For Season XIV, there will be a new category, the Iconic Climbs, to enhance the interest around the climbs and reward the strongest athletes slightly more. The Iconic Climb points give 50% more points than a Category 1 Climb, 45 points instead of 30 points in the Climb competition.

For the upcoming season, there will be four Iconic Climbs, two in the Alps (Prato Piazza at Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge and Cascata at Marcialonga) and two in Scandinavia (Raudfjellet at Birkebeinerrennet and Orta at Reistadløpet).

The Climb competition will certainly be tight this season. There are many strong uphill skiers on the Pro Tour, both in the men’s and women’s categories. It is hard to pick just one possible winner as most of the favorites are also strong podium skier candidates and therefore may not be fully focusing on this particular competition.

Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Team XPND Fuel, and Astrid Øyre Slind, Team Aker Dæhlie, are the reigning champions in this competition. They will defend their titles with tooth and nail, but winning the Climb competition is no walk in the park for anyone. They are, without a doubt, setting their sights on the Champion competition, but they certainly want to take home the lumberjack jersey once again.

Climb Favorites Men

The strongest candidates to dethrone Gjerdalen are Johannes Eklöf, Team Ramudden, and Morten Eide Pedersen, Team Eksjöhus. The former has proven to be an extremely powerful climber, and his victory at Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge showed that he could attack on long climbs. He also finished second in the Climb competition last season, only 59 points behind Gjerdalen. 

The latter has always been an offensive skier and has won this competition. Last season, he was quite far behind the podium places in this category, but this three-time Jizerská50 winner can easily bounce back and reclaim the title once more.

Two great contenders should be mentioned here: Magnus Vesterheim, Team Kaffebryggeriet, and Johan Hoel, Team Ragde Charge. Magnus finished 9th in this competition and could be higher up if he decided to go for the jersey. Johan was 8th in this category, and he finished second at Ylläs-Levi. He is a potential podium skier in any race, but if the powers that be make him fight for the highest possible Climb points, he will be a hard one to beat.

Climb Bib Favorites Men – Ski Classics Season XIV

Tord Asle Gjerdalen

• Nationality: Norway
• Date of Birth: 03.08.1983 
• Pro Team: Team XPND Fuel
• Likelihood to win: 4 out of 5

Johannes Eklöf

• Nationality: Sweden 
• Date of Birth: 30.04.1995 
• Pro Team: Team Ramudden 
• Likelihood to win: 4 out of 5

Morten Eide Pedersen

• Nationality: Norway
• Date of Birth: 18.12.1987
• Pro Team: Team Eksjöhus
• Likelihood to win: 3 out of 5

Magnus Vesterheim

• Nationality: Norway 
• Date of Birth: 20.12.1994
• Pro Team: Team Kaffebryggeriet
• Likelihood to win: 2 out of 5

Johan Hoel

• Nationality: Norway 
• Date of Birth: 17.12.1994
• Pro Team: Team Ragde Charge 
• Likelihood to win: 2 out of 5

Climb Favorites Women

On the women’s side, Astrid Øyre Slind, Team Aker Dæhlie, Emilie Fleten, Team Ramudden, and Ida Dahl, Team Engcon, are the names that are most likely on the top of the list. Astrid is a climber extraordinaire and has often conjured decisive breakaways on long climbs. Emilie was fourth in this competition last winter, with only Astrid and Ida before her (Britta Johansson Norgren was second, but she is now retired). Ida was extremely strong in the early part of the last season by being either first or second in six consecutive races, from Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge to Jizerská50.

One possible challenger could be Magni Smedås, Team Eksjöhus, who was 9th in the Climb competition. However, five of the skiers ahead of her are no longer racing (Ebba Anderson is still racing, but on the Swedish National Team in standard distances). However, it would be quite a surprise if she climbed to the top, pun intended. 

Additionally, it will be interesting to see what Jenny Larsson can do after a year-long hiatus due to her injury. This 2021 La Diagonela winner might also have a say in this competition. She now represents Team Ragde Charge, but she will most likely be asked to fight for overall points and podium places if possible.

Climb Bib Favorites Women – Ski Classics Season XIV

Astrid Øyre Slind

• Nationality: Norway
• Date of Birth: 09.02.1988
• Pro Team: Team Aker Dæhlie
• Likelihood to win: 4 out of 5

Ida Dahl

• Nationality: Sweden
• Date of Birth: 17.01.1996
• Pro Team: Team Engcon  
• Likelihood to win: 3 out of 5

Emilie Fleten

• Nationality: Norway 
• Date of Birth: 09.06.1992 
• Pro Team: Team Ramudden 
• Likelihood to win: 2 out of 5

Magni Smedås

• Nationality: Norway
• Date of Birth: 17.06.1995 
• Pro Team: Team Eksjöhus
• Likelihood to win: 1 out of 5

Jenny Larsson

• Nationality: Sweden 
• Date of Birth: 18.01.1996 
• Pro Team: Team Ragde Charge 
• Likelihood to win: Darkhorse

As we can see, many great athletes are capable of skiing hard on long climbs, but “the king and the queen of the mountain” will most likely reign over their kingdom for one more year. But they need to put serious focus on winning this category because the challengers do not hesitate to dethrone them!

Written by Expert Commentator Teemu Virtanen.

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