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2006 March

Enjoy this fantastic collection of photos from the last race at TAMC Spring Series, the mass-start 30km/50km classic. These races served as the US National Long-Distance Championship and were won by Wendy Wagner and Kris Freeman in slow, mushy conditions at the Maine Winter Sports Center's world-class race venue in Fort Kent. For the full results and more on the races, click here: http://70.103.189.87/~fastersk/media/index.php [***IMPORTANT NOTE: you must have QUICKTIME software to view the videos....

– If the movie about my life had been totally honest it would have gotten a “no one under age 30 permitted” rating, says former Finish ski jumper Matti Nykanen ahead of the Norwegian movie premier for the movie about his life “Matti”, with under title ‘Hell is for heroes.' Source: Dagbladet.no See photo at

For those who feel that the Birkie and other XC skiing events aren’t challenging enough we can highly recommend Reindeer racing! We asked on of our readers in Finland, former biathlon skier Ari Niittyvuopio (41) to tell us about his latest passion — Reindeer racing: – We are training the reindeer from beginning of December, and the race season usually starts at end of February and last until end of April. We are training the...

PARK CITY, Utah (March 30) – Chris Grover, who spent five seasons with the U.S. Cross Country Team before leaving in 2004, has been named sprint head coach with the Ski Team, U.S. Nordic Director Luke Bodensteiner announced. He replaces the Ski Team's first sprint coach, Vidar Loefshus, who is returning to Norway. Grover left the Ski Team in 2004 to become Olympic development coach with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation program in Idaho....

After the conclusion of the National Long-Distance Championship 30km and 50km classical mass-start races which completed TAMC 2006 Spring Series in northern Maine, the overall SuperTour winners were named and awarded their titles. The SuperTour overall champion for 2006 is Dave Chamberlain (Bethel, ME), his second title after winning in 2004, while Swiss skier Karin Camenisch successfully defended her championship from a year ago. Each gets automatic start rights for World Cups in the first...

Coach for Duluth Cross Country Ski Club Summer Youth Program DXC is hiring a coach to work with high school Nordic skiers in a summer training program. The time commitment is four two-hour sessions per week (7-9 am) for six weeks from June 19 —July 28. Stipend is $1,000. Minimum age is 21; current CPR certification is required. Download application here. Applications must be postmarked by Friday, April 7. If you have questions about the...

One of Sweden’s 1956-model legend athletes, Thomas Wassberg turned 50-years old on Monday. Wassberg is one of the biggest cross country skiing legends of all times. Source: Skidsport.com Thomas Wassberg won just about everything possible including four Olympic gold’s and three World Championship gold’s. He also won the overall World Cup in 1977. Wassberg was also involved in the historical battle in the 15-kilometer at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid when he won gold...

Williams College is seeking a qualified person for the position of Assistant Cross Country Ski Coach for the 2006-2007 season. This person will be involved with all aspects of coaching at Williams. The job will run from October through March with a stipend of $11,500. Interested applicants should contact Bud Fisher at

With temperatures warming steadily throughout the week, the final event at Spring Series–the National Long-Distance Championship–was moved just over an hour north from its originally-scheduled location at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle to the Maine Winter Sports Center's other world-class venue in Fort Kent. The venue also hosted World Cup biathlon races in 2004. The trails there were amply-covered with snow but equally soft and mushy, making the grueling 30km and 50km mass-start...

From NENSA and FasterSkier: Canadian Daria Gaiazova continued a dominant Spring Series week, winning the 10K Classic, the Team Sprint, and today's 5K Freestyle while finishing 2nd in Thursday's individual sprint. Alaskan APUNSC teammates Tazlina Mannix and Olympian Kikkan Randall both made it to the podium. At the finish line, Mannix held second place for a brief moment before Randall topped her time to move her down to third. Mannix outgunned a number of other...

FasterSkier.com is pleased to announce that we have a new multimedia gallery, including videos and lots of photos from this season's major races. You can even add your own ski photos and videos to the gallery if you like! Ian Case has been working hard at Spring Series to bring you race footage and interviews with the winners. Check out the Spring Series video links below. [***IMPORTANT NOTE: you must have QUICKTIME software to view...

Oberhofen, 24th March, 2006/ — Following a meeting by the FIS Finance Commission, the FIS TOUR DE SKI 2006-2007 has now been confirmed to take place as part of the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country from 29th December, 2006, to 7th January, 2007, two months before the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo, Japan. Set to become an annual highlight within the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country, the FIS TOUR DE SKI will include...

Patrick Weaver and Suzanne King, fresh off their victories in the California Gold Rush, returned to their home town of Bend OR on Thursday to claim the fastest times of the day in the National Masters Pursuit (Skiathlon) race. The races featured skiers from all around the United States, including a number of recent World Champions and National/World medalists (plus a handful of former U.S. Olympians). The pursuitstarted with an 8km classic leg followed by...

The SuperTour Series and FIS North American Marathon Cup both wrap up this weekend at the Spring Series in northern Maine. Here is a look at the various classifications, as provided to us by USSA Nordic Director, Luke Bodensteiner. Men's Overall: With his 4th place finish on Sunday, Dave Chamberlain clinches the overall. As overall SuperTour champion, he can race in all of the World Cup races next season up until Jan. 1. Women's Overall:...

Slow, slushy conditions at TAMC Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle for Thursday night's individual skate sprints played into the hands of some of the strongest all-around distance skiers. Qualification started around 4pm, with recently-arrived Anders Haugen (Rossignol) posting the fastest men's time of 2:01.8 ahead of Canadian speedster Phil Widmer and Steve Scott of the Maine Winter Sports Center, who had been focused on this event for months. Right behind these sprinters however were...

Central Cross Country Skiing & The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Central Cross Country Skiing with the support of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation is pleased to announce athlete openings for “CXC Team”. A full time year round Olympic Development Program which will take off on April 1st 2006. Athletes must be out of college and committed full time to the program. Athletes will be selected on April 15, 2006 based primarily on USSA points list...

Photos from the first three days of racing at Spring Series in Presque Isle and Caribou, Maine. All photos by Nicholas Brown, courtesy of the TAMC Spring Series Organizing Committee & Maine Winter Sports Center. Kikkan Randall and Karen Camenisch tag off in the team sprint. Start of the women's classic team sprint. Dasha Gaiazova Dave Chamberlain in the Demo Sprints Wendy Wagner

Bend, OR Masters from around the country are converging on Bend, OR for the AXCS National Masters Championships. They are being welcomed by tons of snow (almost 200 inches to be exact) and great mid-winter conditions. As part of this exciting week of racing, events, and on-snow demo’s, Webskis/Webcyclery will be hosting a wax clinic and information session with Swix North America’s Kevin Sweeney Friday, March 24th at 4:00pm. Sweeney is head of North American...