Kalle Palander is against alpine ski competitions held indoors

Though he is out of the competition, Palander says it straight and thus has some interesting things to say, as usual. According to the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Kalle Palander says no to skiing competitions held in indoor halls.

“Organizing an event indoors will ruin the sport. Storms and snowing belong to the sport as much as sunshine and bluebird days. The halls are all-right training facilities for juniors but big competitions should not be held indoors. Even a Europe Cup-level start organized indoors would be a total joke. If the runs are somewhere around 23 seconds, the sport will begin to resemble something like swimming with so many different kinds of starts under the same sport…”

Palander has tested indoor skiing in Germany (Hamburg) and in Holland and he states that for solely recreational use they are fine in his opinion.

Palander is recovering and already training lightly

At the moment Kalle is in Levi, watching and commenting the world cup event for the Finnish TV station MTV3. He has also started some light training with cross country skis. He will be back on the slopes in December at the earliest if everything goes well, and he looks forward to being back on the World Cup circuit in January. We sure hope that Kalle will be back chasing gates as soon as possible!

Today the women’s slalom event was skied in Levi, Finland. Linsey Vonn of USA took the gold with her amazing second run recovery. Sweden’s Maria Pietiläinen-Hollmner was second and Germany’s Maria Reisch was third. Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen was 6th and other Finns placed as follows: Tii-Maria Romar 22nd and Sanni Leinonen 24th.

Lindsey Vonn has got her two best results in Levi. I guess she must like Finland? Vonn is from Minnesota, which is known to be a very cold place in winter. No wonder she does so well in Finnish Lapland.

The men’s slalom start in Levi will be held tomorrow, Sunday the 16th of November.

Recovering from the injury

It also seems that Kalle is still going strong after all these years. Last season was a clear disappointment though – a fracture in shinbone (so called repetive stress injury) required an operation in the spring and Palander had to stop the season before it ended in early February. However, recovering from the injury has been going on very well and at the moment, already in August,  Kalle feels like there is no worries at all for the upcoming season.

Palander states: The best season is yet to be seen

Quote and (loose) translation from the Finnish news says:

“Be warned. I have this certain feel that I am already in the very strong shape. And the going is only getting tougher from now on. I can surely say that I am more dangerous than ever before. This is going to be the best season ever for me”

That is the way to talk the talk. No need to suspect that the guy can also walk the walk! You don’t go for chasing fourth places in the World Cup!

Lately Kalle has been doing better in GS but Slalom skiing is what brought him really to the limelight. It seems like he is always very sharp when the conditions are the worst possible – loose snow, stormy and very low visibility.

Here a video of Kalle in action in Alta Badia, Italy.

Palander had been dining with his colleague Sami Uotiola and few other friends. Mr. Uotila decided to go back home early, while Kalle stayed in the restaurant. In the morning Uotila tried to call Kalle with no success. Finally he managed to reach frantic Palander.

“I wrecked my car last night. I got too much alcohol in my blood. That guy who was with me hurt his head. They took him to hospital. I am in jail now“, said Palander.

According to the book, Kalle Palander had way too much alcohol in his blood. He had crashed with another car and disappeared, although he brought the injured person to hospital. Kalle got a fine and lost his driving license for one year. He spent 16 days in prison.

Another surprising episode in Kalle Palander’s life is that his father and mother boycotted the wedding of Kalle and Riina-Maija. According to the book, Kalle’s father wanted his son to put efforts in skiing than “drinking champagne and spending vacations on beach”. Kalle’s father did not join the wedding, and neither joined his mother because she wanted to be loyal to her husband.

According to Finnish newspaper Iltasanomat, Kalle Palander’s father does not like the book at all. He says “it does not tell anything about Kalle Palander and our training“. He has not read the book yet. Kalle knows that he has been successful much because of his father who is a demanding coach. Anyhow, everything changed last year when Kalle heard that his father has lung cancer that cannot be operated.

Although year 2007 went fighting, Kalle Palander and his father have reconciled. “Our relationship right now is great and much better than last year. We will start training together again in April 11th.“, says Kalle Palander. His father Jouni Palander has confirmed this. “We will start training as soon as Kalle is able to continue“, says Jouni Palander.

The accident happened in Bormio ski resort in northern Italy where the last alpine worldcup race of 2008 was held. Kalle Söderholm is responsible for marketing and co-operation deals of Finnish Alpine Ski Team. He is also known as the manager of Kalle Palander. Söderholm has also worked as a coach and physiotherapist. Kalle Söderholm lives in Helsinki, is married and has two children.

We hope all the best and quick recovery for Kalle Söderholm.

Kalle Markus Palander was born in 1977 in Tornio in Finland, which is located in the middle of Finland. Kalle is the most successful Finnish alpine skier ever and is a very well known person in Finland. Kalle’s father Jouni Palander works and has always worked as Kalle’s personal coach. Kalle is married to Riina-Maija Palander with whom he has a daughter, Oda-Sofia (born in 2007). Additionally Palander has a daughter, Mathilde, born in 1999 in Norway.

Kalle Palander showed his skills in 1997 by taking 16th position in slalom in Sestriere. In Nagano’s Olympic Games in 1998 Palander took 9th position in slalom, after which his career started skyrocketing. In 1999 in Vail Palander took the first position in slalom by which Palander became the very first Finnish alpine skiing champion.

Next few years were painful for Palander. He did not reach high positions and he was forced to quit his season due to his injuries. Season 2002-2003 brought Kalle back to the top. In Kitzbuhel he took the first position for  long time and that brought his self-confidence back to his normal level, which is pretty high

Latest seasons have been pretty good for Kalle Palander and right now he is fighting for the gold medal. Palander is getting older, as he has said himself, but right now he is still in the game and is a furious challenger. Kalle is a very good skier who is able to keep his nerves in high pressure. Kalle is known from his colorful comments and straight answers and he is seen as a very positive and open minded person. Kalle Palander is a fighter and does not give it up easily. I hope we will see this “alpine skiing rock n’ roll star” skiing for many years, but there have been rumors that Kalle might end his career soon. Well, rumors are rumors, the fact is that right now Kalle is skiing fast and might become the winner in slalom in this season!

The second one in Alta Badia was Austrian Benjamin Raich, 0.42 seconds behind Kalle Palander, and the third one was Swiss Marc Berthod, 0.45 seconds behind Palander. For Kalle Palander this was 14th victory in the world cup, from which four are from Giant Slalom races.

Kalle Palander was truly amazed with his victory. He repeated word “unbelievable” often and was very surprised with his victory. “I cannot believe that I had velocity enough to win. I was really amazed after the finish line“, said Palander in Finnish media. Kalle tried too much and made few mistakes during his run, but he was still able to win.

Ted Ligety, who leads Giant Slalom sup, was penalized for being late from getting his number, was fifth in Sunday’s race. Ligety has 235 points, Raich 212 points and Palander 200 points. Raich leads the whole cup with 241 points ahead of Palander who is in position seven.

While reading and waiting for the winter to come, I must remember that the Alpine Skiing World Cup will open soon in Sölden, Austria. In just a bit more than a week, I will see guys riding down the Super G track. I am eager to see how Kalle Palander will ski. He represents my country and I wish him good luck. That’s actually what he is going to need. I don’t believe he has a chance at winning. Nonetheless, it should be Kalle’s primary goal.

As I already mentioned, the Alpine Skiing World Cup will soon open in Sölden, Austria. The second race will be held in Levi, Finland. Man, I would like to go and see it live but I am not sure if I can make it. Levi is a pretty small resort compered to those in the Alps but it seems to be big enough for slalom. After Levi the Alpine Skiing World Cup race continues in Lake Louise, Canada. It is going to be an interesting cup again, especially with the women. In my opinion, Finland has more chances in the ladies cup. Just take a look at how Tanja Poutiainen has been doing compared to the rivals.

If you are interested in following the cup, download the ladies’ race calendar and men’s race calendar to know when and where the races will be held.

Kalle Palander is preparing for the Alpine Skiing World Cup opening in Sölden and he already has two camps behind him. The Finnish alpine skier has suffered from a lack of challengers, but today the Finnish alpine ski team is stronger and team mates can challenge the old world champion. Occasionally, though, Kalle Palander is still the fastest in training. Tests continue until the beginning of the World Cup and Kalle Palander’s team is looking for more speed from the skis.

We are also ready for the world cup. Only few weeks and circus will begin..