By Teemu Virtanen
This week’s Orsa2Levi went to Livigno, Italy, where Team Ragde Charge’s Oskar Kardin is having his almost a month long high altitude training camp together with his teammate Andreas Nygaard.
According to Oskar, the training sessions has proceeded well, and everything is under control regarding his preparation for the upcoming season.
“The weather’s nice here, and the conditions are perfect for skiing. Right now, there are about 20 km of ski tracks here, both artificial snow and about 50 cm of natural snow. We’ve done about 4-5 hours of training every day, mostly easy sessions. We’ve tested skis, and we’re getting used to the altitude because we have so many races high up. I like Livigno and the Alps this time of the year. Östersund, where I live, is gloomy and rainy, which is not perfect for training. This was a great place for our season premiere, but I think Orsa will be nice as well,” Oskar tells the podcast audience.
Oskar had his best Pro Tour season with the Engadin La Diagonela victory and the third place in the Champion competition. He is currently the fifth best skier in the SC Ranking. He finished in the top-9 in every race, but he also faced some bad luck on the way to the top-three on the tour.
“Overall, it was my best season in Visma Ski Classics, and I was able to stay healthy, had no injuries and was consistent throughout the winter. I fought for the podium in every race. It was really good for me. Of course, I was a bit surprised that I became our number one skier because we have a strong team. I just took the opportunity and did the best I could.”
On the podcast episode, Oskar talks about every event of the season and analyzes them in detail. Naturally, he is very happy about the first race, Engadin La Diagonela, where he was able to break away from the pack and win the race by a huge margin.
“It was a very cold race, and that suited me well. I also had good skis, and after St. Moritz I got a small gap, which wasn’t my plan. But I took the opportunity and skied by myself for a while. After about five kilometers, I was a minute ahead of the others, then it was just to go all out. No one wanted to chase me, and my teammates were in the lead group, which was good for the team tactics. My first victory was really a confidence booster for me.”
Oskar is eagerly looking forward to the new season, and he thinks that he is ready to fight for more victories and the yellow bib. He is also pleased to see new races in the calendar.
“I like the new Reschenseerennen because it’s a 75 km race, and Tartu Maraton is a race with a long history. I think it’s great to have races with tradition, and Estonia is a new country for us. I think the calendar is really good now. I like the spring races because that’s the best time to ski. It’s great that the season is so long. We’re training a lot in the summer, so it’s good to have many races in the winter.”
On the podcast, Oskar also reveals his training methods and philosophy. He is a firm believer in easy distance training. He also likes running as a training method. His 3000-meter track record time is 8:28 min, which is extremely good for a skier.
“I think you can get good results by doing a lot of endurance training and have a couple of interval sessions per week. If you have a lot of volume, you can maintain your high capacity and be almost at your best. I like to do intervals with skierg or by double-poling either on roller-skis or on skis, but I also do about 25% of my interval session by running. It’s good for VO2max. I often use a running treadmill. I also think that running is not necessary for long distance skiers, but it’s good to have something else than just double-poling, like skating or cycling, if you want to have a lot of volume in your training.”
Besides skiing, Oskar loves hunting and fishing. Being outdoors is really his calling. He has been together with his girlfriend, who is also a skier, for a long time, and their life together goes very smoothly.
“Of course, we would like to have a family with kids someday, but right now we push it forward. My girlfriend and I like the same things and we see the world in the same way. We hunt and fish together and go out for ski mountaineering. We do almost everything together. Generally speaking, I think it’s important to have time to enjoy the things you have in life.”
On the podcast, Oskar also walks down memory lane and recalls his days of youth and how he ended up being a skier. He says that the greatest time of his life was when he was at school. He also looks into the future and ponders what happens after his skiing career. You can listen to Orsa2Levi on all possible podcast platforms and on the Visma Ski Classics site:
