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Jason Albert

Jason lives in Bend, Ore., and can often be seen chasing his two boys around town. He’s a self-proclaimed audio geek. That all started back in the early 1990s when he convinced a naive public radio editor he should report a story from Alaska’s, Ruth Gorge. Now, Jason’s common companion is his field-recording gear.
Sophie Caldwell Hamilton Calls it a Career

By the time you read this story, Vermont’s Sophie Caldwell Hamilton will have turned a fresh thirty-one. Her birthday is today, Monday, March 22. Although Caldwell Hamilton began representing the U.S. Ski Team on the World Cup in Québec City in 2012, she is profoundly Green Mountain State. Raised in Peru, Vermont near where she later attended the Stratton Mountain School, we’re pretty certain that, in a metaphorical sense, she bleeds maple syrup. As much...

NRK and Expressen Report Fluoro Testing Device Flawed

Over the past few years, FasterSkier has reported on per-fluorinated waxes, powders, liquids, and pastes. Entities like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Europe’s equivalent, the European Environment Agency, are phasing out eight-chain fluorocarbons. We know, after diving into the scientific literature, the evidence suggests these compounds are not good for your health, and they persist in the environment as they do not readily breakdown into inert substances. We also know that skiers love fluoros....

That’s a Wrap as Krüger Wins 50 k in Engadin; Schumacher 20th

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Low pressure moved in. The Alp’s wind kicked up, a coating of snow fell, and a sinuous 50 kilometer skate pursuit for the men closed out the World Cup...

Russia’s Stupak Wins Engadin 10 k Mass Start Classic; Diggins Fifth, Swirbul 12th, Brennan 14th

The story line from today’s near-to-the-end chapter of this World Cup season will not include the words high-tempo. News came from FIS earlier that Therese Johaug, winner of all the individual distance medals at the 2021 World Championships, was sitting out the weekend due to an inflamed wrist. Add to the injury list Sweden’s Frida Karlsson, who is recovering from an injury sustained in the World Championship 30 k classic. For her part, Karlsson placed...

A Historic Season For Diggins: World Cup Overall Champion

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. This is a story that might make Jessie Diggins cringe. We’re here to render her efforts to the singularity of cross-country ski results. (A quick nod – her default is...

Case Closed: Klæbo Asks Norwegian Ski Federation to Rescind Appeal After his DQ in the Championship 50 k

“Go back and watch the video,” is something I have heard and done maybe 100 times collectively since the men’s 50 k mass start classic concluded with a winner then a DQ, then another winner on Sunday as the 2021 World Championships slammed the door on competition. To say it was a bizarre scene would be an understatement as Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov rocketed into and around a sweeping left-hand curve...

A Mega-Classic 50 k to Close out the Championships: A Klæbo DQ in the Final Straight Reshuffles the Podium

This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.  It was under overcast skies that the men made their final preparations before the start of Sunday’s mass start 50 k classic, the final event of the 2021 World...

The Devon Kershaw Show: 2021 World Championship 4 x 5 k Relay – A Nail Biter for Bronze

The facts are this: with Johaug in the 4 x 5 k relay mix Norway remains a force late in the race when the skate legs ensue. Today in Oberstdorf, Johaug took over the race and made it a relative yawner up-front. The real action was for third place where the U.S. and Finland threw down. Over 20 k of racing came down to the final straight when Krista Pärmäkoski and Jessie Diggins drag raced....

Norway Leaves No Doubt in 4 x 5 k Championship Relay Win; Finland and U.S. Down to the Wire with Finland Taking Bronze.

This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Tension built, tension released, as the build-up to the women’s 4 x 5-kilometer relay at the World Championships began under a partly cloudy sky, light breeze, and what we’ve...

It’s a Tempo-Fest – Johaug Captures 10 k Skate at Worlds; Diggins Fourth

This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. The high pressure continued at the 2021 World Championships on Tuesday in more ways than one. Oberstdorf, Germany’s temps hovered around 50 degrees Fahrenheit for the start of the women’s...

Norway Speeds Ahead for Men’s Team Sprint Gold, Canada’s Cyr and Ritchie 7th Overall

This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. The firepower was evident on the start line. Norway, Russia, France, Italy, and six other teams paired for the team sprint Sunday at the 2021 Oberstdorf, Germany World Championships....

FIS Statement on Bolshunov’s Actions in Lahti

The International Ski Federation released a statement this morning regarding Alexander Bolshunov’s disqualification in the Lahti, Finland 4 x 7.5 k relay for “unsportsmanlike conduct”.   This linked article written earlier this month considers the pathway to sanctions in cases like a physical altercation at a FIS race. Below is the FIS statement in its entirety. *Decision of Ethics and Compliance Commissioner on Alexander Bolshunov* The FIS Council assigned an Independent Ethics and Compliance Commissioner...

Nordiq Canada Names 2021 World Championship Team (Press Release)

Press Release   CANMORE, Alta.—Nordiq Canada has named 10 athletes who will wear the nation’s colours at the 2021 FIS World Nordic Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, February 23 – March 7. Earning their coveted spots based on results achieved at the 2020-21 World Cup races, five women and five men will bring the maple leaf to the start line in all races throughout the two-week Nordic festival.  “Not having competitions in Canada this season...

Fine Tuning with Katherine Stewart-Jones and Erik Bråten: A Two Way Street

  Canada’s Katherine Stewart-Jones landed on the World Cup this season beginning in January – and late January at that. The Canadian National Team remained off the race circuit until then due to a variety of issues related to the pandemic. Domestically, Canada took a hard stance on running races. When Stewart-Jones and her teammates raced in Lahti on January 23, their only “race” experience since the end of last season were head-to-head efforts within...

FS Gear Reviews: The Norrøna Lyngen Gore-Tex Jacket

Residing in “dry” climates the past two decades — I’ve eschewed heavy-duty Gore-Tex products. Even after spending considerable time in high alpine snowstorms, and mid-summer rain, I’ve functioned perfectly fine. My only go-to rule for inclement weather gear is this – if the weather looks anything other than high-pressure and bluebird – no down. I’ve kept it basic when the sky spits precip. I rely on synthetic insulation topped with a feather-light windbreaker. (Essentially a...

Oskar Svensson Toes First in Ulricehamn; Canada’s Graham Ritchie 17th

It was a sprint skier’s delight for nearly three-minutes on the 1.6-kilometer loop in Ulricehamn, Sweden on Saturday. In the uptick towards the hets on this working skier’s course an unusual name, as far as results go, topped the leaderboard after qualification. Finland’s Joni Mæki (26) was the fastest qualifier in 2:58.41. Before the last few weeks, Mæki had flown under our radar until he and Bolshunov captured cross-country headlines a few weeks back in...

Dahlqvist Wins Ulricehamn’s Skate Sprint: Diggins Third, Scooping up More Points Towards the World Cup Overall

The day was cloudless and cold in Ulricehamn, Sweden for the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint. As has come to be expected of the Swedish women, they were clutch from the beginning on this course which favored sprint endurance, as the race time times pushed near the 3:30 mark for many. To put this into context, December’s skate sprint in Davos, won by American Rosie Brennan, had the fastest qualifying time, also from Brennan, of 2:40.03....

Post-Falun News Round-Up

Crash and Burn in Falun:  News from around the scene has some World Cup skiers on the mend after Saturday’s mass start races in Falun, Sweden. A few notes from the men’s and women’s 10 k and 15 k mass start classic race: there were numerous crashes, some serious.   According to an Instagram post from British skier Andrew Young, he crashed on the fourth lap of the men’s race. “I slid into and through...

Klæbo Strides for the Falun Sprint Win; Schoonmaker 18th

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.  Squeaky snow, firm tracks and a fanless Falun was the backdrop for the men’s 1.4-kilometer classic sprint in Falun, Sweden on Sunday. The racing capped a three day series...

Locked In: Jessie Diggins Wins Falun 10k Skate

Leave no doubt to your imaginations, Jessie Diggins, in-form and yellow-bibbed as the World Cup leader, stamped her authority on the 2021 season with gusto in Falun, Sweden. She won the 10-kilometer individual skate on Friday in 23:35.9. This was Diggins’s eighth individual win on the World Cup — all have been in skate. With the sun hanging on the horizon and unable to warm the air above squeaky-snow-cold, this was a key opportunity to...