Ann Satsangi (head of the line) and her family at the Birkebeiner Nordic ski classic in the beautiful north woods of Wisconsin. Courtesy/Mountaineers

By BILL PRIEDHORSKY
Los Alamos Mountaineers

The Tuesday, Sept. 26 Los Alamos Mountaineers meeting will be in-person, with a hybrid adjunct. Ann Satsangi will speak about “A celebration of Nordic Skiing: The American Birkebeiner.”

The largest ski race in North America gathers more than 10,000 skiers each year to the beautiful north woods of Wisconsin. While the main focus is the marathon (50/55k) race, the entire week of events includes kids ski races, dog skijoring, “Giant” ski race, sprint races and 15/32k m races. There is a true celebratory spirit throughout the week called “Birkie Fever”.

Satsangi grew up in a skiing family in Minnesota just as Nordic skiing and “citizen racing” was blossoming. Through the years she has embraced the many aspects of nordic skiing from racing, skijoring, teaching her kids and backcountry treks. Satsangi is happy to share a version of her experiences in celebrating winter with the Mountaineers and the community.

We welcome all to the Mountaineers’ meeting, on the regular fourth Tuesday of the month. The social hour, with cookies, begins at 6:45 p.m. and the program at 7 p.m. The presentation will be in-person at Los Alamos Nature Center; the slides will be live-streamed on Zoom. Registration is required to Zoom and recommended for in-person – we would love to see your smiling face. Registration is at https://peecnature.org/events/details/?id=49373.

Deniece Korzekwa cycling through Norway. Courtesy/Mountaineers