“A major championship-free season means you can test and push the limits,” says Poromaa from the Swedish National Team camp in Livigno.

During the past winter, 22-year-old William Poromaa broke a barrier. When he crossed the finish line at the World Championships in Planica after 50km of skiing, he won Sweden’s first World Championships medal on the men’s side since 2017.

For that competition, he had chosen to prepare at altitude. For the upcoming championship-free season (no World Championships or Winter Olympics), he is choosing to spend much of his training during the dryland season at high altitude.

When the Swedish National Team left the training camp in Livigno at the end of last week, Poromaa completed the fifth week of the summer camp at altitude:

“I have chosen to focus a lot on high-altitude training for the upcoming season. I have prepared at high altitude for the World Championships and the Olympics and know I respond well to it. It is a little different training during the winter compared to what we do now during the summer. In the winter, you are not training as in the summer, but I’m satisfied with the training I’ve done this pre-season. It’s going well. Then we’ll find out if it works in the winter,” says Poromaa to Langd.se.

The fact that there are no major championships in the coming winter also means that there are opportunities to try new things:

“It allows me to try and dare to push the boundaries a bit. I’m learning about altitude to take steps in the future and what I can do in the upcoming championships,” says Poromaa during the press conference in connection with the National Team’s training camp in Livigno.

What is your goal for the upcoming season?

“This will be my first championship-free season. I hope to start as many races as possible. I have been on the podium but not won in the World Cup, so that is a goal. Then, of course, championships are what drive me the most. Still, after this winter, three straight winters of championships await (the World Championships in Trondheim 2025, the 2026 Olympics in Italy, and the World Championships in Falun in 2027),” says Poromaa, who will compete at Klarälvsloppet on roller skis this Sunday, October 1. 

The 90km Klarälvsloppet, a Ski Classics Challengers event, will be live-streamed on SC Play. 

Read More: Top athletes ready to roll at Klarälvsloppet 2023.

The Swedish National Team’s venture at high altitude for the coming season is part of a larger altitude project:

“There has been a request from some skiers to focus more on training at high altitudes. Here there is individualization, but those who want to be more at altitude should have the opportunity to do this, and here we will get support from the Swedish Olympic Committee who will help us, which is needed because of the financial situation,” said the Swedish National Team manager Anders Byström in an interview earlier this summer.

Also Read: Focus on altitude training for the Swedish National Team.