The darkest time in a skier’s schedule is the usual two weeks in November in Olos (Muonio), Finland. Dark in the literal sense: sun for one hour a day. Complete wilderness, far from civilization. The first, second and sometimes third train in a small circle of artificial snow, bumping into the back of another skier, there are too many of us for such a circle. For some reason, I mostly remember the roar of a huge windmill on top of a hill, which made sleeping difficult.
Yes, Olos didn’t yet know that I would scold him, and he completely supported me. This is where I qualified for the World Cup in test races and then for the Olympics. And that’s when I first realized that ski racing was going in the wrong direction.
Half of the world’s best skiers cannot spend two weeks of their time in a distant Finnish village, not even in a village – a farm on the outskirts. And all this to then take snowy roads to another Finnish wilderness, to Ruka. To open the World Cup season there. In front of an audience composed mainly of reindeer.
The fact that it has always been done this way, that it is a tribute to certain traditions, does not interest me, but surprises and irritates me. It’s a tradition from a time when television had three channels (or how many?) and when skiing didn’t have to compete in popularity with darts, bowling and padel.
An hour’s drive from Olos, Lapland’s main seaside resort, Levi, is lit up. Hotels, shops, restaurants, tourists from all over the world. Ski slopes and yes, lit ski slopes too. I don’t understand why not only ours, but also wealthy German and other ski teams choose Olos-on-Kulichkakh to prepare for their first starts. They say “their snow comes from the wrong system.” For the best alpine skiers in the world, their World Cup begins in Levi. And cross-country skiers – “in the village, at the aunt’s house, in the countryside…”
When I criticize and attack the FIS, this is also what I think. It is mainly Scandinavians and Finns who have settled there, all dreaming of the days of their bygone youth. This is probably when Mike Tyson was young and eliminated all his opponents in the first minute of the fight. And now he’s fighting with a blogger and losing. But there are 70,000 spectators in the stadium, and its attendance is ten times higher than thirty years ago. Watch and remember: this is now sport! And those who don’t like it are swimming against the tide. I wish them not to waste their energy and land.
Competitions must take place where it is convenient for television and spectators. And make sure they are monitored and discussed. Do you know why such a long introduction? Because the understanding of this came earlier here than in the West. The wind is blowing from the East!
Because three hundred kilometers from Levi, a large Russian company is confidently building and developing an alternative to the fashionable and truly prosperous Finnish resort. Lapland welcomed 750,000 tourists in 2023. In Kirovsk, it is still three times less. But in 2020 there were only 85,000 thousand – can you feel the progress?
It will seem to most that the wheel is not being reinvented in Kirovsk: downhill skiing, bars and restaurants, ecotourism, northern lights. But from my point of view (a professional skier’s point of view), the difference is huge. Because the Tirvas ski stadium is one of the best in the world; only the newer Mirny/Kazan and the Pearl of Siberia can compete with us. This is where neither they, nor Holmenkollen, nor Lahti can compete: it is the Aikuaivenchorr mountain climb race, the best race of the season in the world in terms of visibility. By the way, the winner’s prize money is also very close. This means that the coming season, “in the mountains” will be even more interesting.
Now the organizers seriously want something similar in scope, in terms of the number of participating Olympic champions, the amount of the reward fund, and to organize it at the start of the season. “Race of Stars” last week was just a prologue, a warm-up, a test. It was not in vain that I went there – when you run alone, you don’t have time to watch and communicate, but this time there was enough to see and appreciate.
For example, the fact that there are no ski competitions in itself is not a whim of the bosses (although we are always for such a whim). Ski racing is clearly part of the strategy to further promote Kirovsk as a major resort. In the morning – downhill skiing with the whole family, in the evening – thirty on the illuminated track, on which Bolshunov himself wins against Korostelev himself, then – the famous fashionable bar with Uncle Tolik and Uncle Gena. If that’s not a plan for the best winter vacation, I don’t know what is!
They took the ski component seriously. In the near future there will be a roller ski slope and at least one other hotel nearby.
I always say: don’t ask to go back to Muonio, Livigno or Holmenkollen. Those who really need it will find out how to get there and train individually. Furthermore, there is no point in knocking on the doors of international competitions which are closed to us.
We must plan and carry out ours in such a way that European skiers and coaches are salivating from the cold. This is done in Kirovsk calmly, without noisy declarations. I told them everything for them – and I was happy. As his colleague Romanov said on from Kirovsk: “Let those who try to prohibit us from doing something there be envious.”
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Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
