In the middle of May, the U.S. Ski Team (USST) dropped seven of the 18 skiers that were on the team. Three of those seven skiers are currently attending college: Matt Gelso and Alexa Turzian at Colorado University (CU), and Rosie Brennan at Dartmouth. Following those skiers’ dismissals, the USST released a new set of recommendations that called for elite high school skiers to take time off to train before starting college. That announcement spawned...
This week, FasterSkier caught up with Caitlin Compton, fresh off her third consecutive trip to World Championships. At Liberec, Compton placed 48th in the 30 kilometer pursuit, and also anchored the U.S. team to a 14th-place finish in the 4×5 kilometer relay. She was national champion in the 5k freestyle in Anchorage, and she also competed in the Whistler World Cup in January, placing 32nd in the 15k pursuit, and 17th with Morgan Smyth in...
The training season is well underway, and North America’s best cross-country skiers are already well into their preparations for next winter. Over the course of the summer, FasterSkier will feature a weekly interview with elite American and Canadian athletes, following their training as they ready for the upcoming Olympic year. We first talked with James Southam, who races with the Alaska Pacific University Elite Team and placed 33rd in the 30k pursuit at the 2009...
Though the battered economy has caused the cancellation of events in other sports, as well as the folding of the Saab/Salomon Factory Team, North America’s biggest ski races appear to be weathering the storm. While it is still early in the year, organizers of the American and Canadian Birkebeiners, City of Lakes Loppet, Craftsbury Marathon, Yellowstone Rendezvous, Noquemanon Ski Marathon, and Mora Vasaloppet all said that their races were proceeding as planned. Many did say,...