Domestic Viewing Guide for December 12–17: The SuperTour Comes to Birkieland

By Gavin Kentch

It is mid-December, which means that Period 1 of the SuperTour is upon us. Regionally speaking, the highest level of domestic racing resumes where it left off; SuperTour Finals for the 2023/2024 season were in Duluth in March, while Period 1 of the 2024/2025 season sees racing come to the Tormondsen Family Snowmaking Loops at Mt. Telemark Village Birkieland.

Seriously, though, races will be held out of the Birkie Trailhead in Cable; whatever your appetite for the Birkie’s capacity for branding, full respect to any venue sufficiently committed to snowmaking to reliably bid for and successfully host Period 1 races. It is raining and disgusting in Anchorage as I write this, so frankly I’m a little jealous of that snowmaking right now.

As of Sunday afternoon, the official trail report for the area read, “Trails are still in good shape after the warmth and rain this weekend, with a fresh groom overnight. Conditions will stay soft through tomorrow afternoon with warm temps, but shouldn’t deteriorate much. Much colder weather will arrive on Tuesday to firm everything up again in time for the Gitchi Gami Races this week.”

As of Monday: “The trails at Mount Telemark Village are still in good shape for a ski! A little base and the natural cover away from the manmade snow did take a hit with the rain, but our snow making loops are solid. The groom last night went well, and skiing should be fast. Conditions will be firm but not icy. As always, please be mindful of snowmaking operations happening on the system as we get ready for the Gitchi Gami Games.”

As of Thursday: It is currently a non–FIS-legal -4.7° F at Birkie trailhead at 12:50 p.m. local time, so they got their cold weather. Start times have been pushed forward into the afternoon in hopes of warming temps.

When will the races be held?

Here is when the races will be. There is a full slate of racing on tap. Thursday’s skate sprint and next Tuesday’s 20km classic will be standalone SuperTour races. The weekend races, a classic sprint on Saturday and an interval-start skate on Sunday, will be both SuperTour races for the pros and also JNQ races for juniors in the Midwest and Great Lakes divisions. Expect, in round numbers, 100ish athletes racing on the weekdays, and 300ish athletes racing on the weekend.

Here are schedules. All times are given in local time, which is Central Time. Subtract three hours for Alaska or add one hour for the East Coast. The rest of you can figure it out from there.

Thursday, December 12: SuperTour skate sprint (times updated)

Saturday, December 14: SuperTour/JNQ classic sprint

Sunday, December 15: interval-start skate

Tuesday, December 17: SuperTour mass start classic 20km

Where you can find results?

You can find results here.

Will the races be streamed?

Yes! CXC is very good at this! Hells yeah CXC.

This will be up through the Birkie site (here); click on “livestream & results.” This should be a direct link to it? Probably expect more of a focus on the start, finish, and stadium area than on full live streaming of the entire course, but this is likely more than any other SuperTour stop will do this year (exception: when the Birkie is back here in February), so I appreciate this.

ETA: Okay, only the weekend’s races will be streamed, but that is better than nothing. Here’s the stadium webcam if you’re desperate.

Who will be racing?

A lot of juniors on the weekend, as noted. Across all four races, pro skiers from multiple top clubs; I see athletes from all of Sun Valley, Bridger, Craftsbury, Team Birkie, SMS, and APU currently on the start list. Additionally, local athletes from UW–Green Bay will be there. Some Midwest kids currently skiing for EISA schools who are back home for the holidays. Strong contingents from the University of Colorado, including USST members Will Koch and Trey Jones, and from the University of Utah. Other national team athletes in the field include Buster Richardson and Luke Jager with APU. Chris Kalev and Mariel Merlii Pulles (both Team Birkie) are on the Estonian National Team.

Super randomly, one Thomas Bye, a 2013 Eden Prairie grad who skied collegiately for Michigan Tech, is also on the entry list. Bye was a strong skier in college, qualifying for NCAAs and representing the U.S. at World Juniors in 2015 in Almaty, aka the smoggy gravel pit year. He skied the anchor leg on the relay there, alongside Thomas O’Harra, Ian Torchia, and Evan Weinman.

Bye has since worked as a physical therapist and has received multiple degrees in this field. He is 29 years old, and last did a FIS race at 2018 NCAA Championships (won by fellow Midwestern product Ian Torchia). His entry marks the first time I have ever seen “Newark, Delaware” on a race roster. I don’t think he has yet been on snow this year. I hope he crushes it.

Anyway. These articles will tell you a little more about the pro skiers racing in Cable this week (Sun Valley and Craftsbury previews coming soon, promise):

Will there be coverage of the races on this site?

Yes! I have folks on the ground in Cable who will be attending the races and filing reports. Stay tuned.

Enjoy the races, everyone.

You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American nordic skiing. Last season’s GoFundMe is literally the only reason why I turned a profit in years one and two of Nordic Insights, and in turn the only reason why there is a year three of Nordic Insights for you to be reading now: I was okay with working for very little money to get this love letter to American cross-country skiing off the ground, but I didn’t want to lose money for the privilege of doing so. If you would like to support what remains a brutally shoestring operation, last season’s GoFundMe may be found here. Thank you for your consideration, and, especially, for reading.