Obituary: Norm Oakvik, athlete who nurtured Twin Cities skiers

For a long time, Norm Oakvik's house was the only place in the Twin Cities to buy cross-country skis.

It was years before the birth of the cross-country skiing boom, but Oakvik, with a living room full of imported Norwegian skis, was ahead of the curve.

"He was a pioneer in cross-country skiing in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area," said Greg Fangel, who met Oakvik through the North Star Ski Touring Club that Oakvik co-founded.

A talented skier and teacher known for his humble reserve, Norman Gunnar Oakvik died Feb. 3. He was 94.

Born to Norwegian immigrant parents and raised on Minneapolis' North Side, Oakvik learned to ski as a child. His father, also a ski jumper, fashioned Oakvik's first pair of wooden jumping skis.

Oakvik became unusually versatile, skiing both cross-country and downhill as well as ski jumping. He was also a strong competitor, winning the 1953 North American Cross Country championship and participating in the 1952 U.S. Olympic Nordic Combined Team, among other competitions.

"I would describe him as a very fluid skier," Fangel said. "Very good technique."

Oakvik never forgot his roots, though, and spent a lot of time coaching children and young people.

"He involved a lot of kids up on the North Side of Minneapolis, [who] remember him very well," said Solveig Olson, a friend and member of the North Star ski club.

And for people like Olson — who learned to ski in her native Norway — Oakvik provided a way, before anyone else did, to keep that tradition alive.

In addition to his work with the North Star ski club, as well as the Minneapolis Youth Ski League and the Minneapolis Ski Club, Oakvik collaborated with the Minneapolis Park Board to create a trail infrastructure for skiing. A trail system at Theodore Wirth Park is named for him.

Fangel remembers a meeting at the park that involved discussion about naming the trail.

Despite his shyness, Oakvik had a wide network of friends and students, including many who considered him a mentor.

"He was so quiet and unassuming," Fangel said. "But he had a big influence in spite of that. People really looked up to him."

A single man without much family in town, Oakvik found companionship in the ski community.

Olson, who bought a pair of wooden skis out of Oakvik's living room in 1968, cared for him near the end of his life. He continued skiing into his 90s, she said, adhering to the classic style he'd mastered decades before.

Oakvik is survived by his cousin, Vivian Zagelow, and niece, Mary Frances Skufca. Services have yet to be announced.