The Birkebeiner goes woke (the largest cross-country ski event in North America)

I’ve done 34 Birkies, have always loved the American Birkebeiner. 50,000 people descend on the northwoods of Wisconsin for a celebration of cross-country skiing. I think it’s one of the best volunteer organizations to be found anywhere. It’s a true community event.

I just read the announcement of the cancellation of the Birkie’s association with Enbridge Energy. I think that was a mistake, because the Birkie should not be taking a political side, which is exactly what this is.

This country is becoming very polarized. The red and blue sides not only don’t share politics, they increasingly don’t share anything. They don’t watch the same TV, don’t listen to the same music, don’t have the same recreations, don’t follow the same sports, don’t shop in the same stores. They certainly don’t live in the same neighborhoods if they can help it. We have the Cabela’s crowd and the REI crowd. The ski crowd and the snowmobile crowd.

Increasingly, we don’t even know people who disagree with us. This allows us to vilify each other without consequence. We can disparage them without ever having to check in with reality. We need more contact, not less. When we virtue signal, we send the message to the other side that they are not welcome here. The Birkie is already seen as a blue/liberal/left/urban/elite event. You just confirmed that, and that it’s intentional.

If we are looking to talk about being better stewards of the environment, there are better ways. The Birkie for years was sponsored by Subaru, which, if you look at mileage, is the SUV that markets itself by looking like an energy efficient car. That always seemed inconsistent.

I understand the Birkie walks a line between factions here, and there are no doubt plenty of calls for this sort of this. But I ask the Birkie to consider reinstating it’s relationship with Enbridge, and certainly, please don’t sever any more relationships because of politics.