We are heading into the first weekend in November. This is the time of year that we start hoping for the first big dump of snow. Many places have received their first snowfall already, but it sounds like it didn't last long in most locations. But November will bring colder temperatures, frozen ground, and increased hopes that any snowfall will stick. Ski teams arrive to rocky trails. Here is sampliing of snowfall totals in the...
We caught up with USST coaches Trond Nystad and Pete Vordenberg after the recent 10-km running time-trial at Soldier Hollow. The coaches are confident and optimistic ahead of the upcoming World Cup opener in Norway.
Training trends, fashion, money, rumors and advertising are all factors that affect athletes’ choice of training and racing equipment. There is however no money to be made by skiing on PRO-SKI rollerskis. Despite this fact, an impressive number of top skiers are choosing this brand for their summer and fall “dryland†training. The reason for their choice is the same as for past successful users like Olympic Champions Vegard Ulvang and Bjorn Daehlie — the...
FasterSkier December 4-7, 2003 On-Snow Camp in Park City and Soldier Hollow How sure are we about snow? Well, we can't guarantee snow at Soldier Hollow, but they have a state of the art snow making system and should be ready to go in early December. We have four other possible ski locations; all are within a 5-25 minute drive. We have skied at several other areas within a short drive from Park City on...
We at FasterSkier are excited to welcome Torin Koos as a contributing author. This account of US Ski Team’s summer training in Park City is the first of Torin’s articles about life as an elite racer. Altitude training uniquely stresses the body. Less oxygenated air naturally raises hemoglobin and hematocrit values. One’s oxygen transport system improves, but at a price. Recovery takes longer. Training too ambitiously at high altitude for a week could push one...
The designer steriod THG has been making a lot of headlines recently. The USA Track and Field controversy has bloomed into a scandal involving professional athletes from the NFL, Major League baseball and many others. But could this issue also reach back and dredge up even more scandal from the 2002 Winter Olympics? According to an Salt Lake Tribune – Urine samples may be retested Are we ready for another round of Olympic scandal? And...
Fasterskier.com has watched 23 year old Torin Koos develop from a talented junior skier and runner, to suddenly take the step into the World’s elite during the 2001 World Cup at Soldier Hollow with a 12th place in the individual Sprint competition. His vertical jumping ability, size and strength (6’2”, 175 lbs) make him a perfect sprinter. We recently talked to him from the National Team’s training camp in Fairbanks, Alaska, where they are currently...
2002 Olympic Champion Norwegian Tor Arne Hetland had no excuses for his unusual (for him) poor performance in the individual prolog in Saturday’s opening race of the 2003-04 Sprint World Cup. Hetland placed 25th, almost 9 seconds behind the prolog winner Sweden’s Bjorn Lind and did therefore not advance to the next round. Hetland expressed following the relay (the day after the individual race) where his team placed third, that he was reasonably satisfied.
As many may know, In skis, Alpina Sports has both top-of-the-line Madshus performance skis called the Cardio Series, as well as the Alpina Pursuit touring and Vantage BC skis. Here as with the boots it is much more than a cosmetic job. The flex of the skis as well as wax/no wax zones have been moved forward to provide better more kick and glide. You can see the entire line at
Carl Swenson Carl is on a “performance roll†after two top 15s in the 2002 World Cup, 11th in the double pursuit and 5th in the 50 km freestyle at the 2003 World Ski Championship. The mountain bike race season is (finally) over and Carl is focusing 100% on the upcoming World Cup ski season. He might be the only athlete on the circuit that is not training traditional ski training like rollerskiing, running and...
Swedish men’s Cross-Country sprint results have improved a great deal the last few years. Last season they won a number of the World Cup sprint events in addition to the Sprint Gold at the World Championships in Italy. Norwegian sprinters, such as 2002 Olympic Champion Hetland, that normally uses his tactical finesse to capture the victory in the finals, are now struggling to even make it passed the qualification round. Last weekends’ sprint World Cup...
Over the past few weeks, we have had reports of snow fall across the country. We heard of people being able to get out on their skis, at least temporarily, in places like Oregon, Minnesota, and New England. But the elite skiers of North America have had their eye on the weather in Fairbanks, Alaska for the past few weeks. As sure as the geese will fly south, the US Ski Team, the Canadian Ski...
During the month of November West Yellowstone starts its winter Nordic ski season with the Fall training camp. The Rendezvous Ski Trails come alive with skiers from all over the country looking to get that early on-snow advantage. A typical snow year in West Yellowstone About the Ski Clinics: The 2003 Yellowstone Nordic ski clinics will be conducted during Thanksgiving week. Participants may choose from 3 different clinics: the traditional 3-day clinic will be November...
“Thunder Bay 1995” conditions The transported snow for the World Cup Sprint course caused the conditions to be much alike the infamous snow at the 1995 World Championship in Thunder Bay. The skiers “waxed” their skis with diesel, and put on “new layers” in-between every heat (even during Sprint Relay competition). The organizer reported that 120,000 spectators watched the races during the weekend.
Kris Freeman Last season Kris followed up his 15th place at the 2002 Olympic pursuit race with Gold at the 2003 U-23 Worlds in the 30-km classic race, and a phenomenal week at the 2003 Nordic World Ski Championship – a 4th in the 15-km classic (2.1 seconds from Bronze), 1st in the opening leg of the 4 x 10 km Relay and 14th in the double Pursuit. A recent 24 seconds improvement in the...
A weekend of World Cup sprint racing wrapped up today in Dusseldorf, Germany with the sprint relay. The two-person sprint relay, which was Oct 26 – Dusseldorf – Women's Sprint Relay Results On the men's side, Sweden was without the services of yesterday's winner Peter Larsson who was sick, but the team of Joergen Brink and Thobias Fredriksson managed to take the win in a very tight field sprint. The top five teams were within...
Spanish skiers Johan Muhlegg, currently on a 2-year suspension for blood-doping, has received an ultimatum from the Spanish Ski Federation. In end of February this season, Muhlegg will have finished his two-year doping suspension, and is allowed to compete in FIS competitions again. However, to allow him to continue to ski for Spain, the Spanish Ski Federation has given Muhlegg the following written ultimatum: To continue to compete for Spain, Muhlegg must live and train...
The 2003-2004 World Cup season got underway in Dusseldorf, Germany on Saturday with sprint races along the famous Rhine River. The Swedes were very successful on the men's side, taking five of the top seven spots and placing three men in the A final. Peter Larsson was the Swede who came out on top, beating out 2003 50K World Champion Martin Koukal (Czech Republic) who came in second. It was Larsson's first World Cup win....
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson skied to a strong 22nd place in the 30K skate race at the 2002 Olympics, but is not overly excited when he talks about last season’s results. At the 2003 World Championships in Italy he placed 37th in the 50K skate race and 38th in the double Pursuit – not exactly what he had planned or hoped for. Head coach Trond Nystad is quoted calling it “over-training due to lack of...
Norwegian Cross-Country Sprint aces Trond Einer Elden and Tor Arne Hetland get help from experts in the weight room. – Yes, we have done more strength training than last year, says Elden The warm-up is done with medicine balls weighing between 10 – 18 pounds. – We do a variety of exercises with the medicine balls for 20 – 30 minutes. The weight of these balls seems light, so we go at max effort until...