“Below par”. This is how the alpinist from Rælingen describes last season. For the alpinist who usually wins several victories during a season, this was one out of the ordinary. One second place, two third places. Not a single one says. It’s not something the 30-year-old can say he’s satisfied with, and already midway through the season he took steps that could have an impact on the coming season. SKUFFA: Here from Kitzbühel where he was number 21. Photo: GEORG HOCHMUTH / AFP – Mentally tired Because there were several things that didn’t add up. Kristoffersen calls it “unusual”. Among other things, he drove with too sharp edges on his skis. – When you drive with too few edges, there is too little leeway, and then I start the turn too early, and then I have to let up. And then I have to make the turn after the gate, because I don’t have enough space before the gate. And then the turn comes after the gate, then it goes against the forces, and then it goes slowly. So it’s that simple, but so difficult, in that sense, says Kristoffersen. But he got far into the season before they started to take proper action on the changes, and then there was only a short time left in the season. – You were already tired, mentally tired because things didn’t go as they should, and it takes time to let go of habits. He nevertheless started some changes before the season was over. As early as February, he chose to replace the serviceman. After that, the arrows started pointing in the right direction. – I had two podiums after that and was close to a win in (Palisades) Tahoe, where it worked very well. But at that point there are very few training days left, says Kristoffersen. Therefore, the most important job began after the end of the season. But with a new service man who understood his needs to a greater extent and communicated better, the road was already easier. – Extreme differences Photo: John Locher / AP One of the most important changes he has made is very technical for those who are not very alpine-savvy. But Kristoffersen explains it like this: – When you sharpen an edge on an alpine ski, you are, in a way, sharpening the side edge. If the black coating is below here, then you grind that edge. And when you sand both with a file and with a machine, you push on that edge that way, and then in a way there is an “egg” underneath. If that egg gets too big, in a way, too far down, then things get very, very aggressive, says Kristoffersen. – And now I hardly drive with any eggs at all. So here we are talking about micrometers, aren’t we, what is called “my”. But even if we are going down to the microscopic level, according to Kristoffersen, it is quite an enormous change. According to him, someone who is “relatively OK” to ski would know the difference. – Fattar’n can ski, but he had not raced in the European Cup or World Cup or done particularly well in FIS races in Norway. But he does have racing shoes, and when he feels a big difference, that speaks for itself, says Kristoffersen. – I drove around 17-18-19-20 miles last year. And now we are at around three. Between two and four my. There are quite extreme differences. The differences Kristoffersen is talking about are thus around 15 my, equivalent to 0.015 millimetres. – Harmonious Another important part for Kristoffersen is that they now work much more systematically than before. Details are recorded on paper. Everything is logged. According to Kristoffersen, there has not been much desire for this in the past, but service man Martin Winderle has an eye for detail. – Then you can also go back to see what works and what doesn’t. And you have numbers on things, then. That makes it easier to say goodbye, says Kristoffersen. Team Kristoffersen is simply better than in a long time, says Kristoffersen. It is a better system and fewer cooks. – It is a little more harmonious, and there are a little fewer opinions and objections now than there were in the early years. We are very much in agreement about which way we should go about things, says Kristoffersen. – Now it’s nice to go skiing. Of course it’s easier. Things are easier when things are going well. As long as we manage to continue like this and work correctly, life is generally easier. This is “Team Kristoffersen” Toni Giger, head of racing at Van Deer Red Bull Edi Unterberger, head of alpine racing at Van Deer Red Bull Martin Winderle, serviceman Hubert Immler, designer and maker of the shoes Lars Kristoffersen, trainer Jörgen Nordlund, trainer Daniel Tangen, physical trainer Anna Hutter, physiotherapist Red Bull Norwegian party night in Slovenia – pictures from TV 2 01:58 Here the runners run in Antarctica 00:29 Haaland at the press conference: – Had expected more action 00:30 Here Gukild loses his dignity: – You should have seen the face of Paul Pogba 00:48 Show more Published 16.11.2024, at 17.16
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Made a change of 0.015 millimeters: – Extreme difference
