Cross-country skiers cross the Seiser Alm in the moonlight. © Armin Mayr

The cross-country skiers make a pilgrimage to the Seiser Alm

An Olympic champion and two Olympic participants are the big stars of the renowned cross-country skiing race on Europe's largest high mountain pasture, which will take place this Thursday.

23 January 2024

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The starting signal for the South Tyrol Moonlight Classic will be given at 20 p.m. on the Seiser Alm in Compatsch. Hundreds of endurance athletes will then tackle one of the two routes, which will be illuminated by the light of the full moon and numerous torches.

The absolute top star of the 16th South Tyrol Moonlight Classic Seiser Alm is once again Justyna Kowalczyk. The 41-year-old Pole already competed on the Hochalm in 2020 and 2023 and won both editions of the South Tyrolean cross-country skiing classic. Four years ago, the two-time Olympic champion also set a new course record of 1:31.09 hours. In her impressive career, Kowalczyk also became world champion twice, won the Tour de Ski four times and triumphed in a whopping 50 World Cup races. Cross-country skiing experts like to think back to the epic duels that the Eastern European had on the cross-country ski trail with the Norwegian Marit Björgen in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

But that's not enough. The Italian Giandomenico Salvadori is registered among the men. The 31-year-old from Trentino from Mezzano has taken part in the Olympic Games twice (2018 and 2022), as well as nine World Cup competitions in the last four editions. To date, Salvadori has appeared 144 times in the World Cup. He has also already taken part in the South Tyrol Moonlight Classic Seiser Alm and won it in 2020. At that time he won the 30 km distance in 1:18.27 hours. Also at the start is the German Thomas Bing, who also took part in the Winter Olympics twice, took part in three World Championships and was able to record 155 World Cup starts.

Hobby athletes are also in focus

“We are of course extremely pleased that we have three top-class stars at the start: Justyna Kowalczyk, Giandomenico Salvadori and Thomas Bing. But our focus is not just on the top athletes, the South Tyrol Moonlight Classic Seiser Alm is above all a competition for the countless recreational athletes who enthusiastically take part in our event year after year. The cross-country ski trails are in incredible condition, everything is ready and we are actually just waiting for it to finally get started,” says Robert Gobbo, President of the organizing committee.

It starts on Thursday, January 25th at 20 p.m. at the fire hall in Compatsch when the starting shot is fired. The participants can then tackle one of the two distances of 30 or 15 kilometers.