Val di Fiemme is one of the most iconic venues in the world of cross country skiing, and with Tour de Ski and its spectacular Final Climb, the name of our valley has become more and more popular at an international level. Tour de Ski became one of the most awaited events of the cross country FIS World Cup season, and without any shade of doubt the finish line on Alpe Cermis contributed in a determining way to give even more exposure to such an innovative race format.

Val di Fiemme played actually a very important role in the creation of Tour de Ski, as in the first 2000 years Vegard Ulvang and Jürg Capol (President of the FIS Cross Country Committee and Cross Country FIS Race Director, respectively) decided to add something new to the cross country season: a stage race, based on the tradition of the Grand Tours of the raod bicycle racing, taking inspiration mainly from Tour de France. This idea took shape precisely during a stay of Ulvang and Capol in Val di Fiemme, where they had the possibility to see the alpine ski slope “Olimpia III” of Alpe Cermis, a real paradise for alpine ski and snowboard enthusiasts. They had the revolutionary idea to make the cross country skiers climb up this course in the reverse direction, using the intermediate station of Doss dei Laresi as finish area for the final stage of this new competition format, that they called Tour de Ski. The winner of the Final Climb was meant to be the winner of the whole stage race, as the athletes were supposed to start for this final stage according to the timing gaps that they got during the competitions of Tour de Ski in the previous days.

The Olimpia III slope was the best option for the organisers, because the first part of the course (that is the last part for the alpine skiers) that goes from the bottom valley road to the intermediate station of the cable car Doss dei Laresi, is really very demanding and challenging for the athletes: there are parts where the incline reaches a gradient of 28%, with an average incline of about 12%, and there is a gain elevation of 420 m for a total length of 3,5 km. A real tough climb, that goes through straight parts and extreme hairpin turns. The fight is not only against all the opponents, but against yourself, your strength and against gravity.

Val di Fiemme is the only venue that has always been present in the Tour de Ski schedule since the first edition 2006/2007, and we can surely say that there is no Tour de Ski without Val di Fiemme and wihtout the iconic Final Climb!

Like many other revolutionary idaes, also this crazy one of Ulvang and Capol got immediately great success, and year after year, all the best cross country athletes in the world came as winners to the finish line on Alpe Cermis. Moreover, the Final Climb has been for years the most viewed FIS cross country competition on TV!