The World Cup has officially begun again and we have just finished our second weekend of racing with the second annual Ruka Triple, otherwise known as the Kuusamo mini tour. It is a stage race, three races in three days, all accumulative on...
Though the World Cup season is only two weekends old, I'm intrigued by two trends - Therese Johaug's development as a sprinter and Vibeke Skofterud's success so far. I might get to the first topic in another post, but I'd like to dig into the second to...
Only 3 mo' days to donate to the Acade'mos! Please head to our team mo' space and make a contribution to fighting prostate cancer!!CLICK HERE TO CHECK US OUT AND DONATE! A big thanks to those of you who have donated already! Things wrapped up...
With three straight days of racing in the only the second weekend of the World Cup, there were plenty of comments to go around. Here’s a look at what didn’t make it into the Ruka-Triple recaps from Kuusamo, Finland. (Note: It’s pretty heavy on the men’s side, especially with the Canadians, probably because they were chatty about their performances on Sunday.) On why athletes shouldn’t get too worked up about sub-par performances: “If you really...
I thought it would be worthwhile to compile a list of upcoming events for the Pacific Northwest.Dec 31 - Mazama Ski Rodeo - Skate 10KJan 1 - Methow Valley Biathlon - Pursuit FormatJan 7/8 - Bend OR JOQ - Jr Qual and PNSA Masters Cham...
Annsi Pentsinen Doogiski over at NordicXplained asked how Pentsinen’s 4.3 second win in qualification on Friday stacks up historically. Quite impressively, it turns out. That’s the second largest qualifying round winning margin for the men’s field in WC, OWG or WSC races. The only larger one was almost 10 years ago, with a 4.7 second [...] Related posts:
Well, we are supposed to leave here tomorrow morning at 10AM. Skis are packed, clothes are not (but they will be soon), and we’re ready to head to Bozeman. Except--- there isn’t snow in Bozeman. This puts a small hitch in our plans. There might...
While U.S. and Canadian skiers have been competing at FIS and World Cup races for several weeks now, the American biathletes waited until Sunday to kick off their season in an IBU Cup sprint. The race in Ostersund, Sweden, was actually the second of the weekend, but the U.S. team sat out of Saturday’s race. While the men were lucky to have skipped the windy conditions that shook up the result sheet in the opener,...
Today was our first true rest day of camp and we took a drive to the west to see some sights, do some animal hunting (spotting), and clear our heads from the grid of roads and trails of West Yellowstone. Today was another beautiful day with a cle...
Overall men’s results. World Cup standings.
“For the ladies, overall, a really great day.” – Head USST Coach, Chris Grover *** Going into the last stage of the Ruka-Triple mini tour, the US women kept their expectations high and did not disappoint. Grover told FasterSkier in a phone interview that Holly Brooks, Liz Stephen, and Ida Sargent all had personal best classic results today: Brooks posting 23rd, while Stephen and Sargent broke into the 30’s. To top it off, Kikkan...
Even if he didn’t say it, Petter Northug presented the challenge from the onset. The first starter in the men’s 15 k classic pursuit would give his followers a fighting chance before playing the game of cat and mouse in Kuusamo, Finland. The Norwegian frontrunner in the three-day Ruka Triple mini-tour wasn’t known for charging out of the gate in those types of races anyway. As expected, he led the race with the help of...
I have been in Ostersund, Sweden preparing for the start of the World Cup for a little over two weeks now. Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, the skiing has been good enough to log some quality training. The Swedes are … Continue r...
Marit Bjørgen thought today’s win was “possible”, but her 17 second head start in today’s classic pursuit over teammate Vibeke Skofterud was not enough to give her complete confidence in a win. Bjørgen blasted out of the start with a speed fitting of a 1km sprint, trying to gain even greater cushion from the very first of 10 kilometers. Racing against only the clock, with the thought of her strong competitors and teammates chasing...
Trollhaugen was a busy place on Wednesday morning, with a full parking lot and a bus load of high school kids out enjoying some early season skiing!It's November, and believe it or not, we have great xc skiing here in the St. Croix River Valley. ...
As part of the promotion for their new complete line of nordic equipment, OneWay pulled into the cross-country World Cup this weekend in Kuusamo, Finland with their new service and promotional truck – complete with an are for skiers to see and touch their new products as well as a large area for their service team to work.
Finally a little bit of natural snow is falling here in Ostersund. This is the first snow falling out of the sky that I've seen this year! Just in time for the US crew racing the IBU cup here this morning!
Saturday SuperTour Classic Race At 7am, it was -17f. Yes, the remnants of the tropical storm were gone! Today was a delight. West Yellowstone was back to its wonderful normal self. For glide, we went with LF Moly/Blue mix (mix the LF Blue in to harden the Moly up), HF Blue, and covered by JS Blue. We verified the glide wax tip in the morning and it was great. For kick, we ended up on...
In contrast to Friday’s freestyle, the 5 / 10 k classic in West Yellowstone, MT featured brilliant blue skis, frigid temperatures and pristine tracks. Our camera crew combated freezing batteries to bring you riveting footage of the final races of the opening SuperTour. Ladies’ 5km Classic: Men’s 10km Classic: Contributing camerawork by Audrey Mangan.
The final West Yellowstone SuperTour race has come and gone. The industry vendors are packed up and ready to head out, and there is a blue grass band playing at the Holiday Inn—it is time to bring the 2011 Yellowstone Ski Festival to a close. Today’s classic race was just about perfect—rock solid track, great kick, and blue skies. One of the high points had to be Nordic Combined skier Brett Denney, who borrowed demo...