By Teemu Virtanen
Vasaloppet is the biggest and most prestigious ski race in the world. It has a full week of ski events in the winter, and the highlight is the 90 km race from Sälen to Mora. Additionally, the brand has evolved into an institution with its summer events as well.
Since the beginning in 1922 over 1.5 million participants have passed the finish line portal in Mora. The race has been canceled only three times in 1932, 1934 and 1990 due to a lack of sufficient snow. Annually, close to 100,000 people register for Vasaloppet’s events, and the economical tourism effect of Vasaloppet amounts to over a quarter billion SEK each year (almost 25M €). Vasaloppet has participants from more than 40 different nations, counting Sweden. Almost 4,000 of the registered participants come from countries other than Sweden, most from Norway, but there are skiers coming from all corners of the world.
The saga of Vasaloppet dates back to 1520 when Gustav Eriksson Vasa rebelled against Denmark and eventually became the first king of free Sweden. Then, on February 10, 1922, Anders Pers, from Mora, wrote an article about cross-country skiing and launched the idea of this long distance ski race and linked it to the historical saga.
Since then Vasaloppet has become a race that our Pro Team Athletes desire to win and recreational skiers want to experience. This mass-start race starts at 8 am CET this Sunday, with almost 16,000 participants with our Pro Team men and women standing together at the same start area. The course has seven feeding stations, and there are two Visma Ski Classics sprint points; the first one in Mångsbodarna at 24 km and the second one in Evertsberg at 47 km. For the first time, there is also a climb competition point after the first hill at 3 km.
Sälen, the start location of Vasaloppet, is known for its seven alpine ski resorts. The oldest of them is Högfjällshotellet, which was built in 1937, and it remains one of the most popular vacation destinations in the area. Popular rock band U2 filmed their music video New Year’s Day in Sälen in December, 1982. There is also a new airport, Scandinavian Mountains Airport, serving visitors in the area.
Mora is, of course, world-famous as the finish location of Vasaloppet, but it is much more. There is a very idyllic Scandinavian style downtown area with boutiques, cafés with Swedish “fika”, great diners and excellent restaurants with local dishes. The town is also known for its Mora knives and longcase clocks, and everyone knows the symbol of the area, “Dalahäst”, a traditional carved and painted wooden statue of a horse originating in the Swedish province of Dalarna.
