It’s hard to believe, but the first World Cup cross-country race is just around the corner. November 29th marks the cross-country racing season kickoff, in Ruka, Finland. For fans who want to watch the races, there are a couple of easy options.
Once again, Ski and Snowboard Live will be the United States’ streaming service for viewing cross-country events held outside of the country, and this season, that means every race. Their coverage will include the World Championships and Tour de Ski.
The basic package includes full live races and recorded full race replays on demand, and there are other packages available to tailor to your viewing desires. You can purchase packages which range from paying to watch individual events, to coverage of all Nordic events all season, to an all access package which allows you to watch almost every Alpine, Nordic, Freestyle, and Snowboard event held outside of the United States. The service does not cover Nordic Combined, and Biathlon is on an entirely different platform. To watch Cross-Country on Ski And Snowboard, you do have to pay.
The most straightforward package is to pay to watch every Nordic event all season. If you choose this option, as of this publication date, it will cost you $11.99 a month. A subscription also buys you the right to watch condensed replays of events which is a nice feature if you’re crunched for time. For this price you also get to watch Ski Jumping. If watching every race isn’t your thing, you can pay to watch individual events. One little catch is that in Distance races you have to pay separately to watch the men’s and women’s race. But, for Sprints, one payment covers both events. If you’re going to watch more than a few races, it’s generally better to pay for the entire month of unlimited coverage. Payment automatically renews at the end of the monthly cycle on the day you signed up. To avoid paying beyond the period you want to watch, you have to cancel your subscription in advance of an automatic renewal.
If you’re a glutton for all things skiing, then there’s a package which gives you unlimited access to every format Ski and Snowboard covers—Alpine, Nordics, Freestyle, and Snowboard— it will set you back $79.99 a year. So, for about twenty dollars more than the cost of subscribing to view every Nordic event in a winter, you would be able to watch every ski event covered. How this choice would affect other parts of your life is up to you to manage. All the services, regardless of which package you choose, are delivered without ads. The service also provides a mobile app for watching on the go.
The commentary is in English, and last year it was often Chad Salmela and Kikkan Randall providing the coverage. No word yet on whether they will be announcing again this year. As a play by play announcing pair, the two have developed into an effective team who have learned to play off each other’s strengths, with Randall acting as an effective analytical balance to Salmela’s sometimes unbridled ebullience. No word yet on whether the duo will return for this season. Last year, almost all of the live broadcasts had commentary, but there were a couple of races when there wasn’t any, or it came in after the broadcast had begun.
The site is easy to navigate, but sometimes the live broadcasts can be glitchy with coverage beginning late or feeds interrupted. But overall, it’s fairly stable with good picture quality. Unfortunately, Ski and Snowboard doesn’t have control over the coverage’s production, so sometimes cameras are cutting away from important moments for North Americans to show action geared for European audiences.
There are other ways to watch cross-country if you want to use a VPN and skirt intellectual property and digital rights ownership. But based upon past experiences, when in the United States, Ski and Snowboard offers the most seamless way to enjoy watching events without feeling guilty about being an international scofflaw, and wondering if Interpol will come knocking at your door.
Another viewing alternative without entering a grey copyright area is to watch on the FIS (International Ski Federation) website which provides free highlights with commentary, but the highlights are very condensed.
It won’t be long before we’re in the midst of racing, so put your viewing plans together now so you’re not scrambling come November 29th.
