When the slopes are calling, I answer!
When this year's World Ski Championships were held in Trondheim, it was the second time the capital of Trøndelag had hosted the championships and the popular festival.
From February 26 to March 9, the world's ski stars gathered in Trondheim to compete on the ski slopes and ski jumps. All competitions were held in the new Granåsen, a state-of-the-art facility for Nordic sports. The distances were a 10 km interval start, a 20 km skiathlon, a 50 km joint start and a 4 × 7.5 km relay. New additions included a joint start of 5 km / standard slope in a combined event for women. Furthermore, the men's standard slope/10 km combined event was reduced to a standard slope/5 km. For the first time ever, the cross-country distance races were equal in length for both men and women. New drills also included sprinting for cross-country pairs. A great deal has changed since the era of Sondre Norheim, the father of modern skiing.
The father of modern skiing
Norway's skiing traditions date back to the 1850s, when a strong skiing culture began to emerge in Telemark. At the forefront of this was Sondre Norheim, often referred to as the father of modern skiing. He was born on the steep slopes of Morgedal in 1825. Sondre was a keen skier, who grew up in a world of hard work and great poverty. Winters were snowy, and skis were an important means of transport. However, skis were also used for recreation, with ski races being organised and prizes awarded to the winners. The first time Sondre Norheim showed off his unusual skiing skills was when he and his older brother Eivind decided to ski jump from the roof of their home. As a young man, Sondre spent a great deal of time in Setesdal, where he worked as a mower and blacksmith in the summer and as a carpenter or lumberjack in the winter. He preferred to settle in areas with a strong skiing environment, where he created trails that were unmatched in quality. However, his crowning achievement was the master trail he created in his home village of Morgedal: Kastedalskotet - the world's first "off-piste" trail. A famous quote from Sondre, whenever he was tired of logging and would rather be skiing, is: - When the slopes are calling, I answer!
