The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team is stressing quality over quantity this season, especially with three promising skiers out of college. Two-time NCAA champion Miles Havlik joins the team, along with Rose Kemp and Mary Rose. “Although we are a small squad, 3 men and 3 women, ambitions are high for this crew," Rodgers says.
In this edition of the Wednesday Workout, we talk about tapering and present some conventional wisdom along with endurance-specific tips. Zach Caldwell explains what some of his professional skiers do to rest up for a big event, and explains why there's no sure-fire method of peaking.
We’re 199 days and counting if you’re keeping track of how much time remains until the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and we know many of you are. In case you haven’t been reading every ounce of pre-Olympic coverage, we’ll do our best to stay on it and provide relevant nordic updates throughout the next sixth months.
BSF is looking a little bigger this year with more than a dozen athletes between its elite and post-grad teams (up from three elite-team members last year). "With the combination of a good group of college skiers, energy has been high and there has been a great atmosphere for training,” coach Andrew Morehouse explains.
With 24 athletes, APU is keeping its elite team pretty similar to years past, but there's definitely new blood in the training group with eight new men on the team.
Swix Sport USA and the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation came out with some big news for their respective organizations on Tuesday, announcing that Swix signed on as title sponsor for the Birkie's ski events for two years. Swix Sport USA President and CEO Steve Poulin talks about the significance of the partnership and how it will contribute to Birkie Fever.
Quick tips for working out when it's oh-so-hot and humid. It could help you feel better, get more out of your workout, and potentially save your life.
On July 4, Eric Strabel did the unthinkable, besting the field and beating a Mount Marathon course record that stood for 32 years. The APU university and elite-team coach has been working at conquering the 3,022-foot hill climb for the better part of the last year, and nipped a former U.S. Mountain Running Team member by seconds in doing so. Comments from other top-four finishers Brent Knight, Ann Spencer and Lauren Fritz.
Holly Brooks writes about the race she won last year, which is widely considered the Olympics of Alaska. Despite all of Mount Marathon's epic qualities, there are still some memories she's forced to reckon with, which is why the U.S. Ski Team member decided to sit out the hill climb before an Olympic year.
In an effort to ring in 2013/2014, we’re kicking off our second-annual elite team preview – now called “The 12.” Starting with the Craftsbury Green Racing Project and proceeding in no particular order, we’ll profile 12 of the biggest powerhouses in U.S. cross-country skiing throughout the next several weeks. Don't worry, we'll get to Canada, too.
A week after relentless amounts of rainfall and resulting floods devastated southern Alberta, residents of Canmore are drying out, keeping their heads up and training on par.
For the first time in 15 years, the Worldloppet Annual General Meeting returned to where it was essentially born in northern Wisconsin. There, an estimated 45 delegates from 16 nations met to invite four more countries to the party, with Argentina, China, Iceland and New Zealand being granted associate status and their own Worldloppet marathons.
Heidi Widmer, 22, isn't one for hanging around. Recently promoted to the Canadian Senior Team, Widmer ended the season with a backcountry trip then flew to El Salvador and New Orleans before training in Switzerland, where she'll spend a month with World Cup and national team skiers.
It all started as a running joke. Amanda Ammar wasn’t actually a ninja, people just thought she was. In her third season of racing independently, Ammar invited a few friends to join her fun-loving and flexible training method: Alana Thomas, Zoe Roy and Chandra Crawford.
When Leif Zimmermann first got into skiing at age 13, he had no idea where it would take him. He quickly rose to Junior World and U.S. nationals success, making the U.S. Ski Team, World Cups, 2006 Olympics, and 2009 World Championships before retiring from the sport this spring.
Perianne Jones has no problem jumping into workouts with the guys. And keeping up with teammates like Lenny Valjas, Ivan Babikov and Devon Kershaw? Piece of cake. Those are the training partners the 28-year-old Canadian World Cup member has been dealt for the time being, and according to Jones, she's off to a great start.
Meet Cendrine Browne, the youngest member of Canada's Senior Development Team. At 19, she's quickly progressed to the elite ranks, and despite her competitive background in triathlons, she's likely to stick with skiing.
Earlier this month, Andrew Musgrave met one of the greatest cross-country racers of all time: Thomas Alsgaard. What was more, they were going to be teammates on the newly formed Team LeasePlan Go. That's right: Alsgaard's back and Musgrave's going to be spending some more QT with veterans like him.
It took some flexible training and a plane trip from Minnesota, but last Saturday, Santi Ocariz achieved his longtime goal of racing (and winning) the Pole Pedal Paddle in Bend, Ore., while women's runner-up and Bend native, Zoe Roy, challenged the winner.
Five years after starting SISU Nordic, Ben Popp has accepted the position of executive director of the American Birkebeiner, North America's largest ski marathon. Popp talks about the "dream job," his goals for the big race, and how he's handling the transition.