‘The road to the starting line’ – that’s the name of XC STHLM and Lager 157 Ski Team’s new project to attract more women to long-distance skiing. 

“We want to provide better conditions for women who want to take on the challenges of long-distance skiing, regardless of the level they want to participate,” says project manager Sara Carlstein.

Last winter, Lager 157 Ski Team’s Karolina Hedenström had her international breakthrough in Ski Classics. Among other results, she won the Pink Youth bib competition overall. 

In parallel with her Pro Team skiing, Hedenström is studying the last semester of the sports science program at the Mittuniversitetet in Sweden. Right now, she is working on her degree project, with a clear skiing connection, where she examines why women continue or end the elite effort after completing their studies at the ski high school. 

Even when competitors are a step below the elite level, the percentage of women on the starting line of long-distance races, compared to men, is lower.

Now XC STHLM, in collaboration with Lager 157 Ski Team, has started a project to get more women to the starting line in long-distance races:

“XC STHLM is a long-distance club in Stockholm with Vasaloppet as the big goal. We have people from all levels at Vasaloppet, so we cover the whole range from elite to beginners. Now we want to provide better conditions for women to participate and compete. We want to gather women who want to come to the start of the races during the Vasaloppet Week and other seeding races,” says project manager Sara Carlstein from XC STHLM.

And an important part of this project is precisely Karolina Hedenström. On Sunday, the first meeting of four takes place:

“Each meeting will have slightly different themes. But the most important thing is to highlight the obstacles for women to get started and how we can work together to strengthen the ability and create the conditions to get more people to start. Sunday’s meeting will be an important start to figure out what needs to exist and how we will set up this project as we advance,” says Carlstein.

The club’s goal with the project is as concrete as it is ambitious.

“We want 100 women to start during one of the races during Vasaloppet Week. Right now, we are 60 women who are members of the club, which is 30 percent of XC STHLMS’s total membership. So, the club has a clear aspiration to attract more members and get more people to go long-distance skiing, and here the project ‘The road to the starting line’ is an important part of this work. This, of course, in combination with the club’s regular activities with regular weekly training as well as courses, competitions, and camps,” concludes Sara Carlstein.

Are you interested in long-distance skiing? Read more here.