Race day four at Sovereign Lake was a 10km individual start classic in the sunshine. With humid new snow at -10C all day while the air warmed up to -4C, all the teams found fast skis and solid kick on a great day for striding. Once again, the Open and U20 categories skied 2x5km first, followed by U18 and U16 who skied 2×2.5km, for a total of 385 starters Sunday. Individual start races are about...
Day 3 of the Sovereign Lake race week brought a skate sprint on a shorter course and warmer weather: -10C with no wind and occasional light snow. Wednesday and Thursday were Nordiq Cup events, with only U20 and Open categories. Saturday and Sunday are Canada Cup races, with the addition of U18 and U16 categories, resulting in 402 racers across the eight groups. All four race days are part of the US SuperTour. All groups...
Continental Cup racing at Sovereign Lake continued Thursday with a 10km mass start skate for both genders, using the traditional Upper World Cup 5km course. The weekday races are U20 and Open categories only, with ‘smaller’ fields of 87 women and 127 men registered Thursday. “I think this is probably the most competitive race in North America this year, so there were a lot of really strong and talented skiers.” — John Steel Hagenbuch, Dartmouth...
North American racing hit high gear today with the opening of the combined Nordiq Cup and SuperTour series at Sovereign Lake with classic sprints. This week brings together the top skiers from all of North America, Mexico included, and Wednesday’s qualification was kicked off by the top ranked skiers: USA’s Hailey Swirbul and Canada’s Russell Kennedy. Many teams arrived two weeks in advance to enjoy some elevation training on corduroy while teams with good early...
Disclaimer: The author skied both days and was one member of the large S2S organizing committee. This may seem like a conflict of interest, but also allows a more detailed look behind the curtain at how a new event was built. Click here to learn more about the origins of the Sovereign2Silverstar Ski Marathon, and to take a look at the successful first year of the event. *** The motto for S2S was ‘finishing is...
Disclaimer: The author skied both days and was one member of the large S2S organizing committee. This may seem like a conflict of interest, but also allows a more detailed look behind the curtain at how a new event was built. When the moment comes to create a new destination ski marathon, how would you compile all of your dreams and mould them into a single cohesive weekend? A group of Canadian skiers was faced...
The Canadian Prep Camp in Sovereign Lake and SilverStar, BC prior to the 2022 Beijing Olympics sounds like a nordic skier’s heaven. A two-week ski vacation with 100 kilometres of perfectly groomed snow. A private room above a great coffee shop (pain au chocolate!) and next door to some great beer. January weather just below freezing with enough falling snow to make every day a hardwax day. Two weeks of what locals call superhero snow. A...
Race, rinse, repeat. The Western Canada Cup series returned to Sovereign Lake for race days 3 and 4 of the new season. Originally scheduled for Rossland, BC, the event had to be moved after an ‘atmospheric river’ event delivered warm rain to almost all southern BC trail systems on December 1st. Sovereign Lake was the least damaged, able to hold WCC #1 and #2 on the 4th and 5th as scheduled. By December 11th, skiing...
A middle of the pack master would have to be an idiot to sign up to race 50km against the best skiers in North America on a FIS-approved World Cup course. The top skiers will be fresh from World Cup Finals in Canmore and competing for important titles, national team selection, and future World Cup starts. With 2020 Nationals combined with US SuperTour Finals, the field will be deep. So why is my name on...
VERNON, British Columbia — There are a lot of master blasters who are training hard all year. There are a lot less that progress from one season to the next. This strength program is designed to help one group of masters ski faster as they age. Eric de Nys, the program director and head coach at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Club (who previously
http://fasterskier.com/fsarticle/wednesday-workout- sovereign-lake-spring-fling- pushups-time-trial/ In addition, we will be featuring a new race format on Sunday! “The Lightning Round” is a new format Enduro Race that will include 3 timed downhill sections including Aberdeen. Check out the website for a map of the course. It’s going to be a doozie. Bring your speed skiing helmet! You have one of those right?? Spring Fling Event Page: https://www.sovereignlake.com/ event/spring-fling-ski-camp/ Registration Page: https://zone4.ca/reg.asp?id=17590 This event is NOT included in a season...
This article has been updated with additional information on pro skiers who volunteered with Skiku, and additional pictures from Montana and New York. * * * It’s the last week of April. Skier New Year, May 1, looms next Tuesday. It’s roughly six months till So, caveat lector: Just because your favorite skier has been taking a well-deserved break from finding and curating Instagram-worthy content for your enjoyment, this doesn’t mean that they’ve been sitting on their...
FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Concept2, Tyler Mosher, who told Lam to “talk to Maria.” “I talked to Maria Lundgren, and she forwarded me to Tony Chin,” he said of Lundgren, a British Columbia Ski Team coach, and Chin, one of the head coaches at the Nordic Racers Ski Club in Vancouver. Through Chin, he met Ryan Olson, a masters skier. “Ryan Olson is pretty hardcore guy when it comes to skiing,” Lam said....
The show will go on in West Yellowstone, Montana. After organizers of the Yellowstone Ski Festival (YSF) announced in an e-blast on Monday that the West Yellowstone SuperTour, set for this coming weekend, was canceled due to “damage done to the snowpack from the significant rainfall over the past few days,” it’s back on — according to a trail conditions.” As of Wednesday morning, there was no rain in West Yellowstone’s forecast, but rather a...
(Press release) INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE in the first edition of the XC105 Nordic Ski Festival in British Columbia! From November 23rd to 26th, 2017, the XC105 Nordic Ski Festival will take place at Sovereign Lake Nordic Club and SilverStar Mountain Resort Ltd in Vernon, BC. Renowned for their exceptional ski conditions, especially at the beginning of the season, the two ski resorts will be jointly hosting activities that will appeal to all, whatever your level: beginner,...
When you think of skiing in Canada in October, Canmore’s Frozen Thunder is probably one of the first places that comes to mind. There are more options and some snowmaking that might surprise you. This month, Canadians are skiing on natural snow, machine-made snow and farmed snow. We know skiers are already out and about in Alaska and other parts of the U.S. as well, which is why we want this year’s early season “U.S....
While most people have moved on to other sports by May, the more obsessive skiers are starting the new training year on snow. Canada’s “first” cross-country ski “races” of the 2017/2018 season were held on May 6. “First” because, while we haven’t exhaustively researched this, it was the first Saturday after May 1, which is the traditional new year for the Northern Hemisphere. “Races” is also a bit misleading as most athletes were viewing the events as an opportunity...
On May 6, Sovereign Lake hosted a classic time trial with a twist. Instead of using a standard interval start, each skier drew a number, did that many pushups, put their skis on, and started the 5-kilometre, one-lap course. When one skier hit the 5-metre line, the next skier stepped up to the pushup station. Troy Hudson, general manager of the Sovereign Lake Nordic Club (SLNC), came up with the format the night before, so the special equipment...
At the start of last season, Canadian cross-country skier Andy Shields one point. With some of his early season results –including a first place finish in last year’s NorAm skate sprint at Sovereign Lake, B.C. –Shields earned the opportunity to compete for Canada in two World Cup races in Planica, Slovenia. They were his first. A little less than a month later, Shields returned to Canada to compete in more domestic racing, and before he knew it, he found himself living...
VERNON, B.C. –The combined Noram/SuperTour last weekend at Sovereign Lake, British Columbia, produced some exciting skiing and some challenging photography conditions with almost non-stop snowfall both days. Some of our best photos that didn’t make the