He is alright! If you'd seen what we've seen this week in Muonio, you'd think so too. The World Cup winner was doing intervals uphill with such gusto that we reckon the toothache and whatever other ailments were tormenting Alexander Bolshunov are well behind him. Photos don't convey it perhaps - but here you go, enjoy
..It's the month of October, and the area outside of Lapland Hotel Olos is the site of a veritable ski pilgrimage. A dozen tongues are spoken simultaneously as platoon after platoon of sportsmen and women clip their skis on and disappear into the forest. There's hardly a snowflake on the ground, but the skiing trail looks picture-perfect. Welcome to Muonio, mid-Autumn capital of cross-country skiing. An estimated 20+ locations around the world are now farming snow for the next season; Beitostølen and Trysil in Norway, Lahti and Ruka in Finland, Davos and La Clusaz in the Alps, and Canmore in Canada to name but a few. Still, many national cross-country ski teams keep on returning to relatively remote Muonio where trails are the longest – and, some say the best…