The American Birkebeiner at 50

  “You’re skiing along, and you look up at the green of the pines and look down and see golden tamarack needles peeking out of the Wisconsin snow, and you find yourself gliding along thinking, ‘my gosh, how lucky can one guy get…and Go Packers too!” – Grandpa Theyerl, Wisconsinite, Birchlegger. The American Birkebeiner turns 50 years old this weekend. And although it didn’t ask for it, I’m doing some existential rumination on its behalf....

A Tale of Two Birkies

Most Birkie skiers are familiar with the legendary story of the original Norwegian Birkebeiners and how that inspired the famous cross country ski race in Norway, from Rena to Lillehammer; which in turn inspired the American Birkebeiner from Cable to Hayward. But what is the Norwegian Birkebeiner like today? I skied my first American and Norwegian Birkies last year and took away many impressions. “Wait, what?!” you ask. “Garrott, you lived in Hayward for 5...

Rossignol Introduces the new 2024 X-IUM Premium+ SX Skating

Recently unveiled at the highest-level of competition, the new X-IUM Premium+ SX Skating ski is race proven by the best in the world. The Rossignol X-IUM Premium+ SX Skating ski is an ultralight balanced ski that offers maximum power transmission and glide, with fluid acceleration. The SX features a specialized flex and camber optimized to excel in a wide range of snow conditions while delivering a more forgiving and energy saving level of performance. New...

Sovereign 2 SilverStar Ski Marathon: Last Chance to Register Before Price Increase

Register at the mid-season price until Feb 25th at midnight.  Now’s the time to Register! We’ve Got Great Conditions!  Even after the rain/warming we are in great shape.  We’ve received well over 0.5m of snow since then and all of our trails are open and amazing to ski on.  Come visit! Club Championships The top 3 clubs win prize money of $2000, $1000 and $500 respectively. Come and take on Yellowknife as the defending champs! True to...

Looking Back—Historic World Junior Ski Championships for Team USA

Planica, Slovenia occupies a pretty unique corner of the world, with special emphasis on the “pretty.” Miss a turn in the traffic circle outside the venue, and in five minutes you’ll find yourself at the Austrian border. Miss the next turn, and you’ll find yourself at the Italian border. The valley in the Julian Alps is defined by a kind of beautiful thought—go over the mountains on any side and you find yourself in a...

World Cup Packing with Julia Kern: What’s in the bag?

It’s been an incredible North American World Cup period in Canmore and Minneapolis over the past two weeks. In Canada, as the excitement was building for the first World Cup on US snow in over 20 years, US skier Julia Kern led the women to the top US finish in the classic sprint and Diggins won the 15 km freestyle. In Minneapolis, the huge crowds of US fans in Wirth Park for the Loppet Cup...

Norway had 10 wax techs. Estonia had a fanny pack and a borrowed wax bench.

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. CANMORE, ALBERTA — With his fanny pack of kick wax and Kia minivan, you could have easily mistaken Alvar Johannes Alev for a weekend warrior cross-country ski dad in this Canadian mountain town....

Minneapolis Delivers! Weekend Wrap-Up

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: After a glorious weekend that surpassed all expectations, it’s time to look back at some of the big picture takeaways from the weekend, and to remind our audience of some things...

Schumacher’s Win—World-Class Talent is “Still in There”

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. MINNEAPOLIS — Gus Schumacher, a 23-year-old from Anchorage, accomplished something Sunday that no American man had done in 40 years: he beat every single Norwegian, Swede, Finn and all other comers in an...

2024 World Championship Mass Starts and Medals

FasterSkier’s Coverage of the Biathlon World Championships is made possible through the generous support of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center: New England’s finest snowmaking, world class race venues and touring trails, healthy food in abundance, comfortable accommodations at Craftsbury:  Sports, Sustainability, Stewardship. On the final day of Biathlon World Championships, the crowd at the Vysocina Arena in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic was treated to the men’s and women’s Mass Start competitions. Fifteen kilometers for...

Cross-country skiing in North Carolina: Cataloochee Ski Area

Cross-country skiers get a rare opportunity to experience the rugged terrain and spectacular splendor of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, especially at the Cataloochee Ski Area. Since its founding in 1961 as the first ski resort in North Carolina, Cataloochee has delighted and enthralled families and individuals with various winter sports activities, such as skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing. Though most famous for its runs, the area surrounding Cataloochee is also a great place...

The Devon Kershaw Show: Minneapolis magic with Muzzy, Benny and an extra special guest

What a weekend. If you weren’t able to make it to Minneapolis, we had the good fortune of taping this episode of the podcast in front of a live audience at a local brewery, and we think it brings through a little of the amazing atmosphere. British skier Andrew Musgrave joined us in-person, Ben Ogden zoomed in from mono jail and a very special guest whose name ends with Schumacher joined us mid-pod. The audio...

Gus Schumacher Rides the Minneapolis Wave—American Wins on American Soil!

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. Gus Schumacher has won races before—but never a race like this. World Junior Champion in two relays, World Junior Champion in an individual race, sometime podium contender in a number of World Cup...

“A Dream Come True”—Diggins Scores Homecoming Podium in Minneapolis

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. Ski racing is all about time, and the magic power of the best ski racers is that they’re seemingly able to bend time the way they want it to go. Lives are lived...

USA Fifth in World Championship Relay

FasterSkier’s Coverage of the Biathlon World Championships is made possible through the generous support of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center: New England’s finest snowmaking, world class race venues and touring trails, healthy food in abundance, comfortable accommodations at Craftsbury:  Sports, Sustainability, Stewardship.   On Saturday in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, the American quartet of Vincent Bonacci, Sean Doherty, Campbell Wright, and Jake Brown made history for US Biathlon, finishing fifth among 24 nations: the...

Witkowski Revels in Last-Minute Minneapolis World Cup Call-up

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. Most of the athletes competing Saturday on cross-country skiing’s World Cup circuit in Minneapolis arrived at the venue on a bus, chartered by organizers to carry racers from the official event hotel. Then,...

Stifel Loppet Cup Sprints—Norway and Sweden Win, but It’s Definitely Jessie’s Victory

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. A week ago, golfers in shirtsleeves were playing the course that abuts Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A narrow white ribbon of just-skiable snow had been preserved on the course laid out...

Tears and Glitter Flow in Minneapolis as Diggins Finally Comes Home

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. MINNEAPOLIS—The suspense and the nerves built all morning at Theodore Wirth Regional Park, where America’s cross-country skiers were set to contest their first World Cup race—the sport’s top competition circuit—in 23 years. By...

Three legendary biathletes latest to be inducted into IBU Hall Of Fame

Biathlon stars Magdalena Forsberg (SWE), Raphael Poiree (FRA) and Gabriela Soukalova (CZE) tonight were inducted into the IBU Hall of Fame at a special awards ceremony hosted ahead of the final competition weekend of the BMW IBU World Championships Biathlon Nove Mesto 2024. The three athletes were chosen by the IBU Executive Board in recognition of their outstanding biathlon careers and significant contributions to the sport. Between them, the three inductees have won 103 World...

Madshus Redline Collection 2024 is Innovation Redefined

ATTENTION-TO-DETAIL, DESIGNED AND BUILT IN NORWAY Madshus is pleased to introduce the innovation breakthrough of the all-new-for-2024 Redline collection. Redline is Madshus’ Race Engineered Development designed and built in Norway and tested by the world’s best for the next generation of racing. The all-new Redline collection has been on display during the 2024 season by the world’s best athletes with countless podiums on the World Cup, the IBU World Championships and beyond. Madshus Redline skis...