FasterSkier’s Cross Country Skiers of the Year: Liz Stephen and Alex Harvey

With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil the last (but not least!) of its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S. and Canada, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review.

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Liz Stephen, U.S. Ski Team, Burke Mountain Academy

Liz Stephen is a lot of things. She’s a world class athlete, the “glue” of the U.S. Ski Team, one of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet, and FasterSkier’s female cross country skier of 2015.

Stephen entered the 2014/2015 season with the goal making it to the next level of competition. Disappointed with an Olympics that fell short of the her expectations, the 27 year old hit the pavement hard in the summer — winning the acclaimed Blink Festival rollerski hill climb in Norway in addition to Climb to the Castle in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Once on snow, Stephen took some time to ramp up, but when she reached her peak there was no stopping her. Her best result from the first period of the World Cup season came in the 10-kilometer freestyle in Davos, Switzerland, where she finished 12th. But the Vermont native was just warming up, and in the first stage of the Tour de Ski, she finished an impressive eighth. Throughout the following races of the Tour, Stephen fought to stay near the top of the rankings. After the penultimate race, she sat in sixth position and ready to tackle her best event: the 9 k climb up Alpe Cermis.

Stephen aggressively attacked the climb, passing Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk and catching Norway’s Ragnhild Haga. While it appeared that Stephen had the edge on Haga in the middle of the race, the Norwegian powered in the final meters to best Stephen by roughly 10 seconds.

Although she was meters away from fourth, Stephen’s fifth-place finish marked the best placement by an American in the Tour de Ski and was lauded by the domestic and international ski community.

More success was on the horizon for Stephen. In Rybinsk, Russia she rocketed to a second-place finish in the 10 k freestyle — the best distance result on the World Cup by an American female.

After her podium in Russia, Stephen explained that her results were not just a product of her individual abilities, but also the support of her team. Pointing to her fellow American skiers and coaches, Stephen said that everyone, especially women’s team coach Matt Whitcomb, who taught Stephen how to ski at Burke Mountain Academy, played a role in both performances.

“It means a lot to be with this team, having this result, and knowing that you’re never ever out there by yourself. Good days, bad days, great days, this team forms around you,” she said.

Riding the momentum into the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden, Stephen finished 11th in both the skiathlon and the 30 k mass start. In her signature event — the 10 k freestyle — Stephen battled heavy snow and a slow track to place 10th.

Before the 10 k, Stephen was seen as a U.S. favorite for a distance medal. At the end of the day, however, it was Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg who claimed two spots on the podium for the U.S. Despite missing her goal by 20 seconds, Stephen was upbeat, humble and ready to celebrate the successes of her team.

“Certainly it’s not the podium I put down on my goal sheet and that was in my brain when I started the race but I’m really happy with the effort. My day was in Russia this year and it will come again. I’m just so happy for the U.S. Ski Team,” she said with a smile.

“I’ve always skied for the effort and the team and the love I have for the sport, and today was a perfect representation of all of those,” Stephen added. “The podium is just a gold star you get at the end. The people and the sport are why I do it.”

Medal or not, the way Stephen raced that day particularly impressed her coach.

“I’ve never seen Liz ski so perfectly as she did today. It’s the best I’ve ever seen out of her,” Whitcomb said.

To finish the World Cup season, Stephen placed an impressive ninth in the Holmenkollen 30 k. She will return this 2015/2016 season, once again on the USST A-team.

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Alex Harvey, Canadian World Cup Team

If you’re not rooting for Alex Harvey, maybe it’s time to start.

The 26 year old has already earned male cross country performance of the year for his collective results at the 2015 World Championships. There in Falun, he captured silver and bronze in the classic sprint and skiathlon, respectively, skied the fastest first leg of the men’s relay, and finished fifth in the 50 k classic mass start.

“I had two medals in my career in World Championships, and now I have two in three days,” he added after achieving his fourth medal. “It’s crazy.”

The podiums had more significance than personal achievement, as much of Canadian funding is tied to high performance results. Canadian head coach Wadsworth noted the impact the medals had on the program after Canada took home one medal between the last two previous championships (2013 World Championships and the 2014 Olympics).

“To have two medals [in Falun], it’s more [about] showing that we do have one of the best programs for waxing and we’ve invested a lot in it,” he said. “We’ve also done things that are a little bit different than other teams or the U.S. by having a little bit smaller team. We’re here to get medals and this is what’s going to help our program in the long run, where we can put it back into development and other things. We have to go for it at these big events like this.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Harvey finished ninth overall in the World Cup standings after several standout performances, including taking silver in both the second stage of the Tour de Ski and the World Cup sprint in Østersund, Sweden. While it wasn’t the third-place ranking he achieved in 2014, ninth marked Harvey’s third-best season ranking in his career.

When you factor in the physical challenges Harvey faced over the course of the winter, his results become even more impressive. Although he appeared to be on top of his game in the 2014/2015 season, he was struggling with debilitating pain in his legs.

Due to friction on his iliac arteries, Harvey had difficulty skiing to his full capacity in both training and racing. In training, the problem was was made worse when he ran. “In training and running, when my heart rate goes above 150/155 I can’t go any further and they completely shut down,” Harvey said, referring to his legs.

While classic skiing was easier due to the increased use of upper body, the injury was especially painful when skating on steep, long hills. Due to the injury, Harvey has not competed in the Tour de Ski’s final climb since 2013.

“In skating, already you’re using your legs a little more on the flats than in classic, and then on the climbs you can’t use your upper body as much,” Harvey explained. “When it was an effort that was longer than three to four minutes on a steady climb, in skating that’s when the problem started to appear.”

Immediately after the end of the 2015 World Cup season Harvey returned to his home in Quebec to undergo surgery on both his iliac arteries. The procedures, which took place March 20 and April 1, give Harvey the chance to ski without the painful symptoms for the rest of his career.

Harvey returned to training May 1 and will look to be at the top of the international circuit for yet another season.

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Other 2015 FS Awards: Junior | Collegiate | Nordic Combined | Biathlon | Para Nordic | Breakthrough | Coach | Continental | International Performance | Cross Country Performance | Biathlon Performance | Nordic Combined Performance | International Skier