Around Are: Swedes take ownership in worlds

ARE, Sweden — Despite putting in a few weeks' worth of long days on the race hill at Are as a volunteer crew leader, Niclas Kongsholm flashed a big smile more than a few times on Sunday while shoveling snow alongside the course just above the finish stadium.
    “Yeah, yeah. We want some cold now,” Kongsholm answered.
    He should get his wish Monday. But racing will not happen without another heroic night of work from Kongsholm and his crew of red-jacketed mates, who are part of an 800-person force of volunteers dedicated to course preparation. You can’t walk more than about 5 feet anywhere in Are and not see someone wearing a red coat right now.
ARE, Sweden — Despite putting in a few weeks' worth of long days on the race hill at Are as a volunteer crew leader, Niclas Kongsholm flashed a big smile more than a few times on Sunday while shoveling snow alongside the course just above the finish stadium.   
    I asked him if he’s tired of the falling snow, which is usually great news for a ski resort but is not so great when that resort is hosting the World Championships. In that case, powder is bad and buffed-out racecourses are very good.
    “Yeah, yeah. We want some cold now,” Kongsholm answered.
    He should get his wish Monday when the clouds are expected to clear, the snow stop and the cold set in. Temperatures 15 to 20 degrees cooler than the past few days in Are are expected, which should allow racing to get under way with the men’s super G.
    But racing will not happen without another heroic night of work from Kongsholm and his crew of red-jacketed mates, who are part of an 800-person force of volunteers dedicated to course preparation. You can’t walk more than about 5 feet anywhere in Are and not see someone wearing a red coat right now.
    “Sometimes it’s just do the work over again. You have to take the nets down and then put them up again,” Kongsholm said of his crew’s responsibility, which is clearing the walkway between the netting alongside the final pitch of the course.
    “Today, when there is so much snow, we take the nets down so the groomers can push all the snow out. Then we put the nets up again,” he added. “You have to prepare for the next day like there’s a race.”
    That’s the life of a race crew volunteer these days in Are, which certainly hasn’t dealt with the woeful lack of snow throughout much of Europe this season — at least since it stopped raining after the new year. There are plenty of recreational skiers enjoying the slopes here, and nearly as many snow machines blazing across the nearby lake that’s thoroughly iced over right now.
    The Swedish people seem to be taking the tardy start of their World Championships in stride. The crowds in the streets are large, the nightly concerts in the center of town are drawing good audiences and business is good, according to at least one ski shop owner.
    “Hopefully it’s really good shopping and a lot of people coming into town the next two weeks,” said Stefan Brandstrom of the Are Mountain Store.
    An Are resident of 20 years, Brandstrom has high hopes for what the World Championships will mean for his town.
    “Hopefully it will double the number of people coming, it’s really going to be good,” he said. “The town is growing and getting bigger and bigger. There have been three years of building, apartments going up, more and more shopping.”
    Brandstrom may be considered lucky among small-business owners. He also gets to enjoy his craft as a ski instructor two to three days per week. He’s also skied in the United States. I asked him which country’s slopes are better, Sweden or the United States.
   “You have better skiing, that’s for sure, but Are is quite good,” he said.
    And compared to the rest of Europe, where does Are rate? “Are is quite good in comparison, best in Scandinavia,” he answered.
    Crew leader Kongsholm also has skied in the States, at Crested Butte, Breckenridge and (he thought) Steamboat Springs. He was an international-level racer up until the late ’90s, when he quit racing. These days, he’s studying medicine in Sweden but took time off to help with worlds.
    “It’s good to come back and see my friends again. It’s like a big family when you go around traveling with people. So it’s good to come back,” Kongsholm said.
    Just three days into my time here, I can easily imagine coming back to Are when the World Championships are just a memory in the minds of the townspeople. With racing set to begin Monday, my guess is there will be plenty of exciting memories to recall.