Korte start moved?

My wife said she overheard an announce say that this was the last year
for the Korte to start and end at Telemark; that next year it is going
to feed into the Birkie at OO and ski to Hayward so that everyone gets
to ski up main street. Has anyone else heard this?

Stay tuned for news that is similar to what you are saying.

Something is being planned from OO to Hayward, but I don't know if it's
going to replace the Korteloppet.

Details have not been released.

Greg Fangel


"dware" wrote in message
om...
My wife said she overheard an announce say that this was the last year
for the Korte to start and end at Telemark; that next year it is going
to feed into the Birkie at OO and ski to Hayward so that everyone gets
to ski up main street. Has anyone else heard this?

(dware) wrote in message . com...
My wife said she overheard an announce say that this was the last year
for the Korte to start and end at Telemark; that next year it is going
to feed into the Birkie at OO and ski to Hayward so that everyone gets
to ski up main street. Has anyone else heard this?

This is not the first time that this rumor has come up. Years back a
separate start area to the left of the Birkie trail was cut, for this
very purpose. This area is the start area for the Seeley Classic race
22K race. I think the only thing preventing the Birkie Board from
starting the Korte @ OO is the coordination of what time does the race
start. Do you start at the same time as the Birkie, and where the
around wave 7 of Korte skiers go off about the time the elites come
through OO, or do they delay the start of the Korte a couple of hours,
and then some of the faster Korte skiers will have to ski through
slowere Birkie skiers. Than they have to figure out the busing again.

Separating the Korte start would reduce the number of waves needed for
both races, wouldn't it? From what I've seen, faster racers are able to
pass w/o much problem at Mora, at least where the trail is wider. It's
when multiple speeds are combined near the finish line that bodies go
flying. The attraction of skiing the full race for me has always been
the idea of finishing up Main Street in Hayward. Changing the Korte
that way and lengthening it a bit would be great.

Gene
Gene don't get me wrong I think moving the Korte to OO would be a
great idea. I think having the Korte finish downtown will make it
more of a festive atmosphere.

Maybe even if we have Korte skiers in the end with Birkie skier it
might push me to ski harder to beat some of the Korte skiers. That is
if I have enough in the tank, this year it wouldn't have mattered.
One of my funnest Birkie's was when the Korte finished at OO, and I
was skiing with Toby Markowitz from the top of Lindskoog lookout to
OO, that was also my best Birkie as I skied the first half real fast.

FYI, next years Birkie/Korte is February 26th, almost a week later
than this year.

I woke up this morning wondering how it is that those young kids take to
the Korte course so easily, and whether extending it would introduce an
age "adjustment," sort of level the playing field a bit. Maybe if the
Powerlines weren't so crowded the kids would be harder pressed to keep
up on the later hills. I don't know, but to me, anything that can
lessen the logjam from the Powerlines to 00 will help everyone have a
better time. And it certainly would be fun to extend the race to closer
to 30k.

Yes, the February weekends fall on higher number days next year. One
upshot of that is the National Masters, being held in the Twin Cities,
will be the first week of February and the City of Lakes Loppet will
fall at the end of that week. It's quite possible the two events will
be linked (I think the long race is classical next year). Watch for
further info.

Gene


Bruce Fiedler wrote:

Gene don't get me wrong I think moving the Korte to OO would be a
great idea. I think having the Korte finish downtown will make it
more of a festive atmosphere.

Maybe even if we have Korte skiers in the end with Birkie skier it
might push me to ski harder to beat some of the Korte skiers. That is
if I have enough in the tank, this year it wouldn't have mattered.
One of my funnest Birkie's was when the Korte finished at OO, and I
was skiing with Toby Markowitz from the top of Lindskoog lookout to
OO, that was also my best Birkie as I skied the first half real fast.

FYI, next years Birkie/Korte is February 26th, almost a week later
than this year.

OK, I've only done the Birkie twice, and only *aspire* to be wave one
someday, but I'll admit the idea of fighting my way thru the Korte
skiers after OO leaves me a little cold. I can just imagine skiing 42K,
turning the corner and seeing 200 or so people 'boning up Bitch Hill.
Maybe they will string out more than I think and cause less logjams on
the hills in the second half of the course, but those hills were still
plenty congested as it was.
Logistically, how can you make it fair? If you start the Korte skiers
early, they impact the elite waves. If you start them late, the lead
Korte skiers are penalized by the slower Birkie skiers. Unless the
Korte is a totally separate start, I can't imagine a 'fair' scenario.
I think Mora is successful with everyone finishing on Main St. because
of the totally separate courses, only coming together at the last bit.
In terms of major structural changes, how about starting all classic
skiers 30 or 60min ahead of wave one? That way, they are completely
strung out on the trail and still have tracks to ski in for the majority
of the distance. I wonder if you wouldn't see some faster times that
way, too.

My .02

Marsh Jones

Gene Goldenfeld wrote:
I woke up this morning wondering how it is that those young kids take to
the Korte course so easily, and whether extending it would introduce an
age "adjustment," sort of level the playing field a bit. Maybe if the
Powerlines weren't so crowded the kids would be harder pressed to keep
up on the later hills. I don't know, but to me, anything that can
lessen the logjam from the Powerlines to 00 will help everyone have a
better time. And it certainly would be fun to extend the race to closer
to 30k.

Yes, the February weekends fall on higher number days next year. One
upshot of that is the National Masters, being held in the Twin Cities,
will be the first week of February and the City of Lakes Loppet will
fall at the end of that week. It's quite possible the two events will
be linked (I think the long race is classical next year). Watch for
further info.

Gene


Bruce Fiedler wrote:

Gene don't get me wrong I think moving the Korte to OO would be a
great idea. I think having the Korte finish downtown will make it
more of a festive atmosphere.

Maybe even if we have Korte skiers in the end with Birkie skier it
might push me to ski harder to beat some of the Korte skiers. That is
if I have enough in the tank, this year it wouldn't have mattered.
One of my funnest Birkie's was when the Korte finished at OO, and I
was skiing with Toby Markowitz from the top of Lindskoog lookout to
OO, that was also my best Birkie as I skied the first half real fast.

FYI, next years Birkie/Korte is February 26th, almost a week later
than this year.

(dware) wrote in message . com...
My wife said she overheard an announce say that this was the last year
for the Korte to start and end at Telemark; that next year it is going
to feed into the Birkie at OO and ski to Hayward so that everyone gets
to ski up main street. Has anyone else heard this?

This would be a terrible idea. Combining very fresh Korte skiers with
tired Birkie skiers will make for a bunch of ****ed off skiers. If
they want spectators for the Korte finish, provide a dozen kegs of
free beer at the finish. That'll bring 'em out of the woodwork.

Jay Wenner

Another idea I've heard that is being considered is not to change the
Korte, but to start the classical race at OO instead of the airfield.
That idea has merit from a number of angles, tho how to coordinate with
the skate race is a big concern.

Gene

"Sly D. Skeez" wrote:

(dware) wrote in message . com...
My wife said she overheard an announce say that this was the last year
for the Korte to start and end at Telemark; that next year it is going
to feed into the Birkie at OO and ski to Hayward so that everyone gets
to ski up main street. Has anyone else heard this?

This would be a terrible idea. Combining very fresh Korte skiers with
tired Birkie skiers will make for a bunch of ****ed off skiers. If
they want spectators for the Korte finish, provide a dozen kegs of
free beer at the finish. That'll bring 'em out of the woodwork.

Jay Wenner

If they want spectators for the Korte finish, provide a dozen kegs of
free beer at the finish. That'll bring 'em out of the woodwork.

Jay Wenner

Now THAT would get me to go back to the Birkie!!!

bt