Verizon Frontline connects first responders at nation’s largest cross-country ski race

CABLE, Wis. – The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team recently completed a deployment in support of the Sawyer and Bayfield County Sheriff’s Offices during the 2024 American Birkebeiner race in Northern Wisconsin.

Held annually, the American Birkebeiner is a cross-country ski race across 50 kilometers of austere terrain stretching from Cable to Hayward, Wis. The race attracts more than 15,000 participants and 30,000 spectators, making it North America’s largest cross-country ski marathon.

Prior to the start of the race, the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team worked closely with race officials and local public safety agencies to help ensure the first responders responsible for keeping race participants and spectators safe had access to mission-critical communications capabilities. While planning for the event, the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team surveyed the remote race course and identified multiple locations where Verizon Frontline solutions could provide or enhance connectivity. During this year’s event, the team deployed Satellite Picocells on Trailers (SPOTs), a Verizon Rapid Response Connectivity Unit (RRCU), satellite uplinks, and drones to help support public safety operations.

Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team support of first responders during large-scale events like the American Birkebeiner helps further strengthen the relationships Verizon Frontline has built within the public safety community over the last 30 years while enhancing the team’s knowledge of the ever-changing needs of first responders.

The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team provides on-demand, emergency assistance during crisis situations to government agencies, emergency responders, nonprofits and communities on a 24/7 basis. Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team members set up portable cell sites, Wi-Fi hotspots, free charging stations and other Verizon Frontline devices and solutions that enable communications and/or boost network performance.

Verizon Frontline is the advanced network and technology built for first responders – developed over three decades of partnership with public safety officials and agencies on the front lines – to meet their unique and evolving needs.