The snow from the past ski season has already melted, and skiers have turned their focus toward the upcoming winter’s Olympics, various championship races, or the Ski Classics series.

From a Finnish perspective, a rather subdued season in long-distance skiing lies ahead. After Team Kaski-Ekovilla disbanded the spring before last, and now, following this season, the long-running Team Mäenpää has also withdrawn. That leaves only Team Edux representing Finland, promising to turn up the heat and proudly carry the blue-and-white flag in the challenges to come.

Team Edux has finalized its sponsorship negotiations during the spring, and the Finnish Pro Team aims to close in on the sport’s top-tier teams. Last season didn’t go quite as hoped due to illnesses among team members. In the Ski Classics Pro Team competition, Team Edux placed 15th, right behind Team Mäenpää. The goal now is to knock on the door of the coveted top-10 club.

Also Read
Team Kaski-Ekovilla calling it quits
Team Mäenpää ends operations after 10 years!

On the men’s side, the strongest results came from Isac Holmström, who finished 44th overall, making him the best Finnish skier in the Champion competition. He placed in the top 40 in eight Pro Tour events, finishing 25th in the season premiere ITT in Bad Gastein and 26th in Norway’s biggest mass-start race, Birkebeinerrennet.

On the women’s side, Swedish reinforcement Sofia Lindberg finished in the top 20 five times and even won the world’s longest ski race, the Nordenskiöldsloppet. Sofia will continue with the team next season, aiming for top-10 finishes.

Read More: Lövgren and Lindberg winners at Nordensköldsloppet 2025

For the upcoming season, along with Sofia and Isac, the team will continue to include Pro Team Director Olli Tyrväinen, whose best result last season was 54th in the final race, Grand Finale Summit 2 Senja. A new face will be Lauri Mannila, who already dipped his toes into long-distance skiing last winter. Now, Lauri has decided to fully commit to the Ski Classics series.

“As for the men’s team core, our lineup is relatively set. On the women’s side, we’re still looking for at least a couple of skiers. Since there hasn’t been a Ski Classics race in Finland for a while, traditional-distance skiers haven’t had the chance to try the sport at this level. That makes it harder for us to attract good skiers to the discipline. I understand that without experience, it’s tough to go ‘all-in’ on this. Our goal is to offer strong female skiers the opportunity to try the sport, and in the long run, we hope to get more women to commit to long-distance skiing. We’ll also invest more in training camps and improve our staffing resources for the competition season,” says Olli in an interview with Maastohiihto.com.

Team’s top skier, Isac Holmström, didn’t fully meet his goals but admits that, despite the illnesses, last winter was positive overall. His goals for the next season are now even higher.

“I feel like I made big steps forward in my development and found a training concept that worked really well for me. I’ll carry all the good from last season and only make small refinements to my training. I believe—and hope—that my development curve will keep rising. I’ve just started the new training season and am looking forward to hard training sessions. It’s really motivating to be part of a team where everyone gives their all and where the main sponsors are strongly committed,” reflects Isac, looking back at the past season while focusing on the future.

Speaking of the main sponsor, Edux, a Finnish door and window supplier, will continue its collaboration with the team. CEO Arto Viitala believes in the team’s chances for the coming season.

“Last season was quite good, but due to illnesses, it remained somewhat incomplete. There’s untapped potential, so I expect a clear improvement next season. I hope the team members get an uninterrupted training season. If that happens, I strongly believe they’ll raise the bar,” analyzes Arto, an avid skier himself.

Besides raising their own performance level, Team Edux is also taking bold steps to attract young skiers to long-distance skiing and to increase interest in the sport in Finland. They plan to create a junior team, aiming to recruit promising 16–18-year-old athletes.

“The goal of the junior team is to get young people excited and to keep them involved in skiing. Often, at that age, many quit competitive sports because they feel there are no opportunities to move forward. Training together in a close-knit group could bring fresh motivation and help them commit more strongly to the sport,” says Arto Viitala, describing this new initiative to connect the sport with the younger generation.

“We hope we can collectively raise the visibility of long-distance skiing in Finland and create a strong skiing culture around the sport for the future,” adds Isac Holmström on the same topic.

The responsibility of advancing Finnish long-distance skiing and developing the sport at home now rests on Team Edux’s shoulders. The team certainly has courage, ambition, and passion in abundance—and the sport now needs bold pioneers to ensure that Finland’s national anthem might once again be heard at the end of a Ski Classics Pro Tour event.

Are you interested in Ski Classics and long-distance skiing? Click HERE and read more about it.