It’s snow time for the World Cup athletes

By entering the competition month of the first World Cup race of the season, the FIS Cross-Country teams are in their final preparation by heading onto snow. With a special focus on the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Beijing in February 2022, many teams have chosen altitude training as their final preparation before heading north.

Val Senales (ITA)

The “Schnalstal” glacier is located at 3’200m and it’s course between five and ten kilometers is the highest Cross-Country course in the South Tyrol. The valley holds a long tradition of welcoming the world elite of Cross-Country skiing shortly before the season start. So the National teams of Austria, Sweden and Finland as well as parts of the National team of Norway and training groups of the Russian team have chosen Val Senales as their base for an extended altitude training camp.

Also Markus Cramer’s training group, a cooperation between the Russian and Italian Ski Team, including skiers like Sergey Ustiugov and Federico Pellegrino have spent intensive altitude training on the Italian snow.

Livigno (ITA)

Closeby the Schnalstal glacier lies Livigno which is a welcome change of track for many teams. The Snowfarming installation is the place to be for early season training sessions. Among many more, the Czech Ski Team has chosen Livigno as their autumn training location to combine training on snow, Rollerskis and altitude running.

Ramsau am Dachstein (AUT)

The world-famous glacier in the Austrian alps has just recently hosted the final training camp for the German National Team before their athletes have now headed to Muonio (FIN) where they will stay until the season start.

Along other teams, also the Polish, French and Ukrainian National Team chose the Dachstein glacier for some sunny training sessions on snow, before following their German colleagues up north for the World Cups in Ruka in just around three weeks.

Davos (SUI)

The Swiss National Team does not have to travel far to get their skis back on snow. Along the 4km Snowfarming course in the Flüela valley (including parts of the World Cup track), skiing is possible since end of October and gives the athletes a final tuning before packing the bags and heading for international racing again.

To travel or not to travel?

The decision whether to spend the first training sessions on snow was taken differently by various athletes. Therecome that for example Swedish Distance talent Frida Karlsson and her team mate and Sprint expert Maja Dahlqvist renounced from the international travels and continued their snow training in the Swedish Ski resort of Idre Fjäll.

With Linn Svahn, another Swedish top athlete was dispensed from the trip to Val Senales. After her surgery on her shoulder (shoulder injury from a fall during the Ulricehamn World Cup earlier in the year), Linn follows her recovery schedule and hopes to be back in shape for the World Cup and major events this season.

Also athletes of the Norwegian men’s Distance team decided to stay at home after having spent a first altitude Rollerski training camp end of August in Livigno already. At indoor snow centers, the athletes nevertheless took the chance to get their skis out on snow.

Unlucky times for Markus Vuorela

An unlucky start into his high-altitude training camp had Markus Vuorela from the Finnish team. During training he endured a fracture of the outer spinal bone of his ankle. By this adverse accident so shortly before the season start and in preparation for the Winter Olympic Games, of course the focus of Markus Vuorela has shifted immediately. The FIS Cross-Country family wishes Markus a speedy but more importantly a full recovery!