Jakob Vaage

Who was Jakob Vaage?

Jakob Vaage was a Norwegian skier and historian.

Vaage was an active skier for Ullern SK, and participated in summer sports for Bestum IF. He was admitted to the exclusive skiing club SK Ull in 1947, and became an honorary member in 1983. He served as deputy chairman from 1970 to 1973 and chairman from 1973 to 1992. He received the Medal of St. Hallvard in 1976.

He served as secretary of the Association for the Promotion of Skiing from 1945 to 1947, and curator of the Holmenkollen Ski Museum from 1946 to 1984. He wrote many books about Norwegian skiing, including the Holmenkollen ski festival. Other books include Den satt! og andre nye og gamle skihistorier together with Birger Ruud in 1983, and Skikongen Lauritz Bergendahl in 1975.

A stone monument to Vaage is found at Lilleaker Station. For his historical works regarding Holmenkollen, Vaage earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1984. Vaage is one of only eleven persons to ever win the Holmenkollen medal for other than Nordic skiing. Stein Eriksen, King Haakon VII, Boghild Niskin, Inger Bjørnbakken, Astrid Sandvik, King Olav V, Erik Håker, King Harald V, Queen Sonja of Norway and Ingemar Stenmark are the others.