The Visma Ski Classics podcast Orsa2Levi, hosted by Teemu Virtanen, goes to Switzerland to meet with the director of Team BSV Ibex, the only Swiss Pro Team in the Pro Tour. Markus Walser is a professional ski coach who learned the tricks of the trade in Norway, and he is spreading the good gospel of long distance skiing in his home country.

“I’m really into technique training as a coach. I always want to find out new things and learn more. I’m usually an easy-going coach, but I can be tough if need be. I hope that my athletes can count on me, and I think we have a good relationship. When it comes to training, I put a lot focus on core exercises, and we have various training sessions three times a week. It is extremely important that my athletes are strong enough to do double-poling,” Markus reveals about himself and his training methods on the podcast.

Markus will also talk about his team and evaluate each skier individually. He has signed two well-known names, Toni Livers and Ilya Chernousov, to boost up the team spirit. These two athletes will also race for the team, and Ilya is in good shape as he is trying to qualify for the upcoming Olympics in China.

“Toni is my assistant coach, and he is at every training camp with us. He is an active coach training together with the athletes, and he also trains a lot by himself. He will do some Pro Tour races this winter like La Diagonela, Marcialonga and maybe some other races in Italy. Ilya trained by himself in the summer, but he will join us in some training sessions. His main goal is to qualify for the World Cup in the early season and to be at the Olympics if possible. In January, he will decide what races to do depending on his situation then. He will certainly do some Visma Ski Classics races this winter.”

On the podcast, Markus also tells the audience about his life outside of coaching, skiing in Switzerland, his hobbies, his dreams and goals and how he met his wife. Orsa2Levi is available on all podcast platforms and on Visma Ski Classics website.