North American Vasa History

A Traverse City Tradition since 1977

The history of the "Vasa" begins in 1976 when about 40 skiers gathered to race under the leadership of Ted Okerstrom and Vojin Baic. In 1977, the first official Vasa race started at the TVC airport tarmac and ended at Ranch Rudolph. Skip Van Horn of Traverse City won the men's 25K, and Ivanka Baic of Traverse City won the women's 25K. Ola Kokslein of Norway won the 50K. Many skiers couldn't find the trail and got lost, but eventually all made it to the finish.

In the next several decades, the "Vasa" ebbed and flowed.

With any outdoor event, the weather always has the last word.

In 1980, the race was cancelled due to no snow. 1984 was known was the "slush cup" and several racers couldn't get across the rapidly melting ice on Boardman Lake. (That year, the Boardman/Ottaway Lake was part of the course.)

In 1995 the wind chill dropped to - 40 degrees F, wiping out nearly half the racers. In 2021 the Covid pandemic forced cancellation. In 2023 the event was modified due to rapidly warming temperatures, and in 2024 the race was cancelled due to lack of snow.

For 2025 the weather predictions look to be in the Vasa's favor. For 2026 we will celebrate our 50th anniversary. What will the next 50 years of Vasa races look like?

Traverse City owes a great debt to three men who had the the vision to help bring the sport of Nordic skiing and the North American Vasa to the Grand Traverse region of Michigan: Vojin Baic, Ted Okerstrom, and George Lombard.

The Legacy of Okerstrom and Baic

Vogin Baic and Ted Okerstrom recap the origns of the North American Vasa in this video.

Pictured in this section, holding the large trophy, is Ted Okerstrom on the left and George Lombard on the right. Also pictured is Mr. Lombard, post race.

In the early 70s, Ted Okerstrom and Vojin Baic wanted to get their kids involved in Nordic skiing, but could not even buy a pair of skis in the area. Ted was the manager of the Park Place Hotel in downtown Traverse City, while Vojin was a former Olympic medalist in the sport. At the time, ski stores supported Alpine sking which was well established in the area, and didn’t pay much regard to Nordic skiing.

The event has a long history of change. Over the years, the ski race has started and finished in a number of different places. Each offered its own twist on the race, and many remain stuck in the minds of local skiers. The first Vasa was held on January 22, 1977. 234 skiers participated and 205 finished. It started at the Cherry Capital Airport and finished at Ranch Rudolf, which was owned by the race’s original sponsor, the Park Place.

In 1983, the race was scheduled to finish for the first time in downtown Traverse City, but a lack of snow forced the race to start at the Holiday Hills Ski area. The 50K skiers raced to Ranch Rudolf and back while the 25K skiers went from Ranch Rudolf to Holiday Hills.

In 1984, the race was again scheduled to finish in downtown Traverse City, but only 828 of the 1300 skiers were able to finish. The rest were halted just short of the finish when a thaw left Boardman/Ottaway Lake uncrossable. This ended the downtown finish. The 1984 race became known as the “Slush Bowl of ’84.”

The course continued to move around, including starts at The Grand Traverse Resort, Jellystone Park (now Timber Ridge) and other locations, depending on snow conditions that Mother Nature provided.

George Lombard has earned national titles with the United States Skiing Association National Championships. He also competed in International Nordic ski competitions, including the 1984 Paralympic Winter Games in Austria. Lombard was the energy behind the establishment of the permanent Vasa Trail. This took years of hard work beginning with convincing the DNR that the forest was not just for hunters and timber but also for skiing. After countless thousands of hours building the trail skiers built a warming house and bought a groomer costing over $100,000. Trail management was later turned over to Traverse Area Recreational Trails (TART), and our world-class Nordic reputation brought tourism all winter long. Listen to George talk about the Vasa Trail here in Episode 11 of the Traversecityist.

Today, the North American Vasa is run by a working Board of Directors, and staffed by about 200 volunteers each year. Fat bike races were added in 2014, and total ski and bike racers is about 500 a year. Snowshoers made their debut in 2020 with the inclusion of the Vasasaurus Snowshoe Race.

The North American Vasa remains a winter Traverse City tradition.