Chandra Crawford recently confirmed that she will not train with Canadian Ski Team this summer, but rather with a personal coach in an effort to peak at the 2014 Winter Olympics. If all goes according to plan, she'll be back with the squad this winter. World Cup coach Eric de Nys weighs in and explains the state of his team.
In its second year, NANANordic reached three times the amount of villages and more than twice as many students in Northwest Alaska. And if you ask founder Lars Flora, they're not done with spreading cross-country skiing just yet.
Looking back on last season, anyone who watched Johan Olsson ski away from the pack and win the 50 k classic mass start at World Championships would be hard-pressed to forget it. Other inspiring performances include Marit Bjørgen's 30 k win, Therese Johaug's Holmenkollen domination, Petter Northug's individual-start victory, and Alexander Legkov making history at the Tour de Ski.
Brian McKeever continued to impress this season, and Colette Bourgonje and Mark Arendz further showed the strength of Canada's Para-Nordic squad. New to skiing, Tatyana McFadden stood out as the top American female.
After reaching the World Cup podium and helping his team land a historic bronze at World Championships, Taylor Fletcher is FasterSkier's Nordic Combined Skier of the Year at the age of 22.
Just over a week ago, Tad Elliott heard the news he had an inkling was coming: he was not re-nominated to the U.S. Ski Team. With two seasons of international skiing behind him, he's decided to keep on the nordic path while renewing his other passion, mountain biking.
Moving right along with our Skier of the Year awards, we’re delighted to introduce Junior of the Year, which goes to U.S. biathlete Sean Doherty and Canadian Anne-Marie Comeau. Honorable mentions included as well.
Last week, Johnny Spillane announced his retirement after well over a decade on the U.S. Nordic Combined Team. The four-time Olympian explains why he decided to call it a career before the 2014 Winter Games.
Three of seven men on the U.S. Ski Team were not renamed to the 2013/2014 national squad, including Skyler Davis, Tad Elliott and Kris Freeman. Erik Bjornsen confirmed he's been promoted to the B-team, where he'll join Simi Hamilton and Noah Hoffman.
Liz Stephen didn't want to change skis, and completing the first of three laps first, she didn't have to. The 26-year-old U.S. Ski Team member proceeded to call the shots in a slow-and-slushy 30 k classic mass start at U.S. Distance Nationals, skipping both pit stops to win by more than a minute.
Erik Bjornsen thought he was done for. The 21-year-old U.S. Ski Team and APU skier had gone out too hard, too early in Monday’s 6 k freestyle hill climb before the real ascent up Sugar Bowl Resort even started. Somehow, he found at least three more gears and beat Kris Freeman to the top for his first SuperTour Finals title.
Ida Sargent made herself a favorite in Saturday's classic sprint, her last race of SuperTour Finals, putting it all on the line and giving Kikkan Randall someone to chase. Randall prevailed and extended her lead over Sadie Bjornsen, who was third.
Kikkan Randall dropped the field without even knowing it in Friday's 10 k classic mass start to win the second-straight race of SuperTour Finals. Sadie Bjornsen capitalized on some crashes to seal second, and Liz Stephen hung tough for third.
Erik Bjornsen headed into Thursday's wet-and-blustery 3.3 k prologue at SuperTour Finals with a controlled fire, pacing himself for the first half and attacking for his first SuperTour win by 14.5 seconds. The only man, or woman, to beat Kikkan Randall, he did so on a tough and slow course.
While most of the top contenders in the 2013 Elk Mountain Grand Traverse last Saturday ascended the point-to-point trek on backcountry racing gear, Ben Koons and Linden Mallory toughed it out on nordic skis. They finished fifth, the best result by two Aspen skiers in the race's 16-year history.
One editor's take on how to improve the sport of cross-country skiing as we know it, both from a barriers-of-entry standpoint to spectator satisfaction.
When Andrew Gardner announced he was leaving his position as Middlebury's head coach, speculation spread about who would fill the void. The answer came Tuesday when the college announced it hired Andrew Johnson, a Vermont native and former assistant at UVM and Utah.
Seventeen weeks and 120 days after the World Cup season started in Gällivare, Sweden, it ended in Sunday in Falun. For most of the Canadians who finished outside the top 30, it could not have come soon enough. Head coach Justin Wadsworth and team veteran Devon Kershaw reflect on the season.
It wouldn’t quite be accurate to call Marit Bjørgen’s World Cup Finals pursuit performance on Sunday a formality. Sure, Norway’s 12-time World Champion started the 10-kilometer freestyle race a full minute and 20 seconds ahead of the field, with teammate Therese Johaug being the only one that could potentially test her. And yes, chances were Johaug would never catch her, but there’s always several races within a race – and Bjørgen had one going from the start.
The Canadians missed the wax in the men's race on Saturday and ended up with Alex Harvey posting the team's top finish of 30th. "That combination of not-perfect bodies and bad skis is not so much fun," head coach Justin Wadsworth said.