It costs thousands of kroner for a race weekend, for some, it quickly approaches 20,000 kroner ($1900 USD). There are many race weekends for aspiring cross-country athletes during a season. And this does not include equipment, waxing, or other materials. It’s even worse for athletes from Northern Norway.

“I know athletes who have paid 169,000 kroner out of their own pockets in one season just to participate in the Norwegian Cup races. It’s a crazy amount of money for a 20-year-old, so if you’re not on a team like Elon or the national team, you’re completely dependent on having good sponsors, a job, or wealthy parents. Otherwise, you’re hopeless,” says Johan Lien Nordeng to Langrenn.com.

The former junior national team skier from Alsvåg in the far north of Nordland is now in his first year as a senior. For his part, he has managed well so far, but he is worried about the situation for other aspiring skiers in Northern Norway.

“Cross-country skiing in Northern Norway has been in a golden period where we’ve had a very good environment both at the junior and senior levels. This has resulted in us producing good skiers. I spent three years on the junior national team where everything is covered, then went straight to the Elon team last year, and I have a good club and good sponsors supporting me,” says Nordeng.

But it’s not the same for everyone. Nordeng doesn’t have numbers on how many have quit, partly because it becomes too expensive, a trend he sees only intensifying as more people retire.

“I fear that we’re heading towards worse times now. Several have had to quit, and some have moved,” says the 20-year-old.

More and bigger challenges than the rest of the country

That it costs more with travel and related expenses for skiers who have to fly to almost all ski races is just one of the problems for the cross-country skiing community in Northern Norway.

Just gathering the aspiring skiers in the region is a challenge, not least because of the enormous geographical distances.

Nordeng points out that the three male seniors on Team Elon Nord-Norge live very far apart.

“It’s challenging to organize joint training when Finn-Hågen Krogh lives in Alta, Preben Horven lives in Trondheim, and I live in Tromsø,” says Johan Lien Nordeng.

At the same time, he praises the established senior and national team skiers in the region for how they involve themselves in recruiting and contribute to the community.

“Erik Valnes is good at inviting us to join him for sessions when he’s home. He really takes responsibility, and it’s incredibly important for maintaining a community here. It’s inspiring to see where the bar is set, and he’s good at sharing tips and advice too.”

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