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John Teaford

John Teaford—the Managing Editor of FasterSkier — has been the coach of Olympians, World Champions, and World Record Holders in six sports: Nordic skiing, speedskating, road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, triathlon. In his long career as a writer/filmmaker, he spent many seasons as Director of Warren Miller’s annual feature film, and Producer of adventure documentary films for Discovery, ESPN, Disney, National Geographic, and NBC Sports.
Simi Hamilton Traverses New Terrain: Retirement, Part II

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. Learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award—or about supporting FasterSkier coverage—by contacting info@fasterskier.com.  Simi Hamilton was still in top condition when he retired from his World Cup competitive career in 2021. Lucky for him that he was: he still needs that level of fitness for his day-job. Not one to kick back...

Simi Hamilton Traverses New Terrain:  Retirement, Part I

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. Learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award—or about supporting FasterSkier coverage—by contacting info@fasterskier.com.  Quintessential retirement: feet up, reclining chair reclined, beverage in one hand, remote control in the other, satisfied grin. And the more challenging and stressful the career, the sweeter the “rest” that follows it. But that’s just not the way...

Back to School

And, so, it’s back to school . . . The day after Labor Day: it’s always been the day of packing lunches and organizing pencils, of combing cowlicks and catching buses, of searching for new classrooms and picking new desks. Friends re-met after a summer off, and teachers newly met in topics as yet un-mastered. But every few years—every six, or eight, or twelve—the first day of school is a different sort of thing. Some...

Ben Ogden, In His Element: Part III

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. Learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award—or about supporting FasterSkier coverage—by contacting info@fasterskier.com.  People are always asking Ben Ogden, “How does it feel to be on the start line with Klaebo, Jouve, Chanavat?” His response reveals much about both Ogden’s attitude as a competitor, and his character as a young man: “For...

Ben Ogden, In His Element:  Part II

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. Learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award—or about supporting FasterSkier coverage—by contacting info@fasterskier.com.  Ben Ogden was kind enough to spend a recent afternoon with FasterSkier assessing his 2022-2023 World Cup season, and discussing the sorts of plans he has for training in this off-season. We met in the barn at the Ogden...

Ben Ogden, In His Element:  Part I

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall, and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  Ben Ogden is in his element . . . in a secluded valley surrounded by tree-covered slopes of Vermont’s Green Mountains, in a barn by the side of a winding dirt road, only...

FIS: “Equal distances has taken another step”

In a recent Instagram post (June 21, 2023), the International Ski Federation (FIS) announced that permanent changes have been made to the “equality” in race distances for men and women in both FIS sanctioned races and those races set to be staged at the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in 2026. The post included the following wording: BIG NEWS: Equal distances has taken another step, a step that involves the Olympics in Milano Cortina 2026!🙌🏼 The...

Magic Mountain, Indeed:  SMST2 and West River Nordic Party on Vermont’s Very Last Snow.

June 3, Magic Mountain Ski Area, Londonderry Vermont It’s full summer in the Green Mountains of Vermont: high temperatures and summer thunderstorms, every tree leaf-covered, every meadow knee-deep in new grass, and the entire world the richest shade of green. Even those New England resorts that pride themselves on being the very last to keep their chairlifts turning had packed it in a week ago. But there’s still snow at Magic Mountain, stored for just...

Klaebo: Record-Tying Win, History-Defining Cup

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  The most dominant World Cup season ever by a male skier; a tally of wins that ties Theresa Johaug (NOR) for the greatest number of victories in a single season (20) by...

In the Pink: Klaebo Secures World Cup Sprint Crystal Globe

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  By this time in his storied and much-decorated career, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) definitely knows his way around a bottle of champagne. Given enough time on World Cup podiums (as Klaebo has...

Tallinn Men’s Sprint: New Script, Same Ending

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  All things being equal—including the wax—it appears that the fastest skier is still the fastest skier. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s (NOR) performance in today’s FIS World Cup Freestyle Sprint certainly proved that any...

Falun World Cup Freestyle Sprint: It’s Klaebo’s World . . .

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  This guy is simply incredible . . . can we just admit that? Thirty skiers qualify for every sprint quarterfinal—all having demonstrated their sprint prowess, all with a burning desire to win—Johannes...

Falun 10 k Classic: Kerttu Niskanen Re-Energized, Klaebo Still Not Tired

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  She’s just so fun to watch . . . and He just keeps getting faster; together, Kerttu Niskanen (FIN) and Joahannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) demonstrated levels of dominance on Falun’s classic tracks,...

Drammen Sprints: Redemption for Skistad, Business as Usual for Klaebo

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  The International Ski Federation (FIS) is not in the business of making things easy: this season’s World Cup scoring system rewards those skiers who ski every event, those who excel consistently. Gone...

Ragnhild Gloeersen Haga Triumphant in Historic Holmenkollen 50 k

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  “It’s the right message that we want to send to young girls all over the world: you work just as hard as the guys, you train just as much, you should get...

Early Gaps Decide Men’s Relay: Norway Delivers on Expectations

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  In sport, sometimes “foregone conclusions” prove to have been premature; that can make for exciting racing. At other times, foregone conclusions prove accurately prescient; that makes for situations in which the anticipation...

Team Sprint: Klaebo Captures Third Medal, Canada Impresses in Fourth

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  Three races: three medals. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) pursues the history that is available to him, but the history he pursues is likely to be marked with an Asterisk. He is one...

Only Norway—Krueger Leads Sweep of 30 k Skiathlon Ahead of Klaebo and Roethe

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.  Thirty kilometers is a long way to race. It’s the sort of distance that recreational skiers race as a “marathon,” the kind of overlong race effort from which mere mortals...

World Championship Qualifying: Inviting the Whole World

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. This is the championship of the cross country skiing world, and all the nations of the skiing world are included. It’s a longer list of nations than many of us may imagine...

Italy Victorious in Italy! Men’s World Cup Relay in Toblach/Dobbiaco

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. The FIS World Cup calendar refers to this village as “Toblach,” but there’s more than one name for this wonderful, mountainous place. Located in the Sud Tirol of Northern Italy—a region suspended...