Marcus Hellner has become used to the reactions.
What in the world is a skiing hero doing behind these very levers?
– They can’t seem to get it together, says the 40-year-old and laughs.
Marcus Hellner.
Photo: MAXIM THORE / BILDBYRÅN
“I enjoy myself very much.”
Photo: Instagram
The article in brief
• Marcus Hellner was knocked out by four ski high schools – but got the last place in Gällivare.
• 25 years, three Olympic golds and a WC gold later, he has taken root in the north with his family.
• After his skiing career, he invests in clothes and works as a helicopter pilot in the mountains.
• Many customers are surprised when they see who is flying the helicopter.
Heard about ”sliding doors”?
You know, that moment when something almost random happens that changes your entire future.
Marcus Hellner was only 15 years old when the sliding door opened.
While growing up in Lerdala outside Skövde, he had been hooked on cross-country skiing early on, showing more and more budding talent – but without directly shining for that reason. But Marcus Hellner wanted to give the skis a real chance.
He applied to all five ski high schools in the country. There came one “her” from Mora. From Torsby. From Sollefteå. And from Järpen.
Only Gällivare remained.
– And Marcus finally got the last place, Lars-Gunnar Pettersson, responsible at Gällivare ski gymnasium, previously told Expressen.
So 15-year-old Marcus Hellner packed up his things in the boys’ room in Lerdala and moved 133 miles north.
Remaining in the north – after 25 years
The unexpected?
Three Olympic golds, one WC gold and 25 years later he is still in Gällivare.
– Mmm, it’s rolling on. It’s a fairly quiet life here, says Marcus Hellner.
He has just been out and tested the tracks at the ski stadium that bears his own name a little way up the slope of Dundret.
It’s lunchtime, but all around us the daylight is already slowly fading.
– When I was competing, it was quite a short time you were here during the winter. But now in older days, I can probably feel that it is still quite dark and cold here sometimes.
Marcus Hellner continues with a small smile:
– Especially in January. Then you might actually feel like being somewhere else.
But you’re really rooted here now?
– Yes, you are. The children are doing well and enjoying themselves here – and I like Gällvare, says Marcus Hellner, who has two daughters with his wife Anna.
OLYMPIC CHAMPION. Marcus Hellner after the gold in the three mile in the 2010 Olympics.
Foto: DMITRY LOVETSKY / AP
Hellner’s unexpected career choice
This spring it will be eight years since Hellner announced that he is ending his elite career. What has he been up to since then?
The short answer: clothes and helicopters.
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– It’s probably the two legs, as Marcus Hellner himself says.
The 40-year-old has had his own collection of training and outdoor clothing on the Outnorth brand for several years now.
And already the year after Hellner ended his skiing career, he began training as a helicopter pilot. Today he works for the company Fiskflyg in Norrbottensfjällen.
– I fly more and more. Especially during the summer and autumn, says Marcus Hellner.
So what is it all about – a part-time position?
– You could probably say that. I haven’t calculated it myself.
Fiskflyg has its headquarters in Porjus, but also smaller bases in Stora Sjöfallet, Kvikkjokk, Tjärnberg and Ritsem.
It is in the latter place that Marcus Hellner is usually stationed and flies out clients in Sweden’s largest wilderness areas – such as Sarek.
– We have all kinds of customers. Everything from hikers to fishermen, hunters, Sami villages, staff from the county board and everything possible, says Marcus Hellner.
That sounds fun right?
– Yes, I enjoy myself very well. It’s very varied, there’s a lot to learn all the time – and you meet all sorts of people.
Speaking of which – there must be a lot of people jumping into your helicopter and seeing who’s behind the controls?
– It definitely happens (laugh).
Please tell me more.
– Sons, they’re getting a little puffy. It’s like they don’t connect what I’m doing there. They can’t seem to get it together.
