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Rachel Perkins

Rachel is an endurance sport enthusiast based in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado. You can find her cruising around on skinny skis, running in the mountains with her pup, or chasing her toddler (born Oct. 2018). Instagram: @bachrunner4646
The Worldloppet Cup Comes to an End; Ben Popp Discusses the Results of the Worldloppet Annual General Meeting

On June 17th, an update was posted on the Worldloppet International Ski Federation website following the annual general meeting in Isafjordur, Iceland to announce the end of the FIS Worldloppet Cup series. While skiers will still be able to earn FIS points in each of the individual marathon races across the globe, the series will no longer be sanctioned by FIS, meaning cumulative points earned by the winners will no longer be totaled and there...

On the tails of a season North American skiers might still be smiling about, it could be hard to think about how climate change might negatively impact our small sport. It is convenient to have selective memory and recall a phenomenal crust ski on the Lost Man Loop off of Independence Pass in Colorado on June 10th of this year, rather than remembering running the same loop when it was almost completely dry on July...

Advocacy for Athletes: Hoffman and Koehler Share a Look Into Global Athlete

Picture in your mind an Olympic athlete. As you are reading this site, you might be seeing the image of Jessie Diggins or Kikkan Randall, or perhaps, Marit Bjørgen or Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Or, since your skis might be summer waxed, you might think of Michael Phelps, Ussain Bolt, or Katie Ledecky. Regardless of who comes to mind, the image includes an athlete who is in peak fitness, at the top of their game. One...

First World Cup Competitions Scheduled for Women’s Nordic Combined

While men’s Nordic Combined has been a fixture in the Winter Olympic games since the first contests were held in Chamonix, France in 1924, its female counterpart has not existed. Women’s cross country skiing was added to the Olympic program in the 1952 games in Oslo, while ski jumping was not added until the Sochi 2014 games. In November 2016, FIS published its “Nordic Combined Ladies’ Strategy Document” outlining a plan presented by the Nordic...

Wednesday Workout: Summer Training for Junior Athletes Competing in Fall Cross Country

This Wednesday Workout comes to us from Matt Boobar who has been coaching the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) nordic team since 2007. In the fall, he also works with the cross country running and mountain bike programs, and leads cycling in the spring. Boobar has a B.S. in exercise science and has earned a USSA Level 200 certification. He has been the head coach of the New England Junior National Team eight times and was...

Race-cation: Erik Bjornsen and Marine Dusser on Iceland and the Fossavatn Ski Marathon

While many skiers were blowing the dust off of their rollerskis, hitting the track or trail, or looking for crust to cruise on May 1st, Erik Bjornsen and his wife Marine Dusser were previewing the race course for the Fossavatn Ski Marathon, or Fossavatngangan, in Isafjördur, Iceland.    While it might seem odd to begin a new season by racing a 21 k followed by a 42 k just two days later, Bjornsen and Dusser...

2019 Coach of the Year

With the 2018/2019 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is running a series of articles highlighting some of the players and performances from the season. This honor goes to the North American coach who most deserves recognition for their impact on the trajectory of their athletes. In April of 2018, Armin Auchentaller was hired to lead the U.S. Women’s Biathlon team. The position was not totally new for Auchentaller as he had worked with the...

Junior Skier of the Year

Junior Skier of the Year   With the 2018/2019 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is running a series of articles highlighting some of the players and performances from the season. This year, the junior skier of the year is Gus Schumacher. Perhaps it is a testament to the steady growth of U.S. developmental programming or perhaps it is a trickle down effect as Americans see more success on the World Cup level; one thing...

International Skiers of the Year

With the 2018/2019 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is running a series of articles highlighting some of the players and performances from the season. This year, the International Skier of the Year awards are nominated to two Norwegians who spent the season at the top of the World Cup ranks, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Ingvild Flugstad Østberg Consistency is Queen, and for that Ingvild Flugstad Østberg reigned superior in 2018/2019 with...

Full Circle: Ida Sargent Begins Her Next Chapter In the Northeast Kingdom

As winter wanes and spring looms, many athletes choose to announce the bittersweet change of their own season of life, retirement from the sport to embark on a new pursuit. This March, after seven seasons on the U.S. Ski Team, 31-year-old Ida Sargent decided the time had come for something new. “I knew after Sochi that I wanted to go to one more Olympics,” Sargent told FasterSkier in a call. “So at that point, I...

Race Rundown: A Pair of Bjornsen Wins at Super Tour Finals 10/15 k Mass Start Classic

Super Tour Finals continued in the north woods of Presque Isle, ME with the first of the men’s and women’s distance events. Icy conditions caused a delay in racing and left fast classic tracks at the Nordic Heritage Center. The races can be streamed live or replayed on the U.S. Ski Team Facebook page. Men’s 15-kilometer Mass Start Classic In the men’s 15-kilometer race, a pack of six men led by Simi Hamilton (USST/SMS T2)...

Nilsson Makes a Clean Sweep in Québec; Diggins Skis the 4th Fastest Time of Day, Bjornsen 11th

It was beginning to seem as though it could not be done, and then it happened.  Norway’s Therese Johaug did not stand atop the podium after the 10-kilometer classic first stage of the women’s pursuit in Québec City. Sprint champion Stina Nilsson did. Not only that, but the bonus seconds garnered from Nilsson’s win in Friday’s skate sprint allowed her to enter the course for the final leg of the week’s three-race series with a margin...

Norway Sweeps Freestyle Sprint in Falun; Hamilton 22nd, Bolger 27th

The World Cup made its final European stop in Falun, Sweden before the field heads across the pond to Quebec City for the final series. For the men, the weekend opened with a 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint, a last test before the freestyle sprint in Canada. Heading into the weekend, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo sat comfortably in the lead for the overall sprint standings with string of six back-to-back wins, not including a win at the...

Wednesday Workout: Guiding Junior Athletes With Adam St. Pierre

This Wednesday Workout includes guidance from Boulder Nordic Junior Race Team (BNJRT) Head Coach Adam St. Pierre. After earning a BS in Physics and Biochemistry while skiing for Colby College in Maine, St Pierre earned a masters in Kinesiology and Exercise Science at the University of New Hampshire. While in graduate school, he was the assistant ski coach to Marty Hall at Bowdoin College and has since coached all age groups. His primary role at...

Johaug Victorious at Holmenkollen; Americans Land Outside Top 30

Skies cleared and the sun shined on the 30-kilometer mass start classic at the Holmenkollen. When not surrounded by tall pines, racers were offered beautiful vistas of Oslo and the cold blue fjord on which Norway’s capital is built. While the Sunday crowd pales in comparison to the masses who attended the men’s event on Saturday, plenty of tents still lined the course to house families of fans camped out for the weekend. The snowbanks lining...

Norway Wins 10th Consecutive Gold Medal in Men’s 4 x 10k Relay; Americans Finish 9th

While a temperature in the upper thirties would not normally classify as cool to a ski racer, it was a welcome break from the blazing sun and upper 50’s that have been ever-present in the 2019 Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Austria. Light rain peppered the athletes in the 4 x 10-kilometer relay, continuing to keep things challenging for the wax techs. The relay is a testament to both a nation’s depth and strategy,...

Euphoric Victory for Sweden’s Nilsson and Dahlqvist in Classic Team Sprint; Diggins, Bjornsen 5th

Icy tracks and a relatively flat course made for a tight race in Seefeld, Austria for the women’s 6 x 1.2-kilometer classic team sprint. Even in the final meters as the women charged up the last climb and double poled to the finish, the winner was not clear. In fact, the three fastest teams were within one second of one another. The resulting time difference between first and fifth place was less than the difference...

After a Long Wait, Johaug Wins Second Gold Medal in the World Championship Skiathlon; Brennan 10th

An emotional Therese Johaug of Norway stood atop the podium after the 15-kilometer skiathlon in Seefeld, Austria. While the race seemed to be decided during the second of two classic laps where Johaug began to pull away, the title has taken much longer to achieve. This moment was one she has been hoping for since she last earned the title during the 2015 world championships in Falun, Sweden. Johaug was unable to compete in the...

Scenes From a Preparation Day in Seefeld from Photographer John Lazenby

Cross country and nordic combined athletes have arrived in Seefeld, Austria to prepare for the 2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships which begin on Thursday, Feb. 21. To ready themselves for the competitions, athletes, techs, and coaches are trying out the courses and testing wax. Nordic combined athletes are also practicing on the Olympic jump at Innsbruck. Click each photo in the gallery below to enlarge. Photos courtesy of John Lazenby / lazenbyphoto.com .j24a5f {display:none}

Once A Buffalo, Always a Buffalo: Jana Weinberger on Her First Season as Head Nordic Coach at CU

At the end of the 2017-2018 season, Bruce Cranmer stepped away from his position as the head Nordic coach at Colorado University in Boulder after 18 seasons with the team. During his tenure, the team was the top nordic team a remarkable seven times at the NCAA national championships, with four of those victories also earning the overall win with their points combined with those earned by the CU alpine team. However, throughout all of...