Dreaming of a White Christmas

The North American skiing world still dreams of a white Christmas. There are some places that are high enough, or shady enough, or uniquely cold enough to offer a few kilometers of skiable trails. But many places where skiers typically go to find silky grooming and endless kilometers of well-tended trails are still waiting for opening day.  New England’s holiday season has been swept by heavy rains and surging floods, though  Craftsbury (Vermont) and Lake...

The Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Announces the Team for Period 2 of the 2023-24 World Cup Season & Tour de Ski

  Dear Cross Country Community, We are pleased to announce the Team for Period 2 of the 2023-24 World Cup season – the Tour de Ski:   2023-24 Tour de Ski Men Michael Earnhart                      Objective          23-24 Overall SuperTour Leader Ben Ogden                                Objective          7th World Cup Sprint 23-24 JC Schoonmaker                        Objective          10th World Cup Sprint 23-24 Gus Schumacher                       Objective          18th World Cup Distance 23-24 Kevin Bolger                             Objective          33rd World Cup Sprint 23-24 Zanden McMullen                     Objective          34th...

Klaebo: the Second Most Dominant Norwegian

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) is back on a roll. After a short hiatus from domination— due to illness— he has returned to form. He seems to be back to the point where any race in which he is entered, he is automatically the favorite. Klaebo won every race last weekend in Trondheim, a Sprint, a Skiathlon, and a Classic race. There is another Norwegian who carries those same kinds of outsized expectations in another sport...

USBA—Standout Weekend In Lenzerheide to Wrap Up First Trimester

The first trimester of the IBU World Cup concluded this past weekend in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Team USA’s Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) stepped up and had the best weekend of her career, landing eighth in the sprint on Thursday. The last time U.S. Biathlon had an athlete in the top ten was in 2022 when Irwin skied to seventh place in the individual event at the Olympics in Beijing. Irwin, who shot...

The Devon Kershaw Show: Recapping a soggy, fluoro-free weekend in Trondheim

Eli Brown, a member of the U.S. Ski Team’s waxing and ski service staff, joins us this week to talk about his job and the new enforcement of the rules banning fluorocarbons on the World Cup circuit. We recap another strong weekend for American athletes, along with all the hijinks that happened in Trondheim, Norway at the test event for next season’s World Championships. The World Cup takes a break next weekend before the Tour...

First Mass Start of the Season, First World Cup 20/20 for Irwin

After two solid days of racing in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) found herself amongst the top 30 female biathletes in the world in the first mass start of the season. Adding to her list of World Cup personal bests, Irwin shot her first perfect 20/20. “Emil [Bormetti] and Armin [Auchentaller] gave me an amazing pep talk last night,” said Irwin. “We tried to focus on coming into this race with less...

Top World Cup Result Qualifies Bonacci for Pursuit

A stellar performance from Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, UT/Team Crosscut) landed him a World Cup personal best 49th place in the men’s 10km sprint in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. With just one miss in standing, Bonacci qualified for his first World Cup pursuit. “I am happy to have had a World Cup where I didn’t really feel stressed to race, and was just happy to have some sun and mountain air to go for a fun...

Brennan Second in 10 k Classic. Victoria Carl First for Germany

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. Today wrapped up three days of racing in Trondheim, Norway, where the 10 k Classic individual start race was contested this morning. The “10 k” race name was a bit of a...

Klaebo Sweeps Trondheim Weekend, Ogden Eighth in 10 k Classic

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. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) looks like he’s having fun: winning at will (and in multiple disciplines), crossing finish lines without having broken a sweat (no demonstrative sprawling in the snow at finish lines...

Musgrave! Brit Takes Second in Trondheim Skiathlon

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. On Saturday in Trondheim, Norway, the first Skiathlon of the year was held. Competitors skied a 10 kilometer Classic leg followed by a 10 kilometer Freestyle leg. In the men’s race, the prevailing...

Trondheim Skiathlon: Andersson’s Tactics vs. Diggins’s Grit

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. One of Norway’s most picturesque cities, Trondheim is also one of Norway’s least-wintry cities. The first three weekends of World Cup racing—Ruka, Gaelivare, and Oestersund—were an Arctic blast. The second day of World...

Skistad Clinches Trondheim Freestyle Sprint—Diggins Fourth

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. On Friday, the FIS World Cup moved on to Trondheim, Norway for the first Freestyle Sprints of the season. At the start of the day, America sat 1-2 in the World Cup overall...

Klaebo Ignites Hometown Trondheim With Sprint 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. The World Cup’s all-time winningest sprint racer probably didn’t need a home-field advantage, but Trondheim native, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, got one as the World Cup pulled into the warm, wet, sea-side city on...

Clean Shooting Propels Irwin to Eighth in Lenzerheide

Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) raced to a World Cup-best eighth place in the women’s 7.5km sprint, kicking off the first-ever World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. She landed just one spot off her career-best seventh place from the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, an historic finish for U.S. Biathlon. “Emil and Armin really helped me put together a good ski plan for the race the past couple of days, and I really felt...

SuperTour Kicks Off in Anchorage

The North American cross country scene offers numerous race opportunities throughout the winter season, but it’s the SuperTour that involves the very most competitive skiers from the United States and Canada. On December 12-17, Anchorage’s Kincaid Park plays host to the Anchorage WinterStart SuperTour, the first SuperTour event of the 2023-2024 season (presented with the support of Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage and Cross Country Alaska). Men’s and Women’s Sprint Tuesday saw SuperTour action in...

International Biathlon Referee: Sara Studebaker-Hall

Sara Studebaker-Hall, two-time Olympian and current U.S. Biathlon Director of Operations, became the first U.S. woman to earn her International Biathlon Union (IBU) technical delegate certification in 2022, one of only a handful of Americans to achieve that distinction. Fast-forward to the 2023 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, Studebaker-Hall took part in her first biathlon World Cup as an IBU referee. “Hochfilzen is such a great venue – they have such an experienced organizing...

The Devon Kershaw Show: Stars are born in Ostersund, with guest Luke Jager

Multiple U.S. podiums. Near-misses. Coaches barging into the classic track. This past weekend was pretty fun. We get up-and-coming Alaska star Luke Jager to join us for a recap and go through it all. Reach us with your questions, comments and feedback at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com. We’ll be back next week after Trondheim.

Lumi’s Holiday Gift Guide

  Happy holidays! Lucky for us skiers that the start of ski season coincides with the start of the holiday season. Holiday markets around Europe are bustling, the Alps are covered with a blanket of snow and the mulled wine is flowing. With gift giving on the mind, here are some of Lumi Experiences’ favorite gift ideas from our favorite brands for your favorite skiers this winter: Hot Stuff US skier Julia Kern’s new Skida...

Lumi Trip Giveaway for Two to France

  A sponsor of FasterSkier, Lumi Experiences is the world’s premier cross-country ski travel company. As an official tour operator for the Worldloppet, a series of 20 international ski marathons, Lumi is celebrating their partnership by gifting a trip to two lucky skiers for the 2024 France-Transju trip, valued at over $10,000. We invite you to enter the trip raffle! Registration deadline is Wednesday, December 13. The winners will enjoy eight days of skiing through...

Seeking Justice for Rosie?

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. No one wants to be remembered for their worst moment, but the head of the Swedish cross-country ski team, Lars Oberg, will struggle for a long time to live down his regrettable lapse...