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Winter's Children: A Celebration of Nordic Skiing
The story of Nordic skiing in the Midwest—its origins and history, its star athletes and races, and its place in the region’s social fabric and the nation’s winter recreation
In the winter of 1841, a Norwegian immigrant in Wisconsin strapped on a pair of wooden boards and set off across the snow to buy flour—leaving tracks that perplexed his neighbors and marked the arrival of Nordic skiing in America. To this day, the Midwest is the nation’s epicenter of cross-country skiing, sporting a history as replete with athleticism and competitive spirit as it is steeped in old-world lore and cold-world practicality. This history unfolds in full for the first time in Winter’s Children . Nordic skiing first took hold as a sport in the Upper Midwest at the end of the nineteenth century, giving rise to an early ski league and a host of star athletes. With the arrival of a pair of brothers from Telemark, Norway, the world’s best skiers at the time, the sport—and the ski manufacturing industry—reached new heights in Minnesota, only to see its fortunes fall after World War II, when downhill skiing surged in popularity. In Winter’s Children Ryan Rodgers traces the rise and fall of Nordic skiing in the Midwest from its introduction in the late 1800s to its uncertain future in today’s rapidly changing climate. Along the way he profiles the sport’s stars and stalwarts, from working-class Norwegian immigrants with a near-spiritual reverence for cross-country skiing to Americans passionately committed to the virtues of competitive sport, and he chronicles races like the thrilling 1938 Arrowhead Derby (which ran from Duluth to St. Paul over five days) and the American Birkebeiner, the nation’s largest cross-country event, which takes place every year in northern Wisconsin, snowpack permitting. Generously illustrated with vintage photography and ski posters, and featuring firsthand observations drawn from interviews, Winter’s Children is an engaging look at the earliest ski teams and touring clubs; the evolution of cross-country skis, gear, and fashion; and the ambitious and ongoing effort to establish and maintain a vast trail network across the Minnesota state park system.
In the winter of 1841, a Norwegian immigrant in Wisconsin strapped on a pair of wooden boards and set off across the snow to buy flour—leaving tracks that perplexed his neighbors and marked the arrival of Nordic skiing in America. To this day, the Midwest is the nation’s epicenter of cross-country skiing, sporting a history as replete with athleticism and competitive spirit as it is steeped in old-world lore and cold-world practicality. This history unfolds in full for the first time in Winter’s Children . Nordic skiing first took hold as a sport in the Upper Midwest at the end of the nineteenth century, giving rise to an early ski league and a host of star athletes. With the arrival of a pair of brothers from Telemark, Norway, the world’s best skiers at the time, the sport—and the ski manufacturing industry—reached new heights in Minnesota, only to see its fortunes fall after World War II, when downhill skiing surged in popularity. In Winter’s Children Ryan Rodgers traces the rise and fall of Nordic skiing in the Midwest from its introduction in the late 1800s to its uncertain future in today’s rapidly changing climate. Along the way he profiles the sport’s stars and stalwarts, from working-class Norwegian immigrants with a near-spiritual reverence for cross-country skiing to Americans passionately committed to the virtues of competitive sport, and he chronicles races like the thrilling 1938 Arrowhead Derby (which ran from Duluth to St. Paul over five days) and the American Birkebeiner, the nation’s largest cross-country event, which takes place every year in northern Wisconsin, snowpack permitting. Generously illustrated with vintage photography and ski posters, and featuring firsthand observations drawn from interviews, Winter’s Children is an engaging look at the earliest ski teams and touring clubs; the evolution of cross-country skis, gear, and fashion; and the ambitious and ongoing effort to establish and maintain a vast trail network across the Minnesota state park system.
448 pages, Hardcover
Published November 30, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 29, 2024
Fantastic book that covers the distant past of skiing in Europe, the origins of skiing in the US, and detailed personal histories of important skiers in the Upper Midwest. I really enjoyed this book, especially since there are several skiers and coaches in the pages that I know personally here in Duluth. I only have one little nit to pick. The author kind of skipped over Billy Demong's Nordic combined Olympic Gold in Vancouver, but I'll allow it since he was enthusiastically talking about the pioneering work of Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins winning the first ever Olympic Gold in Korea in 2018 for US Cross Country Skiing. This has a lot of great photos in it, almost making it a coffee table book, but the text is a great record of US skiing and especially skiing in the Midwest. Think Snow!
May 15, 2022
Exhaustively researched and well written. I enjoyed following the threads that connect the generations of skiers and the development of the sport over time. I appreciated the special, if occasional, attention to gender equality in skiing. Maybe it’s natural that a book about the history of skiing would take a nostalgic view of things, but I did get a bit of a ‘back in the good old days’ vibe. I wanted to hear from a greater variety of people with different experiences in the sport, not only those who have managed to make big names for themselves.
March 13, 2025
While this book is well researched, it’s a bit disappointing. The last two chapters were the most disappointing. Much emphasis in modern skiing was on a who’s who of MN high school skiing and coaching, with a rare nod outside of the state. As a skier in the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League, the three measly paragraphs dedicated to the league I was part of over 20 years ago paled in comparison to the coverage of most individual coaches from certain teams. The American Birkebeiner was of course mentioned, but nothing in recent times, while telling year by year details of a few MN run races. Ben Popp, the current director (and director before publishing) has directed much of the sport, and all the efforts to get kids on skis from them wasn’t mentioned while there were pages about the Loppet Foundation. Ernie St, Germiane wasn’t mentioned either, who I believe at the time was the one who had done all the Birkies (and completed 50 in 2024). In a jump back to ski jumping in modern times, the ski clubs in MN, MI and IL were noted but not the 6 in WI. I could figure out a few from the following text, but wondered why not list a whole 6 teams when it’s not many? Snowmaking in WI was mentioned with some in Milwaukee - which is inaccurate- the snowmaking is at Lapham Peak, which is a half hour from Milwaukee, my high school home course.
Earlier chapters were more interesting, in that there was more variety in the geographies mentioned. I did like that gender equity was a part of the story throughout the book, and found the ebbs and flows of that interesting over the last century. That women were fighting for their right to jump after I was in college was a surprise to me (I did x-c not jumping). Photos throughout the book were excellent and made the story come alive.
I guess my disappointment was that such emphasis was not on the common skier, but the famous skiers - the elites at the end. So many were foundational, but what if foundations in cross country skiing outside of MN? Not just ski jumping outside of MN. The book marketed as winter’s children, not MN skiers, and parts did extend beyond. I guess know what you’ll find at the end - name dropping in MN but not a lot about regular skiers that carry on the sport. The book could have followed more about the idraet if it had focused more on that in the last part.
Earlier chapters were more interesting, in that there was more variety in the geographies mentioned. I did like that gender equity was a part of the story throughout the book, and found the ebbs and flows of that interesting over the last century. That women were fighting for their right to jump after I was in college was a surprise to me (I did x-c not jumping). Photos throughout the book were excellent and made the story come alive.
I guess my disappointment was that such emphasis was not on the common skier, but the famous skiers - the elites at the end. So many were foundational, but what if foundations in cross country skiing outside of MN? Not just ski jumping outside of MN. The book marketed as winter’s children, not MN skiers, and parts did extend beyond. I guess know what you’ll find at the end - name dropping in MN but not a lot about regular skiers that carry on the sport. The book could have followed more about the idraet if it had focused more on that in the last part.
January 10, 2024
My confession: my husband, George Hovland II, is mentioned many times in this book. He was a US Olympian in 1952 after serving in WWII in the South Pacific. Skiing saved his life. He was asked to stay on to participate in the atomic bomb testing on Bikini Atoll, which he had helped to survey at the end of the war. Thankfully, he said no. He returned to Minnesota, set up the first ski shop in our town, started the first ski area in our town, created an in-line marathon, a municipal ski area, and he and I created a nordic ski center. He knew all of the "firsts" in skiing in the US. Rogers has researche this book so well. I could hear my husband speaking and also the men and women who were the pioneers of skiing in the midwest. Norwegians settled our area of the midwest. We have to be grateful for their influence. Thanks Erik Judeen and Peter Fosseide for coming to America!
February 12, 2022
A poignant and engaging story of the rise, fall and rebirth of Nordic skiing. Well-written with wonderful primary sources and photographs. An entertaining and interesting read.
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June 30, 2022796.93209 R6 16W
August 25, 2025
Love the pictures and learning about the history of xc skiing in the USA.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews