Gerry Furseth – Page 3 – FasterSkier.com

Nakkertok NorAm Weekend Round Up

Gerry FursethDecember 16, 2019

The NorAm circuit moved east to the Nakkertok trails for three days of racing jointly hosted by Nakkertok Nordic, Club Skinouk, Chelsea Nordiq, and Kanata Nordic. Friday featured classic sprints, Saturday interval start free, and Sunday interval start classic. The event was also the Candy Cane Cup for the younger categories, as well as Ontario Cup 1 and Coupe Québec 1. 374 athletes in the U16, U18, and Open categories competed on Friday with many...

Continental Cup Racing

Canmore NorAm / SuperTour / Nationals Weekend Wrap-up (Updated)

Gerry FursethDecember 9, 2019

Updated with more quotes. The first three race days of both the NorAm and SuperTour series are complete and the athletes and coaches are digesting the lessons. It was free sprints Friday, classic distance Saturday, and interval start free technique distance on Sunday. The men started the Sunday with a four lap 15km followed by the women doing a 3 lap 10km. CGRP’s Ben Lustgarten nailed the pacing to win Sunday’s race in 42:56.0, just...

Continental Cup Racing Video

Canmore NorAm/SuperTour/Nationals Classic Distance

Gerry FursethDecember 8, 2019

Day two of the first NorAm and SuperTour weekend was interval start classic, with 10km for the men and 5km for the women. The US SuperTour athletes took the chance to show their depth today, packing the top ten of the open categories. The 154 men raced first, with the U.S. Ski Team’s Zak Ketterson winning comfortably in 27:33.1. National team member Antoine Cyr was second at 15.0 back, followed by CGRP’s Ben Lustgarten at...

Continental Cup Racing Video

Canmore NorAm/SuperTour/Nationals Sprints

Gerry FursethDecember 6, 2019

The NorAm series fully lived up to the North American Cup label in Canmore Friday with 1.3km free technique sprints to kick off a combined NorAm, SuperTour, and Mexican National Championships weekend. Full results for the weekend are on zone4, including live results every day. Friday featured sprints for the older age groups only (282 racers): Saturday is interval start classic, and Sunday’s race an interval start free. Before the races, there was chatter about...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup Racing

Rebuilding Canada: Less Europe, More North America

Gerry FursethDecember 2, 2019

Canada is moving into a new era in skiing. An era with less World Cup podiums and more emphasis on developing future podium athletes. “Train at what you want to be good at. If its climbing, climb. If it is chess, play chess. Ski training has many elements of course, but in the end the best training to race fast is to race.” — Erik Bråten, National Team Head Coach In the near future,...

News Resources Training Video Workouts

Ski Games for Kids of All Ages

Gerry FursethNovember 20, 2019

(If the video doesn’t play in your browser, click here) XC Ski Nation and

Canadian National Ski Team Racing

Nordiq Thunder 2019: Notes, Quotes, and Photos

Gerry FursethNovember 17, 2019

The unofficial kickoff to the western Canadian racing season was held on November 13th and 14th. The traditional King’s Court sprint and interval start distance races are now called Nordiq Thunder — a re-brand from Frozen Thunder – but the relaxed feel and clockwork organization remain the same. With no trip selections on the line, the 93 sprinters and 105 distance racers were there to test their fitness and tune up for the races that...

Canadian National Ski Team General News

Nordiq Canada: Ringing in the Changes

Gerry FursethNovember 5, 2019

When Cross Country Canada announced last March that they would be rebranding as Nordiq Canada, they were emphatic the new name was a symbol of their readiness to make changes. Those changes are starting to happen. One holdover from last season is Erik Bråten, the young Norwegian brought in to shape the development pipeline. After one year on the job, Bråten is still enthusiastic and now the sole head coach. Louis Bouchard has stepped down...

Biathlon Biathlon Canada Racing

Biathlon Canada Names Head Coach for Season: Justin Wadsworth

Gerry FursethOctober 7, 2019

Last week, Biathlon Canada announced Justin Wadsworth as the Head Coach for the 2019-2020 season. In April, 2019, Wadsworth took on a temporary role as the team’s summer coach. That fill-in-the-gap stint will extend through this season’s racing. Wadsworth joins Canadian biathlon at a challenging time, with limited funding and after the retirement of many top athletes. “My job is really just for the national team — we have 12 athletes and I would say...

Racing World Cup

Québec City: Notes, Quotes, and Gallery

Gerry FursethMarch 27, 2019

The World Cup season wrapped up with World Cup finals in Québec City and FasterSkier was there. Three photographers and three interviewers worked together to gather information from 150 racers, including 56 North Americans. While top skiers chased glory on the tracks, 500 volunteers toiled out of sight. Alex Harvey retired in a public blaze of glory, Lenny Valjas and Ida Sargent retired in a flood of interviews but without a press conference, and a...

Racing World Cup

Québec City: Quotes, Crashes, and Setting The Stage

Gerry FursethMarch 23, 2019

The Québec City World Cup has been a wild ride for the first two days, which are really only setting the stage for the big event. On Sunday, two crystal globes will be decided and hometown superstar Alex Harvey will retire on a course he raced on as a child. Tricky Skiing The first two days have brought wildly varying conditions, but both were challenging. Rain on Thursday evening caused sugar snow conditions on...

Canadian Nationals Racing

Canadian Nationals 2019: Notes, Quotes, and Galleries

Gerry FursethMarch 20, 2019

Canadian Ski Championships has come to an end with the mass start classic for the younger age groups. While is is hard to prove that this is the largest nationals ever, it is clear that Évènements Nordique Gatineau Nordic Events (ÉNGNE) has organized a successful week of racing for roughly 700 athletes. ÉNGNE is a collaboration between Chelsea Nordiq Ski Club, Nakkertok Nordic Ski Association, Club Skinouk and the Gatineau Loppet. One of the reasons this...

Canadian Nationals Racing

Canadian Nationals: Team Sprint and Long Distance Classic

Gerry FursethMarch 20, 2019

The Canadian Ski Championships party at Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, Québec is in the final days. While ski fans might see this as a pre-party for World Cup Finals in Québec City, the athletes are pursuing titles, personal goals, and the chance to test themselves against 700 peers. FasterSkier, like the World Cup athletes, is not immune to travel challenges. There will be a few quotes from Tuesday’s mass starts, the result 0f flight cancellations...

Canadian Nationals Racing

Canadian Nationals: Skate Sprint and WCF qualification

Gerry FursethMarch 17, 2019

This article has been updated with final WCF selections and a video of the sprint A finals. Nationals rolled on at Nakkertok trails with free technique sprints on Saturday. The women raced a 1.3km course while the men added one more hill for 1.4km. The jury described the conditions as ‘soft icy’, which seems to mean ‘fast spring skiing’ with a soft layer over a firm base. Maya MacIsaac-Jones (CNST) took her second consecutive national...

Canadian Nationals Racing

Canadian Nationals: Two Day Pursuit and WCF Qualification

Gerry FursethMarch 15, 2019

This article has been updated to correct an interpretation of the selection criteria. Day two of nationals was day two of the pursuit at Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, Québec. The two-day pursuit format (classic interval start on day one, free technique pursuit start day two) was held for the second time at nationals. With both national titles and starts at World Cup Finals in Québec City up for grabs, it was always going to be...

Canadian Nationals Racing

Wednesday Rundown: Canadian Nationals

Gerry FursethMarch 13, 2019

Canadian Ski Championships, better known as ‘nationals’, kicked off today at the Nakkertok trails in Québec with individual start classic racing. 342 men started the 10km and 293 women started the 5km, both using the same 5km loop on an overcast day at -8C. The field is more stacked than usual, with only two athletes (Alex Harvey and Jack Carlyle) in Europe right now. Lenny Valjas (CNST) won the 10km in 25:09.3, 9.9 seconds ahead...

Canadian Nationals Racing World Cup

Connecting the Dots: World Cup Finals, Nationals, and Developing the Sport

Gerry FursethMarch 6, 2019

North American World Cups are becoming a fixture on the schedule, with the season ending in Canada in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020. In 2020, Minnesota will join in with a city sprint- that race falls between the Quebec City and Canmore events. These races are important for athlete development as both Canada and the U.S. are granted ‘host nation’ start allocations. Fifteen male and 15 female athletes may represent each country with the added...

Continental Cup Racing

Canadian Western Championship: Weekend Wrap-up

Gerry FursethFebruary 12, 2019

KELOWNA, B.C — One week after Easterns, it was time for Westerns, and the Polar Vortex made the trip for both weekends. At Easterns, the air was cold enough to keep the organizing committee on edge at the start of the weekend, and freezing rain complicated driving plans. At Westerns, the cold weather held off to Sunday, but falling snow on dry, salted roads created a sheet ice for Friday’s commute. Both championships had less athletes...

Continental Cup Racing

Canadians Westerns Rundown: Skate Sprints

Gerry FursethFebruary 8, 2019

Canadian Western Championships started off Friday with free technique sprints on the Telemark trails near Kelowna, B.C. The sun was out for the qualification round, followed by cloud, and light snow as the day progressed with the temperature hovering at -10C. A major road closure combined with icy morning highways and a large number of accidents blocking roads caused some athletes and volunteers to miss the qualification round, resulting in only 312 athletes on the start...

Continental Cup Racing

Canadian Eastern Championships: Weekend Wrap-up

Gerry FursethFebruary 5, 2019

The NorAm series went to Duntroon, Ontario, for the Canadian Eastern Championships: three days of varied weather, new race formats, and new faces on the podium, all hosted by Highlands Trailblazers. Easterns is possibly the most storied ski race in Canada. Most years, it is the largest FIS event in North America. This year, the Polar Vortex froze out the travel ambitions for many families and lower budgets in the post-Olympic season persuaded many western...

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