Dire Straits Require Heroic Acts.
This week, a historic event for Mystery Glimpse. Can you identify the characters involved in the above picture? What’s going on? Where are they headed? Why? And yes, they are skiing.
Thanks to the New England Ski Museum, Franconia, NH, for hosting this jewel. Congratulations to NESM for opening its new branch in North Conway!
Last Week
Yes, Stein Eriksen is the racer and the event is the FIS World Championships at Aspen in 1950. This was the first FIS event held outside Europe when Aspen was open for only four seasons. Italy’s Zeno Colo missed sweeping all three events by losing the slalom by 0.03 seconds. Stein Eriksen placed third in the slalom.
The little kid In the arms is the future king of Norway being taken to safety in Østerdalen. The skiers were called Birkebiener skiers. Their names are Skevla and Skrukka. They are keeping the young king safe around 1200AD.
The scene is from the painting by Knud Bergslien of the Birkebeiner troopers carrying the Norwegian heir to the throne, Prince Haakon to safety from Lillehammer to Osterdalen and then on to Trondheim. That trip inspired today’s Birkebeiner races in Europe and North America.
I confirm the above accounts. This is a very famous picture.
The scene, based on the painting described above, is recreated in diorama form in the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum in Ishpeming, MI and is extremely impressive.