The top international Winter Sports events held in Finland are scheduled for November in the competition calendar, when the weather conditions have usually been on the side of the competition organizers.
In Central Europe, the situation is different, which is why many top athletes from winter sports arrive to prepare for the favorable conditions in northern Finland.
The domestic ski circus started last weekend in Vuokatti, from where it will move this weekend to Muonio Olos. The little frosts in November and the preserved snow recovered from last winter have enabled excellent conditions for skiers, who are waiting for white ground and a five-kilometer track in Olos.
Olos, which acts as an observation tournament for the Ruka World Cup, has been popular with the national teams of Russia and Belarus in previous years. This year, however, the situation is different, because due to the prevailing world situation, the teams of neither country will be seen on the international racetracks.
The extensive coverage of Russian skiers will be replaced this year by many European national teams, such as Germany and Austria as well Federico Pellegrino and by Fransesco De Fabian Italy. In addition to these, there is camping and competition in Olos by Emil Iversen and Simen Hegstad Krüger starred Norwegian men’s national team, except for the first team Johannes Kläboa.
The toughest foreign female skiers in Olos are Norwegians Helene Marie Fossesholm and Anna Svendsen and Austria Teresa Stadlober. Also the winning German team in the women’s pair sprint at the Beijing Olympics Victoria Carl and Katharina Hennig are involved in Olos.
In addition to Finland, Norway and Sweden are also strongly featured before the World Cup season, because in the week between the Olos and Ruka World Cups, high-level competitions are organized in Norway’s Beitostölen and Sweden’s Bruksvallarna, where some of the skiers travel.
Although Beitostöllen’s ski runs are fine, two and a half hours’ drive away in Sjusjön, the situation is different. The International Ski Federation IBU canceled the opening weekend of the IBU Cup scheduled for the end of November due to the lack of snow. Both Sjusjöen and Beitostölen are both located at about the height of Lappeenranta.
Competition director of the Olos Games Vesa Virkkunen according to the Nordics, the Nordic countries play a big role in the early season competition calendar, because the conditions are fine.
– There is a lot of talk about the energy crisis and making snow may be more expensive in the future. It is important if there is naturally cold and natural snow, and there is no need to make it artificially and move it from one place to another.
– The opening of the Ruka World Cup at the end of November is a foolproof situation, Virkkunen continues.
This is not the case in Italy, for example, where the ski sprint competition planned for the urban milieu of Milan had to be moved to the ski resort of Livigno. The reason behind this decision made in November is precisely the energy crisis mentioned by Virkkunen, as FIS says in its press release that the costs of the event would have risen too high.
Preserved snow as an enabler
When we talk about good conditions in Finland, we talk about sufficient snow and frost, which is a prerequisite for the preservation of snow. Levi’s Alpine Skiing World Cup competition director Petri Tuomikoski there is one thing that makes Levi’s competitions possible, even if there is not enough natural snow in November.
– All of this is made possible by the fact that we have a huge amount of storage. Without it, Levi would have to cancel the competitions.
The Levi World Cup competition has been organized since 2008 and the competition has had to be canceled three times due to lack of snow in 2007, 2011 and 2015. Wind has also been a problem for Levi in previous years. What is this year’s snow situation before the World Cup competition?
– We can’t run out of snow. Even if there is a warm period, we will have a sufficient amount of snow. If necessary, chemicals, mainly salt, can be used to harden the slope.
In total, the land forces of 16 different countries have been training in Levi since the beginning of November. The conditions for preparation are excellent.
The Alpine World Cup started as usual in Sölden, but only the men could compete, as the women’s competition was canceled due to bad weather conditions.
Competitions have already been canceled from three weekends: Sölden women’s giant slalom, Zermatt-Cervinia downhill and Lech double slalom. The women’s world cup season therefore starts in Levi.
The races in Zermatt-Cervinia and Lechi were canceled before the race weekend because the slope was too soft due to the warm weather and rain. The women’s giant slalom in Sölden, on the other hand, was canceled during the race weekend, because wet snow fell early on the morning of the race, which softened the slope. The Sölden race was moved to the Semmering race weekend at the end of December. The Zermatt-Cervinia and Lech races will not be replaced by new ones.
In Finland, competitions are made possible by preserved snow. Snow is also preserved in Europe, but according to Tuomikoski, for example, the equation of snow and plus degrees doesn’t work.
– In Central Europe, it is possible to store snow. In Lechi, too, there has been preserved snow for pair slalom, but if the weather is +15 degrees, preserved snow alone is not enough. And when that snow hits the warm ground, the melting is violent.
Race organizers suffer the most
The alpine skiing circus naturally travels in places with suitable conditions for the sport, in this case snowy. Weather conditions can change in an instant, and ultimately the cancellation of the race cannot be affected if it is impossible to complete the race.
CEO of Ski Sport Finland Iiro Kaukoniemen according to him, the athletes, teams and personnel are used to the cancellation of the games, but he emphasizes the timing of the decision.
– It matters when the cancellation takes place. If the preparation and charging have already been done, then canceling has a bigger meaning.
– If, for example, we go to North America and the race is cancelled, no one will reimburse the travel expenses, Kaukoniemi continues.
Financially, canceling a race has a bigger impact on the race organizer than on the athlete. National teams of various sizes travel around the World Cup, of which Finland is the smallest. According to Kaukoniemi, the financial losses are relative to the size of the team.
– The national teams lose the same percentage of their own budget, regardless of the size of the team. Of course, bigger teams can have a bigger financial buffer for such situations. Kaukoniemi says.