The Presque Isle EC weekend ended with classic mass start races. The tracks were in excellent shape and cool temperatures kept the waxing easy for everyone. divSMS had another great day, taking 6 of the total 12 podium spots! But it wasn't just the top...
The temperature was the same, but the conditions were immaculate compared to yesterdays sprints. The sun was out and the tracks were fresh for the first mass start races of the World Cup season. The athletes were dressed warmly with many neck warmers, Vaseline, and anything else to protect the skin – especially the cheeks [...]
The new NCCSEF calendar is back after a one-year hiatus and it is available through some local clubs, or via NCCSEF.org. Just donate $20 via the paypal link at nccsef.org and you will be sent one of the new NCCSEF Calendars with awesome photos and important dates of interest to cross country skiers. $20 for one calendar, $15 for each additional, and shipping is free. The National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation (NCCSEF) is a...
Somewhere in the US - we just crossed the border. Yay, on our way home! Comfort Inn with Mikey and Reid, Trav and Rick in the room next door. Better day today, I skied into it. Qualified 18th and ended up 9th. Not good points, not a great day but b...
Somewhere in the US - we just crossed the border. Yay, on our way home! Comfort Inn with Mikey and Reid, Trav and Rick in the room next door. Better day today, I skied into it. Qualified 18th and ended up 9th. Not good points, not a great day but b...
Somewhere in the US - we just crossed the border. Yay, on our way home! Comfort Inn with Mikey and Reid, Trav and Rick in the room next door. Better day today, I skied into it. Qualified 18th and ended up 9th. Not good points, not a great day but b...
Somewhere in the US - we just crossed the border. Yay, on our way home! Comfort Inn with Mikey and Reid, Trav and Rick in the room next door. Better day today, I skied into it. Qualified 18th and ended up 9th. Not good points, not a great day but b...
In 22nd place, Alex Harvey was today’s top American racer in the 30km classic race at Rogla. Taking 35th place in the sprint race yesterday, Harvey was just 1.67 seconds out of qualifying rounds. A native of Quebec, Harvey has been racing on the Canadian National Team since 2007. You have had a really solid weekend of racing – are you feeling like you are coming into your race form? I am really happy with my shape right now. I am...
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The second day of NENSA’s opening Eastern Cup weekend at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, Maine dawned warmer than the previous day. With overcast skies and temperatures in the 20’s, it was a perfect day for a classic race. J2s started the morning with one lap of the 5 km course and the women and men followed, both doing 10 km. The mass start races began in a long, wide field that climbed...
It was a perfect day at Mt Itasca: 20 degrees at the start, no wind, and news had just come that US Biathlon’s rising star, Tim Burke, had just taken over the Yellow Bib on the Biathlon World Cup. The excitement was tangible in the stadium as the athletes prepared for the start of Day 4 of the Biathlon World Team Trials in Coleraine, MN. Today’s Pursuit format generally favors the best shooters, and the...
Just finished the last weekend of racing on the fall tour. The week in Canmore has been solid and relatively uneventful. The organizers built a new classic sprint course to deter double-poling on skate skis. They added two solid climbs which improved it significantly. Speaking of improved, the Canadians skied strong this weekend on their [...]
his weekend was a back to back classic sprint races on the tough Canmore race course. I felt pretty good both days in the qualifying rounds… and both days I qualified in 19th place. I want to be racing faster than that, but things are heading in the right direction. So [...]
The first period of racing is complete for me and I drove down with my family for two weeks of training at my other 'home' in the Methow Valley. Driving up the valley, snow conditions were pretty sad and thin. Thankfully fresh snow fell overnight and...
a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mrH2aLzeZss/Sy7q4fJ5YJI/AAAAAAAAAlg/eR8EM6dbhsg/s1600-h/Tracy_Pu.JPG"img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 129px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mrH2aLzeZss/Sy7q4fJ5YJI/AAAAAAAAAlg/eR8EM6dbhsg/s...
RAMSAU, Austria (Dec. 20) – The U.S. Ski Team’s Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) fell just short of the podium in fifth Sunday as a veritable freight train of nordic combined skiers battled right down to the wire in Ramsau. Despite France’s Jason Lamy Chappuis leading after the jump, the Frenchman couldn’t hold on for the three-event weekend sweep as Germany’s Bjorn Kircheisen took the win. Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO), who was fourth Saturday,...
Rogla, Slovenia – The US Ski Team did not have a great day on the trails today, but still managed to turn in some solid results. Andy Newell set a personal-best with a 41st in the men’s 30km classic mass start, and Kikkan Randall finished 30th in the women’s 15km event. Neither, however, were thrilled with their performances. Lars Flora was 47th, and Kris Freeman dropped out due to blood sugar issues. Solid For Newell...
Rogla, Slovenia – Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) added 125 World Cup points to her season total with a victory in the women’s 15km classic mass start this morning. Kowalczyk finished 4.6 seconds clear of Marit Bjoergen (NOR), the winner of yesterday’s sprint. Bjoergen edged out Anna Haag (SWE) in a photo finish. There were two intermediate sprints with 15,10, and 5 World Cup points awarded to the to the first three. “I did not plan to...
As I should have expected given the venue's mascot,getting any picks right was devilishly hard this weekend. Rogla saw some wacky stuff, from reportedly poor track prep in the sprints to Saarinen getting DQ'ed for knocking Majdic down in the 15k and massive attrition in the 30k (3 DNSs and 19 DNFs). Below, my picks with the racer's actual finishing spots in parentheses.women's classic sprint1.
The NENSA Eastern Cup series opened on a cold and clear morning at Presque Isle, Maine’s Nordic Heritage Center. College, high school, and senior racers alike toed the line for the freestyle sprint on the new Fred Bailey-designed sprint loop at the Nordic Heritage Center. The course, which measures in at just over 1200 meters, starts with a downhill out of the stadium, then turns tightly and begins the tough climb back up to the...