Skirious problems

Alvar Alev is back with Mika and Jimmy for a Park City catch-up that moves from serious skiing to completely unnecessary personal conflict.They talk about Alvar changing his training after six years, why Park City keeps bringing him back, what European skiing can learn from the American system, university teams, Soldier Hollow and Utah 2034, Will Koch’s move to biathlon, and the economics behind athlete pathways.Then Mika reveals he is still angry about pickleball. Jimmy explains why Mika is the worst person in the world to argue with. A debate about double poling becomes personal, Alvar gets a front-row seat, and nobody learns anything.This is not a polished interview. It is three elite skiers in Park City with too many opinions and enough history to say exactly what they think.

Mika got sick on the final day of the SKIRIOUS Park City camp, so Jimmy handed the second microphone to Norwegian coach Vetle and opened the floor to the athletes.What began as a quick camp recap became a live coaching clinic: what Norway can learn from American ski culture, why underdogs can build stronger teams, how to plan a sprint heat, when training should feel hard, whether young skiers need to peak, and how to balance skiing with other sports and school.Recorded at Soldier Hollow in Utah, future home territory of the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Recorded in the middle of Blink Festival in Sandnes - with four people, three microphone cables and very tired legs - Mika and Jimmy sit down with Blink founder and sports director Arne Idland and IDT Sports' Morten Iversbakken.
Morten explains why IDT brings 1,300 pairs of brand-new roller skis to Blink, whether Lysebotn Opp times can really be compared across different years, and why equal equipment, logistics and athlete safety matter.
Arne tells the story of how Blink grew from an idea shared with legendary NRK commentator Kjell Kristian Rike into a free city-centre festival owned by the people of Sandnes. The conversation then gets bigger: what can World Cups learn from Blink, why does biathlon appear more willing to change than cross-country skiing, should roller skiing become part of the main World Cup, do we need more race formats - and do we even need classic technique?
This one contains skiing, business, city-building, FIS versus the IBU, a proposed Norwegian Olympics and the usual amount of Skirious chaos.
BLINK: https://www.blinkfestivalen.no/
IDT Sports: https://idtsports.com/

Does the famous “Norwegian training method” actually exist?

Professor Øyvind Sandbakk joins Mika and Jimmy for a deep conversation about what has really made Norway so successful—not only in cross-country skiing, but across endurance sport.

We discuss Norway’s wealth, sporting culture, club system and willingness to share knowledge; why copying individual Norwegian sessions often misses the bigger picture; and whether many athletes would develop better by staying home instead of chasing altitude camps.

The conversation then turns to how cross-country skiers are actually built: technique versus physiology, volume versus intensity, training at 14, 18 and 22, learning through failure, and why testing should be viewed as facing reality—not sitting an exam.

Topics include:

•⁠ ⁠Is there really a Norwegian method?
•⁠ ⁠What can countries with fewer resources realistically copy?
•⁠ ⁠Is altitude training overrated?
•⁠ ⁠Running versus roller skiing
•⁠ ⁠How training should develop from junior to senior level
•⁠ ⁠When more volume becomes valuable
•⁠ ⁠Why athletes need room to make mistakes
•⁠ ⁠What “talent” actually means in cross-country skiing
•⁠ ⁠Mika’s own training development and recent struggles

This is not a conversation about finding one perfect training programme. It is about understanding why different athletes need different routes—and why the environment around the training may matter just as much as the sessions themselves.

Subscribe to Skirious Problems for more honest conversations from inside cross-country skiing.

#CrossCountrySkiing #EnduranceTraining #NorwegianMethod

Jimmy and Mika are back with your No. 1 Nordic podcast, and this time they’re joined by Johannes Rydzek for an in-depth conversation about one of the biggest stories in winter sports: the removal of Nordic Combined from the Olympic program.
Johannes shares his perspective on what the decision means for athletes, the future of the sport, and why he believes Nordic Combined still deserves its place on the biggest stage. We discuss how the news has affected the community, what can be done to grow the sport, and the challenges athletes now face as they look beyond the next Olympic cycle.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Skirious Problems without plenty of laughs along the way. From behind-the-scenes stories on the World Cup to the usual banter between Jimmy and Mika, this episode has a bit of everything.
Fresh episodes every two weeks, plus behind-the-scenes training VLOGs coming soon.