American sports fans know tailgaiting - showing up at the stadium a few hours early to party in the parking lot.

But that pales in comparison to what you might call "trail-gaiting," in Norway, where skiing is the top sport. The Cross-Country World Ski Championships just wrapped up there, and some fans made a month of it.

Jon Hamernes, wanting to be sure to get a good spot to watch the championships in the forest near the central Norwegian city of Trondheim, showed up early.

"We set up the tent three weeks ago," he said, frying bacon over hot coals, sitting on reindeer and sheep skins next to the 30 bags of firewood that he hauled in from a parking lot.

"We have, also, a fireplace inside the tent. So, it's nice and cozy," Hamernes said. "You can sit in a t-shirt."

Organizers say as many as 20,000 fans are in the woods here to watch their national heroes glide past and try to conquer the rival Swedes. That's on top of another 30,000 filling the nearby stadium. Think American football, hot dog vendors, huge video boards, but replace the gridiron with a ski trail that winds out and up into the forest.

"You know, all the Norwegians are born with the skis," said fan Ragnar Hoas. "So the traditional Norwegian heritage is to go skiing. We like to see our athletes, of course, we are very happy when they are winning. But of course, we allow the Swedish neighbors to win sometimes."

There was a lot for Norwegian fans to be happy about, as their standout star Johannes Klaebo won all six world championship races. On the women's side, though, Swedish skiers took all the gold medals.

American Jessie Diggins, the top ranked female skier in the world coming into the championships, made the podium as well, winning a silver in the team sprint with teammate Julie Kern. But she struggled in other events, including the grueling 50-kilometer final race Sunday.

"I had to keep believing in myself and believing in my body and taking care of my body, and knowing that it will come," Diggins said early in the competition. "We will nail it — all the skis, the wax, the glide, my body, it will all come together on the right day. And I had to keep that faith. But that does not come easily — it's work. And I think it's okay to acknowledge that."

Julia Kern is one of a few top U.S. prospects who are coming into their own just in time for next year's Olympics in Italy.

Kern was also involved in a big off-trail story.

These races score big TV ratings in Europe, and climate campaigners were threatening to disrupt them over oil company sponsorship. But Kern and another American, Alaskan Gus Schumacher, led international athletes in negotiations that prompted the group to stand down.

The agreement says the athletes will work with the campaigners to phase out fossil fuel sponsorship of major international ski events. And to prioritize advertising deals with companies that commit to climate leadership and the long-term future of winter sport.

"It's kind of easy to be in your house where you don't feel a lot of the changes. But we're at Fairbanks latitude in Norway and it's 50 degrees and it's barely March, you know? And, like, Anchorage is out of snow, which sucks." Schumacher said, nodding at the warm, rainy conditions that make ski racing pretty tough at times.

"Those are small problems in the full earth climate issue, but it's where we see it," said Schumacher.

Kern says that rainy, sloppy conditions in Trondheim underscored the importance of the climate work. But the weather barely dampened the enthusiasm of the Norwegian crowd.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/03/10/cross-country-world-ski-championships-norway/