The NorAm circuit moved east to the Nakkertok trails for three days of racing jointly hosted by Nakkertok Nordic, Club Skinouk, Chelsea Nordiq, and Kanata Nordic. Friday featured classic sprints, Saturday interval start free, and Sunday interval start classic. The event was also the Candy Cane Cup for the younger categories, as well as Ontario […]
Canmore NorAm / SuperTour / Nationals Weekend Wrap-up (Updated)
Updated with more quotes. The first three race days of both the NorAm and SuperTour series are complete and the athletes and coaches are digesting the lessons. It was free sprints Friday, classic distance Saturday, and interval start free technique distance on Sunday. The men started the Sunday with a four lap 15km followed by […]
Canmore NorAm/SuperTour/Nationals Classic Distance
Day two of the first NorAm and SuperTour weekend was interval start classic, with 10km for the men and 5km for the women. The US SuperTour athletes took the chance to show their depth today, packing the top ten of the open categories. The 154 men raced first, with the U.S. Ski Team’s Zak Ketterson […]
Canmore NorAm/SuperTour/Nationals Sprints
The NorAm series fully lived up to the North American Cup label in Canmore Friday with 1.3km free technique sprints to kick off a combined NorAm, SuperTour, and Mexican National Championships weekend. Full results for the weekend are on zone4, including live results every day. Friday featured sprints for the older age groups only (282 […]
Rebuilding Canada: Less Europe, More North America
Canada is moving into a new era in skiing. An era with less World Cup podiums and more emphasis on developing future podium athletes. “Train at what you want to be good at. If its climbing, climb. If it is chess, play chess. Ski training has many elements of course, but in the end […]
Ski Games for Kids of All Ages
(If the video doesn’t play in your browser, click here) XC Ski Nation and Nordiq Canada recently created a series of ski game videos for kids. While these games teach many skills, the primary goal is to have fun on snow, which keeps the kids coming back. These games are freely available on the internet […]
Nordiq Thunder 2019: Notes, Quotes, and Photos
The unofficial kickoff to the western Canadian racing season was held on November 13th and 14th. The traditional King’s Court sprint and interval start distance races are now called Nordiq Thunder — a re-brand from Frozen Thunder – but the relaxed feel and clockwork organization remain the same. With no trip selections on the line, […]
Nordiq Canada: Ringing in the Changes
When Cross Country Canada announced last March that they would be rebranding as Nordiq Canada, they were emphatic the new name was a symbol of their readiness to make changes. Those changes are starting to happen. One holdover from last season is Erik Bråten, the young Norwegian brought in to shape the development pipeline. After […]
Biathlon Canada Names Head Coach for Season: Justin Wadsworth
Last week, Biathlon Canada announced Justin Wadsworth as the Head Coach for the 2019-2020 season. In April, 2019, Wadsworth took on a temporary role as the team’s summer coach. That fill-in-the-gap stint will extend through this season’s racing. Wadsworth joins Canadian biathlon at a challenging time, with limited funding and after the retirement of many […]
Québec City: Notes, Quotes, and Gallery
The World Cup season wrapped up with World Cup finals in Québec City and FasterSkier was there. Three photographers and three interviewers worked together to gather information from 150 racers, including 56 North Americans. While top skiers chased glory on the tracks, 500 volunteers toiled out of sight. Alex Harvey retired in a public blaze […]
Québec City: Quotes, Crashes, and Setting The Stage
The Québec City World Cup has been a wild ride for the first two days, which are really only setting the stage for the big event. On Sunday, two crystal globes will be decided and hometown superstar Alex Harvey will retire on a course he raced on as a child. Tricky Skiing The first […]
Canadian Nationals 2019: Notes, Quotes, and Galleries
Canadian Ski Championships has come to an end with the mass start classic for the younger age groups. While is is hard to prove that this is the largest nationals ever, it is clear that Évènements Nordique Gatineau Nordic Events (ÉNGNE) has organized a successful week of racing for roughly 700 athletes. ÉNGNE is a […]
Canadian Nationals: Team Sprint and Long Distance Classic
The Canadian Ski Championships party at Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, Québec is in the final days. While ski fans might see this as a pre-party for World Cup Finals in Québec City, the athletes are pursuing titles, personal goals, and the chance to test themselves against 700 peers. FasterSkier, like the World Cup athletes, is […]
Canadian Nationals: Skate Sprint and WCF qualification
This article has been updated with final WCF selections and a video of the sprint A finals. Nationals rolled on at Nakkertok trails with free technique sprints on Saturday. The women raced a 1.3km course while the men added one more hill for 1.4km. The jury described the conditions as ‘soft icy’, which seems to […]
Canadian Nationals: Two Day Pursuit and WCF Qualification
This article has been updated to correct an interpretation of the selection criteria. Day two of nationals was day two of the pursuit at Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, Québec. The two-day pursuit format (classic interval start on day one, free technique pursuit start day two) was held for the second time at nationals. With both […]
Wednesday Rundown: Canadian Nationals
Canadian Ski Championships, better known as ‘nationals’, kicked off today at the Nakkertok trails in Québec with individual start classic racing. 342 men started the 10km and 293 women started the 5km, both using the same 5km loop on an overcast day at -8C. The field is more stacked than usual, with only two athletes […]
Connecting the Dots: World Cup Finals, Nationals, and Developing the Sport
North American World Cups are becoming a fixture on the schedule, with the season ending in Canada in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020. In 2020, Minnesota will join in with a city sprint- that race falls between the Quebec City and Canmore events. These races are important for athlete development as both Canada and the […]
Canadian Western Championship: Weekend Wrap-up
KELOWNA, B.C — One week after Easterns, it was time for Westerns, and the Polar Vortex made the trip for both weekends. At Easterns, the air was cold enough to keep the organizing committee on edge at the start of the weekend, and freezing rain complicated driving plans. At Westerns, the cold weather held off to […]
Canadians Westerns Rundown: Skate Sprints
Canadian Western Championships started off Friday with free technique sprints on the Telemark trails near Kelowna, B.C. The sun was out for the qualification round, followed by cloud, and light snow as the day progressed with the temperature hovering at -10C. A major road closure combined with icy morning highways and a large number of accidents […]
Canadian Eastern Championships: Weekend Wrap-up
The NorAm series went to Duntroon, Ontario, for the Canadian Eastern Championships: three days of varied weather, new race formats, and new faces on the podium, all hosted by Highlands Trailblazers. Easterns is possibly the most storied ski race in Canada. Most years, it is the largest FIS event in North America. This year, the […]