. world ski news : Finnish men`s team elated after great start on snow - 15 August 2011 - 18:24
ALPINE SKI. The summer break is over for Kalle Palander, Marcus Sandell and Andreas Romar who returned to on-snow training in Zermatt (SUI). The racers enjoyed excellent conditions on the glacier from 1st-10th August. The World Cup veterans were accompanied by young challengers from the Finnish European Cup team. The nine-man Finnish team spent a total of ten days in Zermatt. The weather gods meant it well with the team that was able to ski almost every day, with the exception of just few when high winds prevented training on the glacier.
”On few days we had to resort to alternative training. But overall Zermatt offers great conditions for training and we definitely achieved what we wanted during the training block”, commented World Cup coach Pasi Laitakari who guides the team together with head coach Janez Slivnik. The team was recently augmented by a new face as Albert Kogler, former service man for Austrian Rainer Schönfelder, joined to take care of the skis for Marcus Sandell and Kalle Palander who both now ski on Fischer.
Sandell changed his ski brand in the spring and is satisfied with the new equipment.
”The material is working well and we have not had to put in extra work for the setup. The entire team works really well with the new service man Armin”, added Laitakari .
The Finnish men will now train back at home in Finland before the next camp is set to commence in Zermatt on 19th August. The European Cup team is head to Juvas in Norway.
The Finnish ladies will also be training in Switzerland soon again. They will be continuing on snow training in Saas Fee from 18th August, building on the first training block that ended at end of July.
FISalpine.com
Monday 15 August 2011