The Daily Skier

17Oct 2017 by DS News Team

Gällivare Premiere Is First Meet Of Season For Top Skiers. We Effort To Understand Why Is It So Popular

The wait is almost over – just one month & a change before the start of the competition season. The World Cup this year kicks of in Ruka, Finland on November 24th But before the WC first stage, some of the world's strongest skiers will meet, as it is their custom, on the tracks of the Swedish Gällivare – first for training and then to compete at the famed Gällivare Premiere. Nothing beats the first face-to-face race, World Cup or not. Apart from A-team from the home side, Sergey Ustiugov of Russia, Alex Harvey of Canada, Dario Cologna of Switzerland, Kikkan Randall of Team USA are all expected – and so will their teammates. The icing on the cake from the media & publicity point would come in a shape…

16Oct 2017 by DS News Team

XC Skiing Is More Appealing Than Alpine, Snowboarding – New Study

Money & Finance, Newsfeed

Cross-country skiing is becoming a trendy sport - so much so that it's beating in appeal both of its richer brothers, Alpine skiiing and snowboarding. Those are the findings of the just-released study of attitudes of Germans towards winter sports by Kantar TNS, a market research company. 35 million of Germans or 51% of the adult population, have interest in cross country skiing, compared to 50% in Alpine skiing and 40% in snowboarding. Which is quite shocking given how much more money both downhill sports currently generate compared to cross country skiing. "Having interest" at the moment does not necessary translate into active participation – only 6% are active skiers of all levels. Yet there are strong reasons to think, according to Kantar TNS, that cross country skiing is about…

14Oct 2017 by DS News Team

Definitive Guide Of Where To Ski Outdoors Mid-October

Newsfeed, Training & Outfitting

Hey, it's mid-October, time to start whetting your appetite for real skiing on crystal-white snow! No more envying those few who have time & money to travel to the Southern Hemisphere for a spot of summer ( ours) skiing. No need to drive to a ski tunnel, the walls of which , let's face it, can't compare with a view a real snow track provides. And you know what October 15th means? Well, that's the day the ski track opens in Livigno, that perennial capital of early skiing in Europe and beyond. While we await fresh pictures from 2017, here's some lovely shot video of what Livigno holds for a skier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyB58gSAYDg Not to be seen biased towards the valley squeezed between Italy and Switzerland, we put together some alternative…

13Oct 2017 by DS News Team

Maker Of High-End Cycling Insoles Enters XC Ski Market

Gear News, Newsfeed

Clearly, our great sport of cross country skiing is becoming more popular. How do we tell? Well, there are obvious signs. Like more and more companies entering the competition for skiers' hard earned dollar, offering their hitherto unknown wares. Not something that they would consider on a shrinking market, right? The German brand Solestar is primarily known for their high-tech ( and uber-expensive ) insoles used by some of the world's best cyclists - such as André Greipel, Matteo Trentin, Steve Cummings and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to name but a few. To develop a product fit for xc skiers the Germans have enlisted help of no lesser figure than Jean-Marc Gaillard, a skier from Equipe de France who's career is spanning nearly two decades ( and running) – seen on the photo…

13Oct 2017 by DS News Team

Brilliantly Blunt Yelena Välbe Does Not Mince Her Words In Recent Interview

Leaders, Newsfeed

Yelena Välbe was always known for her bold, no compromise performance on the ski tracks - the one that earned her 3 Olympic champion titles and incredible fourteen golds at the FIS World Championships. Now, running the Russian Cross Country Ski Federation and being the member of FIS cross country skiing Executive Board, she seem to have lost none of her fiery style. In interview with the Russian R-Sport new agency, she totally doesn't shy away from calling a spade a spade – the quality that earned her both admiration and scorn from ski fans. Here are some of the choicer excerpts: On the future of Skiathlon: "It's the smaller ski nations that are interested in kicking the skiathlon out of the World Championships' program. It's both complicated and expensive…

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