You probably got the email from Birkie about changes to expect this year in Birkieland. There are a couple of very notable changes:
- Parking. From the south, you’ll turn right off of Highway 63 in to the new Birkie Ridge parking lot. From the north, you’ll turn right in to the Como Lot. Assuming the Birkie Ridge lot doesn’t become a marsh or isn’t way too small, this is fantastic, as it will eliminate cross traffic and should double the throughput of vehicles in and out of the lots.
- The trail got a little longer. For a while, the Birkie was billed as a 51k race, then pulled back to 50k. Well, it’s back to 51. There’s a new loop down through the fish hatchery area, which moves the feed off of Highway 77 and adds a bit of new terrain. It will be fun to see how it skis. If you’re going to warm-up before race day, that’s probably not a bad place to go.
The Birkie also has a new map app up which you can find here. A few things to note:
- There is not 1350m of climb on the Birkie Trail. There’s a bit more half that. I went in to this to some degree with Strava and the Birkie, and we came to the conclusion that it’s about 800 or 900m of climb. Of course, in 2014, it seemed like more.
- A bunch of the climbs have been named. I’ve heard of Boedecker Hill and Bitch Hill, but not Big Bertha Descent. And there’s no climb in to Gravel Pit (it’s after a descent), but there are big ascents after Mosquito Brook and Highway 77. Also, there’s something about the power lines. This page still recommends the race guide to the climbs.
- If you’re skiing in Cable and there’s a climb called The Wall, it’s on the World Cup Trail at Telemark. And let me tell you from racing experience, it’s a doozy of a pitch unmatched in steepness by anything on the Birkie Trail. (The Telemark trails are shells of their former selves, but it sounds like they are at least getting some maintenance.)