"Smooth transition into
winter" for Norwegian team
Mikko Kokslien in flight - NordicFocus
With two training camps in central Europe, Team
Norway is making its way into the Olympic winter.
After spending some time in Ramsau where a lot of
Nordic Combined teams are using the glacier to get
the first kilometres of snow under their skis, head
coach Kristian Hammer and his squad headed to Oberstdorf
for a last jumping camp on plastic this week.
The ice track on Oberstdorf's large hill is helping
to get the feeling of winter jumping back at least
partially. "It's nice that we get some jumps
on ice so the adaption goes a bit faster when we
start on snow", national team member Mikko
Kokslien explains on his website.
Jumping sensation Haavard Klemetsen will not join
the team in Oberstdorf but focus on his cross-country
training again. He'll be joining the Norwegian cross-country
national team in Val Senales.
The next couple of weeks have been planned carefully
by the Norwegian coaching staff to ensure an easy
transition into wintertime. Sports director Sverre
Rotevatn: "We would like to make the transition
into wintertime as smooth as possible, so we are
hoping for good conditions without snow for this
upcoming week of jumping on plastic in Obersdorf.
At the beginning of November, we'll hopefully have
snow in the Nordseter/Sjusjoen area. The team is
set to focus on the cross-country part for the first
week."
After this, another jumping camp is planned right
before the big Norwegian cross-country opening and
national championships in Beitostoelen on the 22nd-23rd
of November.
Mikko Kokslien can't wait: "The season is closing
in and I feel the eagerness to compete getting bigger
every day. So I hope to finish the plastic season
in a good way and soon it will be showtime again!"