Sigge Björklund

Sigge (Alf Sigvald) Björklund was born in Lappfjärd, Finland on February 15, 1926. He immigrated to Vancouver in 1956. Upon arriving in Vancouver he lived with his sister Linnea and worked as an electrician. Being an avid cross country skier from Finland, he loved the mountains of the west coast but couldn’t find any suitable cross country skis to buy here. Sigge sprang in to action and started to import skis and sold them out of his garage. This venture eventually became “ Sigge’s Sports Villa”, a retail store specializing in cross country ski equipment and clothing.

Sigge also frequented some of the Swedish societies and there met Elene Eastman whom he married in 1960. Elene came from a Swedish immigrant family and spoke fluent Swedish. She was also an accomplished pianist. Sigge took Elene on a 10month honeymoon, travelling throughout Europe in a red sports car! In 1962 Sigge was instrumental in forming “The Vancouver Skiers Cross-Country and Touring Club”. From an initial 30 members, membership increased to 500 in 1972. Determined to to showcase all the wonders of cross country skiing Sigge was involved in forming the Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors (CANSI) in 1976 and the Nordic Ski club in 1980. Sigge was very generous with both his time and support for sponsoring young skiers.

Many Vancouverites will remember Sigge from the many bus trips he organized with the Vancouver Ski club, to Manning Park,Mt Seymour, Hollyburn (Cypress), Whistler and later to the interior of BC. Sigge was always on the bus to Manning Park and brought out the wine and cheese on the return journey back to Vancouver!

Starting in 1972 the Vancouver Skiers Club hosted 25 races a season at Mt Seymour, including 5 Olympic trial races. The Cariboo marathon started in 1976. To provide support for the racing community the Nordic ski club was started in 1980. Sigge Björklund was the life and soul of all this activity and seemed to love every minute of it. His son Anders took over the store after Sigge, but after 47 years in business “Sigge’s Sports Villa” closed in 2018.

Sigge died in November 2018 and his beloved Elene in December 2018.

Sigge was a very enthusiastic man and loved his skiing. He continued to ski well in to his old age. He will be remembered as the father of Cross-Country skiing in BC.

GP