2008 June

Justin Freeman posted a piece on his blog responding to Dick Taylor's recent FasterSkier article “The Fishy thing About Skating.” Justin disagrees with Dick's main assertions, and asks some questions. He encourages people to comment on his blog to discuss the matter. Dick's article has received a number of interesting comments over the last week and he has written a response – also in the comment section of that article. Read Dick's article and the...

Vancouver Sun reporter Jeff Lee contrasts recent Nordic doping scandals with the remarkable action of US Track and Field star Michael Johnson. Johnson returned an Olympic relay gold medal because one of his teammates at the time has recently admitted to doping. How is this relevant to cross-country skiing? First of all it is rare to see athletes take the high road on issues of doping. We are so used to the accused vehemently denying...

The Italian region of Val di Fiemme was selected by the FIS to host the 2013 World Championships. Val di Fiemme also hosted the championships in 1991 and 2003. Centered around the towns of Cavalese, Tesero, and Predazzo, and nestled in the DOlomites, the region is a regular stop on the World Cup circuit. The 2003 event received UNI EN ISO 14001 environmental certification and was the first eco-certified sporting event in the world (for...

During the days in Cape Town (RSA), the members of the FIS Cross-Country Committee and its various Sub-Committees were working hard for the development of the discipline. Several new rules and adaptations of the regulations were prepared to make the sport more attractive, fair and more easily understandable. Here the most important changes: While in the last several years the distance and sprint races were counting to the overall World Cup based on a 2:1...

After a relatively quiet winter for doom predictions for the apparently endangered species of ‘snow’ in Europe’s Alps, the respected Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos, has published some of the most worrying predictions yet for Alpine snow cover in the 21st century. The Institute’s findings, published in New Scientist magazine, are based on data collected over the past decade from more than 30 weather stations located between 200m and 1800m...

The FIS Council has now completed its traditional spring meetings at the 46th International Ski Congress in Cape Town (RSA), including the first meeting of the new Council elected by the FIS General Assembly on Friday 30th May. The 2008 FIS Congress was the first International Ski Congress staged on the African continent. Here are some decisions that affected Cross-Country: Long-term World Cup Calendar Planning The Council decided that the framework for the FIS World...