A Canadian in Sweden

Holmenkollen

Well, Norway is pretty much as advertised. Beautiful, snowy, ski-crazy and the land of ridiculously expensive beer.

I went to see the Canadians ski the Holmenkollen World Cup biathlon this past weekend with my boss Jan Sjöström. As it was last November in Östersund, it was a treat to be accepted into the inner circle of these phenomenal athletes. It was also my priviledge to pick up the tab when we went out Friday night in downtown Oslo. Cost of 10 beers? 750 Norwegian crowns. That would be roughly $140 Canadian dollars. Rather than feeling stiffed, I feel a sense of power. I paid for Norwegian beer and survived! I can handle anything now! I am a man!

Oslo is pretty much my dream city despite the cost of beer. It is small, pretty, and it has public transport up to world class cross country ski trails. Holmenkollen is a stop on the city's light rail, line number 1. If my darn camera hadn't crapped out, I would have taken a photo of the train full of people dressed in spandex and carrying skis and poles. It was very cool.

I got to help Tom Zidek, the wax tech with a bit of ski prep. Tom is the celebrity Canadian dude in Sweden right now because of his relationship with Anna Carin Olaffson, the world champion biathlete. It was interesting to hang out with the two of them. Anna Carin is very nice, and a bit shy I think. I can't imagine what life must be like for her in the media spotlight all the time.

Tom will be spending some time in Sweden this spring, and I have been trying to convince him to some to the Tiomila orienteering race at the end of April. He is a serious adventure racer, so it should be right down his alley. Swedish biathlon championships are in Sollefteå in a few weeks, which is 150 km north of Umeå, so I may head up there in a few weeks to watch.

It was really cool to ski the famous Holmenkollen trails. They are tough! The 16.7 km loop that is used for the famous Holmenkollen 50 km is just constantly rolling up and down. There is very little time to rest. It was cool to ski there and think of the history of that trail.

The problem with writing about an intense weekend is that no matter how much you write, you will always leave something out. As a summary: The Canadian biathlon team is a great bunch of people. Holmenkollen is amazing. Oslo is even better.

I do have a few photos that were taken before my camera crapped out, and as soon as I have new batteries I will put them up. Stay tuned.

posted by Jeff @ 10:51 AM