Norway has finalized their plan for this Winters Worlds in Sapporo Japan following the new chief of sport Age Skinnstad and Brit Baldishol recent five day long trip to Sapporo to map out course profiles, living, training and wax conditions.
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/060904image001-6.jpg width=440 height=330 border=1><BR><font size=1 face=verdana> SAPPORO DOME — 1/3 of the sprint race will take place indoor at the 2007 Worlds</font></center><BR></p>
<p>Age Skinnstad and Brit Baldishol recently mapped out the conditions for the Norwegian team’s living, training and competitions for the upcoming Worlds in Sapporo, Japan. Baldishol will be the team’s camp chief during Worlds.</p>
<p>– I felt that the conditions were good. It’s different from Norway, but it should be good, said Skinnstad<br />
One week long camp before Worlds.</p>
<p>Worlds starts on February 22 and the Norwegian team will do a one week long camp in Otaki, south West of Sapporo ahead of the championship.</p>
<p>– The purpose of this camp is simply to acclimate to the time difference, says Skinnstad.</p>
<p>Both Sapporo and Otaki is located on the northern island of Hokkaido. Sapporo is Japan’s fifth biggest city with a population 1,8 million.</p>
<p>Will be living outside Sapporo</p>
<p>The Norwegian team will be staying at the same hotel as the British and German soccer teams stayed at during the soccer World Cup in Japan and South Korea in 2002. The hotel is located right outside Sapporo.</p>
<p>– We chose this hotel since we will have skiing right outside the hotel and it’s outside the city. I believe that other nations will choose this hotel as well, says Skinnstad.</p>
<p>– There is a 4.5-kilometer ski trail right outside the hotel.</p>
<p> Skinnstad isn’t going to risk the same situation the team experienced during the Torino Olympics with lots of sickness. He has therefore booked rooms at two other hotels as well.</p>
<p> – We have rooms at two other hotels in case of illness. We don’t want someone with for example stomach problems at the same hotel as someone with throat problems. Every illness is different and we want options, says Skinnstad.</p>
<p>Good conditions.</p>
<p>Skinnstad also looked at the race courses in Sapporo. 1/3 of the sprint course will be inside in the Sapporo Dome, while the rest of the course is outside. It will be a mix of man-made and natural snow. The Dome can hold 40,000 spectators.</p>
<p>The conditions at Shirahatayama, the main stadium have been greatly improved since this winters pre-Worlds competitions. </p>
<p>Both the infrastructure and trail have been improved, says Skinnstad.</p>
<p>Sapporo also hosted the 1972 Olympics and the Olympic 50-k course passed through today’s stadium.</p>
<p>One big additional challenge for many teams might be left hand driving!</p>
<p>Photos from SAPPORO:</p>
<p><BR><center><img decoding=)
![](https://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2020/09/FasterSkier-logo-sq-320x320.png)
Norway has finalized their plan for this Winters Worlds in Sapporo Japan following the new chief of sport Age Skinnstad and Brit Baldishol recent five day long trip to Sapporo to map out course profiles, living, training and wax conditions.