The World Cup races in Davos, Switzerland, have been shortened due to lack of snow, but the OC has been working hard, spending 70+ hours transporting snow from up high to the race course below. They host this weekend's classic-distance races and freestyle sprints, as well as next weekend's World Cup after the La Clusaz races were canceled.
Norway's Pål Golberg tells FasterSkier why Lillehammer has been good to him in the past (and it's not because he lives there) and why he rollerskis through the winter, at least once a week, and plays golf as much as he can.
As so often on the World Cup lately, it’s not a question of who will fight for the victory, but how the competition between Marit Bjørgen and Therese Johaug will unfold. Sunday held a sprint showdown between the two in the women's 10 k classic pursuit on the last day of the Lillehammer World Cup mini tour.
Therese Johaug wasn't sure if last week's 42-second win over teammate Marit Bjørgen was a fluke. While she wasn't able to dominate by as big of a margin in Saturday's 5 k freestyle, Johaug did top Bjørgen again -- this time by 0.3 seconds -- on Day 2 of the mini tour in Lillehammer, Norway.
One of Norway's rapidly rising stars, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, 24, took the time to chat with FasterSkier last weekend after her first FIS race of the season. Here she offers advice for anyone training full time: "You have to go for quality over quantity,” she says. “I used to just want to do more and more and more ... but what you do really matters more."
Sondre Turvoll Fossli, the runner-up of Sunday's 1.5 k classic sprint in Beitostølen, Norway, knew Petter Northug was coming for him sooner or later. Sure enough, Northug on skate skis passed him in the final stretch before the finish for a 0.4-second FIS victory.
Barbro Kvåle, a 22-year-old Norwegian junior world champion in ski orienteering, joined the ranks of Therese Johaug and Marit Bjørgen on Sunday, winning the women’s 1.2-kilometer classic sprint by three-tenths of a second in Beitostølen, Norway.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby apparently doesn't need to be 100 percent on any given day to beat some of his most competitive teammates. The 30-year-old Norwegian national-team member won Saturday's 15 k skate by nearly 17 seconds despite feeling drained after a long Friday.
FasterSkier was on site for the second day of FIS races in Beitostølen, Norway, where Marit Bjørgen had her revenge for what she determined was not-so-hot classic form on Friday. Therese Johaug placed second and Heidi Weng was third for the second day in a row.
Johan Olsson reigned supreme in the first FIS race of the season in Bruksvallarna on Friday, edging fellow Swedish national-team member Calle Halfvarsson by 0.4 seconds because of an announcer flub (and a self-described cocky move) at the finish. Charlotte Kalla topped the women's field by 13.4 seconds with a surprise first-year senior, Sophia Henriksson, in second.
A new ski-marathon series has emerged in Sweden, the five-race Björn Dæhlie SKI Challenge, which kicks off Dec. 28 in Falun and ends Feb. 22 in Malung. According to its founders, the idea is have both elite and recreational skiers racing the same events and cut down on travel. (Updated)
Logging too many hours to ski fast? The debate is raging in Norway, where Olympian Frode Estil weighed in last week when he argued that many skiers are obsessed with logging hours at the expense of training quality. Longtime coach Mona Hjellsand strongly agrees.
The International Ski federation (FIS) has determined to add another stage to the Tour de Ski. The new stage will be held in Toblach (ITA).
dansimoneau@bendcable.com or 541-350-9126. Registration forms for the Fire and Ice camp are available at www.mbsef.org/programs/crosscountry/ or visit BendCamp on Facebook. MBSEF: 563 SW 13th, Suite 201 – Bend, OR 97701. Tel: 541-388-0002 – www.mbsef.org
Torin Koos, 31, has his goals set on the 2014 Olympics in Sotchi, Russia. It will be his fourth Olympics. This time, he relies entirely on his own resources.
“Hellner had a couple of beers and we all know how that went,” Northug said to the audience at a presentation in Oslo last week. Northug is already focusing on Sotchi 2014.
“It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to work with this caliber of athletes and coaches,” Trond Nystad said to Norwegian news agency NTB after accepting the offer to be the head coach for the Norwegian national men’s team.
Former US Ski Team coach Trond Nystad becomes the new head coach for the Norwegian men's all-round team. He replaces Morten Aa Djupvik, who resigned after the 2011 World Championship season.
Roar Hjelmeset will replace Jon Arne Schjetne as the Norwegian women’s national sprint team. Hjelmeset replaced Fredrik Aukland as the Norwegian junior national team in 2008. After three years as the head coach for the Norwegian junior and U23 national teams, Hjelmeset was supposed to be the head coach for the new recruitment/development national team for the upcoming season. “A month ago, I was approached about the position as the women’s sprint team coach, and...
When Norway’s new star biathlete Tarjei Boe got sick just prior to the first national team camp with the Olympic Development and had to postpone his departure, he was flooded with offers for the next winter.