Vasaloppet is working to reduce queues and congestion during the Winter Week 2025

”We feel confident in the measures we’ve taken and are ready to welcome participants to this year’s event,” says Tommy Höglund, Vasaloppet’s Sports Lead.

The reconstruction of Vasaloppsvägen, coupled with record participation and mild weather that rendered some parking areas unusable, caused traffic queues and stoppages during the Winter Week 2024. This led to several participants arriving late to the start. Vasaloppet is now working on both short-term and long-term solutions to improve traffic flow and reduce queues.

”We’ve been focused on traffic issues for many years, but 2024 still took us a bit by surprise. We’ve analysed what happened and created an action plan with several measures to implement. It was very unfortunate that some participants were stuck in traffic and had to start late, which had cascading effects, delaying checkpoint closing times from Sälen to Mora. We’ve now developed a plan to prevent this from happening again,” says Tommy Höglund, Sport Lead at Vasaloppet.

The reconstruction of Vasaloppsvägen is ongoing, presenting continued challenges for both the Vasaloppet organization and participants, who must factor this into their travel plans. To address these issues, Vasaloppet is employing various solutions, including a collaboration with the SITE Mobility project, which has developed the Freelway app. This app can help participants find and coordinate carpooling options. A long-term effort to increase bus availability is also underway, although the national shortage of both drivers and buses presents challenges. Participants are encouraged to book their bus tickets well in advance to aid planning.

”We’re also working with Destination Sälenfjällen to urge winter holidaymakers to use alternative routes to avoid Vasaloppet traffic. Winter tourism in the Sälen and Mora areas has grown significantly in recent years, and we’re collaborating with other stakeholders to better manage traffic flows across the region,” says Tommy Höglund.

Parking facilities in Sälen are also being reviewed. For example, a new parking area is being completed on the west side of the Västerdalälven river, where cars can park, and participants can walk across the ice to the start.

”This has been done before, most recently in 2019, but this year, we’ve also borrowed floating docks from Vansbrosimningen to serve as bridges across the ice as an extra safety measure. Having parking on the other side of the river will be a big help. Overall, we feel confident in the measures we’ve taken,” says Tommy Höglund.