Hard Packed Snow in Stadium and on Tracks

However, conditions at the Östersund Ski Stadium offered a completely different perspective from the weather reports and the surrounding area. The stadium and tracks are deeply covered with hard packed snow. Additionally, the rain actually stopped on Wednesday evening and the sun peeped through the partly cloudy skies this morning during training.

Numerous Teams Training

As workers continued to prepare the stadium and surrounding area for next week’s World Cup opener, numerous teams were making their final preparations during this morning’s training session. Among the teams on hand were Sweden, Poland, Ukraine, USA, Great Britain, and Russia. Despite over two weeks of almost daily rain, Swedish Coach Wolfgang Pichler, after making several rounds of the tracks, called conditions “perfect.”

Community Support

Even during today’s training session, huge trucks continued to move in and out of the stadium area delivering more snow. Östersund OC Chairperson Gun Fahlander commented, “The good conditions are all due to the cooperation with the municipality of Östersund. They have worked very hard on the snow to insure good training conditions for the early arriving teams and the World Cup.”

With no concerns about snow for next week, the OC can focus on other parts of the World Cup preparations. Fahlander admitted that things were going well and big crowds are expected once again. “There is a lot of enthusiasm in town and with our volunteers. We have actually sold more tickets this year than last year so far. The VIP areas are mostly sold out, except for Sunday. Both the community and businesses in Sweden are coming together to support the World Cup. Of course, having such a good Swedish Team helps add to the interest of the general public and the media.”

Six days and counting; the Olympic season is rapidly approaching, and Östersund is well prepared for both the athletes and fans.