Team BSV IBEX Hopes To Make Skiing More Popular In Switzerland

by ANDRÉ SANTOS • 20.11.2022
After a season in which the Swiss Pro Team had to fight against many obstacles, Team BSV IBEX is now hoping to return to a top 20 position. After adopting a new training methodology and doing more training camps, the team wants to make long-distance skiing more popular in Switzerland.
After a season in which the Swiss Pro Team had to fight against many obstacles, Team BSV IBEX is now hoping to return to a top 20 position. After adopting a new training methodology and doing more training camps, the team wants to make long-distance skiing more popular in Switzerland.

Last season did not go as the Swiss Team BSV IBEX was expecting. After having dedicated many hours to prepare for the season, the Pro Team’s athletes had to fight with a lot of illness during the whole winter, thus making it difficult to have the team fighting for Ski Classics points at every race. 

“We are not satisfied with the season,” says the Pro Team Director Markus Walser. 

“We had some good individual results, like Andri Schlittler, who performed well at the La Venosta time trial. We are also satisfied with our ladies, especially Seraina Kaufmann, who had a very good first season,” continues Markus, stating that despite things not going as they were expecting, the experience of racing Ski Classics is always enriching.

After the last race, Andi Schlittler decided it was time to put his skis on the shelf, but Markus strengthened his team with some new faces: Gian Flurin Pfäffli and Marino Capelli. Both athletes come from the Swiss Junior National Team. 

“I am aware that both athletes need some time to make the change from traditional skiing to long-distance skiing, but I am sure they will already ski and have some good results for the team next winter.”

Read More: Two New Swiss Skiers For Team BSV IBEX

But for now, the focus is getting ready for next winter, where the main goal will be to finish the Pro Team competition in the top 20. In November, the Swiss Pro Team moved to Livigno for five days to have its first training camp on snow. On the team’s Instagram account, it was possible to see a small track crowded with skiers having their first on-snow training of the season.

“Due to warm weather, Livigno has only opened a 500 meters loop course. But it also had very good conditions for rollerskiing, so we had some quality training. We only used the snow track for some technique training because the long-distance sessions were done on rollerskis, and the intensity sessions were done by running up the mountains,” continues the Swiss Pro Team director.

However, Markus shared that the training on snow was not ending in Livigno. The snow farm in Davos is open, and the team will be based there to continue preparing for the season. 

“We really want that our ladies have some top 25 positions, and our boys can fight for the top 20. But what we really want is to have the whole team healthy at the starting line.”

Read More: Team BSV IBEX – Pro Team Presentation Season XIV

The Influence Of Nils Van Der Poel’s Philosophy During The Summer

Summer training went like Team BSV Ibex had planned, having done eight training camps in different locations. Katerina Paul and Lauro Brandli spent the summer training and racing in Australia, enjoying the snow season down under. The rest of the team gathered during training camps and at least twice a week in Davos.

“We also had some competitions during the summer,” says Markus, stating that the good performances gave the team a lot of motivation. 

“With these races, we could feel we are on the right path. Katerina Paul won two sprint competitions in Australia and New Zealand. We are very happy about our summer training and looking forward to training on snow in Davos.”

Some of these promising results are due to a change in the training philosophy. Like many other long-distance skiers, the Swiss Pro Team adopted a training program based on Nils Van Der Poel’s training philosophy, where the training will be much more polarized.

“Because we were unhappy about last season’s result, I changed the training philosophy last spring. Changing the training philosophy is always a risk, but now we are convinced that this works for us. We are using Nils Van Der Poel’s training methods, which means training five days a week and resting two, like a normal worker. In May, June, and July, we did only long training sessions. In August, September, and October, we did a lot of threshold training besides the long sessions. And from now on, we will do a lot of high-intensity sessions. As I can say until now, the team adapted to the new training well, and the whole team made some steps forward.”

The Future Of Cross-Country Skiing In Switzerland

Despite being home to the recently retired Dario Cologna, the popularity of cross-country skiing is small in Switzerland, even though mountains and snow cover the country. 

“During the last years, cross-country skiing in Switzerland was more or less the same as Dario Cologna. But even with him on our national team, the sport is small compared to alpine skiing. However, the number of participants has increased during the pandemic”, says Markus, feeling a bit optimistic about the future. 

“We have a lot of work to do, especially at La Diagonela,” he continues, referring to the race held in Switzerland, and hoping it can increase interest in long-distance skiing.

“I think the Ski Classics concept is excellent and might make skiing more popular.” 

The concept of having elite and recreational skiers starting the competitions side by side is something that Markus enjoys, and he hopes that this concept attracts more Swiss fans.

But just like it happened in other nations, if Team BSV IBEX manages to succeed, especially at La Diagonela, it will probably be easier to make the sport more popular. 

“We need to make La Diagonela as important as Engadin Skimarathon. And it would also help if the Swiss public could watch Ski Classics races on television, just like it happens in other places,” concludes Markus.

Read More: Ski Classics Announced The 35 Pro Teams Season XIV

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