Ski Classics

A Norwegian team lines up on the Ski Classics Pro Tour this winter with seven athletes and a cause behind it: childhood bone cancer. 

The project began on a November evening at NTNU, where Halfdan Baumann and Erling Owren, one engineering student and one recent graduate, sketched out what a new Ski Classics Pro Team could look like. After a first season racing as Team Aktiv mot Kreft, the project continues under a new name and partner for Season XVIII: Bardo Ski Team, in partnership with the Bardo Foundation. 

The Bardo Foundation was set up in memory of Bernardo, known as Bardo to his Norwegian friends, who died at 16 after two years with osteosarcoma, the most common bone cancer in children and young adults. The foundation funds osteosarcoma research, works to widen access to clinical trials, and supports families through treatment and beyond. Treatment for the disease has barely moved in four decades, and childhood cancer research still receives only a small share of overall cancer funding. 

Four athletes continue from last season: Erik Ola Jorde, Halvor Bade, Halfdan Thomas Baumann, and Erling Nyborg Owren. Jorde had a breakthrough Season XVII, finishing 45th in the overall standings, 7th in the Youth classification and 4th in the Cubs classification, more than doubling his points from the previous season. The team’s entire women’s lineup is new for Season XVIII: Hanna Sandholt Hansen, transferring in from Team Sjusjøen Langløp, Madelene Nord, from Bruse Sauerland Ski Team, and Camilla Brørs, from Team Sport 1 Lillehammer. Arild Baumann takes over as Pro Team Director.