– Former FIS Cross-Country Race Director Jürg Capol recently entertained questions during an exit interview with FIS News. After nine years in the position, the new nordic director at FIS Marketing AG discussed what’s in store for the sport, and why it will succeed despite being its inherent sex appeal.

“Cross-country skiing fits very well in the modern age,” Capol said. “Active lifestyle and fitness belong to a successful manager’s image in today’s world, and cross-country stands for well-being and also covers the ecological aspects. Of course, the competitions represent the side of hard-core endurance sport activities.

“I have to say, cross-country skiing still has a conservative image in many countries so one of the challenges might be communication to better demonstrate the core values, including that cross-country skiers are the fittest winter sport athletes with a high sex appeal, having six-packs and so on.”

At the same time: “The cross-country skiing community is very open-minded,” he added. “The new cross-country generation is young and looking forward to development. There is a great base for good discussion and decision-making also in the future.

– The Norwegian Ski Federation locked up a two-year technology deal with Garmin on Tuesday, which means all national team athletes will soon get GPS sports watches, the Forerunner 610 or Forerunner 910XT. Athletes will use the watches to log data and share it with their coaches. Because Garmin is so tied into the technology of its products, NSF team director Åge Skinstad told Langrenn they reached an agreement that met their needs. However, the team’s watches will be off-the-shelf versions rather than customized, and valued at around $400 US dollars.

The deal also means more green for Norway’s ski association as it surpassed $60 million NOK ($9.8 million USD) in sale agreements for the 2012/2013 season, according to Skinstad. In the last four to five years, the NSF has tripled its income in this department.

– The third stage of the upcoming Tour de Ski will take place in Dario Cologna‘s hometown, Santa Maria Val Müstair (Münstertal), Switzerland, which seems fitting for the man that’s won three of the Tour’s six titles. The Tour will begin with two stages in Oberhof, Germany, then move to Switzerland for Cologna’s homecoming at the freestyle sprint on Jan. 1, 2013. For a complete World Cup schedule, which includes the Tour from Dec. 29-Jan. 6, click here.

– Justyna Kowalczyk is back at it. According to her website, the three-time Tour de Ski champ from Poland and overall World Cup runner up resumed training on Wednesday in Ramsau, Germany, following an arthroscopic knee surgery on March 19.

“We have to start working again and finish with laziness,” said Kowalczyk’s coach, Alexander Wirietielny. ”The doctors suggested Justyna to spend some more days in Warsaw but she replied she would not get ready for the World Championships at a clinic. Therefore we are leaving fro Austria as we planned.”

“I’m curious how it will look like, how my body will keep up after six weeks without any effort,” Kowalczyk said. “That’s a big question mark, but despite that I am calm. Although I know the implementation of the heavy training regime certainly won’t be easy.”

– Lukas Bauer is on the mend and eager about next season, but he’s not going to jump into training too soon. The Czech Republic’s leading skier told FIS News he’s exercising again after fracturing his heel toward the end of the season. After seven weeks of being in a cast, he had the plaster removed a week and a half ago and easing into walking.

“You would not believe how much I am looking forward to going for a proper walk and a run!” Bauer said in the FIS interview. “The shuffling was killing me.”

While he’s focused on next year’s World Championships, Bauer was cautious about when he’d start training again. He hoped to be back by mid May.

– After several years of budget deficits, the financial outlook looks brighter for the Norwegian Ski Federation, which turned a profit of about $500,000 krone (about $87,000 dollars) in 2011. While relatively small for the cross-country skiing powerhouse, the surplus reflected the Federation’s first profitable year since 2006. It made 12.8 percent more than in 2010 and was up 48 percent from 2008, according to Langrenn.

– While participants in the 53 k Patrouille des Glaciers, a ski mountaineering race based in the Swiss Alps, never got a chance to tackle the second stage of the randonée competition because of unstable conditions, three men emerged as winners last weekend.

Switzerland’s Toni Livers, Martin Jäger and Lukas Huser won the event, which included both military and civilian teams. Race organizers with the Swiss Armed Forces ruled that warm overnight temperatures made the snow unstable in Arolla, Switzerland, and canceled the second stage after 417 teams started in Zermatt.