March 10, 2011 – The 2012 Nordic World Championships proved to be one of the best championships in Nordic history. Great crowds, spectacular racing and beautiful tracks. The Nordic community expected nothing less when the event took place in the acclaimed birth place of skiing. We contacted Atomic’s Nordic Race Director, the outrageous Roman Toferer, to get his perspectives on what it is like to be a technician at the World Championships.

Congratulations, you turned in some pretty impressive results. Your boys and girls from Norway, Sweden, Germany and Finland won Gold, Silver and Bronze. Are you happy with your results?
Roman Toferer: Sure, we are happy with the results. The Atomic athletes we thought would win medals did win medals except for Hanna Falk in the Sprint. It means that selection of athletes has been well done, that we need more is clear but that is in progress.

Roman, a lot of people wonder what it is that company reps do at an event like the World Championships. The national teams have their own wax technicians and equipment coaches. What did you and your team actually do at Oslo?
RT: It is Nordic skiing. The conditions change every day. The job of our team is clearly to test new things like adjustments in wax pockets, new bases, new grindings every day. We react on change of conditions and we are in close contact with the National teams to adapt to those changes.

So, we will primarily test grinds and choice of wax. This is done first within the staff of Atomic. When we have data and decisions, we meet with the national team coaches. We discuss what is working best. Of course, the technicians from Atomic and the national teams will ski together and test what is working. But you know, the final decision is the athletes. They ski and test one more time, they choose what is working best for them.

Tell us about the facilities that the organizers provide for the ski companies for waxing and working on skis?
RT: Was done very good in Oslo. We worked in a 30-square ft room with air-conditioning, cleaning equipment already there, we brought our own measuring instruments, waxing facilities and approximately 400 pairs of skies with us.

400 pairs?! Was that really necessary?
RT: Yes, we have developed a new Hard Track Skating ski and this was our opportunity to put athletes on this ski. We also have a new classic ski with synthetic kick material. This ski was very popular with athletes.

So you brought the new Skintec waxless skis to Oslo. What were some of the reactions by coaches and athletes to this new waxless technology?
RT: They want us to provide them with these skis as soon as possible. Spring classic races are soon, very hard to wax for. But Skintec is for all conditions, not just Spring.

Did any of the wax technicians react negatively to Skintec because no more kick waxing might jeopardize their jobs?
RT: No. Much classic racing will still be on waxable skis.

It was the World Championships. Not only was it a very major event, but it takes place toward the end of the year. It must be very difficult to get athletes to try new gear at such a major event at the end of the season.
RT: No not at all, skiers always want to test when there is new things, especially now when everyone saw what skis Tord had at 50km.

It is a pretty amazing setting with the world’s best athletes on perfect tracks as well as the most knowledgeable equipment coaches. Can you take advantage of all of this to test new designs and technology?
RT: That’s the reason why I spend so long time up there as well, this is the place where a lot of new experiences get born to develop further. This is why I just arrived to Khanty (Russia for the IBU Worlds) today directly from Oslo. It must go on!!!!!!!!!!

Did you learn anything at these World Championships about the new gear that you did not already know?
RT: Yes this is a never ending process, anyway conditions were really not easy, I think everyone saw how difficult some races were. Details out from new experiences need to be worked out now after season.

What is the next event for you and your team?
RT: Like I mentioned above, I am in Khanty now for IBU Biathlon World Championships. Our Nordic service team is testing at home and then they will go to the finals in Falun, Sweden next week. Then, the whole team will again go to Scandinavia after the season, recruitment and testing goes on!

March 09, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Sorry for the delay but we ended up with very slow internet connections over the final few days of the Oslo competitions, and also traveling home made for more sketchy internet connections. Here are some last impressions about our final days in Oslo.

Women’s Relay – Day 9
Back to the races – on site! The end of the World Championships is approaching which means it’s time for the relays and the final “King” and “Queen” of the distance races. Over the past few days there have been some holes in the crowd as many fans have had to return to work or school but tickets are more or less sold-out for rest of the Championships and we expect some intense racing!

As mentioned before, we have observed great sportsmanship here and while skiers are certainly competitive and driven, they are also very gracious and dare I say “normal” people despite their status. As journalists here we have seen what’s been written and how it was written, as well as the athletes in action, on the trails, and at the press conferences and there is somewhat of a difference.

The headlines do not always give the true picture, though it seems that some controversy can be good for the sport since we seem to survive the headlines. It’s only natural that some characteristics of a skier are either highlighted or ignored and skiers sometimes exchange words with each other that seem unnecessary – but taken out of context these things are sometimes made into a bigger deal than the skiers themselves think they are.

Aside from watching the races and enjoying the incomparable level of energy in the stadium, after a “recovery” dinner, we ventured over to the Finnish Team’s hotel to have a celebratory piece of cake with the medal winners, their teammates, and the coaching staff – see more photos HERE.

We also caught up with Andreas Bennert from One Way:

Men’s Relay – Day 10
We thought yesterday was crazy and loud (Women’s Relay). But Wow – today was even louder. Are these Norwegian fans just getting “warmed-up”? Today’s racing was unbelievable!! (but you’re all aware of the results already, so I will not go into detail. Suffice it to say that this race also required spectators to go find recovery food and drink after the competition. Whew.

Before the race started a group of old guys walked into the stadium. They looked like they were familiar with all of the hoopla… in fact, they looked very familiar. They were none other than Oddvar Brå, Harald Gronningen, Tormod Knutsen, Gjermund Eggen, Odd Martinsen and Vladimir Smirnoff!

Those guys hold more medals than any group you could possibly find “by accident” on the race-course. This is definitely the mecca of Nordic skiing. Thomas Alsgaard was a regular commentator on NRK (Norwegian TV), Bente Skari was Chief of Competition, Yelena Välbe was seen regularly (she is coaching now), Björn Daehlie was hanging out… and this is just to name a few of the medal winners and former World Cup and Olympic skiers that were at Holmenkollen.

Here are some of the folks we sought-out/ran into today.

Finnish Member of FIS

Chief of Competition – John Aalberg

Catching up with Atomic’s Roman Toferer

Taking a look inside the Norwegian wax truck with Knut Nystad

Chatting with Marit Bjoergen’s personal wax tech

Wrap Up
The races were followed up with some Italian food with our cousin/niece. Ritva balanced out the racing excitement with a trip to a concert with her cousin (Tord Gustavsen – Norwegian jazz musician – if you like jazz, especially piano jazz, I recommend looking up this guy and/or his trio – the music takes you to another place).

The concert was held in Oslo’s Cathedral (more info HERE), which recently re-opened after some renovations. The church is beautiful, but the pews sure are hard to sit on after a day of running around Holmenkollen!

On Saturday morning, Ahvo returned to the US for the Junior Olympic action while I stayed in Oslo, but opted to stay in town and take in the excitement from another vantage point. Part of me wishes I had gone up to the race course as the sun finally came out but I opted to try something new. My flight on Sunday left early enough in the evening that I had to read up about the 50km later.

The trails will seem a bit quieter after this experience, but I think it is safe to say that both Ahvo and I have some really fond memories of this trip. I know that he has wanted to watch the Word Championships in Norway for a long time (15 or more years), and I decided that I wanted to watch the WC in Norway after watching his videos from the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994 and experiencing a little Nordic World Ski Championships in 1995 when the whole family went to the WC in Thunder Bay.

I am still trying to figure out if this want/need to go to Holmenkollen for the WC is a result of nature or nurture. I doubt that any country can stage the Nordic Worlds as well as the Norwegians can, and I have a hard time imagining that there could be a more ski-crazy nation. I also wonder who makes the Norwegian flags… they must have a pretty fat checkbook by now.

At this point I would also like to mention the hotel that we stayed at – the Hotel Guldsmeden Carlton Oslo (more info HERE). The hotel was on the smaller side and has only been open since about October. They are currently polishing off a spa in the basement and have very comfortable rooms, a tasty breakfast buffet and nice location not too far from the harbor, public transportation and Oslo center.

The staff were fantastic during our stay. I have never met a more hospitable and friendly group of hotel staff in all of my travels. Should you be traveling to Oslo in the near future, check this place out and say hi to the hotel manager Kim (who speaks impeccable English and is actually from Denmark).

For a quick look around the lobby with Kim, check out this video:

That’s it for now! We hope you all have enjoyed reading about our adventures (and secrets) and also hope that at least some of the excitement from this event has been transferred to you through our coverage here at SkiTrax. An event like this is an excellent reminder of the many positive things that can be experience and absorbed from our sport.

Keep on skiing!