Training and racing in the darkness of northern Scandinavia really makes you appreciate the sunshine Canmore has to offer and how much a beautiful night time sunset can take your breath away.
My first World Cup race of the year took place in Gallivare, Sweden where the sun comes up at eight in the morning and sets at two in the afternoon. It was an exciting start to the season being in here in Europe. Although the race ranking was less than optimal, my first skate race of the season was a success with respect to the fact that this was a very aggressive race, numerous in competitors and my time off race pace was one of my closer gaps in a skate race. I really enjoyed kicking off the season over in Gallivare as the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement of racing and it was great to see my friends and competitors back on the World Cup circuit, with their race faces on.
Being on snow is really exciting and I know it’s where I belong. I am now getting ready for the Kuusamo, Finland World Cups, both races are classic, starting out with a sprint then finishing with a 15km. I am ready for this weekend as classic sprints are my strength; it’s great to have a classic sprint so close of the beginning of the season. The trails here are amazingly steep and extremely challenging, even harder then the Canmore trails; which I wasn’t sure even existed. I am ecstatic about these conditions as they favour the skier that can glide and shuffle up a steep pitch. The weather is currently -5 which is average for this time of year and there is always a little fresh snow which creates a challenge as it makes the track difficult to run up.
After a hard day of training Devon Kershaw and I are spoiled as we are enjoying the amenities which include our own personal en-suite sauna room; this is one luxury we are not taking for granted.
This weekend is the Nordic Opener which means that ski jumpers, Nordic combined, and cross country ski athletes are all here to compete in this little town of Kuusamo, Finland. It is interesting seeing the diverse athletes training for their respective sports, I watched a ski jumper testing glide and soaring 120 meters in the air. While training today, I did some hard intensity on the race trails to get a good feel for the track, it was an intense sensation being on the race course and I can hardly wait for the upcoming races. Hope all is well and I am sending snow to Canmore ;)
Stefan
