BEMIDJI — The final Sunday Ski حلحلآ» event of the season was a special one.
The 33rd annual Sunday Ski حلحلآ», hosted by the finished its season on Jan. 26 by partnering with the Sons of Norway Bemidji chapter to host a Barnelopet race at Bemidji Middle حلحلآ».
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is a fraternal life insurance company that delves into philanthropic endeavors, promoting education through scholarships, cultural projects with grants and community events like Barnelopets all throughout the country for those who have or promote Norwegian heritage.
Barnelopet directly translates as "children's race," and is a non-competitive children's cross country ski race symbolic of 13th-century Norwegian history when infant Prince Haakon Haakonsson was saved by the Birkebeiners, a political Norwegian faction which formed in the 1100s, who skied through a mountainous region of Norway to preserve the heir to the throne who later helped unite factions of Norway after a significant period of civil war.
A Barnelopet tells an important message and is a fitting conclusion to the ski school, which promotes health and wellness for youth throughout.
"The instructors are all volunteering their time to increase the health, happiness and fitness of children and families in the snow," said instructor Lisa Martin. "(We do this) to encourage the healthiness of children being in nature ... there's a lot of research out there to say that, especially if we're exercising in a natural environment, (there can be) changes in not only physical but cognitive, brain-body connection."
The school opened this year on Sunday, Jan. 5, and continued for each Sunday in January. The first three sessions featured an adult ski class after the children's class concluded.
During the final session, participants gathered at the middle school and were provided gear as needed before venturing out to the back of the school to prepare for the Barnelopet.
"Minnesota has seven to eight months of winter every year, so getting out and exercising and just getting outside is really important, and not a lot of people have access to (skiing)," said Bemidji Area Cross Country Ski Club Event Coordinator Rachel Kultala. "So, (we have) this amazing set of equipment that we are happy to share with our community to get them on skis, to get them to try something new."
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A volunteer effort
The Bemidji ski club still needs help from the community to ensure they can continue providing comprehensive ski lessons for community youth. That is why a wide network of volunteers stepped up, including some from the high school ski team who potentially began their ski career at the ski school.
"I have the youngest group, 3- and 4-year-olds, and some of the skiers on the ski team, they had me when they were 3 and 4 years old," volunteer ski instructor Joan Sagedahl said. "It's 100% volunteer driven; many of (the instructors) have volunteered for 20 plus years. It's a fun community event."
The volunteers gear up each winter in anticipation of the ski school and see it as a very rewarding program.
"I'm a physical therapist, so for me to see children in motion (is important)," Martin said, "To have children go with their parents or their grandparents or their guardian, whoever it may be, to foster that healthiness and that fun environment (is also important). We're going to try to keep this going as long as we can."
"And at the end of these events, everyone gets an award and we see smiles," Martin continued. "The beauty of instructing and seeing the smiles at the end is like nothing else."
Sons of Norway played a big role in making sure each child felt accomplished at the end of the race by providing medals for every participant and even providing pizza and a play based on the aforementioned 13th-century Norwegian historical tale.
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While this week's event concluded the Sunday Ski حلحلآ»'s operations for the season, there are many other skiing events that the Bemidji Area Cross Country Ski Club hosts, including:
- Tuesday Night Ski each Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Movil Maze Lodge from December and March, weather permitting.
- A Candelight Ski at Lake Bemidji State Park from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8.
- Minnesota Finlandia ski races Friday, Feb. 14, and Saturday, Feb. 15, at Buena Vista Ski Area.
- Community Ski Day from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Movil Maze Lodge.
- Snowjourn, Bemidji's oldest ski event, set for Sunday, March 2, at Buena Vista Ski Area.
More information on upcoming events can be found at
