It was with perfect conditions through and through that Norway received the Austrian Nordic Combined team which just returned from an eight-day training camp in the north. Many jumping sessions and roller-ski kilometres were completed at the first stop Lillehammer before the team changed locations to Oslo.

Perfect, sunny summer weather welcomed head coach Christoph Eugen’s team and an enthusiastic World Champion Berhard Gruber recounts the team’s stay in Lillehammer: „Some people will surely ask why we went through all the trouble of going to Norway when we have enough hills and roller-ski tracks at home. But what is offered here in terms of training facilities is really unique. The hotel is right next to the hill and it is just a few kilometres to the roller-ski track. You can completely focus on the important things and improve the quality of training. To chance up things, we drove up to Sjusjoen a couple of times where the World Cup races have been held a couple of years ago. It’s just amazing to roller-ski there, in the middle of a beautiful landscape, on demanding track. What more could you possibly want?“

The last few days were spent in Oslo because also the area at Holmenkollen offers all facilities very closely together. Two test competitions were held during the camp which will influence the choice of athletes sent to compete in the Summer Grand Prix.

„We had a camp with ideal conditions“, head coach Eugen sums up. „I am very satisfied with the work we’ve done in the jumping part. The the cross-country part, we were able to use three different tracks which are quite different from each other and the test competitions gave us good insights on how the boys are doing at the moment. This will certainly influence who we will send to the Summer Grand Prix.“