Let’s talk about the sporting and work commitments of one of our top long-distance cross-country skiers, Fabián Štoček.

Last winter, you completed your Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Munich. You said you’d finally experience being a full-time athlete focused only on training, but it seems like you’ve added more work responsibilities again?

I started working for a Swiss company, Archinsis. I took a while to find the right balance of what I wanted. It turned out to be a great startup with a sports-science focus that also offered flexible work hours to accommodate training. Initially, it wasn’t easy; I barely speak French.

The company was founded six years ago when its founder completed Ph.D. research in Geneva. The Swedish national cross-country skiing team signed a contract with the company to develop technology for skiing analysis using IMUs (inertial measurement units)—similar to the small box you might know from soccer. The data is collected in a similar way, but the key is skiing-specific analysis. I handle this analysis and work on explaining it effectively to coaches.

Read more: Fabián Štoček about his triumph at Vasaloppet China

Another big change was moving to Lausanne, where your girlfriend got a job. How are your training conditions now? I imagine they’ve improved compared to Munich?

Yes, we live right next to EPFL, where my partner works.

Training-wise, it has improved—we live just five minutes from Lake Geneva, with beautiful mountains nearby. But in winter, we still have to drive quite far for snow, almost as far as from Munich. We live on the southern slope by the lake, so winter temperatures are relatively mild. The nearest mountain range, Jura, is about a 25-minute drive to the base and 50 minutes to the top. Even there (around 1,500 m altitude), last season, the groomed trails were only available for 3–4 weeks. It was an unusually mild winter, so hopefully, this year will be better.

You mentioned learning French. How is it going?

I’m still struggling, or rather enjoying the learning process. An intensive course would probably be the best way. I try to listen to the radio on my way to work, learn vocabulary, and now I’m speaking more. I attended a few training camps with the French team, which now includes our new teammate, Hanna Fine. Shared French dinners felt like being in a “foreign land” to me. Swiss French is a bit easier because it’s slower. I’ll need to keep improving over the winter.

Last winter, you combined long-distance skiing with ski mountaineering. Did that help or hinder your performance in long-distance races?

Short-term, it probably hurt my performance a bit, but long-term (over 2–3 seasons), it will help. I learned a lot about diverse training methods. It’s quite interesting to mix upper-body-focused double poling with the leg-intensive work needed for skimo.

What inspired you to compete in skimo races?

I’ve long dreamed of participating in skimo races. The views from higher altitudes and the challenge, combined with thrilling descents, are appealing. Sometimes when I’m skiing in the valley and look at the surrounding peaks, I wonder what the views from up there must be like and how amazing it would be to ski down through fresh powder. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about the Olympics, but I wanted to experience at least one season first to understand everything, from races to the federation.

Do you hope to make it to the Winter Olympics as a ski mountaineer next year? Is that a realistic goal?

It would be interesting, but my chances are below 10%. I don’t want to focus solely on sprint training, which is, unfortunately, the discipline that will be included in the Olympics for skimo.

How do you prepare in summer, balancing two quite different disciplines?

I mainly added more classic roller skiing sessions. Otherwise, my summer training hasn’t changed much. I run a lot in the mountains, which is essential for skimo, but I’ve been doing that for years.

Do you see any similarities between the two sports?

Both sports involve skiing with poles, but skimo is more leg-intensive, while cross-country skiing, especially double poling, relies heavily on the upper body. It might seem counterproductive, but if you’re fatigued from one sport, you can still be fresh for the other.

I thought I could transfer upper-body strength to skimo, but it only works on icy, steep surfaces. Off-piste, poles often sink in, serving more for stability than powerful thrusts, even with bigger baskets.

Did training for skimo help your cross-country skiing?

Yes, I benefited from increased cardiovascular capacity. In skimo, you often race hard uphill for 20–30 minutes, followed by a fast descent, and then repeat. There’s not much time to rest, unlike in cross-country races, where you can recover a bit on descents, or in long-distance races, where you can rest for several seconds or even tens of seconds after long climbs. In skimo, there’s only a mini-break in the transition zone before descents, where you strip off climbing skins, and that takes just a few seconds.

You want to focus more on skimo races this year. What’s your plan for Ski Classics?

I have ten Ski Classics races planned, so I’ll be able to do most of them, plus a few Worldloppet events like the Tartu Marathon and the American Birkebeiner. It’ll be quite packed again, so we’ll see how it goes.

Do you have specific goals in Ski Classics?

Last season, I was thrilled to finish in the top 20, and I’d love to achieve that again. With the merger of two teams, there will be some changes this season, so I hope it pushes us all forward.

Last season, Ski Classics filmed an episode with the Vltava Fund Ski Team for the documentary series Ski or Die, including an interview with Fabián. You can watch it here.