It may be a few months now since they packed away their skates, gloves and helmets, but the summer season is never a time to relax for the world's best Ice Cross Downhill skaters. Fresh from a thrilling and successful season, two top Finnish skaters decided to reverse their direction completely for some intense off-season training on Sunday.
Paavo Klintrup and Miikka Jouhkimainen joined a crowd of competitors, including Finnish olympic gold medalist Iivo Niskanen (cross country skiing), nordic combine star Ilkka Herola, pro snowboarders Eero Ettala and Heikki Sorsa and Swedish hockey champion Tuomas Kiiskinen, at the weekend for the Red Bull 400 event in Kuopio, Finland, where the challenge was to sprint 400m up a ski slope. It's not an easy assignment for any athlete, especially those who are more used to earning a living by speeding in the opposite direction, but these super-fit Finns are always ready for a test and enjoy nothing more than pushing themselves to the limits.
Klintrup feels the burn as he powers up the 400m track. Photo: Victor Engström/Red Bull Content Pool.
So, how did it feel switching from downhill to uphill, and just how much did this gruelling challenge compare to the 630m ice beast the guys had to battle in Jyväskylä during the winter? Klintrupp, who managed to escape from the qualifiers and proceed to the men's B-final, was breathless as he answered:
"My legs are burning. The track was really, I mean really, tough. Jyväskylä was nothing compared to this. This track was 200 metres shorter but several times more challenging. You can't even compare the two. I must say that my legs have never hurt that much."
Jouhkimainen did not disagree, and explained that it was in fact much steeper and tougher than he ever imagined:
"This was 400 metres of pain. It felt really bad, especially in my lungs. Of course I'm also not used to this kind of training, going downhill is my thing, haha. I would rather come down this hill with skates on than run up it. But all in all a really nice event"
Jouhkimainen and Klintrup will now be focusing on their preparations for the 2017 Ice Cross Downhill season. Photo: Victor Engström/Red Bull Content Pool.
So, a great workout for the guys and a fun event overall, but now it's back to business as they set their sights on the 2017 Ice Cross Downhill season and begin preparations.
"I have a really good feeling for the upcoming season," Klintrup explains. "My aims are to improve from last season and my training motivation is really high. Even more than before. I'm also focusing on training the right way. Then of course I also need to hope that I can go through the training season without any injuries."
And as for Jouhkimainen, he'll be mainly using two wheels to get himself in shape this summer, "My passion is road cycling and I'm doing it a lot. Also competing in a few races during the summer. I do some quite long practice sessions on the bike. Then of course rollerblading, which I'm gonna put more time on this summer than ever before."
The Red Bull 400 has events running worldwide from 1 May - 24 September 2016. Click here to find out more.