Last season’s Ski Classics Champion endured severe hardships throughout her career, but adversity has forged her into a rock-solid skier. The new season began with victory in last weekend’s Bad Gastein Criterium.

Anikken Gjerde Alnæs often seems to be fighting windmills. Her career could have ended in a roller-skiing accident last year. Yet she fought her way back to become Pro Tour Champion in Season XVI (2024/2025). This summer, things could once again have gone badly wrong.

Let’s rewind a bit. In June last year, Alnæs was the victim of a serious accident during roller ski training. Her knee was shattered, her femur damaged, and her future as a skier was in jeopardy.

Through determined work and the support of a strong network, she battled her way back. On December 14, she stood on the Ski Classics start line, uncertain, hesitant, and against all odds. In March, she won the overall Ski Classics Pro Tour after completing every race in the series for the first time in her career.

Last autumn, the 31-year-old appeared to pick up right where she left off, from the top step of the podium. She won the prestigious 40km Värnamorullen after a thrilling sprint finish, finishing just a tenth of a second ahead of her rivals.

The following day, she set a personal best of 5,000 meters on the SkiErg at the SkiErg Open, finishing second, just 29 seconds off the world record.

Alnæs makes her comeback look effortless, but the remarkable results were anything but guaranteed. This summer, progress turned into setbacks on both physical and mental fronts.

New surgery and infection

After a planned surgery in June, Alnæs developed an infection in the wound. Her knee swelled, and she once again had to be hospitalized.

“They were afraid the infection had spread into the joint, so everything had to be opened up and flushed. I lay in A-hus for four days just staring at the ceiling. It wasn’t much fun,” Alnæs told Langrenn.com.

“Fortunately, it turned out the infection was only in the stitches. But there are still threads left inside, and if they become encapsulated, they’ll have to be removed. I’m not very eager to go through that now, so it will have to wait,” she says.

Cycling accident and new trauma

After the surgery, another rehabilitation period awaited. Her first outdoor bike ride with her mother, however, ended in a hospital visit once again.

“She went headfirst over the handlebars on my very first ride. Honestly, it shook me. I was supposed to do a hard session the next day, but those intervals were definitely not my best,” Alnæs says.

Both escaped without serious injuries.

“Fortunately, she’s doing surprisingly well. No fractures to the neck, back, or arms, but one tooth was pushed straight into her mouth, she had several deep cuts, and both wrists were badly sprained.”

The incident nevertheless left mental scars.

“When you’ve experienced a crushed knee yourself, you immediately think the worst when you see your own mother with blood on her face. I panicked in the forest, and that feeling stayed with me for a long time. Spring and summer were already difficult, and this just added to the burden,” she says.

Mental setbacks

Alnæs says last year’s accident has left deeper marks than she expected.

“I’ve experienced mental setbacks, things that didn’t affect me at all before. I’ve become more aware of how I deal with them, even if it’s not always positive for my mental health,” she says.

“And I’ve become better at stopping and looking at things from a broader perspective. Asking myself whether this is really something I need to challenge, and whether I need to do it right now.”

Looking ahead

As autumn progressed, Anikken Gjerde Alnæs once again began to feel improvement. That made the results mentioned above even more meaningful.

“It feels good to be back with the team. I’ve felt good for quite a while now and have produced strong results in everything I’ve done. That feels great,” she says.

Last weekend, in Bad Gastein, Austria, Alnæs showed she is in top form by winning the 36km Criterium event. She has two major goals for this winter.

“My goal for the season is to build a season as consistent as last year and to win a Grand Classics race that I haven’t won before.”

So far, she has one Grand Classics victory, Jizerská50 from last winter. Still missing are Marcialonga, Birkebeinerrennet, and Vasaloppet, where her best result to date has been second place in all three.

Next up is Engadin La Diagonela on Saturday, January 17, 2026. The 55-kilometer long-distance skiing race in classic technique marks the third Ski Classics Pro Tour stage of Season XVII.

Read More: Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XVII 2025/2026

Season XVII of the Ski Classics Pro Tour consists of 13 events across 9 event weekends in 6 countries. 

Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XVII (2025/2026)

• Event 1: December 13, 2025 – Bad Gastein Pro Team Tempo – Sportgastein, Austria, 7km
• Event 2: December 14, 2025 – Bad Gastein Criterium – Sportgastein, Austria, 36km
• Event 3: January 17, 2026 – Engadin La Diagonela – Pontresina-Zuoz, Switzerland, 55km
• Event 4: January 25, 2026 – Marcialonga – Moena-Cavalese, Italy, 70km
• Event 5: January 30, 2026 – Bedřichov Sprint – Bedřichov, Czech Republic, 1.5km
• Event 6: February 1, 2026 – Jizerská50 – Bedřichov, Czech Republic, 50km
• Event 7: March 1, 2026 – Vasaloppet – Sälen-Mora, Sweden, 90km
• Event 8: March 7, 2026 – Orsa Grönklitt 50k ITT Women – Grönklitt, Sweden, 50km
• Event 9: March 8, 2026 – Orsa Grönklitt 50k ITT Men – Grönklitt, Sweden, 50km
• Event 10: March 14, 2026 – Birkebeinerrennet – Rena-Lillehammer, Norway, 54km
• Event 11: March 21, 2026 – Marcialonga Bodø – Bodø, Norway, 50km
• Event 12: March 28, 2026 – Reistadløpet – Setermoen-Bardufoss, Norway, 35km
• Event 13: March 29, 2026 – Grand Finale Summit 2 Senja – Bardufoss-Finnsnes, Norway, 60km

For more updates and detailed information about the Ski Classics Pro Tour, make sure to visit skiclassics.com.