Another day at Whistler and another day of great skiing. The day started just below freezing with a little new snow overnight, intermittent sunshine, no wind, and no snowfall until after the last skier finished. The course was two laps of the Olympic Red 5km, the same course used in 2010 for the classic races. About 3km of the loop was the same as used in the classic 20km Monday and Tuesday. There is a...
Day five of racing at Whistler Olympic Park delivered with an interval start 10km free technique race in great conditions and intermittent sunshine. The tracks were fast and almost silky, the corners held up all day, the glide was exceptional, and (if anyone cared to classic on a great skating day) VR45 was magic. Early on, North American skiers spent quality time in the leader’s chair before the top ranked skiers took over. Norway put...
Day four of the Junior Worlds at Whistler Olympic Park brought new weather and more excitement in mass start racing. The day dawned with a light snowfall at -8C. The wax techs were as secretive as ever, but it was clear at the finish that most athletes were on hard wax. While Norway, Germany, and France owned the podiums, it was also a good day for North American skiers. Women’s 20 k Classic The women’s...
The World Juniors rolled on in Whistler with sunshine, easy classic waxing, and a new distance. Most skiers had done a 20km event before today, some had done two, but it was a new pacing experience for many. Add in a 5km loop that an athlete from Holmenkollen described as ‘hilly’ and you have a recipe for good racing and a pretty good day for North American skiers. Team USA’s Samantha Smith led the way...
Day two at Whistler Olympic Park was similar to the first: sunny, fast, and exciting. The excitement started early, with pre-race favourite JC Schoonmaker crashing spectacularly on the sweeping right-hand drop into the stadium during the qualifier. Seeded second, he was quick to be back up and skiing, but 150m of double poling with one pole cost him more time on top of the loss of time and speed from the fall. Schoonmaker would fail...
The U20/U23 World Championships kicked off in Whistler Olympic Park with classic sprints on a bluebird day. While the finals were filled with athletes from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Italy, it was a good day for many more nations. Coaches from Canada, the US, Andorra, and Taiwan were agreed on one thing: U20 results won’t make or break your skiing career, but what you learn here can change your life. That said, results are what...
The pressure was on at Caledonia Nordic in Prince George, BC, for the trials that would be used to select athletes for World Championships in Planica, Slovenia, and U20/U23 World Championships in Whistler. The three days of racing is also a Nordiq Cup, which is a FIS tier 1 event equivalent to a US SuperTour or Scando Cup, but the focus was on earning a spot on one or more of the teams. The snow...
Canada is in the rebuilding part of the success rollercoaster, with many changes to the High Performance team and the development programs. Since May 1st, Chris Jeffries has joined Nordiq Canada (NC) full time as the High Performance Director, Robin McKeever has transitioned from the extremely successful Para program to become the Olympic Stream Head Coach. NextGen coach Eric de Nys and Dev coach Matt Smider are in their first full year in those roles...
The world of skiing is changing and Canada is changing with it. This season, Canada has a new head coach and is hitting the Tour de Ski for the first time in four years. New head coach Robin McKeever is bringing nine athletes, five wax techs, an osteopath, a coach, and a wax truck to Val Mustair. This is less bodies than Norway’s wax team, but it is still a big commitment from a country...
Mont Sainte Anne (MSA) held the final pre-Christmas races in Canada over the weekend, with a 20km freestyle mass start Friday, freestyle sprints on Saturday, and 10km individual start classic on Sunday. Fresh snow, steep hills, and temperatures comfortably below freezing greeted 400+ racers at a continental cup hosted by Skibec, Centre National d’Entraïnemente Pierre Harvey (CNEPH) , and Club Nordique MSA. MSA is a popular racing destination, as Nakkertok’s Bronwyn Williams explained: “I love...
Canadian racing continued with the Eastern Canada Cup #1 at Nakkertok Trails on December 10th and 11th. The event is hosted by Évènements Nordiques Gatineau Nordic Events (ÉNGNE), a collaborative organization that leverages the skills and volunteers of four local clubs: Chelsea Nordiq Ski Club, Nakkertok Nordic Ski Association, Club Skinouk and the Gatineau Loppet. Canada recently divided the Canada Cup series into Eastern and Western to reduce the need for travel and to make the...
Race day four at Sovereign Lake was a 10km individual start classic in the sunshine. With humid new snow at -10C all day while the air warmed up to -4C, all the teams found fast skis and solid kick on a great day for striding. Once again, the Open and U20 categories skied 2x5km first, followed by U18 and U16 who skied 2×2.5km, for a total of 385 starters Sunday. Individual start races are about...
Day 3 of the Sovereign Lake race week brought a skate sprint on a shorter course and warmer weather: -10C with no wind and occasional light snow. Wednesday and Thursday were Nordiq Cup events, with only U20 and Open categories. Saturday and Sunday are Canada Cup races, with the addition of U18 and U16 categories, resulting in 402 racers across the eight groups. All four race days are part of the US SuperTour. All groups...
Continental Cup racing at Sovereign Lake continued Thursday with a 10km mass start skate for both genders, using the traditional Upper World Cup 5km course. The weekday races are U20 and Open categories only, with ‘smaller’ fields of 87 women and 127 men registered Thursday. “I think this is probably the most competitive race in North America this year, so there were a lot of really strong and talented skiers.” — John Steel Hagenbuch, Dartmouth...
North American racing hit high gear today with the opening of the combined Nordiq Cup and SuperTour series at Sovereign Lake with classic sprints. This week brings together the top skiers from all of North America, Mexico included, and Wednesday’s qualification was kicked off by the top ranked skiers: USA’s Hailey Swirbul and Canada’s Russell Kennedy. Many teams arrived two weeks in advance to enjoy some elevation training on corduroy while teams with good early...
Disclaimer: The author skied both days and was one member of the large S2S organizing committee. This may seem like a conflict of interest, but also allows a more detailed look behind the curtain at how a new event was built. Click here to learn more about the origins of the Sovereign2Silverstar Ski Marathon, and to take a look at the successful first year of the event. *** The motto for S2S was ‘finishing is...
Disclaimer: The author skied both days and was one member of the large S2S organizing committee. This may seem like a conflict of interest, but also allows a more detailed look behind the curtain at how a new event was built. When the moment comes to create a new destination ski marathon, how would you compile all of your dreams and mould them into a single cohesive weekend? A group of Canadian skiers was faced...
Canada was successful in delivering the team to Beijing and getting them on snow in Zhangjiakou. The decision to go above and beyond in isolating athletes before a carefully planned drive to a charter flight worked, although other countries also succeeded with a more laid-back approach. What can fans expect from the Canadian team in Beijing? It all comes down to qualifying and performing. Qualifying Canada had an Olympic quota of four women and three...
The Canadian Prep Camp in Sovereign Lake and SilverStar, BC prior to the 2022 Beijing Olympics sounds like a nordic skier’s heaven. A two-week ski vacation with 100 kilometres of perfectly groomed snow. A private room above a great coffee shop (pain au chocolate!) and next door to some great beer. January weather just below freezing with enough falling snow to make every day a hardwax day. Two weeks of what locals call superhero snow. A...
The Eastern Canada Cup series wrapped up in Mont Sainte Anne (MSA), Québec, with distance racing for over 300 skiers each day. As with Westerns, the second weekend brought results and execution a little higher in the athletes’ focus, but the almost universal use of the words ‘fun’ and ‘excitement’ remain a reflection of a return to racing after a season without. MSA is just outside Québec City and is very accessible for most...