Despite only having become a cross-country skier during her twenties, Frida Erkers has already managed to get some impressive results. One of the most important is the victory that the Swedish long-distance skier got at La Sgambeda 2021, during her first year as a long-distance skier with the Italian Pro Team Robinson Trentino. Frida managed to complete the 36 kilometers course in 1 hour and 20 minutes, after spending a week training in Livigno with her team, doing mostly long and easy training and a couple of threshold interval sessions.

“The conditions in Livigno were perfect and I enjoyed the 10 days spent there. I have done mostly long sessions and some threshold intervals. On the last day of the training camp, I took part in La Sgambeda with the rest of the team. It was the first time I competed at such high altitude, and I won it, so I think it was a good experience for Visma Ski Classics”, says Frida, showing that she is confident about the future.

From ski-orienteering to become a long-distance skier

Before turning to cross-country skiing, Frida Erkers was a ski-orienteering and orienteering athlete, but then she decided that nordic ski was the right sport for her. After three years of dedicated training, Frida was selected for the Swedish National Team for the Under 23 World Championships.

“It was a dream that come true. It is probably one of the best memories I have of cross-country skiing. But other nice moments give me the motivation to keep pushing myself, as training camps with friends and traveling to ski destinations. I love the challenge of setting new goals, training hard to reach them, and most of all, I love the “kick” you get when you succeed”, Frida shares to Pro XC Skiing.

Frida has been a cross-country skier for many years, but after last season, the Swedish athlete decided that she needed to find a new challenge. She felt that long-distance skiing was the right choice for her, due to the variety of training methods and the challenges of the distances and varying terrains. Frida also believes that long-distance skiing in general, and Visma Ski Classics in particular, are facing a very interesting development.

“I wanted to challenge myself in a different way than I did in the previous years. Also, I knew that this kind of race suits me well. I raced Tjejvasan last winter and I felt good during the race. It was one of the most fun races I have ever done, so I decided to take a chance in long-distance ski”.

Frida Erkers changed training methodology to perform well at long-distance ski

The training methodology has changed a lot for Frida Erkers, because now she is focusing her training mostly on double-poling.

“Now I spend many hours double-poling, doing intervals on SkiErg, and going uphill on roller-skis. But I still believe in varied training with skate skiing, running, and diagonal striding too. I hope this varied training suits me well for the upcoming winter.”

The Swedish long-distance skier is happy to have the opportunity to race Visma Ski Classics with a Pro Team that can support her with everything she needs. The goal for the first season as a long-distance skier will be to improve her upper body strength and to understand which kind of race suits her better.

Bruno Debertolis, Team Robinson Trentino director, also believes that Frida Erkers will be a surprise for many people. The Italian Pro Team director is looking forward to seeing what she can do already this season. “Probably she (Frida) doesn’t even know how strong she is, but we will see it next season”, shares Bruno to Pro XC Skiing.