Peek Inside Cologna Ski Center

The town of Davos has two claims to fame: the annual World Economic Forum and the fact that Dario Cologna for the last circa ten years lives there.

The latter is actually more obvious throughout the year – even if not as well-covered by media.

Swiss national performance center for cross-country skiing is located right in the middle of the Alpine resort town
The fact that last year it was named after Dario is significant in itself – not exactly a Swiss tradition to name facilities after active athletes
but the fact that they – wait for it – allocated a separate, personalized parking space for the quadruple Olympic champion speaks volumes of his status in town
Christian Flury, head of the XC Skiing Center, explains his guest of the day, Team Russia coach Yuri Borodavko, what’s he got in there…
…and he’s got quite a bit – here’s Rodby 3500, a golden standard in xcski treadmills
The Swedish-built marvel with 3500mm width of the tread ( i.e. wide enough for skating style training) is used both for functional training and ( mostly) for technique honing. Even world’s top skiers need an occasional improvement in that area, it turns out.
Marwe rollerskis are expected de-facto standard, but SNS bindings look like a sweet hello from a bygone era – with notable exception of Jessie Diggins, nobody in the World Cup is using once-dominant system any more.
Dario is training elsewhere today, but his long-time teammate Toni Livers is doing miles on exercise bike
Meanwhile, the Russians are coming. Say hi to Alex Chervotkin and Alexander Terentev and their assistant coach Artem Zhmurko
The gym at the Cologna Center is not excatly latest in high-tech but is well equipped & has enough space for the group of “Team Boro” – and he’s got 9 skiers under his wing
…including this gentleman who’s actively vying for actual Cologna’s distance crown ( an observation: Alex was the first in and the last one out of this straining session – his standard practice)
BTW – view from the window. Say hello to Davos Golf Club that in the winter becomes a groomed xcski trail. Yes, you could ski right out of the Center door

One thing is true – “Europe’s highest town”, as Davos likes to call itself, is also one of the most expensive. But you got to come see for yourself why year after year some of the planet’s best skiers choose it for its training. Cologna Ski Center is definitely a part of the appeal.

You may also like:  In Case You Missed It: Ski Running Is A Thing This Season