Welcome to Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2016

We believe that the cold weather, which spread snow and chill all over Sweden this January, has given many people good opportunities to train and accumulate enough miles to be well-prepared.

More and more facilities reported, during the winter, on their production of artificial snow, which has become highly important for cross-country skiing. There have been many long and cold work hours for those who put their heart and soul into making this possible.

Vasaloppet’s Winter Week has a fantastic range, with the finest world elite standing side by side with recreational athletes on the starting line. At the time of writing we do not know for sure exactly who will be able to make it to the start, but of course we hope to see Johan Olsson, among others, healthy and fit on the first Sunday of March.

On the ladies’ side in the cross-country cup Visma Ski Classic, Britta Johansson Norgren has taken a firm hold on the trophy. This after victories in La Diagonela, Jizerska and Marcialonga. Britta will be starting on March 6 with only one goal in mind – to be the first woman across the finish line! But there are several challengers to Britta; the Swedish cross-country ladies have really shown their mettle this winter. We look forward to tough battles along the Vasaloppet course in both the men’s and ladies’ class.

Many of you will, like myself in my new role, experience all we have to offer for the first time. I myself am excited, motivated, expectant, a little nervous, and happy, just like many of you participants. Even though I’m not participating in any race! All of us involved as functionaries are also making our final preparations to ensure that your experience is as good as possible.

Just as many of you participants have a vision of yourselves crossing the classic finish line, we in the organization staff are filled with positive images of giving you a wonderful experience out on the tracks. Together we are about 3,000 people making ready for your arrival!

An exciting new race this year is ”Öppet Spår 9 km” on Saturday March 5, a race for EVERYONE, with the possibility of borrowing equipment from a limited supply. Our hope is to ”lower the thresholds” and offer more people the chance to experience the wonderful feeling that comes with skiing. A group we aim at in particular are newcomers to our country. The bus to Eldris, and registration, is free!

A warm welcome to Vasaloppet’s Winter Week 2016. We look forward to meeting you soon!

Eva-Lena Frick
CEO Vasaloppet