Last season, Dasha Gaiazova was making headlines with a strong World Cup campaign which saw her pick up her first World Cup medal, and finish 6th in the Team Sprint at World Championships in Oslo, Norway. However, she has spent much of this spring and summer in limbo due to a disagreement with Cross Country Canada (CCC) and the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST). Earlier this year, at a CNST training camp in Bend, Oregon,...
As I approached Len Valjas for an interview during a recent junior training camp at his home club in Southern Ontario, I couldn’t help but think something was a bit off – I caught him in the middle of the buffet line, about to load up his plate with pizza. The newest member of the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) World Cup team was wearing baggy shorts, a big t-shirt, and sunglasses perched atop his...
Say what you will about the Canadians, but the country with the Team Sprint World Champions aren’t resting on their laurels. A week after returning from a camp in Park City, Utah, Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) Head Coach Justin Wadsworth had the athletes packing up again and headed for Whistler, B.C. for a short intensity-filled camp before heading back to Canmore, Alberta, for Canadian Thanksgiving. While it may seem unusual that the Canadian team...
Over 115 athletes, 30 coaches, the full National Development Center Thunder Bay (NDC T-Bay) roster, and Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) World Cup team member Len Valjas. Does this sound like any ski camp you’ve been to this year? Unless you’re in Norway, chances are it sounds more like a skiing fantasy rather than reality. Yet Ontario’s Team Hardwood, a club just outside of Orillia, Ontario, attracted the massive numbers in a training camp at...
Despite her small stature, Liz Stephen had a big season in 2011-2012. She had the best string of World Cup results in her young career, finishing in the top 30 three times over the course of the World Cup season. Stephen also had a strong performance at the World Championships in Oslo, finishing an impressive 16th in the 30 k freestyle, as well as 24th in the 15 k skiathlon. The diminutive 24 year old,...
If you’ve ever wanted a chance to beat a World Champion, you’re in luck. Of course, it won’t be easy. The Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA), the Canadian training center based in Canmore, Alberta, is hosting the Spray Drag Running Race – and World Champion and Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) member Devon Kershaw is headlining the event. The idea is pretty similar to the recent ‘Climb to the Castle’ held at Whiteface Mountain in...
Canadian Stefan Kuhn has made a rapid transition from elite skiing to elite coaching. The former Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) member and Vancouver Olympian announced his retirement less than six months ago, and was immediately snapped up in a coaching capacity by the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA), one of Canada’s premiere training centers. During his career, Kuhn was primarily a sprinter – as is evidenced by his 15th place finish in Vancouver, the best...
Canadian Reporter Internship Over the past couple of years, FasterSkier has worked hard to increase both the quality and scope of Canadian coverage offered. However, instead of resting on our laurels, we are dedicated to continued improvement and are striving to serve the Canadian ski community more effectively. As a result, FasterSkier is looking for a Canadian intern to assist with coverage of daily ski news, and competition events during the fall and winter. Hours...
Canadian Olympian and Canadian National Ski Team veteran Gord Jewett is still racing – but on his bike, rather than a pair of skis. Earlier this month Jewett became Alberta Provincial Road Cycling Champion, taking top honors in the 130 k race in Lethbridge, Alberta. The 33 year old Jewett, who lives in Calgary, Alberta, retired from ski racing following the 2010 season, where he competed in the Vancouver Olympics. Jewett races for the Rundel...
With summer in full swing in North America, many cross country skiers have opted for the winter conditions of the Southern Hemisphere, including the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST). While the women of the CNST recently spent time in Alaska with a large crowd of American women, the men have travelled to the traditional summer hang-out spot: the Snow Farm, in Wanaka, New Zealand. The World Cup team of Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey, Ivan Babikov...
While you might not be able to spell or pronounce his name, if you’re a fan of elite cross country skiing, you should be familiar with Sami Jauhojaervi. Jauhojaervi is one of Finland’s top cross country skiers – the 30 year old has finished as high as 5th in the World Cup Overall, has four World Cup podiums to his credit, and two World Championship bronze medals from Liberec in 2009, where he was a...
If you’re female and a fast skier, Anchorage, Alaska is the place to be. A group of approximately 20 women is currently residing in the northern state during a female-only training camp. Members of the United States Ski Team (USST), the USST Development Team, Alaska Pacific University (APU), and Perianne Jones and Chandra Crawford of the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) have gathered in Anchorage for two weeks of quality training. Headlining the American contingent...
The FIS World Cup is returning to Canada in 2012. After a two year hiatus, International Ski Federation (FIS) Cross Country Skiing World Cup competitions will resume in North America, as a brand-new Quebec City site will be unveiled before the show heads west to the Rockies and Canmore, Alberta. According to Norbert Meier, Chair of the Alberta World Cup Society, there will be World Cup races held on December 8th and 9th in Canmore,...
The Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) escaped Canada for their second training camp of the year – to the islands of Hawaii. “When we came out of the Haig Glacier last year, about a year ago exactly, it was pouring rain, we had been snowshoeing out for numerous hours, and people were kicking around other places to train at this time of year,” said Head Coach Justin Wadsworth in a recent interview with FasterSkier. Somehow...
Canadian Devon Kershaw has risen steadily through the ranks of the cross-country skiing world, to the point where he is now considered one of the best skiers on the World Cup circuit. Last season, he finished seventh in the Tour de Ski, after standing on the podium four times during the event – including a win. Along with teammate Alex Harvey, he also became Canada’s first World Champion in cross-country skiing, winning the team sprint...
Canadian Devon Kershaw has risen steadily through the ranks of the cross-country skiing world, to the point where he is now considered one of the best skiers on the World Cup circuit. Last season, he finished seventh in the Tour de Ski, after standing on the podium four times during the event – including a win. Along with teammate Alex Harvey, he also became Canada’s first World Champion in cross-country skiing, winning the team sprint...
The Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) has kicked off its training season with its second annual camp in Bend, Oregon. According to newly-minted CNST World Cup team member Len Valjas, the entire World Cup team was present for the 11 day camp, with the only exception being Alex Harvey, who is currently finishing up exams at home in Quebec. While the weather in Bend had been less than ideal – in a recent interview with...
Next winter, up-and-coming Canadian athletes will have a big carrot dangling in front of them. That’s because Cross Country Canada has begun an aggressive new strategy aimed at getting Canadian skiers the international racing experience they need. In planning meetings this spring, the CCC High Performance Committee earmarked over $100,000 in budget money for what Head Coach Justin Wadsworth calls “convergence trips”. These trips are geared towards developing athletes who are not FIS regional leaders,...
With Cross Country Canada (CCC) announcing selections for the Canadian World Cup and Senior Development Team last week, the Canucks are loading up for another season. There were no surprises on the World Cup Team, as six of the seven have been part of the squad in the past. The one new addition, Len Valjas, is no shocker, because ‘Big Tall Lenny’, as he has been nicknamed by his teammates, tore up the World Cup...
Cross Country Canada (CCC) is expected to announce the 2011-2011 National Ski Team (NST) in the next couple of days, and some major personnel changes may be in the works. According to head coach Justin Wadsworth, there will be three divisions to the National Ski Team in the 2011-2012. If you are a Canadian athlete, you can be nominated to the World Cup team or the Senior Development Team, while the country’s top juniors skiers...