After Season XII, Heli Heiskanen was eighth in the overall Ski Classics Champion bib competition, just ahead of Kati Roivas, with 9th place in Marcialonga and Jizerská50 and 10th at Vasaloppet as her best performances. Heli’s career-best finishes have been 4th at Jizerská50, twice 6th at Toblach-Cortina in Italy, and 6th at Vasaloppet in 2018.

Heli is now facing a new life situation this year after her divorce, and her new position as a mathematics teacher in Kuusamo gives her a good base to push on towards next winter.

“This is the end of one era in my life, and I look positively towards the future. I am moving to Kuusamo, and this change has brought new resources into my life. Now there are other colors in my life,” Heli says in an interview to Maastohiihto.com.

At this stage of the summer, the skiers are already looking ahead to the next season, but it is good to recall last winter’s achievements. Heli says she is pretty satisfied with the past season.

“I did well in the big races, the Grand Classics. Birkebeinerrennet was a bit underperforming, but otherwise, a good overall result, and I was sixth overall in the four main races. Marit Bjørgen said last season that the pace in the women’s races had increased a lot, and you could see that. I was able to increase my pace myself, which is a good sign.” 

Heli has skied almost all the Ski Classics races every season so far, and there are always ups and downs in a tough season. This winter, she plans to focus more on the main winter races.

“I’m also looking to get speed and fitness from the traditional distance races. I haven’t made a definitive plan for this winter’s races yet, but again those Grand Classics are the main target. I have usually been able to stay healthy, so I have been able to ski a lot of races during the winter. But now I want to focus more on a few important races in the coming season.” 

Ski Classics evolves and changes every year, and the calendar for the coming season is again challenging. How does Heli see next season as a whole?

“Yes, next season will be tough. There are quite many two-race weekends. I wonder why those distances have to be so long when there are so many races. On the last weekend in Norway, there are two tough races in a row. I think one race would have been enough because that weekend is also the only chance to meet other skiers and socialize after a long season.” 

Of course, the fierce competition season of the coming winter requires a solid fitness base. Heli is still training under Jarmo Riski’s guidance and with the same old template. 

She runs 5-6 times a week, as running is one of her passions. One of her favorite workouts is a 60-90 minute run with a fast tempo. Naturally, double poling exercises on rollerskis are part of the program and strength training. Heli does not do uphill running with poles in the summer but a little more in the autumn. She has only been on the bike three times after the ski season.

Last summer, Heli spent two months in the Czech Republic training with her team; this year, she spent a month in Central Europe.

“In general, my training aims to improve the intensity training quality. This summer, I was first in the Czech Republic for two weeks between mid-June and then in Livigno for a couple of weeks, training with different skiers like Krista Pärmäkoski. I also took part in two rollerskiing competitions, which I won. I did quite a lot of uphill training on rollerskis to develop my muscular endurance. I also did some intensity training. I also double poled up the Passo Stelvio climb, which is 20 kilometers long.”

Now it’s the rollerskiing competition season, and there are many high-level races in Sweden and Norway. However, Heli doesn’t see them as vital to her because she travels enough in the winter, and training at home saves her mental resources. Of course, she is thinking about the Lake Saimaa Roller Ski Marathon in Imatra in September, a Ski Classics Challengers event, and perhaps a rollerski race on the Czech-Polish border. 

“Mass is power in rollerskiing. Lightweight women don’t do as well as they do on snow. The power impulse is completely different in rollerskiing. I ski on Marwe’s wheel resistance 6, Swenor’s 3, and sometimes Marwe’s 7 in training. I can also do uphill skiing on Swenor’s wheel resistance 2. With slow wheels, the technique practically lags behind, so you have to be careful when practicing on rollerskis,” says Heli.

As a skier who has spent years at the top of the Finnish and world long-distance skiing, how does she see the sport’s future in her home country? Ylläs-Levi is out of the Ski Classics map, and the TV rights for next winter are still up for negotiation.

“Ylläs-Levi was also a good benchmark for cross-country skiers in Finland. It was a race where you could compare yourself against the best in the world. I think that next winter, we will not see as many Finns as before in the Ski Classics. I hope that Finland will find a new venue for Ski Classics. Ruka would be a great destination, with really great terrain and the organizers have a lot of experience from the World Cup. I am happy that we now have many Finnish teams in the Ski Classics, which will give us a boost and competition between us. It’s always a good challenge to be the best Finn in the races. However, it is a pity that the financial contribution of the teams is usually not up to the level required to succeed in this series.”

However, Heli will wear the blue and white colors with honor next winter. She still has a contract with the Czech team Slavia Pojišťovna Sport Team Z.S. until October, with an option to continue. Heli is looking forward to next winter with confidence, and if all the stars are aligned, it could be the season of her life.