BEITOSTØLEN (Nettavisen): Both Beitostølen and Bruksvallarna have fine snow off the ski slopes as the Norwegian and Swedish riders kick off their season this weekend.
There is artificial snow on the slopes, while in Beitostølen there is bare earth outside, and along the slopes in Bruksvallarna you can still see grass. If I took off the artificial snow, there wouldn’t have been much of a reminder of winter.
If it had been for Frida Karlsson, you could have waited quite a while to start the season. You present a proposal to postpone the start to mid-December.
– If we’d waited just a month, we would have been fine with snow in all arenas, she adds The Espresso during the Swedes’ season opener.
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It has become a talking point
Karlsson doesn’t like the fact that large sums of money are spent on making and transporting artificial snow, which is hard to avoid when the season starts in mid-November.
– Everyone is chasing the snow. Trucks with snow are brought in, it costs a lot of money, while many have to save. You’re afraid of the dark, she says.
Many of the Norwegian female skiers Nettavisen spoke to agree that it’s early to start the season in November. Ragnhild Haga says the topic has been discussed among the girls of the national team.
– We also talked about it at table, he says to Nettavisen.
She wouldn’t have minded starting the season a little later, and therefore also finishing the season later.
– I did the Janteloppet in April in Gaiastova with good weather and good snow conditions. So that we had started later and finished later, I think it would have been much more sustainable for the environment. Besides, people shouldn’t have been chasing snow so early, she says.
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– I can’t sit here and complain
Ane Appelkvist Stenseth, for her part, thinks waiting a full month to start the season is a bit in the worst way.
– But I think it could probably be an advantage to move it a week or two, yes. In 2019 a week passed and then there was much more snow here, he tells Nettavisen, and at the same time points out that snow conditions can vary a lot from year to year.
Karlsson says the response she’s gotten as to why the start of the season is so early is because of TV schedules.
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However, she’s not sure if she’ll be able to change the time at the start of the season, but at least she’ll try.
– I guess I have to try to be even more about them. I’m not sitting here complaining, I have to do something about it instead, she says.
International recruit Margrethe Bergane thinks it might be a good idea to wait a bit with the start of the season, but has no negative words to say about the conditions in Beitostølen.
– It would certainly have been nice to move it a bit, but right here today the conditions were great. It’s hard to say, but it’s clear that there isn’t much snow these days, he tells Nettavisen.
Frida Karlsson also opened the season with a 3rd place in the Bruksvallarna sprint classic on Friday.
