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Dieter Weise of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan works with North House instructor Mark Hansen on one of the Norwegian skis he made at North House Folk School during Winterer’s Gathering 2009. Weise is moving to the Alaskan Yukon next year to work as a wildlife biologist. Instructor Hansen said the old Norwegian method of ski-making uses one piece of wood that is soaked in water and then shaped in molds. Hansen pointed out a pair of ski poles made of reindeer antlers. He recalled reindeer races held in Grand Marais 12 years ago. “We just hook them up and it’s like being pulled by a big chicken!” he said. How is a reindeer like a chicken? When you’re behind one, Hansen said, you get a sense that a reindeer’s intelligence level is about the same as a chicken’s. See more Winterer’s Gathering on page A3.

Photo courtesy of North House Folk School