One night Toril told her husband Arne:

“It’s crazy. I ski as fast as a 20-year-old who’s in peak condition.”

They had skied up the Wyllerløypa slalom slope in Oslo, she and her cross-country students. At 48, Toril had outskied many of them.

“I can’t remember the last time I was in such great shape. It must have been when I was competing, when I was national champion at the age of 15,” she said.

It was 2015, and Toril was coaching junior biathletes in addition to her cross-country students. Early in November that year, Toril’s group started training hard before the season began.

And there was something else that happened at the beginning of the season:

Toril retreated into her waxing room. She spent many hours in her garage cave, testing out and trying the best products on the market. She prepped not only her three children’s skis, but often also skis for the kids she coached. Everything had to be perfect before the first races, which were coming up soon, just before Christmas.

“I’m feeling a little under the weather,” Toril said as they headed up to the cabin in Valdres between Christmas and New Year’s.