Astrid Øyre Slind, Team Aker Dæhlie, is a professional skier among the best in the World Cup and Ski Classics Pro Tour. But what the 35-year-old delivered at the World Championships in Planica and the World Cup, as well as in Ski Classics this winter, combined with her continued focus on traditional and long-distance skiing, has accelerated this development.

Øyre Slind made history in several ways last winter. But first and foremost, she went straight into the World Cup squad after the Norwegian Cup opening at Gålå in November, then made it to the Tour de Ski and finally into the Norwegian national team for the 2023 World Ski Championships in Planica. 

She did it with a focus entirely outside the national team; she did it at age 35 and in parallel with long-distance skiing. The result was two World Championship medals: bronze in the 15km skiathlon and gold in the relay. She also finished tenth in the 30km race at the World Championships and the following day finished fifth at Vasaloppet. 

Now, she will continue to focus on long-distance and traditional cross-country skiing, with the 2025 World Championships on her home track in Granåsen as her primary focus. 

This dual focus has accelerated the development towards blurring the distinction between long-distance skiing and traditional cross-country skiing.

Anikken Gjerde Alnæs, Team Ragde Charge, is one of many who see more and more long-distance skiers competing in World Cup races and vice versa. 

“Several long-distance skiers have paved the way for it to be possible to combine (long-distance and traditional cross-country skiing racing), and in my experience, the feedback is exclusively positive,” says Alnæs to Langrenn.com. 

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Fearlessness motivates

Øyre Slind’s achievements have motivated several cross-country skiers to double up on traditional cross-country skiing and long-distance skiing. 

Magni Smedås, Team Eksjöhus, has already announced that she is doubling her efforts towards the 2025 World Championships. Now, Alnæs reveals that she has also been considering the idea. 

“Astrid’s fearlessness, her attitude that anything is possible, means that the rest of us are also triggered,” she says, and adds:

“I’m focusing 100 percent on long-distance skiing, but I’m open to competing in the World Cup if I’m good enough and it fits into my plans. First and foremost, I’m going to the season opener at Beitostølen to get good race training, and I’ll be there humbly.” 

Also Read – Magni Smedås: “Teams Eksjöhus gives me the opportunity to go all in for the World Championships.”

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Complementing each other

Alnæs, entering her fifth Ski Classics season, came to long-distance skiing after many years of focusing on traditional cross-country skiing. She has two top-10 finishes in the World Cup on her CV from the 2020/21 season, both in sprint freestyle. 

She sees that long-distance and traditional cross-country skiing complement each other, something she has noticed since she switched to full-time long-distance skiing. And for her, several distance races on the World Cup schedule are now tempting. 

“Earlier in my career, when I focused on sprinting, I never considered being good enough to do distance races in traditional cross-country skiing. But since I switched to long-distance skiing, I’ve become better at longer distances. The 50km in Holmenkollen is a classic winter race that many people dream of doing as a Norwegian skier,” says the 29-year-old.

“I’ll admit that I’ve started skating a bit again this year. So, if the level and energy is there in an otherwise hectic season, I’m not ruling anything out,” says Alnæs, and elaborates: 

“I have planned to do the season opener at Beitostølen before we travel to the mountains at the end of November to prepare for the season opener at Ski Classics in Bad Gastein in early December. But I know what to expect: If you ski fast enough, you get the opportunities you deserve.” 

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Young skiers don’t distinguish between traditional and long-distance

Younger skiers make even less of a distinction between traditional and long-distance skiing.

Swedish talent Alvar Myhlback, who races for the Swedish Pro Team Lager 157 Ski Team, decided early to sign with a professional Ski Classics Pro Team. 

But the 17-year-old, who finished eighth at Vasaloppet last winter, is clear that he has long-distance skiing, the World Cup, the World Championships, and the Olympics as clear goals, both in 2025 and beyond. 

Myhlback made that clear during Toppidrettsveka in August: There, he finished third in the final pursuit start, ahead of the entire established World Cup elite and only beaten by Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and three-time World Champion Simen Hegstad Krüger. 

Alnæs also notes that both junior skiers in her team compete in traditional and long-distance skiing. 

Both Oskar Vike Opstad, who won Kanalrennet this summer and finished second at Klarälvsloppet, and Ragde’s new signing Solveig Støverud Lie have the Junior World Championships at the end of January/February as their main goal for the first part of the season but plan to do more Ski Classics races throughout the winter. 

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Inspiration goes both ways

Alnæs is also seeing a general change in the skiing community, where the sharp distinction between long-distance skiing and traditional cross-country skiing is disappearing. 

She points out that it’s not just long-distance skiers who are succeeding in the World Cup. More and more elite traditional cross-country skiers also include one or more long-distance races in their season plans. And several of them are doing well. 

Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget took a double victory in April at the Ski Classics season finale, winning both Reistadløpet and Summit 2 Senja. Therese Johaug won Birkebeinerrennet in 2015 and was close to victory at Birkebeinerrennet in 2022 (one second behind Astrid Øyre Slind). And Ebba Andersson, who won the 30km race at the World Championships last winter, won Reistadløpet the previous year, where Swedish sprint star Emma Ribom finished fourth.