Stoltzekleiven Opp

The course

The start is on Fjellveien, the road that runs along the hillside above Bergen's Sandviken district, 200 m south of the BKK transformer station. The clock starts as you cross the line under the Stoltzekleiven sign, and the first stretch winds gently between tall pines, which is where first-timers go out too fast: you cannot see what is coming. The first split is at about 270 m, where the real stone steps begin, and the second at the halfway birch, 495 m in and 145 m up.

From halfway the stairs get steeper with every section, 20 to 40 % and 36 % on average. The only rest is a short flatter stretch before the 100 wooden steps that make up the final wall, where the third split is taken and where the best finishers are measured for the fastest closing stage. The 2026 winners ran 8:10 and 10:08; a median man takes about 16 minutes and a median woman about 18, and the queue of runners above and below you is part of the experience.

The finish is in the saddle below the Sandvikspilen weathervane at about 315 m above the city, with the view back over the harbour. You get a slip with your splits and total time, the finisher T-shirt, water, bananas and hot blackcurrant toddy, and the clothes you handed in at the start are waiting by the road where the scouts keep a fire. Timing is by chip on the bib with manual backup, and results with splits are published on stoltzen.no and EQ Timing the same day.

How to enter

Entry opens in late May in three rounds, all at 07:00 Norwegian time and all first come, first served: groups (companies, clubs, friends) first, a week later individual runners with ten or more previous finishes and those qualified for the seeded group (under 11:00 for men, 13:00 for women in the last three years), and the following morning everyone else. In 2026 the group round sold over 3,000 places in under a minute; in 2025 the individual places were gone three minutes after opening. Every runner needs a Stoltze-ID in the organiser's database, so register that before the day. Unused group numbers are reclaimed after 31 August and recycled, and the organiser says places open up through September; in 2026 there were still 33 free on 14 September, so a late email to the organiser can work.

The fee on the organiser's page is 495 kr (about €42) for adults and 235 kr for runners aged 17 or under, including the Norwegian Athletics Federation single-event licence (40 kr) and the T-shirt; the page was last updated in April 2025, so expect a small rise. Pay by the KID reference within one day (seven days for groups) or the place is deleted. Fees are not refunded, even if the race is cancelled for weather; name changes cost 50 kr and must be done by the organiser after mid-September, and running on someone else's number gets you removed from the results. You choose your day and start slot when you buy; the youngest class is 10 to 11, timed but not ranked.

How to train for it

Train on stairs, not hills

The course is 800 stone steps at 36 %, so the specific session is stair repeats: find the longest staircase or steepest hill path you have and do 2 to 4 minute efforts up it with a walk down. In Bergen people train on the course itself; the organiser's SMS training log on the home page shows regulars climbing it several times a week.

Learn to go out slowly

The first 270 m between the pines is the easiest part and the race's old trap: the organiser's history page notes that the course hides what comes next and many have been fooled. The splits of good runners show the opening section taking under a fifth of their time; aim to arrive at the halfway birch feeling like you could speed up.

Practise the final wooden stairs tired

The last 100 wooden steps come after the steepest stone sections and decide the closing split. Finish your stair sessions with the hardest minute, and rehearse using the handrail and a short, quick step rather than lunging two steps at a time once your legs are heavy.

Use the split calculator

Stoltzen.no has a split-time calculator and a 3D replay of past editions. Put in a target time and it gives you the pace at each of the three splits, which lets you check at the halfway birch whether you are on plan or have gone off too hard.

Pick your start slot with the weather and the crowds in mind

Starts run every ten seconds from 09:15 to 18:00 on both days, and the staircase is busy. An early slot on Friday means fewer runners to pass and usually fresher legs for the stairs after a work week; Saturday afternoon is the party, with the seeded group and prize-giving on the top around 13:45.

What you need

• Shoes with good grip on wet stone; the steps are polished rock and often wet, and the organiser's shoe sponsor sells trail shoes at bib pick-up for a reason
• Race in a vest or T-shirt even in September; you will be working hard for 10 to 20 minutes and it is 300 m to the top
• A bag of warm, dry clothes handed in at the clothes transport north of the start at least 20 to 30 minutes before your slot; it is windy and cool on the saddle and the walk down takes a while
• Your bib with the timing strip left intact, collected at Varegg Arena in the week before the race or on the day
• A rain jacket for the walk down and the wait; September is Bergen's wettest month

Getting there and staying

Bergen Airport Flesland has direct flights from most of Europe; the Bybanen light rail runs to the city centre in about 45 minutes. The race headquarters is Varegg Arena in Sandviken, reached by city bus 10, which stops about 100 m away, and with its own parking. Bib pick-up is there on the Wednesday and Thursday evenings and from 08:15 on both race days, with a pop-up shop from the organiser's shoe sponsor. From the arena it is about ten minutes on foot to the start on Fjellveien, so arrive early if you collect your bib on the day.

Hand in your warm clothes at the clothes transport just north of the start by the BKK transformer station at least 20 minutes before your start; they are carried to the top. After the finish you walk down, either back down the stairs on the side or along the paths over Sandviksfjellet and Fløyen, and the organiser's partner hotel in the centre hosts the AfterStoltz evening on the Saturday. Bergen hotels are busy on this weekend; many participants are locals, so a day trip from a city hotel works, and the family day the weekend before has its own entry for those with children under ten.

History

Stoltzekleiven is a 1930s stone path built as relief work for unemployed young men on the line of an old track called Rævaskaret, named after the merchant Gerhard Stoltz of the nearby Stoltzegården. Varegg's runners had timed themselves up it for decades when the club organised the first race in 1979 for the centenary of Fjellveien, with 50 starters. In 1986, with the club close to dropping the race, NRK's Norge Rundt filmed it and it became known nationally; by 2002 there were 2,368 entered and today more than 6,000.

The men's record of 8:13 set by Jon Tvedt in 1995 stood for over twenty years on the old line and is kept as a protected record, as is Anita Håkenstad Evertsen's 9:56 for women; on the current course the records are 7:46 by Stian Øvergaard Aarvik (2019) and 9:35 by Kristin Størmer Steira (2013), with 10,000 kr on offer from a sponsor for beating them. The 2026 winners were Per-Christian Grieg in 8:10 and Karoline Holsen Kyte in 10:08. The race also has a Plus 90 kg class with over 200 starters, and Bergen triathlete Gustav Iden ran it a dozen times from the age of ten.

Where to find out more

• Stoltzekleiven Opp, official site (opens in a new tab): The organiser's site (http only) with entry information, course profile, results back to 1979, photos and the split-time calculator; Norwegian only.
• Entry information 2026 (opens in a new tab): The dates and the three entry rounds for the latest edition; the 2027 version appears here in spring.
• Results 2026 (opens in a new tab): Class, club and full lists with splits for all 5,107 finishers.
• Live results on EQ Timing (opens in a new tab): The timing company's live page for the 2026 race, with the same results in a searchable form.
• IL Varegg (opens in a new tab): The Bergen multi-sport club that owns and runs the race; its runners train on the stairs year round.