- we've had 14 inches of snow this year."

In one week, the Birkebeiner ski races begin, and Popp says it is a race against the clock until then.

"By mid-January, it was full-on, holy cow, there is really a good chance there is no natural snow," he said of the event planning.

On the coldest days, the crews made snow and piled it as high as they could. And now they are spreading it, one truckload at a time, along the trail they will use for this year's races. A process hampered by the most recent warm-up.

"So they really got compressed down to literally 9 or 10 days to move nearly 12 kilometers of snow out to ski trails," Popp said.

Instead of a 55-kilometer point-to-point trail, the skiers will do laps around a 12-kilometer track. The races will be spread out over five days so skiers of different skill levels aren't running into each other. That's important because a big highlight will be World Cup skiers like Jessie Diggins taking part.

"I mean you are right next to the best athletes in the world, skiing on the same course at the same time – so it's really kind of a dream come true for a lot of skiers," Popp said. 

Despite the shortened race length, Popp says they're expecting 15,000 skiers and 25,000 spectators -- with hopes they will support the local economy.

"The event is so much more than a ski race. It's actually the coming together of this whole outdoor community, what does it mean to live an active outdoor lifestyle, so the show must go on," Popp said.

The Birkie has been canceled twice in its history, because of rain-outs. 

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