-I was in the midst of my skiing career, aiming for the winter Olympics in Lillehammer, when I fractured my lower leg – close to and in the knee joint and I was forced to rethink and assign myself new goals. My childhood dream of winning the Vasalopp (Sweden’s most famous ski race is run and televised once a year close to where I have lived my whole life) was the obvious choice and inspiration for maintaining my condition and to develop during rehab. Many swedes still remember the double poling in the first long steep uphill slope back in 1994 after that I retained the lead for almost the whole race and finished a very surprising and appreciated 5:th. Double poling later developed to such an extent that the technic became the predominant way to go. Anyway, I was in the lead in many of the races during 90-s, finished second a couple of times, in 1998 just 2 tenths of a second behind, but in 1999 I finally won. Mission completed, dream fulfilled.
-During rehab I was assisted by, among many others, Gunnar Winroth doctor of orthopaedics, who got inspired to take up skiing and roller-skiing and ultimately completed 2 Vasalopp (at a very sedative pace). As a physician with special interest in sports medicine and overuse injuries, he realised the problem with impulse loading – the sharp thump when the poles hit the hard road while roller-skiing. He found a solution and one day he knocked on my door and asked me to test the experimental poles. I liked what I saw and I saw the possibility of gentle, snow-like skiing all year round. -But it was years of testing and developing until we had the right combination of softness and firmness so arms and elbows were spared but the force still made it to the tarmac. The StaffanSTAVEN poles are gentle towards hands, elbows and shoulders but an additional bonus has been that the grip in the road is better – especially in cold autumn weather. –It is so satisfying to hear that those who have bought StaffanSTAVEN are so pleased with them. It’s not only a treatment for sore elbows – it’s a whole new and pleasing roller-skiing experience. StaffanSTAVENs is still produced as a handicraft and it can be ordered from our website or from our retailors all around Europe.
Just before hitting it “big time” Staffan sustained a fracture of the knee that forced him to rethink and develop his technique, emphasizing the pole-work. Staffan developed the pole-style skiing to such an extent that he added drama and excitement to many Vasalopp (Vasa races) during the 90's until he finally won in 1999.
Today Staffans legacy is there to see in all professional long distance skii-events. Gunnar was to some small extent involved in Staffan's rehablitation after the kneefracture, but it was first and foremost Staffan's hard work that inspired Gunnar to learn how to roller-ski. Thus Gunnar became aware of the “impulse” problem and created a solution to it. One day he knocked on Staffan's door in order to strike up a cooperation. Staffan got to wreck everything Gunnar built in the way of shock dampening skipoles. Then came the day StaffanSTAVEN (The ski pole of Staffan) was ready for the market!
Lately he specialized in orthopedic medicine and many patients have histories of overuse from sports and professional activities.
Physical training, Rehab, and sometimes operations are ingredients in this form of orthopedics. Preventing sports-injuries is a complex matter - consisting of education, psychology and technical solutions.
StaffanSTAVEN is one such technical solution that we hope will solve many problems related to roller-skiing. After a couple of long ski-races, hundreds and hundreds of miles of roller-skiing and many half-marathons, Gunnar has personal experience to build on when designing technical solutions for athletes.