Yesterday may have been a bit confusing for some – I really didn’t announce my presence very well. My name is Kieran Jones – if you are a regular FasterSkier reader, you may recognize it from my by-line as the Canadian guy, or most recently from...
There were a lot of unusual things about the World Cup biathlon races in Hochfilzen, Austria on Saturday. First, there was the inch of snow that fell during the men’s 12.5 k pursuit. Then, there was the fact that the field was incredibly compressed thanks to some strange weather in the original sprint race. “The snow storm that stopped [mid-race on Thursday] had a bigger effect than I expected,” U.S. biathlete Jay Hakkinen told FasterSkier....
Rogla, Slovenia, has only hosted the World Cup once, back in 2009, when the venue ran classic mass-start races over 15k for the women (Kowalczyk, Bjørgen, Haag) and 30k for the men (Northug, Legkov, Vylegzhanin). Those races were interesting for at...
The 2012 World Cup season is already a month old, and there has yet to be a mass start. That changes on Saturday in Rogla, Slovenia when women ski a 10km classic and men 14k. The races feature intermediary sprints for World Cup points—once for women at 5.2k and twice for men at 5.2k and 11.2k. In a new twist, points will be awarded to the top-10 at the intermediary marks, instead of just the...
ROSSLAND, British Columbia — The thing about competitive ski racing is, one has to be prepared for the unexpected. It’s not as if Jack Carlyle, a junior racer for Thunder Bay’s national development center (NDC), could have anticipated his bags would be stolen in the 15 minutes they were outside his house, but he dealt with it. NDC head coach Eric Bailey, who was supposed to drive him to the airport, told Carlyle to sit...
Brooks Unofficially an Official Member of 2012 Tour de Ski Team Last month FasterSkier reported that Holly Brooks (APU) had been given the opportunity to race the 2012 Tour de Ski pending continued strong results and good health. With just one weekend left in the first World Cup period, Brooks has fulfilled her end of the bargain, posting a career-best 13th in the 15km freestyle in Davos, Switzerland. According to US Ski Team Head Coach...
Remember all those Russian shenanigans about returned to biathlon, because recently she’s been on a tear. The 33-year-old Moscow native picked up her first win of the season on Friday in a 10 k sprint in Hochfilzen, Austria, to go along with two podium finishes from last weekend. She’s now finished on the podium four times in seven starts, and that’s the way she likes it. “I would like to be on the podium in...
One of the most intriguing story lines of the early season (last two weekends) has been the emergence of the Swiss sprint team as a force. Okay, so ‘force’ is an exaggeration – they have only one medal – in Dusseldorf of all places, but still....
In any given year, readership at FasterSkier can fluctuate wildly depending on what’s going on in the racing world at the time. As you might expect, during Olympic or World Championship years the number of visits to our site skyrocket as the media hype builds leading up to these major events. This past weekend, as Kikkan Randall (USA) won her second consecutive World Cup, Devon Kershaw (CAN) had one of the best sprints of his career, and...
Housekeeping note: Posting may be a tad delayed and/or sporadic this weekend and into the beginning of next week since the Statistical Family has increased in size by 50%. I’ve engaged in a bit of speculation about the likelihood that Kikkan Randall may be able to win the WC Sprint overall title this coming season. [...] Related posts:
On November 2nd, snow-lovers gathered to celebrate the most recent inductees into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame. Gathering at the prestigious Chateau Cartier in Gatineau, Quebec, six nominees were celebrated in style, including Beckie Scott and the late Heinz Niederhauser. Part of the Canadian Ski Museum located in Ottawa, Ontario, the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame commemorates over 140 individuals involved in the ski or snowboarding world. Formerly named the Honour Roll of Canadian...
The all-new Contour Champion and Contour Race Straps use a new 3D Thermomoldable shape to conform to the infinite shapes of your hand, supporting the heel and cradling the palm. The softer construction is easier to get on and off, and the neoprene Comfort tab prevents any strap pinch. With silicone SuperGrip printing to prevent any slipping, the all-new Contour straps provide exceptional control of your pole plant and stride.
Team Blackjack just came back from a great 2nd weekend of racing at the Haywood Norams in Sovereign Lake, BC. The weekend included 2 classic races, sprint and distance. David lead the charge with an awesome 6th place result in the Junior Men’s 15...
I had planned on taking it a little easier this race season and do fewer races. I raced almost every weekend last winter and extended my season longer than usual with World Masters in March, and I felt like I needed a break. I did not anticipate how mu...
Tarjei Boe (NOR) the overall Biathlon World Cup Champion last year finally made it to the top of the podium this season, besting Martin Fourcade (FRA) by a mere four seconds in the 10km biathlon sprint. Boe missed one target in a race impacted by weather. Heavy snow fell as the first starters took to the course, making for slow skiing conditions. As the day progressed, the snow abated, and the track sped up significantly,...
The 2012 Nordic Combined Continental Cup season kicked off in Utah over the last two weeks. Kerry Lynch, a coach with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club submitted this report. The opening Nordic Combined Continental Cups are in the books for the 2011 – 2012 Season. After much training and anticipation of getting ready for the events, it was game time. Day 1 – The competitions opened on Friday Dec 6th under clear sunny skis...
VERNON, British Columbia — Mike Cavaliere had a pretty distinct idea of what he wanted the Alberta World Cup Academy to look like when he developed the training center just over four years ago. With several AWCA athletes zipping around in the Canadian national team’s unmistakable neon jackets and four Olympians assisting them at last weekend’s NorAm opener at Sovereign Lake, things appeared to be going as planned. If anything, Cavaliere, a 2006 Olympic coach...
The ribbon of snow with Dusseldorf's impressive architecture in the background This winter I’ve become accustomed skiing on a ribbon on snow threading through the dry woods. First it was Muonio. Then it was Sjusjoen which was closely followed...
Our SMS Nordic Team and I have been very lucky to be part of PowerBar Team Elite the past few seasons. We are always topped off with fuel, stuffing nutrition through our glycogen windows and ready with a huge variety of great sports foods.
Brent McMurtry of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre and Foothills Nordic Ski Club said he and teammate David Greer were unhurt after his car slid off the road while driving from Silver Star to Rossland, British Columbia. The accident happened near the town of Midway, slightly more than halfway into the 370-kilometer (230-mile) trip. Several cross-country skiers and teams traveled the same route to prepare for the second set of NorAm races in Rossland this...