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.