Vasaloppet 2026 was a difficult story for many participants. Around 2,700 drivers had to cancel the race – a record that sports director Tommy Höglund is not happy with.
– It’s not a funny record. 25 percent of those who started are broke. Now we should not say that everyone broke because of the rope, but many, several hundred, broke of their own free will. But it was very slow on the first hill and that was because of the difficult conditions, he says.
The reason for the record was the difficult weather conditions when large amounts of snow fell early in the morning. The warm and wet snow prevented the tracks from freezing and being trampled.
“I talked to a veteran who rode at least 30 times and that was the hardest he ever rode,” says Tommy Höglund.
According to Tommy Höglund, there were also a record number of first-time skiers on the slopes on Sunday. A full 37 percent of the starters tackled the nine miles for the first time.
“It is clear that they have even less experience in difficult conditions and may not be as well prepared through training and experience, so it was tough for them,” he says.
Is there anything you as organizers could have done differently?
– If we could have done it differently, we would have done it. You can’t prepare hard ski slopes under the conditions we had. During the ongoing races we were out and about with snow groomers and scooters as often as possible.
Many drivers commented his dissatisfaction with the routes after the race. Nevertheless, Tommy Höglund hasn’t noticed any unusual reactions.
– Even after the open course last Sunday, which I would argue was the best race in my 26 years, I received angry emails. It’s hard to be ready in any weather and yesterday was tough, so there are probably some who are very disappointed and angry. We find them every day when you look.
– But no, we didn’t receive an email storm or anything like that. There have been a few people who have contacted us and then there are relevant complaints and we answer them, continues Tommy Höglund.
Although the rope time was already increased by half an hour before the race, it was increased by another hour at the first control, Smågan, which also applied to the remaining controls. This was mainly due to how slow it was on the first hill.
– If we had pulled the rope at eleven o’clock, 2,000 skiers would have ended up behind the rope. To transport 2,000 riders from Smågan, 40 buses are required. And everyone realizes that we had not prepared for this. So it took some time before we got buses. We were also affected by logistics.
Are you happy with the way you handled the rep times?
– Yes, we are. Then it’s sure that there were people who maybe wanted to take a break, but at that time we didn’t have bus capacity. It’s also not good to stop people and leave them standing in the cold for an hour or two while they wait for a bus. So they had to move on to the next check so we had time to get buses, says Tommy Höglund.
The broken buses caused a lot of discussion before this year’s Vasalopp, and even there there were problems when so many canceled. The buses were not enough when there were only 17 and as it only went one way from Evertsberg it took some time to get everyone from the control to the finish in Mora.
– Of course, we had a bus shortage around lunchtime for a while. Then it corrected itself in the afternoon and we made it through the extended rope time of an hour to the end. In the end it worked, says Tommy Höglund.
Now the Vasaloppet is over for this year and on Monday morning Tommy Höglund woke up to much better weather.
– When you woke up this morning it felt like a mockery. Seven degrees cold, bright sun and blue sky. Today had been a completely different affair.
Read more:
Vasaloppet appeals: “Fill the car with tired skiers”
Had to take a break bus – doesn’t like new waiting times: “It should be difficult”
