Women’s freeski is developing at a tremendous pace in the world. Training days would be important, but poor training conditions have hindered Anni Kärävä’s preparation for the season.
– Yes, it’s starting to get exciting, how is this sport going too.
Freeski calculator Anni Kärävä is thoughtful at the dawn of a new season. The freeski national team has just returned from the training camp in New Zealand, but the balance of the five-week trip was only a few good skiing days. A year earlier, the situation had been completely different.
– We scheduled the camp for New Zealand’s spring. It is usually the best time for freeskiers, when the slopes soften and the sun should be shining, Kärävä justifies the choice of the time and destination of the camp.
This time, however, most of the time was spent just admiring the scenery. The slope was in good condition and there were good jumps, but the weather was too variable, which made it really difficult to keep the slope open. Sometimes it was raining, sometimes it was too snowy, and a big challenge for the freeskiers was also too strong wind.
– During the past year, it has felt that the winds have been stronger than before and there are more extreme phenomena. So the weather changes a lot.
Kärävä is worried that if the trend continues like this, it will be difficult to train again. Now, for example, he completely missed jumping training. During a few days of training, I only had time to get at least a little snow feel and lay rails.
– It did eat motivation when you had to wait for long periods of time, Kärävä admits.
In women, development proceeds at a breakneck pace
Especially in women’s freeski, the development within the sport is fast. All the time, new young women come to challenge those who have been with them longer with their new tricks. So there would be a need for good training days.
According to Kärävä, the only consolation in the situation is that many other national teams had also chosen New Zealand as their camp destination.
– Another option is to train on a glacier on the European side, but due to the melting of the glaciers, there are starting to be few open slopes there. It’s always a game to decide which one to play. Someone might win a couple more training days while someone else loses.
Kärävä, 23, intends and wants to stay involved in the development, despite the missed training days. However, the practice of new tricks and ranis still had to wait for the coming days.
– The main goal of the season is to gradually renew the whole image and introduce new tricks.
He considers the rapid development of the sport to be a good thing. At the same time, you have to and can develop yourself.
– I want a new bill for this season and develop every area. Of course, doing new, even harder tricks requires courage and hard work.
According to Kärävä, rapid development means that many people move forward with the same formula, which means that certain tricks become more common. He would like versatility and tries to offer it himself.
– Shouldn’t you have faith and go ahead of your calculations here? Can’t influence what others do. After all, it is also inspiring to see what others are capable of.
Poles are mandatory
The rule change for the season makes poles mandatory. Until now, freeski skiers have been able to choose whether to ski with or without poles. In this season, landing without poles is judged as a failed performance. For Kärävä, the change is not significant, as he has mostly counted with poles.
– In a couple of competitions I’ve been without, that is, when I’ve tried a more difficult trick in order to get a better grip on the ski and thus to get down better.
However, according to Kärävä, poles are part of the sport’s identity, so he welcomes the new rule change for that reason as well. Before the start of the season, however, it is difficult to assess whether the rule change will change the balance of power in any way.
– In our sport, it’s important how long you hold on to the puck and how you catch it, so it will probably affect it in some way at the beginning. But calculators usually know how to adapt to different situations. I look forward to seeing if anything changes or if the good ones are still good.