The racing season culminated in Fairbanks recently. I'm soaking up every opportunity I have to do non-nordic specific things that I love to do, during our 3 week stint from structured training. Here are a few photos from recent tele skiing adventures.About to descend Corn Biscuit (Turnagain Pass) Clint the climber skinning up Magnum (Turnagain Pass) CXC's Andre and Brian beginning the climb up
The trip to Faribanks, AK for the US Distance National Championships was one of the most fun trips of the year, and a wonderful way to end the 2008/2009 ski season. The Hanley family, and many of their neighbors were kind enough to let us stay in their beautiful, unique Alaskan homes. I stayed with [...]
The chat with Andy was a great success! He spent over an hour answering a wide variety of questions. Click the “Replay” button below to review the entire chat. We hope to do more of these – please let us know who you would like to see participate, and what time of day/day of the week is most convenient.
Twin Cities-based Organization to Provide Skiers of all Levels with Coaching, Sponsorship and Support ST. PAUL, Minn. – An elite group of Minnesota skiers and coaches today announced that they have established the Sisu Nordic Ski Foundation (SNSF), a Twin-Cities-based organization dedicated to the development, support and promotion of Nordic Skiing in Minnesota. SNSF and its Sisu Skiers training group, provides skiers of all levels with the opportunity to grow and succeed through coaching, sponsorship...
I think in any introductory exercise physiology textbook the first chapter uses probably two paragraphs to mention one of the most important tenets of ex phys as it relates to coaching: every athlete responds differently to a given stimulus. When we cull the research for findings related to certain types of training, it is important [...]
I arrived home about a week ago after two long days of travel from Russia. For the past week I have been catching up on some much needed sleep and recovery. After traveling across 13 time zones in the last three weeks, I was definitely feeling a little worn out. Just as last year, I ended [...]
Scandinaviabr /Greetings from Sweden. I’m in Piteå, a city about 800 kilometers north of Stockholm, on the Baltic Sea. I came over here with a group led by Pete Phillips, the head coach at Burke. The group consists of three older athletes from Canmo...
As full time ski racers we spend eleven months a year in organized training and racing. The month of April is typically considered a break from this routine. A chance to engage in more unstructured activities, to give especially the mind a brief chance...
Central Cross Country Ski Association is pleased to announce the opening of the application process for the CXC Junior Development Program. This year the CXC Junior Development Program will be led by Igor Badamshin. Igor (born 1966) is a former Soviet/Russia cross country ski racer who competed from 1989 to 1997. He won a bronze medal at the 1993 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun and earned his best individual finishes of 5th twice...
On Sunday after almost 70K of racing in one week for the woman and over 100K for the men at the Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Trails in Fairbanks, AK the 2008/2009 competitive ski season came to an end. A lull in Mt. Redoubt’s volcanic activity on Monday gave my flight from Anchorage the opportunity [...]
Yesterday’s ski with half the Comp Team was everything that a spring ski should be. Sunshine, fast conditions, adventure, jumps. April skiing is NOT about logging hours or kms, it’s not about x repeats of y minutes at Level z. It’s about going out and enjoying the conditions, and having so much fun you don’t [...]
The FIS Continental Cup (COC) series all over the world are some of the most important international competitions, also in Cross-Country Skiing. They allow the younger athletes to prepare themselves for the World Cup level in several ways. Nine different COC series in Cross-Country are held in the different parts of the world where Cross-Country Skiing is a top level competitive sport. Some of those during the Northern hemisphere winter period include the OPA Cup...
In parallel to the “Youth Empowerment Day”, adults took part in the “Amazing Tips Seminar” which featured gender-specific presentation by nutritionist Kelly Anne Erdman and sports psychologist Jan Derpak. The formal presentations were followed by a high-performance parent panel and a Q&A session led by Louise Crawford (mother of Chandra and Rosanna Crawford), Maureen Huntley-Kershaw (mother of Devon Kershaw), and Lorraine and Erwin Widmer (parents of Heidi and Phil Widmer). In the afternoon, adults also...
Atomic put together a fun recap of 2008-2009 performances by top Atomic skiers, including Billy Demong and Todd Lodwick. The online slideshow is full of excellent photos and interesting information. Check it out at:
CANMORE, Alta.—Cross Country Canada solidified the final dimension to its world-leading coaching and technical support team by naming Norway’s Inge Bråten as Senior National Team Coach, the national body announced on Friday. Bråten brings more than three decades of experience in the sport to the Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team. A former high-performance athlete who competed on Norway’s national team, Bråten has helped guide some of the world’s best nordic athletes, including the legendary Bjørn Daehlie....
I wasn't exactly making a brave, unconventional statement when I said - to some controversy - that Veepalu's gold at Liberec was suspicious. Now the Estonian's name has come up in connection with the growing Humanplasma scandal that's so far involved the circle of cyclists and triathletes around the coaches Stefan Matschiner and Walter Mayer.While Veerpalu's penchant for altitude training is well
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Have you ever noticed at most big distance events, whether it’s the Birkie or the Boston Marathon, the giant crowd trailing behind the elites in Wave 1? For most people, entering is not about winning, it’s about being part of the experience. That sharing the experience was the motivation for my trip to the Vasaloppet last month. As I approached my 50th birthday, I was casting about for something grand and foolish as a celebration. ...