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Canadians Reveal New One-Way Suits; Van Decals

With anticipation for the first bit of racing in Europe and North America reaching a fever pitch, attention has turned to attire. Specifically, the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST), and the digs they’re going to be sporting this winter. When the Canadians inked a deal earlier this year with OneWay Sport, the nordic equipment manufacturer, the announcement raised some eyebrows. OneWay has a history of making some exciting suits, including the intense Slovenian neon, and...

BNS Announces New Stone Grind Naming System and New Grinds for 2011-2012

  Boulder, CO – Boulder Nordic Sport (BNS) has announced a new naming system for their line of stone grinds and the official addition of three new structure patterns. With the exception of the new grinds, the grind structure patterns are not changing, but their names have been replaced by a simplified system designed to clarify how each grind relates to temperature, snow crystal type and moisture content. “I’m excited about our new grind names,”...

Canyon Parks Mourns Loss of Winter Specialist

When Kim Francom remembered Jessie Gardiner, the image of how they met rang crystal clear. Some 25 years ago, Gardiner had appeared on horseback, riding down a road in Park City, Utah. At the time, Francom had an adaptive horse-riding program in the area, and Gardiner immediately volunteered her services. Twenty years later, Francom needed a winter specialist as the Canyon Parks supervisor in Springville, Utah. He had made a point to keep in touch...

If you’ve ever wanted a chance to beat a World Champion, you’re in luck. Of course, it won’t be easy. The Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA), the Canadian training center based in Canmore, Alberta, is hosting the Spray Drag Running Race – and World Champion and Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) member Devon Kershaw is headlining the event. The idea is pretty similar to the recent ‘Climb to the Castle’ held at Whiteface Mountain in...

Working Out with Perianne Jones

Note: This is the first of a new series about working out with high-performance athletes. The idea is to shed light on the daily routine of someone dedicated to training and share a regular Joe’s story of trying to keep up.  ALMONTE, Ontario — Upon my early arrival in Almonte, I decided to explore the hometown of Canadian Cross Country Ski Team member Perianne Jones. A few lefthand turns and I had completed the grand...

From the Pack: Corinne Prevot

Note: This is the first profile of an ongoing series on junior and collegiate racers in the U.S. and beyond. The nordic sports are certainly not the largest, but there are still thousands of  great stories that most of us are not familiar with. We will be picking athletes out of this pack to feature – nominations for outstanding or interesting nordic skiers can be sent to business journal’s website. “I was shocked at first,”...

“I Got Too Greedy” – An Interview With Sami Jauhojaervi

While you might not be able to spell or pronounce his name, if you’re a fan of elite cross country skiing, you should be familiar with Sami Jauhojaervi. Jauhojaervi is one of Finland’s top cross country skiers – the 30 year old has finished as high as 5th in the World Cup Overall, has four World Cup podiums to his credit, and two World Championship bronze medals from Liberec in 2009, where he was a...

North Americans have heard the name Nishikawa ad naseum over the last few years, as Graham Nishikawa has established himself as one Canada’s top domestic skiers. But now, his younger sister Emily Nishikawa is the rapidly rising one. After finishing as the top Canadian and winning a national title in the 5 k freestyle in Canmore in March, in the first individual event at the Canadian Championships, Nishikawa went on to place 2nd overall in...

When Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) member Dasha Gaiazova finished her season a little less than a month ago, it ended a hectic run of racing for the emerging star. In two years, Gaiazova had notched her first Olympic experience, earned her first World Cup medal, qualified for 5 of 7 World Cup sprints, finished 20th at the World Championships sprint in Oslo, Norway, and finished 31st in the Sprint Cup standings. “It feels good...

Cook and Roberts Prevail in Biathlon Pursuits at U.S. Nationals

An incredibly beautiful March day greeted the athletes for Day 2 of the US Biathlon National Championship.   Overnite temperature of 20F let the ski trail firm up nicely for todays competition, and the bright sun and low winds were a big improvements over the rain and wind of  the Day 1- Sprint.  The athletes were all relieved to see the rain of Thursday replaced by fast and firm track. The Women’s 10km Pursuit came down...

There is no doubt that when Canadian Brent McMurtry trained this summer, he was motivated by the thought of standing on the start line in the stadium in Oslo, Norway, in February. But for McMurtry, a member of the Pierre Harvey National Development Center (CNEPH) and one of Canada’s most promising young skiers, had a self-described “disappointing” start to the season. During the first World Cup period, he fell flat, cracking the top 50 just...

Youth Reigns Supreme As Germans Take World Championship Gold in Khanty-Mansiysk Sprints

In Thursday’s World Championship mixed relay in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, the Germans held a twenty-second lead going into the fourth leg. While the Norwegians weren’t going to go down without a fight – overall World Cup leader Tarjei Boe was anchoring the team – it seemed that veteran anchor Michael Greis had a good shot at giving his countrymen the first gold medal of the series. Then he missed three shots, and the victory slipped away...

Recap of New England Regional Ski Orienteering Championship

This past weekend, two orienteering clubs (CSU, UNO) put on the New England Regional Championships for ski orienteering.  Alex Jospe, Ed Despard, and Ernst Linder were the fearless leaders, and they teamed up with the Balsams Grand Resort to host the event.  The weekend featured three races: A middle distance (winning times ~50 minutes), sprint (winning time 6 minutes), and long distance race (winning times ~120 minutes).  Forty-five competitors, including three from the U.S. Ski-O...

In Northern Maine, Pippen Takes a Shot at Biathlon

They were probably the biggest pair of hands ever to grasp a biathlon rifle. They belonged to Scottie Pippen, the 6’8” basketball Hall of Famer. And they made the gun look more like a pistol, as a dozen reporters and dignitaries looked on. After watching a pair of World Cup biathlon races on Saturday morning, Pippen had ambled out to point number 27 on the shooting range in Fort Kent, ME. There, he was handed...

UVM Takes First Day of EISA Races At Home Carnival

Mildly cold temperatures, partly sunny skies, and clean-cut tracks met the EISA teams this morning at the Trapps Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont for mass start 15 and 20 kilometer classic races. Stacking the podium in an impressive 1-2-3, the UVM women stole the show for the first day of their home carnival. Taking the lead early and keeping a distance on the field, the trio of Caitlin Patterson, Amy Glen, and Lucy Garrec skied...

Roenning Takes Otepaa 15 K; Charging Veerpalu Can’t Crack Podium

Heading into Saturday’s 15 k classic race, it had been more than four years since Eldar Roenning won a World Cup distance race. But even before he left the starting gate in Otepaa, Estonia, the Norwegian knew that it was going to be a solid day. “I had a good feeling—I was feeling that I was good enough for the podium,” he said. Roenning wasn’t just good enough for the podium—he was good enough for...

Bjoergen Stamps Authority on Estonian 10 K; Kowalczyk Second

If any of the women on the World Cup circuit are still holding out hope that they can beat Marit Bjoergen, they’re running out of time to figure how to do it. With a 33-second victory in Saturday’s 10 k classic in Otepaa, Estonia, Bjoergen remained unbeaten in every individual-start distance race she’s entered this season. The start of the 2011 World Ski Championships in Oslo is nearing, and some are speculating that Bjoergen could...

World Cup Racing Hits Ski-Crazy Estonia, with FasterSkier in Tow

On Saturday morning, I will be just one of the nearly 15,000 people expected to fill the stadium and line the trails for this weekend’s World Cup races in the ski-crazed nation of Estonia. The country of 1.3 million—the same population as the state of Maine—has produced six Olympic medals in cross-country skiing over the last decade, courtesy of three legends: Kristina Smigun-Vaehi, Jaak Mae, and Andrus Veerpalu. Just how serious about cross-country skiing is...

Sedov Prognosis Good; Petukhov Blames Filing Failure on Tour de Ski

One day after a sports website reported that budding Russian cross-country ski star Petr Sedov was suffering from a potentially serious heart problem, the president of the Russian Ski Association, Elena Vyalbe, said that Sedov had been to see specialists in Davos, and that “cause for concern was not found.” “The final conclusion is not ready yet, but according to preliminary data, Peter’s heart is all right,” his father told the website SkiRun.ru that he failed...

Eight races at four venues over the course of 10 days is enough to stretch even the world’s best cross-country skiers to their absolute limits—the U.S.’s Kikkan Randall included. Randall wrapped up her efforts at the 2011 Tour de Ski with a 23rd-place on Sunday’s final climb up the Alpe Cermis, for an overall finish of 21st. “Felt pretty good to lay in the snow after that,” she said. The result left her 20 seconds...