09Sep 2020 by DS News Team
That Day In Davos: Kalla vs 300HP SUV

That Day In Davos: Kalla vs 300HP SUV

Newsfeed
...that day in 2017 when we somehow missed Charlotte Kalla on the ski tracks and had to chase then-double Olympic champion through half of Davos to take pictures - any pictures of her ??. Not sure why Charlotte, one the biggest stars on the circuit , was not chaperoned/ driven as per usual by some team staff member and chaos to run to her hotel instead. It must have been a show: a trim & fit skier running along the streers closely followed by a pitch-black SUV with two rather burly looking bearded men with large cameras. Even seen-it-all locals ( we are in Davos, Switzerland, remember?) were looking with some interest. Must have thought a scene from James Bond 007 is being filmed or something. At the end even…
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01Sep 2020 by DS News Team
Sponsors Seriously Pimped Skiers’ Rides Recently

Sponsors Seriously Pimped Skiers’ Rides Recently

Newsfeed, Trivia
We register a trend that we like: top xcski stars drive fancier and fancier cars. Why are we happy? Easy: because in all cases here we are talking sponsors-provided vehicles and it is as clear as day that the said sponsors appreciate influencer-potential of best skiers more and more. Otherwise, why would they hand over the cars the sticker prices of which are seriously north of 50k and in some case close to 100k euros, the threshold of elusive "luxury vehicle" category? Let's look closer: Heidi Weng and Volvo XC60 T8 Hybrid R-Design. One of the top models in the Swedish car maker's line-up, sporting 0-100 km/h acceleration of some 5.3 second. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDrVZo5joyS/?igshid=1jkzer5psecis =========================================== Ebbа Andersson and VW Tiguan R-Line. The whole Swedish team has VW as a sponsor so…
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30Aug 2020 by DS News Team
Spine That Does Things Differently (But Finally Launches Its Website)

Spine That Does Things Differently (But Finally Launches Its Website)

Leaders, Newsfeed
Spine Sports is perhaps the oddest company there is in the whole of the xcski industry. Yet their market strategy seems to be working as more and more athletes and serious amateurs are being seen in Spine's marquee lapis-lazuli boots. [caption id="attachment_16860" align="alignnone" width="616"] Company is often defined by its boss - and Spine Sports offers proof of that postulate: Dmitry Vargin, Spine's co-founder and CEO, is mercurial and ambitious. As a man who built a multimillion dollar company from total scratch would be expected to be [/caption] Here's what makes them so different: - They are the world biggest cross-country boots producer by volume, churn out hundreds of thousands of them every year and operate large and well equipped factory in outskirts of the city of Yaroslavl in Russia…
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27Aug 2020 by DS News Team
Toppidrettsveka’s Aure Sprint Breaks Viewership Record On TV

Toppidrettsveka’s Aure Sprint Breaks Viewership Record On TV

Money & Finance, Newsfeed
Toppidrettsveka's Aure Sprint last Friday was watched by some 451.000 viewers on NRK, national public television channel. That's an absolutely whopping figure for the country with 4.2 million of adult population in 2020, with television viewership on decline everywhere in the world. And the new record for Toppidrettsveka. "The sprint in Aure was the beginning of Toppidrettsveka back in 2005: 13 athletes and 10 volunteers with a total budget of some 9000 NOK or about 800 Euros", says Harald Fladseth, the event organizer. Factors that worked in favor of Aure: cancellation of the Olympics and coveted Friday prime-time slot in broadcast schedule ( but that was done on purpose by the organizers & NRK, clearly) The three-leg competition in and around Trondheim is, along with Blinkfestivalen, a premier event of…
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23Aug 2020 by DS News Team
One Small Step For Apparel Maker, One Giant Leap For Mankind

One Small Step For Apparel Maker, One Giant Leap For Mankind

Gear News, Newsfeed
In 2020 the most important piece of gear for cross country skier is...not skis - smartphone! Assume you all agree that's an axiom and thus doesn't need proving: enough to look at the strength/ speed with which hitherto dead-tired young men and women rush for their phones once their race or training session is over. Sure, there a sect within the community that believes that skiing time IS the time to unwind and take a break from that "connected life" - but its numbers are rapidly dwindling. The masses roar:"Nothing gets between me and my smartphone - ever!" Jokes aside, unless you happened to be a world class skier who is nearly always accompanied by coach/ support personnel on car/ bike, you do need a smartphone - to play your…
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