This past weekend, more than 170 skiers descended upon the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site at the Vermont National Guard base in Jericho, Vermont, for the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) Rossignol Fall Rollerski Classic. According to NENSA Competitive Programs Director Justin Beckwith, the field size nearly doubled from last year, and he believed […]
Norway’s New Junior Coach, Former SMU Runner Monika Kørra
In early August, Norwegian Monika Kørra was named Norway’s national junior team coach, an under-the-radar, nordic news event that resonates. Kørra, a 29-year-old accomplished runner and cross-country athlete in Norway, comes to the job with an undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and a master’s in coaching and sport psychology, which she completed […]
Torchia on the Ups, Downs and All He’s Learned Since His First USST Nomination
Two summers ago, with just five miles left of the Marquette Trails Fest 30-mile mountain bike race, all Ian Torchia could hear in his head was the voice of Krystof Kopal, his Northern Michigan University (NMU) teammate, snidely saying, “You drop out again?” Fifteen minutes earlier, Torchia had careened into a tree. After dusting himself […]
Wednesday Workout: ‘Trailheading’ with Team Gregg
This week, we’re featuring a workout from the training logs of Team Gregg. These days, husband and wife Brian and Caitlin Gregg are adjusting to life, training and bodily changes as Caitlin is pregnant with their first child (a girl), due in early February. Read the full story here. Caitlin sent us the following “trailheading” […]
Belmont Hill Nordic Team Seeks Assistant Coach
Belmont Hill School, an all-boys’ independent school located in Belmont, MA, seeks an assistant coach for its Nordic Ski team for the winter of 2018-2019. The assistant coach will help plan and execute practice for the team, consisting of about twenty boys in grades 7-12. Practice takes place weekdays at the Weston Ski Track in […]
Soon-To-Be Parents, Caitlin and Brian Gregg on the Winter Ahead
The questions started rolling in this spring. How’s training going? Are you going for 2019 World Championships? What’s the plan for next winter? When you’re Caitlin and Brian Gregg, Olympians and local superstars in the Midwest, it’s hard to keep your athletic profile on the DL. Since buying a house on Theodore Wirth Park seven […]
Calgary in Final Three for 2026 Olympics
The bidding process for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics is crawling forward, and when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the shortlist last Thursday, Oct. 4, Calgary was in the final three. Much has changed since the last time Calgary, Alberta, hosted the Games in 1988 as well as since Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2010. […]
Nordic Nation: Sylvan Ellefson Gives Back, The ‘Mountain Child’ Episode
From 2011 to 2014, Sylvan Ellefson, based out of Edwards, Colorado, was on a roar. SuperTour wins, World Cup starts, and a 30-kilometer skate national championship in 2014. Now, at 31 years old, it seems the skier who began his ascent in the sport during high school would rather focus on being a husband, father, brother, and […]
NENSA Coach of the Year, Alsobrook on Bowdoin’s Upward Path
Building on one of its most successful seasons yet, the Bowdoin College nordic ski team, out of Brunswick, Maine, recently jumped back into training under the guidance of head coach Nathan Alsobrook. Last winter, three skiers qualified for NCAA Skiing Championships, one alumna qualified for the U.S. Olympic team (Kaitlynn Miller, class of 2014), and one visually […]
Minnesota’s World Cup: One Day of Skate Sprints, $1.6-1.7 Million
Following the 2017 World Cup Finals in Canada, John Munger, executive director of the Loppet Foundation, received a phone call from a fellow Minnesotan. Jessie Diggins had just completed her 2016/2017 season, and she had a question for Munger. If Quebec could host a World Cup, why couldn’t Minnesota? “She was really jealous of her […]
Minneapolis to Host 2020 FIS Cross Country World Cup
(Press release) The International Ski Federation (FIS) today officially confirmed that Minnesota will host a World Cup cross-country ski event in Minneapolis in March 2020. U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the Loppet Foundation will serve as hosts of the World Cup event, taking place at the new ‘The Trailhead’ facility in Theodore Wirth Park. “A […]
Nordic Nation: All Criteria Considered with Grover and Kaeding
In late August, U.S. Ski Team (USST) Head Coach Chris Grover broke his own news, releasing three new sets of criteria on behalf of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the national governing body for cross-country skiing. The three separate documents discussed by Grover and linked in his blog disclosed the selection criteria for World Cup and […]
Throwback Workout: Marathon Prep with Holly Brooks
For this week’s workout, we go back in time four years ago to when former U.S. Ski Team member and two-time Olympian Holly Brooks was prepping for a season of international ski marathons in 2014/2015. Now retired from pro skiing and with her own coaching, counseling and consulting business, Brooks, 36, recently ran a sub […]
Fish on Promoting the U.S. Development ‘Pathway’ vs. the ‘Pipeline’
JACKSON, Wyoming — Last last month, U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced that Bryan Fish had been promoted to cross country sport development manager. FasterSkier sat down with Fish on Sept. 14 at Jackson Hole’s Center for the Arts, where he was leading a Level 200 coaching clinic, to learn more about this transition and how […]
Whistler Nordics is Hiring Coaches
(Job posting) Whistler Nordics Ski Club in Whistler, British Columbia, is looking for all level cross-country ski coaches who would like to pass on their enthusiasm and skills to our local youth (ages 5 – 12). We welcome interest from previous XC racers, novice skiers and parents who would like to get more involved in coaching. Previous […]
The College Conflict: Part 2
The following was written by Alayna Sonnesyn, a new member of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team who graduated from the University of Vermont (UVM) this past spring. Originally from Plymouth, Minnesota, Sonnesyn, 22, raced on the UVM Ski Team for four years and qualified for four NCAA Skiing Championships teams. She placed second and third […]
WADA and RUSADA: The Conditions Moving Forward
After the announcement that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Executive Committee, which WADA refers to in short at the ExCo, voted 9-2 in favor of reinstating the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) on Thursday, it released a statement describing what it considers a conditional reinstatement. As mentioned in an previous FasterSkier article, Russia has not fulfilled two […]
WADA Executive Committee Votes to Reinstate RUSADA
A full Olympic quad after Sochi, nothing remains irrefutably clean. Off the radar then on again, the Sochi doping scandal has sent recent tremors through the sports world. In a quick summary, after the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the host nation was handed sanctions for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics that affected some […]
St. Paul Academy Seeks Head and Assistant Nordic Coaches
(Job posting) Head Varsity Nordic Skiing Coach Start Date: November 12th, 2018 End Date: February 14th, 2019 St. Paul Academy and Summit School (St. Paul, MN) is seeking applicants for the position of Head Varsity Nordic Skiing Coach for the winter season. The minimum time commitment includes potential weekday practice times after 3:00 p.m. and all meets. Weekends included as the […]
Mt. Bachelor Seeks Trail Stewards and Instructors
Mt. Bachelor in beautiful Bend Oregon is looking to hire Trail Stewards and Instructors for the 2018-19 season. We have the longest groomed Nordic season in North America, running from mid-November through late-May! Snow conditions permitting, we often extend the season into June. To apply please visit www.mtbachelor.com/jobs only completed applications will be accepted.