More than 60,000 skiers are signed up for the 2017 Vasaloppet winter festival – are you?
Last year the Vasaloppet winter week had 68,024 participants between the nine different events: Kortvasan 30km, TjejVasan 30km (women only), Ungdomsvasan 3km/5km/7km/9km, Öppet Spår 90km (Sunday and Monday), Halvvasan 45km, Stafettvasan 90km (relay) and Vasaloppet 90km.
This year, Vasaloppet winter week has added two events: Nattvasan 90km skate night race on Friday March 3, and Blåbärsloppet 9km on March 4. With the exception of Nattvasan, which is a 2-person team race, and the original Vasaloppet 90km race, all events are still open for more skiers. The 2017 winter festival opens with the 30-kilometer Kortvasan on February 24 and concludes with the 90-kilometer Vasaloppet on Sunday, March 5. Which one will you try?
About Vasaloppet
The legendary Vasaloppet, a 90-kilometer marathon ski race from the village of Sälen to Mora in Sweden, was first run in 1922. The annual event is held on the first Sunday in March, and is the oldest, longest and biggest cross-country ski race in the world (in terms of participants).
The course record for the 90-kilometer event is 3 hours, 38 minutes and 41 seconds (2:26 per kilometer), and belongs to Madshus marathon racer Jörgen Brink of Sweden (2012). Brink is also the only athlete who has managed to win the Vasaloppet three consecutive years (2010, 2011 and 2012).
Every year, almost 70,000 skiers participate in Vasaloppets vintervecka, the weeklong ski festival consisting of 10 cross-country ski events with the original Vasaloppet as the final race. Nattvasan was added for the 2017 lineup, and all the 1500 entries for the skate event filled up shortly after the new event was announced last spring. As usual, all the 15,800 entries for the original 90-kilometer Vasaloppet were taken within minutes when the online registration opened.
Madshus is the official ski and boot supplier partner with Vasaloppet.
In addition to the partnership with Vasaloppet, Madshus is already the exclusive equipment supplier of the Norwegian Birkebeiner cross-country ski marathon.