Team Kaskipuu was the Finnish newcomer in the Visma Ski Classics Season XII. The Pro Team decided to join Ski Classics only late in the summer and the first Pro Tour season brought positive experiences.

Kaskipuu’s Pro Team director Kari Varis assures that the team’s operation will continue, and they are aiming higher.

Team Kaskipuu participated in 5 events in Season XII:  the season opener weekend in Orsa Grönklitt, La Diagonela, Marcialonga, Vasaloppet and Ylläs-Levi. From those events, Varis highlights Juuso Mäkelä’s 33rd place in Marcialonga as the team’s single best result.

For Ylläs-Levi, Team Kaskipuu was supposed to line up four strong women from Finland, but three of them, Olympian Jasmi Joensuu,  and two Finnish national level skiers Anni Kainulainen and Rebecca Immonen fell ill. National team skier and Olympian Katri Lylynperä, on the other hand, did well in her first double poling race on a tough course and finished 14th.

”We strive to do a good job with the skis and service in the events we participated in. Next season we will be more involved in Ski Classics,” Varis says and continues:

”As soon as the Ski Classics calendar for next winter is published, we will finalize the budget. We have an initial three-year plan and eventually our aim is to be one of the top teams,” Varis states.

Varis would like to see long-distance skiing in Finland as a natural and financially viable option for younger skiers to try their wings.

”At the moment, the visibility that the Finnish Cup brings to the club and sponsors direct, to some extent, the choices of young skiers.”

Even if an athlete does not immediately put all his cards on long-distance skiing, Varis sees that a few long-distance races per season would be a good training and developmental opportunity for many, especially for male skiers.

”I would wish more of the Norwegian way of thinking. A few long-distance races during the winter would give a good boost to the normal distances as well. Too much emphasis on sprints, on the other hand, can easily start to eat away your fitness.”

Like many others, Varis sees that Norway and Sweden’s advantage in long-distance skiing is partly cultural. Finland lacks its own traditional, big events like Vasaloppet and Birkebeinerrennet.

”This affects the financial possibilities to invest fully in long-distance skiing,” Varis sums up.