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Alex Kochon

Alex Kochon (alexkochon@gmail.com) is a former FasterSkier editor and roving reporter who never really lost touch with the nordic scene. A freelance writer, editor, and outdoor-loving mom of two, she lives in northeastern New York and enjoys adventuring in the Adirondacks. She shares her passion for sports and recreation as the co-founder of "Ride On! Mountain Bike Trail Guide" and a sales and content contributor at Curated.com. When she's not skiing or chasing her kids around, Alex assists authors as a production and marketing coordinator for iPub Global Connection.
Fourcade Leaves Östersund with a ‘W’; Bailey 17th; Christian Gow Gets Career-Best 21st
BiathlonBiathlon CanadaNewsRacingUS Biathlon

Fourcade Leaves Östersund with a ‘W’; Bailey 17th; Christian Gow Gets Career-Best 21st

Alex KochonDecember 4, 2017

If you were to ask France’s Martin Fourcade what’s wrong with a second and third place, and even two fourth place finishes in the first four races of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season, he’d likely politely tell you nothing — it just wasn’t up to his usual standards. “Despite my two podiums here, I felt that if I had not won here, it would have been my worst season opener since, for...

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Herrmann Rises to First IBU World Cup Win; Ransom 29th in Östersund
BiathlonBiathlon CanadaNewsRacingUS Biathlon

Herrmann Rises to First IBU World Cup Win; Ransom 29th in Östersund

Alex KochonDecember 2, 2017

Just over a year and half ago, Germany’s Denise Herrmann took a giant leap and diverged from her career as a World Cup cross-country skier to stated at the time. “The switch to a new discipline will be a big challenge, I am aware of that, but I am confident that I can do it with diligence, courage, and determination!” After bouncing between the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Cup and IBU World Cup last season,...

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A New Season for Biathlon Canada: Ransom Rockets to Career-Best Ninth
BiathlonBiathlon CanadaNewsRacing

A New Season for Biathlon Canada: Ransom Rockets to Career-Best Ninth

Alex KochonNovember 29, 2017

Entering this season, members of Biathlon Canada had everything to gain and not a whole lot to lose. They had already had theirprequalifying for Canada’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup Team for the first trimester of racing, Ransom, 24, jumped into the 2017/2018 season with the Sunday. Three days later on Wednesday, it was another ballgame. With little to lose in the women’s 15-kilometer individual in Östersund, Ransom raced to a career-best ninth, which...

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Klæbo Holds Off Sundby, Bolshunov and Harvey for Ruka Triple Sweep
Canadian National Ski TeamNewsRacingUS Ski TeamWorld Cup

Klæbo Holds Off Sundby, Bolshunov and Harvey for Ruka Triple Sweep

Alex KochonNovember 26, 2017

Two previous days of racing, and back-to-back victories no less, had begun to take its toll on Johannes Høsflot Klæbo within the first few laps of the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit on Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland. The 21-year-old Norwegian could feel it throughout his body; he was tired and 38 seconds of a starting cushion wasn’t going to be enough to hold off the hungry challengers behind him. Klæbo, who won Friday’s classic sprint and...

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Klæbo Steamrolls to Another Ruka Win; Harvey 13th in 15 k Classic
Canadian National Ski TeamNewsRacingUS Ski TeamWorld Cup

Klæbo Steamrolls to Another Ruka Win; Harvey 13th in 15 k Classic

Alex KochonNovember 25, 2017

Is Johannes Høsflot Klæbo better than Petter Northug* was at his age? It’s hard to say, reigning Norwegian World Cup winner Martin Johnsrud Sundby told NRK. But his performance in the last two days is pretty unheard of, Sundby said after Saturday’s 15-kilometer classic. On both Friday and Saturday at the Ruka World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland, Klæbo (who’s still a U23 athlete at just 21 years old, although he’s on Norway’s exclusive World...

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Kalla, Belov Top Gällivare FIS Opener; Randall 8th, Kershaw 12th
NewsOtherRacing

Kalla, Belov Top Gällivare FIS Opener; Randall 8th, Kershaw 12th

Alex KochonNovember 17, 2017

Sweden’s Hanna Falk went 1-2 in Sweden’s season-opening International Ski Federation (FIS) race on Friday in Gällivare, with Kalla winning the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle by 8.8 seconds in 12:58.1 minutes. Falk, her teammate on the Swedish women’s team, placed second and Russia’s Yulia Belorukova took the third spot on the podium, 10.3 seconds out of first. The host nation had three in the top four, with Ida Ingemarsdotter in fourth (+16.1). Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal...

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Caitlin Gregg Suffers Lightning Strike in West Yellowstone, Unharmed and OK
Continental CupGeneralNewsRacing

Caitlin Gregg Suffers Lightning Strike in West Yellowstone, Unharmed and OK

Alex KochonNovember 17, 2017

She never heard thunder and never saw lightning before it happened, but in an instant, Caitlin Gregg realized the surge running through her body was a one-in-a-million type of occurrence. This past Tuesday morning started out like most others for Gregg, who turned 37 exactly a week earlier, during her annual visits to West Yellowstone, Montana. With her skis and poles in each hand, she headed for the Rendezvous Ski Trails on foot — a...

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Biathlon Canada Finalize World Cup Team Following Trials (Updated)
BiathlonBiathlon CanadaGeneralNewsRacing

Biathlon Canada Finalize World Cup Team Following Trials (Updated)

Alex KochonNovember 11, 2017

Note: This article has been updated to include comments and verification from Biathlon Canada High Performance Director Roddy Ward, and explain the modified shooting format used for Friday’s sprint. *** Almost exactly two weeks before Biathlon Canada sends the rest of its World Cup team to Europe for the first trimeter of International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup racing, the national team held trials this past Tuesday through Friday on snow in Canmore, Alberta. Three...

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Wednesday Workout: Preseason Agility with U.S. Paralympics Nordic
GeneralPara NordicTrainingWorkouts

Wednesday Workout: Preseason Agility with U.S. Paralympics Nordic

Alex KochonNovember 8, 2017

It’s that time of year when everyone’s raring to get on snow. Let’s say you’re lucky enough to find some — even just a few hundred meters — like the U.S. Paralympics Nordic team did late last month at a training camp at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y. Seven athletes — a combination of high-performance and development skiers — spent a week at Van Ho from Oct. 23-29 for the nordic center’s earliest...

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Ski World Reacts to Legkov, Belov Punishment (Updated)
DopingNewsOlympics

Ski World Reacts to Legkov, Belov Punishment (Updated)

Alex KochonNovember 1, 2017

This article has been updated to include comments from Canadian World Cup Team member Alex Harvey as told to  on Wednesday. *** As the news spreads of the told Norway’s Nettavisen, according to a translation. “It’s my only Olympic medal. It is clear I will take it.” In an interview with Wieschemann firm stated in its press release on Wednesday. “[It] mocks the declaration of the President of the IOC, Dr. Thomas Bach, to decide only on...

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Wednesday Workout with New DU Assistant Mads Strøm
CollegiateGeneralResourcesTrainingWorkouts

Wednesday Workout with New DU Assistant Mads Strøm

Alex KochonOctober 11, 2017

At the end of Mads Ek Strøm’s senior year at the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU), the 26-year-old Norwegian had some decisions to make. He started by looking for a job in the U.S., specifically in the finance industry, in addition to pursuing a master’s degree in finance. Then the three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion — who won back-to-back races at the 2016 championships and came winningest male skier in CU history, accepted the...

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Highlands Trailblazers Seeks Junior Comp Coach
Job Postings

Highlands Trailblazers Seeks Junior Comp Coach

Alex KochonSeptember 21, 2017

Job posting) The Highlands Trailblazers seeks an experienced competitive skier with strong coaching skills to manage the training program for this Junior Competitive (“Jr. Comp”) racing program the Club is adding for the 2017/2018 season. This new program is being formed in response to the rapid growth the Club has experienced over the last few years. About Highlands Trailblazers Ski Club The Highlands Nordic Inc. It operates year round, helping skiers build new skills, race...

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Ending on a High, Bryan Fletcher 11th in Schonach World Cup; Frenzel Wins 5th Straight Overall Title
GeneralNewsNordic CombinedRacing

Ending on a High, Bryan Fletcher 11th in Schonach World Cup; Frenzel Wins 5th Straight Overall Title

Alex KochonMarch 22, 2017

At the season-ending Nordic Combined World Cup weekend in Schonach, Germany, American Bryan Fletcher tallied his second-best result of the season: 11th in the individual large hill/10-kilometer Gundersen start on Saturday, March 18. He did so by posting one of his best jumps of the year, which interestingly tied his jumping result at his season-best World Cup in December in Lillehammer, Norway. In Lillehammer, Fletcher jumped to 22nd with a 129-meter leap, also on the large...

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Bjørgen Bests Weng to Finalize Unbeaten Streak; Bjornsen Fifth on the Day in Quebec
Canadian National Ski TeamNewsRacingUS Ski TeamWorld Cup

Bjørgen Bests Weng to Finalize Unbeaten Streak; Bjornsen Fifth on the Day in Quebec

Alex KochonMarch 20, 2017

QUEBEC CITY — Generally speaking, most European-based World Cup skiers wouldn’t have picked Canada as their ideal place to end the season. It’s too far across the pond, too far from the beaches, too far from home. The other option had been Tyumen in Siberia, so that probably wasn’t a top pick, either, but team press release. “Jessie also had a measure of redemption leading a train of women and moving up four places in the...

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Klæbo Rockets to First Distance Win in Quebec Mass Start; Harvey 4th
Canadian National Ski TeamNewsRacingUS Ski TeamWorld Cup

Klæbo Rockets to First Distance Win in Quebec Mass Start; Harvey 4th

Alex KochonMarch 18, 2017

QUEBEC CITY — As 75 men jogged out into the center of the World Cup area assembled on the Plains of Abraham for the men’s 15-kilometer classic mass start on Saturday, one man in particular stood out. Alex Harvey, wearing the red suit of the Canadian national team, led the group out. He wore bib No. 1, but if you couldn’t see that from a distance, it didn’t matter. Essentially everyone knew who he was. The official...

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Harvey Delivers Again at Home, Wins First Race of World Cup Finals in Quebec
Canadian National Ski TeamNewsRacingUS Ski TeamWorld Cup

Harvey Delivers Again at Home, Wins First Race of World Cup Finals in Quebec

Alex KochonMarch 17, 2017

QUEBEC CITY — Friday started off about as good as the Canadian men’s team could have hoped for, with five skiers finishing in the top 30 to qualify for the heats in the 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint on the first day of World Cup Finals. According to Cross Country Canada, that’s the first time five Canadian men have qualified in a World Cup race. Racing one lap around the Plains of Abraham in the heart of Quebec...

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CollegiateNewsRacing

Utah Rallies for NCAA Title; Bergström, Hyncicova Double Champs

Alex KochonMarch 13, 2017

JACKSON, N.H. — Two years ago, Martin Bergström quit skiing. A month ago, Petra Hyncicova took three weeks off skiing following U23 World Championships due to a painful bursa between her Achilles tendon and heel bone. Less than a week after resuming training, Hyncicova, a 22-year-old Czech Republic native and University of Colorado-Boulder (CU) junior, raced to two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Skiing Championships titles — the first of her career — in Jackson,...

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Nilsson Back to Winning Ways in Drammen Classic Sprint; Caldwell Top American in 9th
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Nilsson Back to Winning Ways in Drammen Classic Sprint; Caldwell Top American in 9th

Alex KochonMarch 9, 2017

Drammen is one of those staples on the World Cup, appearing on the circuit late each season and remembered for its trademark uphill finish in the middle of a city of 63,000 inhabitants, just 40 kilometers west of Oslo, Norway. “It tends to be fairly predictable snow,” U.S. Ski Team Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb told FasterSkier during an in-person interview in Drammen on Wednesday. “It’s generally clean [snow]. It’s generally some sort of klister.” But...

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