Start place for Vasaloppet 45 and Nattvasan 45 moved – work underway to secure the Vasaloppet track

The mild and, in large parts of Sweden, snowless winter continues to affect conditions in the Vasaloppet Arena. Sunday’s heavy rain and wind impacted the track in several locations and today, Monday morning, a large-scale effort is gearing up to secure the track between Sälen and Mora so that all Vasaloppet Winter Week 2020 races can run.
”We’ve always had a plan and felt safe but the rain combined with degrees above zero and wind this weekend became a real challenge. Now we’re working to secure the tracks and we have fantastic backing from our clubs and local entrepreneurs. It will require a lot of work but if the weather follows the forecast, we should be able to run all races,” says Tommy Höglund, Sport Manager at Vasaloppet.

On Sunday there were several inspections along the ninety-kilometre track. Sports Manager Tommy Höglund skied the 23 km from Mångsbodarna down to Evertsberg in the rain to get a better view of the situation high up in the arena. Along other sections, arena staff using four-wheelers started to, among other things, drain away water at critical junctures.
”We’ve now identified sections that look fine and sections that need more snow. Today work will continue and we have a hundred or so people on location along the whole arena shovelling and driving out snow, draining water-filled passages and, overall, getting the Vasaloppet track up to snuff after the heavy rainfall this weekend,” says Tommy Höglund.

When the weekend’s forecast came early last week, preparations started at once. A request was sent to the owning clubs and in just a few hours, upwards of a hundred people had joined up and offered to help.
”Vasaloppet affects the whole region and it really shows in situations like this. Everyone is doing their part and now we’re working to receive the about 57,000 registered participants in Vasaloppet’s Winter Week 2020,” says Tommy Höglund.

Start place moved
The decision was also made to give Vasaloppet 45 and Nattvasan 45 a new start place due to the current weather conditions. Usually both races start in Oxberg and trail the Oxberg lake, a 7 km run, before joining the Vasaloppet track at Vasslan, slightly above the Oxberg checkpoint. Now the start of both races will be moved to the Evertsberg checkpoint.
”Right now, a huge effort would be needed to place snow and groom the tracks around the lake. By moving the start to Evertsberg we’re choosing to prioritize the Vasaloppet track where the other races also run,” says Tommy Höglund.

One consequence of the start place moving is that both Vasaloppet 45 (3,270 registered participants) and Nattvasan 45 (462 two-person teams) will be 43 km instead of 45. Besides that there are only a few practical changes for participants.
”This morning we’ve emailed all affected participants and notified them of the start place move with all the required information about parking, buses to the start and so on. We believe everyone will be understanding towards this decision and it shouldn’t lead to any great inconveniences,” says Tommy Höglund.

The new start of Vasaloppet 45, more information >

The new start of Nattvasan 45, more information >