The Dachstein glacier will not be opened at all this autumn. Finland’s head coach thinks that winter athletes’ glacier camps in Central Europe can quickly become history.
The A national skiing team had high expectations for the training camp that started a week ago and ended on October 22 in Ramsau, Austria. Located at an altitude of about 2,700 meters above sea level, the Dachstein glacier is a traditional skiing paradise, where for decades skiers have had their first experiences with skiing on snow before the start of the season.
This time the situation is dramatically different. The glacier is in a life-threatening condition, and the authorities will not let anyone down there. The Finnish camp shrunk to a completely melted country event, the program of which mainly includes roller skiing, running and pole slope exercises. The matter was confirmed on Thursday.
– Then came the final information that the glacier will be closed for the whole autumn. There is no snow at all, only ice and life-threatening ruts. There should be half a meter or even a meter of new snow so that skiing would be possible there, head coach Teemu Pasanen tells Urheilu.
Lots of national teams
Finland is not the only national team disappointed by the situation, but in the village of Ramsau, located at an altitude of 1,135 meters above sea level, cross-country and biathlon teams from several different countries are gathered.
For a long time, Finland has been camping around this time in October in northern Italy on the Val Senales glacier, which is more than 3,000 meters above sea level. Now the place is closed due to a major elevator renovation.
Even though the athletes had been looking forward to the ski runs, the head coach, who had been following the progress of climate change for a long time, was initially skeptical of the situation when planning the camp’s training structure.
“Not a huge disappointment”
– The original program included eight ski exercises on the glacier in two weeks, which is relatively little. It is of course disappointing not to be able to ski, but in terms of the camp’s training responses, it is by no means a huge disappointment.
As a snow sports person, Pasanen admits that he is very worried about how climate change will also affect winter sports in the very near future.
– I’ve been touring these places for 10-15 years, and it feels like every year I feel worse than the year before. I wouldn’t be surprised if, already in 10 years, these traditional glacier and snow camps in Central Europe would be a thing of the past and we would only be frozen in the North to wait for the snow to come.
The men’s national team traveled to Ramsau, except for those who train on their own until the competition season Iivo from Niskagetting sick unnecessarily easily on camp nights Ristomatti Hakolaa as well as his first season in the A national team Niko Anttolaa.
Anttola, 20, who got out of the army just over two weeks ago, took part in a three-week high-altitude camp in Italy’s Passo Lavaze, 1,800 meters above sea level, in August. Pasanen considered that one long hard camp at high altitude was enough for such a young man. The Skiing Federation, which is in financial problems, only paid for these two foreign camps for the A national team for this training season.
From the women’s A national team Johanna Matintalo practices in Ramsau and Krista Pärmäkoski at his own camp in the USA. The others are in Kittilä Levi, where you can already ski on several kilometers of slopes.
Great training conditions
Ramsau’s team has made the most of the other training conditions in the region, the melted country.
– As a Sula Maa camp, this is excellent: a 5.7-kilometer roller track, excellent pole slopes and, if necessary, a roller-ski run with a thousand meters of ascent in one shot, if desired. Warm 20 degrees and the sun is shining, says Pasanen.
Roller skiing is dangerous in Finland in late autumn, because leaves fall from the trees onto the asphalt. There is little light, and the night frost makes the asphalt slippery and takes away the grip from the spikes of the poles.
Before the competition season that starts in November, most of the A national team gathers at a self-funded camp in Olostunturi in Muonio, where the program includes a lot of ski testing. The last camp of the A national team will be held in Ruka, Kuusamo, before the World Cup, which starts there on the last weekend of November.