U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) posted the finalized schedule today for the SuperTour, and the Finals will be hosted by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. According to an earlier interview with out-going Nordic Director John Farra, the Outdoor Center’s plan to have snowmaking capabilities in place for this season was integral to its candidacy, as the inconsistency of natural snow coverage in late March would normally make northern Vermont a risky...
The 2011-2012 U.S. Ski Team (USST) roster has been out since April, and on the surface, the biggest piece of news in the announcement was sheer numbers. With seven men and five women named to the team, the squad is nearly twice the size it was last year. In order to take advantage of their new strength, USST coaches decided to officially split the team into a men’s and a women’s squad—an arrangement that follows...
If you’d asked John Farra a few months ago what he’d be doing in 2014, he would have told you, “Going to Sochi and kicking some butt.” He still plans on doing just that, but not with the team he would have expected. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) announced Thursday that Farra is leaving his post of the past three years as the Nordic Program Director for a position as Director of the...
If the decision-making process at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) Spring Congress is exhausting, the annual International Ski Federation (FIS) meetings are even more challenging. While American skiers often lament the relative lack of visibility of our beloved sport within the US, the FIS Calendar Conference that convened in early June demonstrated that popularity comes at a price. Namely, the larger the number of significant stakeholders—countries, athletes, coaches, administrators and TDs, of course,...
In April, CXC skier and USST alum Garrott Kuzzy announced
They’ve been on four-hour runs through marshes, braved ‘mystery testing’ with the national team, and been featured in a Swedish newspaper. But when asked to describe their favorite aspect of their trip to Sweden, Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen are in complete agreement: the people. For the two veterans of the US Ski Team, the trip was a unique chance to actually get to know the people they compete against all winter. “When you see...
Three weeks after being flown out of Boulder Canyon with serious head trauma, Reid Pletcher is ready to head home to Sun Valley after his expected discharge from Craig Hospital in Denver this Friday. The
Every May, after storage wax has cooled and spandex has been washed for the first time since November, coaches, officials, and athletes from around the country descend upon Park City for four days to discuss scheduling for the following year and implementing new race rules and formats. This is the USSA Congress. FasterSkier caught up with John Farra, USSA Nordic Director, to get a run down of the most import developments to come out of...