It's been a long time since I've considered myself a distance skier. I've put my focus on the sprints and that has continued to be the emphasis of the training Scott has prescribed. But this dryland season we spent most of our training efforts on aerob...
After a short break in the Methow and some skiing at Klipchuck (thanks, Scott!), Alison, Mom, Dad and I jumped into a few trucks and headed east for West Yellowstone, MT and the opening Super Tour races. It's been two years since I was last in West and...
Graeme Killick (Alberta World Cup Academy) may have felt more confident about his classic ability going into Saturday’s SuperTour 10 k classic in West Yellowstone, but certainly didn’t expect a win. Nevertheless, strong execution on a frigid morning in Montana brought the 22-year-old Canadian his first victory of the season, a nice cash prize, and a certain amount of confidence going into the Silver Star NorAms in two weeks time. Sylvan Ellefson (Team Homegrown) took...
Jessie Diggins (CXC/USST) has her eyes set on bigger and better things down the road, but that has not stopped her from turning in an impressive series of races in West Yellowstone. On a cold, sunny morning in Montana, Diggins hammered through the 5km classic race in a time of 14:58.2, good for a 13.7 second victory over Kate Fitzgerald (APU). Jennie Bender (CXC) concluded the opening SuperTour weekend with another strong race, taking third,...
Don’t call the Americans ungrateful. They were happy to be on snow in Kuusamo, Finland, competing for the first time, jumping when they could. But they’re happy to be moving on to Lillehammer, Norway, for the second weekend of the nordic-combined World Cup. The first one was challenging enough. After U.S. veteran Johnny Spillane was eliminated from the competition before it started, missing out a qualifying jump on Friday, the team suffered another blow Saturday...
For most of the 119 starters in the men’s 10 k freestyle, Saturday’s race was hardly a walk in the park. That is, unless you like to go out in windy, misty, rainy, sleety and snowy conditions and enjoy encroaching darkness. And if you love long, steep hills — three per lap to be exact — the course in Kuusamo, Finland, was for you. Fortunately, the conditions on the second day of the Ruka Triple...
It was a beautiful day out here in West Yellowstone for a classic race. Post race photo of GMVS past and present: Heidi, Devlin, Coach and Athlete Evan, Kristin (Williams), Ryley, and Peter (APU).I got out to the stadium early with skis and waxin...
Roland Clara had been second before. On Saturday in Kuusamo, Finland, the Italian looked pretty comfortable in the leader’s chair, bundled in a blanket and flashing a genuine smile. But the men’s 10 k freestyle race on the second day of the Ruka Triple mini-tour was only halfway through. With individual starts staggering the finishes, Clara could see his seat wasn’t permanent. With every checkpoint — 3.1, 6.4 and 8.1 k — his challengers closed...
Editor’s Note: There has been significant confusion regarding results for today’s World Cup races. The FIS website lists overall standings for the three-race mini-tour. Kikkan Randall is 5th in those standings, and finished 12th in today’s 5km freestyle. There are, Kikkan Randall concedes, downsides to success. But they’re pretty miniscule. For one, the American skier’s expectations have been raised since notching her first-ever distance top ten in Sjusjøen, Norway last weekend, and then skiing to...
Nobody was surprised to see Marit Bjørgen atop the leaderboard after the second stage of the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland today. The Norwegian star was the last to start, thanks to her win in the classic sprint yesterday, and had all the information she needed to beat her competitors – not that she needed it. Over just five fast kilometers, Bjørgen racked up a sizeable lead and cruised across the finish. It was a...
Check out these pictures of yesterdays 15km Skate from Fasterskier.com. Some of the pictures give you a pretty good idea of how stormy it go in the middle of the race.Check out the full article HEREPhoto: Fasterskier.com Photo: Fasterskier.com
A month after the rest of the GRP left for Finland, I finally found myself on a plane getting ready to start my biathlon race season. A week ago, I arrived in Ostersund, Sweden for US Biathlon’s first on-snow camp of the winter. With temperatures in the 40s (Farenheit), rain pouring down, and [...]
Yesterday was the first World Cup Sprint of the year. I had a really solid day of sprinting. The conditions were very unusual for Kuusamo... Usually its really cold and slow, but this year it was right around the freezing point and all ice. It made for...
With the weather changing drastically throughout the morning today’s West Yellowstone SuperTour was quite a spectacle. The ladies skied 10km, the men competed for 15km and the FasterSkier crew tried to keep up at several different locations on the course. Ladies’ 10km Skate: Men’s 15km Skate: Contributing camerawork by Audrey Mangan.
Turkey and stuffing in the past, Friday brought another fine morning of racing in West Yellowstone, Montana. A total of 174 skiers finished the 10/15km freestyle event, won by Leif Zimmermann (BSF/Madshus) and Morgan Arritola (SVSEF). You can read full race reports here – men | women. And view photos here – men | women As is often the case there are details of the day that don’t make it into the main articles. Here...
While the weather was a bit blustery for the women’s 10km freestyle SuperTour in West Yellowstone, there was a mix of sun and clouds—decent weather for photos. Here are some shots from the race. Women’s complete race report
A mid-race snow squall made for blizzard-like conditions and not the best photography weather. But such is skiing. Here is a selection of photos from the men’s 15km skate in West Yellowstone.
For the last week, they had been waiting to jump. Really, about 60 nordic-combined athletes from around the world waited all summer for the season to kick off in Kuusamo, Finland. Once there, it seemed the only things holding the athletes back were the weather and the ominous large hill itself. Billy Demong remembered telling someone in an email: “Sometimes survival is success in Kuusamo.” The U.S. nordic combined veteran meant that literally. He was...
It was a very challenging 15km skate today. The course was full of false flats and working downhills. My race plan was to go out at a comfortable pace, find my rhythm, and try and build to the finish. I went out at a comfortable pace, and it turned int...