Kalle Palander believes that the Alpine Skiing World Cup cannot be organized on the glaciers of Central Europe in the future. Proposes extending the season from spring.
– If six of the men’s eight World Cup competitions have been cancelled, then you can’t say with a very serious face, as an alpine skier, that you wipe well, says Urheilu’s expert Kalle Palander.
Palander arrived at ‘s office in Pasila to evaluate the men’s skydiving competition, which takes place in Italy’s Val Gardena.
Palander stated that the alpine circus suffers from a drainage problem, which could prove to be its fate.
Losses of millions
– Cancellations always mean millions in losses for sponsors and organizers. The TV companies then have their own chapter. How long will these actors commit to being involved in a sport where you can’t trust at all if you can organize what is promised?
The casting fault in alpine skiing is related to the competition calendar, says Palander.
– On glaciers, such as in Sölden or Zermatt-Cervinia, the best conditions for the sport are two days in a row during the autumn season. But when it should be five days. It’s wet and rainy, and then there’s heavy fog and uncompetitive conditions. I think racing on glaciers is about to be patted. It is also an image issue for the species during climate change.
A solution would be found
According to Palander, cancellation problems could be easily dealt with if desired.
– The start of the season in November 3-4 weeks ahead and the end in spring by the same amount towards April. It would then be clear and there would be no need to take risks with glaciers and extreme weather phenomena. The most amusing thing is that everyone knows this, but nothing is done about it.
The reason is logical:
– Autumn is the sales season for winter sports gear. That’s when skis, skis, poles, outfits and so on are sold. In the spring, the gang already buys swimmers, sneakers and fillers, and winter is forgotten. This is the raw logic of business, and FIS’ management sees the matter from this angle, of course.
The chairman of the International Ski Federation, or FIS, is the main owner of the huge Head brand, a Swede John Eliasch.
Northern winner?
Palander reminds that the silver lining of the cloud may hit Finland in the future.
– We may very soon be in a situation where the season starts with the Nordic tour Norway-Sweden-Finland. That would be the will of the athletes already.
In previous years, the winter sport profiled by race cancellations and postponements was primarily ski jumping, but in recent years it has been able to stick to its schedules quite well. Sports expert Janne Ahonen tells the reason:
– Wind networks, of course. And also the fact that the starting booms, i.e. the forward speeds given to the jumper, can be changed all the time during the competition according to the weather conditions, i.e. in ski jumping above all the wind.