For North American ski fans, here’s a look at who to watch for this weekend in Davos, Switzerland. Saturday’s 15/30 k—long awaited as it is one of only two such distances on the entire World Cup schedule—begins at 6:15 am EST with the women’s 15 k. The men’s start follows at 8:00 am EST. Women It says quite a bit about U.S. skiing these days that Kikkan Randall also featured prominently in our raw Swiss...
Off Camber is a new video series available only on FasterSkier. Conceived of and created by APU skiers Reese Hanneman and Erik Bjornsen, this series is made possible by the support of here. Off Camber, Episode 2 features highlights from the Bozeman, MT SuperTour. Our filmmakers encountered a sleeping moose, elves and a talking carrot to bring you this week’s entertainment.
Though we didn’t have a staff reporter on-site at the Bozeman, MT SuperTour this weekend, there were still plenty of interesting anecdotes to take away from the accounts athletes gave of their races. Most significantly, Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation’s (SVSEF) Mike Sinnott will be headed to Europe in January for his first World Cups that side of the Atlantic. FIS awards World Cup starts to Continental Cup leaders at the end of Period 1,...
Sylvan Ellefson (SSCV/Team Homegrown) took home his second winner’s check of the weekend with his victory on Sunday in the Bozeman, MT 15 k classic. He bested the rest of the field by a significant margin; Erik Bjornsen (APU/USST) was his closest competitor at 30.8 seconds back. Montana State University’s David Norris rounded out the men’s podium in third (+40.6). Asked if he could sense a win as he warmed up on Sunday morning before...
Jessie Diggins (CXC/USST) continued her early season dominance in the 10 k classic in Bozeman, MT on Sunday. Her 35.7-second victory over Maria Graefnings (University of Utah) was her third-straight win of the weekend. Kate Fitzgerald of APU finished third (+1:06.7). “I really had a lot of fun today,” said Diggins. “Sometimes when people say ‘have fun out there’ I think it’s more likely that the race is going to hurt like crazy. But today’s race...
It seems that Central Cross Country (CXC) is the team to bet on this year; at least one woman from the Midwestern squad has been in the top two in every race on the SuperTour thus far. Together, Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg have taken up half of the podium spots available in the past six races, and on Saturday they continued their dominance by going 1-2 in both the morning skate sprint prologue and...
The second stop on the SuperTour featured another exhasting double-header—a skate sprint prologue in the morning followed by a 5/10 k freestyle at noon. Mike Sinnott (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) had another strong sprint day with a win in the prologue, and was followed by Torin Koos (BSF/Rossignol) and Leif Zimmermann (BSF) in second and third, respectively. Sinnott’s win—his second so far this season—puts him in a nearly-untouchable 28-point lead in the overall SuperTour...
With her strong 23rd-place showing in the Ruka Triple last weekend in Kuusamo, Finland, Holly Brooks and U.S. Ski Team (USST) coaches have begun discussing the possibility of her racing the Tour de Ski, which begins December 29. “Obviously Holly had a great mini-tour in Kuusamo,” said USST head coach Chris Grover. “She’s an athlete we’re seriously considering [for the Tour]…she will most likely be invited, for sure.” The U.S. has more than enough room...
After her first World Cup in Drammen, Norway last winter, which immediately preceded World Championships, Jessie Diggins came to a realization about professional ski racing. “I get it now — why people work so hard, train for so many years, push themselves right to the edge in races,” she wrote. From the tone of her writing, Diggins is clearly having a blast being a professional skier. Her enthusiasm for the sport is palpable; it’s as...
Graeme Killick (Alberta World Cup Academy) may have felt more confident about his classic ability going into Saturday’s SuperTour 10 k classic in West Yellowstone, but certainly didn’t expect a win. Nevertheless, strong execution on a frigid morning in Montana brought the 22-year-old Canadian his first victory of the season, a nice cash prize, and a certain amount of confidence going into the Silver Star NorAms in two weeks time. Sylvan Ellefson (Team Homegrown) took...
In her first time racing the SuperTour opener in a number of years, Morgan Arritola (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) seemed to feel right at home in West Yellowstone, MT, taking victory on Thursday in the women’s 10 k freestyle by 14.7 seconds over runner-up Jessie Diggins (Central Cross Country) and Caitlin Gregg (CXC, +27.9). “It was tough,” said Arritola after finishing. “[I planned] to go out and ski as well and controlled as I...
SuperTour competitors got a Thanksgiving respite from racing on Thursday in West Yellowstone, MT, but are gearing up again for tomorrow’s 10/15 k individual-start freestyle. Athletes will have to watch their turkey consumption, as too much tryptophan would not be ideal for tomorrow’s grueling course, which features two loops of a 5 k for women and three for men. Wednesday’s Sprint Showdown was the first domestic race of the season, which is always a highlight...
With four separate races run in West Yellowstone on Wednesday, there was a lot going on. Here are bits and pieces of what didn’t make the official race report cut: On Getting the Season Started “At the start of the season you never quite know where you’re at, it takes a bit of time to get into the race season. We typically try to have our athletes start in good shape.” Chris Jeffries, Alberta...
If there was any question as to whether Reid Pletcher would be able to make a comeback after his Full Freestyle Sprint Results
The 2011-2012 SuperTour kicks off Wednesday morning with a two-round, individual-start sprint in West Yellowstone, MT. Racers will first cover the 1.5 k point-to-point course on classic skis, then recover for a bit before heading out again on skate equipment. The fastest combined time of the day for men and women takes the win. The most noticeable feature of the course is the finish, a steep climb that will leave athletes spent at the end...
After months of suffering through approximations of nordic skiing that certifiably suck most of the time, real snow is upon us. Every Thanksgiving, what seems like the entire American ski universe descends upon a tiny town on the border of Montana and Wyoming to experience the official start of the season we all worship. This is the West Yellowstone Ski Festival. I’ve spent every November since I was 16 wishing I could be amongst those...
Boulder Nordic Sport (BNS) took us through their West Yellowstone prep on Saturday afternoon, the day before they began the 800+ mile drive to Montana. With a 40-pair test fleet, drawers full of wax gear and about 150 pairs of freshly-ground skis to deliver back to customers, they’ve got a full trailer. Wheels went up on Sunday at 8:00 am, and after spending the night in Bozeman, MT, the crew should arrive in Yellowstone on...
The men of the U.S. Ski Team (USST) got off to a rocky start Saturday morning in Sjusjøen, Norway; Kris Freeman led the way in 55th in the 15 k freestyle, +1:55.0 back from Johan Olsson (SWE), who handily bested the men’s field by 31 seconds. “It went really bad, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Freeman on Saturday afternoon. “Overall the energy levels weren’t where they should have been. I’m not trying...
Less than one week after arriving in Europe, the U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Kikkan Randall had the best distance performance of her career—8th place— for the opening World Cup in Sjusjøen, Norway. On a four-lap 10 k course, Randall finished +58.2 back from the winner, Marit Bjoergen (NOR), and was less than a second behind Therese Johaug (NOR), who finished 7th. “I felt like [my race] would have been a success if I was around...
It will be hard to top Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey’s gold-medal performance at World Championships last winter, but Canadian National Ski Team head coach Justin Wadsworth has every intention of racing even better this winter. With a Senior World Cup Team and new convergence program for the Development Team, there are lot of athletes representing Canada to keep track of. Here’s who you need to watch for on the World Cup — and thanks...