August 03, 2011 – (New Zealand) – On Monday, August 1st in the late afternoon Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) with her coach Alexander Wierietielnym departed for a long journey – over 40 hours and more than 17 thousand kilometers.

The Olympic champion, Tour de Ski and World Cup winner heads to New Zealand.  ”Such a long trip is certainly not fun, but we will manage,” says coach Wierietielny.

The journey through Vienna and Dubai will end on the South Island of New Zealand. The Snow Farm is the final destination for Kowalczyk and her coach. The skiing resort is situated near Queenstown (only 55km), which is the largest city in the entire region having about 11,000 inhabitants. The Snow Farm lies at 1,500 meters above sea level and offers ideal conditions for cross-country skiing. There are a 55km of trails, as well as suitable accommodation for 60 people.

Wanaka, which is 35km away from Snow Farm, is the closest large community with more than 7,000 inhabitants.  The entire region is very popular ski resort in New Zealand.

In the Southern Hemisphere the winter season is in the full swing. Kowalczyk is not the only athlete heading “down under”. The U.S. Ski Team as well as Canadians are in New Zealand for training as well. The Polish ace will have to cope with a time difference, which is 10 hours between Poland and Queenstown.

”After three days we will cope with it and then it won’t be a problem. We have experience with time differences. Once we started in Canada, then moved to Japan and ended on Kamchatka. We know how to deal with it,” claimed Wierietielny.

Read more HERE.