Leena’s Kortelopet Story: Joining Us in 2025 from Sweden
Leena, a skier from Sweden who will be participating in the Kortelopet, shares the story of how she decided to take on the challenge of the race and what inspired her to join in. This year will mark her 4th Kortelopet! Read her story below.
“You will be disappointed by my routine for preparing for the Kortelopet because it doesn’t involve much skiing. I am Finnish, but live in Stockholm, Sweden. Like many Finns my age, I started skiing soon after I could walk. When you learn to ski at such a young age, it comes quite naturally to you for the rest of your life. I enjoy skiing and to me, it’s as easy as getting back on a bicycle (which does not mean I’m fast, but I am steady)!
These days, the Stockholm area has limited opportunities for skiing (depending on the year & snowfall). But I don’t mind because I don’t worry too much about practicing my skiing; my main goal is just to stay in decent shape throughout the year. This will be my 4th Kortelopet in a row and being registered for it motivates me every winter to pick up my degree of exercise a bit more so that I am ready on race day. I go to the gym regularly to work out. I also go home to Finland every Christmas to visit my family for a couple of weeks and ski with them.
I was an exchange student at UWEC in the 1980’s and have remained in close contact with a few friends from that time (one of these friends is a Swedish man who married a woman from Wisconsin and they live in Madison). My friends from Madison began skiing the Birkie and Kortelopet over 10 years ago. They were talking about it while visiting Sweden. It sounded fun & I was curious and finally entered my first Kortelopet 4 years ago. The snow and conditions were frigid but excellent and the atmosphere even more excellent. I enjoy rooting for anyone wearing a Finnish flag on their hat. I was quickly hooked and now I have left a pair of my favorite skis in Wisconsin with my friends so I don’t need to drag them back and forth. It’s become the highlight of the winter for all of us. Last year we also volunteered for the first time. I had a special moment when another American friend from the college exchange program (from Minneapolis, MN) crossed the finish line in her first-ever Birkie event, and I got to put her medal around her neck.
In recent years there have been some skiers from the World Cup, skiing in the elite race. I know many of these names because they are big stars in Sweden & Finland. It has been a great opportunity for me to watch them ski up close and even got to chat with Kikkan Randall a few years ago at the pasta dinner.
It’s been great to discover this wonderful event at this point in my life and, above all, to share it with good friends”.
Leena shared a few photos from her journey below.
Posted December 30, 2024 at 8:21 am
