Here’s How To Make XCSkiing Ratings Jump

…We love cross-country skiing – otherwise why would we launch this media empire webplatform dedicated to it?

What we don’t like is how relatively little TV coverage it gets . Because said TV coverage generates buzz, buzz translates into popularity, popularity brings bigger investments, bigger investments provide us with more places to ski and better ( and cheaper) equipment to buy. So, we have to have more xc skiing on TV in order to be able to enjoy it more. Simple, right?

We take our media responsibilities seriously and have put together a list of new competition formats that could be introduced to augment those already existing ones ( see, we did not say “replace” – that would be causing a wrath of skiing purists!).

If you happen to see Vegard Ulvang( the chairman of the executive board of the International Ski Federation’s cross-country committee and an ultimate cross-country skiing world Tsar) – pass it on to him, please!

1. Turn Alpe di Cermis race into a series already! Tour de Ski’s final climb is a total eye-candy for viewers and advertisers alike – why don’t expand the experience and make it recurring and multi-venue, perhaps open to participation by general public a-la Marcialonga’s Cascata climb.( yes, we’ve heard that the Alpe di Cermis climb is open to the public – kinda. Never advertised and only selected few know about it)? Let the growing success of the Red Bull 400 climb, that started as fun event and turned into a worldwide series to be the guide of how it should work.

2. 100 meter races. Thanks to larger-than-life persona of the “world’s fastest skier” Ludvig Søgnen Jensen a.k.a Ludde it’s already rapidly taking over Norway – and why wait, let’s have a FIS-sanctioned tour right away! Where else could you see top rollerski champs ( e.g. Ragnar Bragvin Andresen and Emanuele Becchis ) compete against top ski sprinters – including but not limited to Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Magnus Kim

3. Ski cross. The niche is already being explored and, possibly,taken – by Red Bull Nordix. Did you see crazy amount of views that highlights reel /promo gets?!

5.3 million views can’t be wrong – as one US based skiing reporter said, “ Red Bull is setting out to make XC-skiing cool” Potential participants? If you look carefully enough, you’d find out that the cream of the current world xc skiing circuit giving the video their Facebook likes.

4. You know what Eukonkanto did to the hitherto unheard of town of Sonkajärvi in Central Finland? It put it on the world map. Because that is where the World Championships in Eukonkanto, better known as “wife-carrying sport”, are held every year since 1992. We are not privy to the information as to what’s economic impact of such a fame – but the millions of views each championship get on social media speak for themselves for any advertiser.
…Step in no lesser name than Finn Haagen Krogh of Team Norge. Krogh is, as everybody knows, still wife-free ( but, allegedly, looking) so has to practice for Eukonkanto-on-skis with his sponsor instead ( for some reason, he chooses to piggyback the said sponsor instead of carrying him as one rightfully should – but those are insignificant details)

5. Needless to say, putting together a list of potential skiing competitions that could make thoseTV ratings jump, we can’t avoid the King of Ski himself. Here he is, together with Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset showing the world that the lack of snow does not need to hinder the process. And on the right location too, near Las-Vegas – they recognize the sport with a potential down there , when they see one.

…it all might sound either silly or sarcastic to you – but we mean every word. Just ask the biathlon’s best who each December, between Christmas and New Year, without fail, descend upon Gelsenkirchen, Germany (hardly a skiing place by anу stretch of imagination) where, in front of 50000 spectators at the terraces of the soccer Veltins-Arena and millions in front of their TVs ( live on main Germany channels!) they partake in the World Team Challenge – an event with EUR 150.000 prize bucket of which the winner takes home cool 40.000. And nobody – nobody – thinks it’s funny or demeaning to the sport to run laps on skis and shoot inside the stadium.