Who did this and why?
I am a retired professor of agronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has skied the Birkie 36 times. I’d like to ski the Birkie at least 4 more times, but I’m 76 and nearing the point where every new year is more an act of serendipity than a planned event.
I have always enjoyed working with large datasets. This comes from my UW years when I was a research geneticist/biostatistician/plant breeder. Most of my work involved field-based research evaluating extensive plant germplasm collections over multiple years and varied environments. I enjoy creating summaries from large datasets that capture performance potential in meaningful ways.
Only now, instead of plants, I want to focus on summarizing the performance of thousands of skiers over decades of the Birkie. The challenge is just as great given the tremendous variation in weather conditions, alterations in course/race management, and demographic shifts. I’ve started to do this in this website, but “started” is the operative word.
This project has benefitted greatly from the help of Dave Armstrong, Liam Johnston, John Oman, and Ben Popp. Ari Ofsevit’s BirkieGuide was essential for the analyses of race conditions as were the many ABSF reports over the years. I would welcome additional help from anyone who is willing and qualified to move this effort to higher level.
I recommend a couple of additional sources of Birkie information:
1. Paul Anderson and Ralph Bovard have compared the health and behavior of Birkie skiers to that of a representative swath of Americans. That data had been collected starting in 2014 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
2. For those who enjoy listening to experienced Birkie skiers pass along their tales of Birkies gone by, Jon Peterson has a delightful and engaging podcast ‘Birch Legacies’.
As a last note, I’m obviously enamored of the long tradition of the Birkie, and I want to make sure the long tradition becomes ever longer.
Support the Birkie Endowment!
Jim Coors