DENVER, Jan 27 (Reuters) - For cross-country skiers at the Milano Cortina Olympics winning ‌a medal does not just depend on having great skis, it is also about how those skis are treated and the team of people who know exactly what to do to ‌create the optimal glide.

Fast skiing depends on a range of external factors: varying snow conditions, fickle temperatures and variable terrain. That means each athlete on the World Cup tour ‌must travel across multiple countries with a truckload of Nordic ski equipment.