2026 Great Nordeen
Presented by
Latitude 44 Sports
With support from
Apollo Mechanical Contractors, Central Oregon Spine & Sports, and Blue Bird Oral Surgery
In conjunction with Mt Bachelor
February 1st, 2026
XC Ski and Fat Bike Race
30K and 18K Freestyle Race, 7:30 am-Starting at the West Village Lodge
15K Fat Bike Race, 7:45 am-Starting at the base Rainbow Chair just below the Sunrise Lodge
Grooming provided by Mt. Bachelor.
Medals for the following Categories
Individual Nordic Race:
0-14 M/F/NB
15-18 M/F/NB
19-39 M/F/NB
40-59 M/F/NB
60+ M/F/NB
Fat Bike Race:
Juniors 17 and Under M/F/NB
Ages 18-39 M/F/NB
Ages 40+ M/F/NB
REGISTRATION:
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, January 28th, 2026, 11:59 pm
Online Registration Race Fee:
$60 (ages 18+), all distances
$40 Junior pricing (up to 17 years of age), all distances
$20 Late Registration Fee after regular registration closes until January 31st at 5 pm.
Register at Webscorer.com
No day of race registration.
NEED ACCOMODATIONS?
If you are joining us from out of town, we hope you will consider staying at MBSEF’s event sponsor, Waypoint Hotel. They have wonderful accommodations and are eager to meet the unique needs of our ski racers. Call the hotel directly at 541-382-7011 to receive your exclusive MBSEF discount.
https://waypointhotel.com
PACKET PICK-UP:
Saturday, January 31st, 10:30-6 pm at:
Latitude 44 Sports
1375 SW Commerce Ave, Ste 160, Bend, OR 97702
Wax Techs will be available to help you have some fast glide with your skis
GEAR AND RACER SHUTTLES:
Two MBSEF vans will be available to shuttle gear from the start to the finish at Wanoga Sno Park. Bags will be stored in a trailer to protect them from the elements. The shuttles will be running from Wanoga to Mt Bachelor about every 15-20 minutes to transport racers back from Wanoga to the mountain. Fat bikes will have a staffed corral area to store fat bikes after finishing until 12pm. A racer bib will be necessary to access the corral area to get your bike.
AWARDS:
Join us at 4 pm for food and beverages at MBSEF after the race.
First 100 registered racers will receive a Great Nordeen hat by Sauce Active (*or similar swag -TBD)
HISTORY:
The Great Nordeen is held annually in honor of Central Oregon Ski Pioneer Emil Nordeen. Known in Bend in the 1930s as the ‘Iron Man,’ or the ‘Old War Horse,’ Nordeen fashioned weight training systems out of concrete-filled coffee cans, carved his own 8-foot long skis from scrap lumber and developed his own brand of pine-tar ski wax. A well-known adventurer and mountaineer in the Cascades, Nordeen helped found the first search and rescue organization in Bend. He played the violin, pipe organ, piano, guitar, and loved to gamble. Nordeen won the Crater Lake Wilderness Race twice- once at age 43 and again at age 45. The race was a grueling 42-mile course from Fort Klamath to Crater Lake Lodge gaining 2,800 feet in elevation.
Cross-country skiing was a way of life for Nordeen, who had grown up in Sweden. He moved to Bend in 1920, racking up a list of impressive skiing adventures and achievements throughout the years. In the 1920s and 1930s, skiing was enjoying a surge in popularity in the U.S. Those who could ski well were widely admired. In fact, about 3,500 spectators gathered to watch the 1931 Fort Klamath-Crater Lake race. Along with other Central Oregon ski pioneers such as Nels (N.J.) Wulfsberg, Nels Skjersaa and Chris Kostol, Nordeen was a founder of the Skyliners Ski Club, later becoming MBSEF.
These days, the Great Nordeen is significantly less grueling than the races Nordeen won in 1930s. The courses are groomed specifically for the event and give skiers and fat bikers a once-a-year opportunity to cruise through hemlock forests, over lava flows and around the buttes of the Deschutes National Forest on their journey to the finish at Wanoga Sno-Park. This is a unique opportunity to enjoy skiing or fat biking on a special course as part of a Central-Oregon tradition.
