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Fossavatn Ski Marathon was established in 1935, with the grand total of seven participants racing over a distance of 18 km. The race was held annually for six years, but was discontinued after the 1940 edition. Following a 14 years’ break, Fossavatn Ski Marathon was revived in 1955 and has never been cancelled since.

For the first several decades, the race distance was 20 km, but in the 1980s two shorter distances were added, 7 km and 10 km. Then, some 15 years ago, the race organizers started contemplating the idea of making Fossavatn an international race and ideally join Worldloppet someday. The town of Isafjordur has a proud history of skiing, having produced a number of Olympic athletes, but the sport was nevertheless very small in Iceland. The dream was to transform Fossavatn so that it would help promote the sport of cross-country skiing in Iceland and at the same time give skiers from overseas a reason and opportunity to visit and explore our country. The first real step in this direction was taken in 2004, when the 50 km classic distance was introduced. Since then, every aspect of the race has developed steadily; the track, the service to the skiers, security issues etc. Kind and encouraging remarks from our visitors, such as Oscar Svärd, Seraina Boner, Ainu Kaisa Saarinen, Toni Livers, Peeter Kummel, Petter Skinstad, Jörgen Aukland and several others with vast international experience, have given us a reason to believe that we are moving in the right direction in our strive for excellence. All the FIS TDs who have officiated at the race since 2005, when it first appeared on the FIS calendar, have sent us positive and constructive feedback..

However, joining Worldloppet still seemed to be an unrealistic ambition, not least due to the required minimum of one thousand participants. For a small race in a small country, this number seemed to be way out of reach. Hence, it was an extremely pleasant surprise when Fossavatn Ski Marathon was invited to apply for an Associate Membership of the Worldloppet Ski Federation. We believe that joining the family of the finest popular ski races in the world would be an immense encouragement for the sport of cross-country skiing here in Iceland. It would also be invaluable for the further development of our race to be able to share experiences with other races and gain access to their expertise when challenges arise. Last but not least, this would be a boost for our small community, something for us all to take pride in. We also believe that we can bring something to the Worldloppet family. We give our skiers an opportunity to participate in a race that is unique in terms of nature and landscape, with friendly and relaxed atmosphere while still holding the highest standards of quality. The race is always held at the end of April / beginning of May and thus offers a nice extension to the skiing season while avoiding any clash with other events of this kind. It also offers the perfect reason to visit a country that most people never live to see. That would be our small contribution to help make Worldloppet a truly global series.

If we were to describe the Fossavatn Ski Marathon in three words, it would probably be ¨What a view!” We take great pride in offering such beautiful settings for our race, and our newly re-designed courses of 50 km, 25 km, 10 km and 5 km are all made to give our skiers the optimal experience of beautiful nature and landscape.

Next winter, 2015, will mark the 80^th anniversary of the Fossavatn Ski Marathon. There would be no better way to celebrate this milestone than to fly the flag of Worldloppet at the ski stadium in Isafjordur.