Lorentz Soderhjelm was contracted and tied up by the Swedish Ski Federation last season. He recently broke off that relationship and the Norwegian team jumped on the opportunity to test his grinds.
Soderhjelm was so successful in grinding skis for Swedish skiers that the Swedish federation contracted him prior to last season to make sure that he didn’t grind skis for other nations. Soderhjelm has now chosen to be independent again.
– I wasn’t paid enough by the Swedish federation to be prevented from doing anyone’s skis, says Soderhjelm.
Now it’s first come-first-served, whether you are Norwegian or Swedish national team skier or not on a national team at all. Norway’s wax chief Terje Langli didn’t wait long to act on this. According to Soderhjelm he has already received 50 pairs of skis from the Norwegian national team.
– They want to test my grinds to see if they work says Soderhjelm
Do you think your grinds will beat what they already have?
– It’s going to be exciting, but I believe that mine will be chosen.
The Norwegians are first of all looking for grinds for cold conditions. Soderhjelm is for that reason grinding the skis for new snow conditions between zero and minus seven Celsius.
