By Teemu Virtanen

Of all the great cross-country ski nations, Denmark is not the one many of us think about when recalling some glory moments in the long history of cross-country skiing. However, the sport is blooming in the country, and Danish roads and bike paths are perfect for roller-skiing. Many Danes have been bitten by the Nordic skiing bug, and a couple of them decided to take action and form a ski team.

A gang of passionate skiers rolled up their sleeves and put together a team called Danish Skimarathon Team. One of the team members lives in Norway, one in Greenland, three in Denmark and the team director, Bjørn Toft, in Switzerland. The team’s most successful skier is Martin Møller, the one who resides in Greenland, and he participated in the World Championships this winter finishing 3^rd in the qualification race. This joyful bunch will be seen in the Pro Tour even this winter as they have plans to take part in some major races, but their grand goal is to up the ante in the coming years and transform themselves to a real racing team carrying the flag of Denmark.

Pro XC Skiing reached out for the director and had a great chat with him about his team and their on-going journey to the spotlight of long distance skiing.

Tells us about your team, Danish Skimarathon Team – who are you and what are your backgrounds?

“We are a startup project team that wants to promote physical activity and especially cross- country skiing with a focus on long distance. We dream of getting a team together that could eventually compete in Visma Ski Classics, although we are aware that we need to step up and raise our level and get more skiers that could make that dream come true. We have started from scratch to see how it works out in this season 21/22 and then we decide how to develop in our second phase. Our background comes from various endurance sports, such as rowing, mountain biking  and road cycling. As with many Danes, we do not have a solid background and culture in cross-country skiing due to the natural weather reasons in Denmark and our lack of snow. We are mainly a bunch of late bloomers within XC-skiing, but with a firm background from other endurance sports. We would also like to inspire other Danish athletes from various endurance sports to make the same choice as we have done to start cross-country skiing.” 

How did you get together – what’s the story there?

“Everyone knows everyone within the XC ski circuit in Denmark, we have seen each other at the Danish National Championships held in Norway each year and exchanged ideas. I, who come from road cycling, had the idea to make a ski team based upon road cycling organization ideas and what’s more natural than doing it within long distance racing like Visma Ski Classics. The Danish bid for a cross-country team felt as something natural since we are a bunch of skiers from different clubs all motivated to do long distance racing. The idea kind of took shape with a spark of the corona period as well since there was a lack of racing for amateurs, and we needed something to motivate us as well.  When we started up looking for partners to help us out, the Northug team (sunglasses) was very motivated to help us. So, they have supported us and helped us to drive the motivation in training as well. It gave us a good start on social media, and we are very thankful for their continuous support of our efforts.”

What is it about skiing that fascinates you?

“We are fascinated about the flow in cross-country skiing. It is a kind of a flow that is difficult to describe but compared to cycling where you often need to pay a lot of attention to traffic and dangerous obstacles, the cross country-skiing allows us to be 100% in the nature with an uninterrupted physical and mental flow. The training is varied towards the winter season and when the snow finally comes, the sensation of total happiness in conjunction with the nature allows us to get the most out of our physique. The funny thing is that sometimes you also feel like you come out of the winter in top shape and start the spring in other sports, such as cycling, feeling so strong. But the most fascinating thing is the flow, and doing races gives you the adrenaline rush too, a total serotonin booster.”

How do you train as there is no snow in Denmark?

“Our Danish based members are all super motivated roller-skiers, putting in many kilometers on the road and some are also keen on using road roller-skis with big wide wheels in the forest. Actually, I, who live in the high Alpine mountains, have only one choice when stepping out of the house, and that is a steep uphill. So, I need to go down to the valley, hence I prefer training on Skierg. The roller-skiing in Denmark is really good due to the great number of cycling paths with a terrain that imitates a long distance ski race really well.” 

“Martin, who lives in Northern Norway, Tromsø, the same place as Andreas Nygaard, has relatively good conditions for training, and he combines roller-skiing and real skiing throughout the season. The problem is that the snow comes and goes in Tromsø, and the days are short in the winter. The sun disappears for almost three months. For him, the darkness can sometimes be a bit frustrating.” 

What is your team’s plan for the next winter – what races and what goals do you have in mind?

“Our plan for 21/22 is to participate in the big Visma Ski Classics events such as La Diagonela, my personal favorite, Marcialonga, Transjurasienne, Vasaloppet, Birkebeinerrennet. We have one guy who is keen on ultra-long distances and wants to participate in Red Bull Nordenskiöldsloppet. A dream is to go and participate in the Arctic circle race as well. The Danish National Championships are also one of the main events for us, especially the 50 km race. We will have other races but not necessarily all of us will participate in these since we have demanding professional and some family obligations on top of this.”  

So, you re you going to be a part of Visma Ski Classics even this coming season. You mentioned that there is a chance for you to register for the Pro Tour as well. What do you need for that to happen?

“It is a big dream, and we would like to develop into a team that could represent Denmark. Our focus now is to have a test season first, try to get help and coaching anywhere we can, especially from the Scandinavian teams. We are aware of the obstacles, and we need more racers and also female participants. At the moment, we are a bit short of good candidates in Denmark, but we would seek help from other countries if needed.” 

How is the cross-country skiing culture in Denmark or is there such a thing? What about roller-skiing in your country – in Southern Sweden, people do a lot of roller-skiing to prepare for Vasaloppet?

“Our cross-country ski culture in Denmark is mainly family based, which means that many have been introduced to skiing on some ski vacations in Norway or Sweden, perhaps dragged out by their parents. Some have then developed a taste for this and then gently moved from other endurance and all-round training into skiing, and again some have tried the two big Scandinavian races, Vasaloppet and Birkebeiner. Each year, many Danes participate in various events during the Vasaloppet week, and it is impossible not to be fascinated about the history of the event and everything around it. For many of us in the team, it has always been a primary training goal, and I think the same goes for many other Danes.”

“Roller-skiing is getting bigger and bigger, and the big clubs such as Holte Ski Club and Copenhagen Ski Club are organizing club training sessions in groups. It’s moving fast and in the right direction. With the more developed off-road roller-skis, there is definitely a potential of roller-skiing becoming more popular. Our roads and environment invite people to do roller-skiing, and more and more people are trying it out. The interest in cross-country skiing is increasing like in many parts of Europe. Our terrain and infrastructure are perhaps near perfect for roller-skiing.” 

If that is the case, would there be a chance to organize a roller-ski race in Denmark that could be part of Visma Ski Classics. Do you have any roller-ski races in your country?

“It should surely be possible. Our biggest event is called “Kongevejsløbet” (king road race) and is held on Kongevejen (King road) just north of Copenhagen, organized by Holte Ski Club. It is also the Danish National Championships in long distance roller-skiing. To enroll it in Visma Ski Classics, the round trip would have to be longer, obviously for safety reasons, to be able to have a bigger number of participants. But there are also many cycling races being held in Denmark, so perhaps an idea to join one of them would make sense.”

Do you have any happy or out-of-ordinary memories from your ski trips, races or training camps that you can share with us? 

“As we started up during the pandemic, our first training camp will be in Mallorca in mid- October if everything goes well. I remember my first introduction to the Vasaloppet week. I was in really good shape in road cycling, but a real beginner in skiing. My Swedish wife and her family, especially my father-in-law, a Vasaloppet veteran, convinced me to participate in Kortvasan (30 km) in 2006. He told me not to stress out, to enjoy the race and to stop at feeding stations to eat and drink the famous blueberry soup every time. I should have remembered that they all are a bit of competitive in nature. So, when I ended up crossing the finish line a way after my Swedish wife and in-law family, I learned that they had not stopped at all. They had a good laugh about this for many years. So, I learned that Vasaloppet is for fun, but by the same token, quite serious for recreational skiers. That was the first and last time they tricked me in cross-country skiing. As a Dane with a non-superior attitude towards the sport, it’s been motivating to prove that we can still learn to ski fast, it’s still a key driver to see how many Norwegians and Swedes I can beat.”  

Finally, who are your idols and inspirations in the world of skiing?

“For me, Anders Aukland without the question. He is an idol that represents the inner child that wants play and move forward all of his life. He sticks with it and promotes the joy of physical activity as a life-long journey. A highlight for our team was when he followed us on our Instagram account. What he has done for Visma Ski Classics is also phenomenal, developing the sport, and he still does it. There are some guys in our team that are not young guns anymore, so he definitely inspires us to keep going! Andreas Nygaard, Tore Asle Gjerdalen and Petter Eliassen are also big inspirations. They have managed to study and have a professional life and families besides their sport. Jerry Arhlin is also an idol as he was one of the first true double-polers, and I personally have always rooted for him when he was racing. He was an inspiration for his physique and his way of racing back then.”