OBERHOF, Germany – If there’s anything positive about Kris Freeman’s struggles in the first half of the 2012 season, it’s that they haven’t been too much of a mystery to him. Through nine competitions this season, Freeman’s head has been “everywhere but racing,” as a result of a big change in his personal life: Just before he departed for Europe, he and his girlfriend parted ways after 10 years together. Following a week of rest...
The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF) is one step closer to having its wish in developing a new trailhead about three miles south of Cable, Wis., after its Board of Directors voted in favor of the proposal. The foundation posted a click here.
Note: This article has been updated. Peering up at a sign inside a pizza joint in Colville, Wash., Sam Tarling saw an opportunity. Like so many other spontaneous offers 21-year-old Dartmouth College racer seized to get out West, Tarling jumped at the chance to eat for money. With an evening to kill and a stomach of steel, Tarling reasoned he couldn’t lose. The defending NCAA 10-k champion trumped similar challenges in the past. Three quarters...
With 12 days to go until U.S. Nationals begins in Rumford, ME, and natural flurries still absent from the weather forecast, Black Mountain is well on its way to making the snow necessary for a 3.75 k distance loop, two semi-overlapping sprint courses, a test track and a sit-ski loop. “As of Tuesday, we had two-thirds of the snow we needed to cover everything,” said Chief of Competition Carlie Casey. Black Mountain has about a...
After completing the second weekend of NorAm Cup series in Canada, some of Sunday’s top racers talked about their start to the season and what they’re looking forward to in the new year. From Rossland, British Columbia, where the Black Jack Ski Club hosted two days of freestyle events with sprints on Saturday and a 10/15 k mass start on Sunday.
ROSSLAND, British Columbia — It’s not that Kevin Sandau’s not a team player. He just puts the pedal down when he feels like it. One of four Alberta World Cup Academy skiers seeded in the top eight of Sunday’s NorAm 15 k freestyle mass start, Sandau pushed the pace early as he tried to break free of the 73-man field. It didn’t exactly work at first, but the man in the green leader’s jersey kept...
ROSSLAND, British Columbia — Emerging from a curved and wooded downhill into the open-aired Black Jack stadium, Jessie Diggins suddenly felt an unfamiliar pang of dread. Looking around her, the Central Cross Country and U.S. Ski Team member realized she was alone and not where she wanted to be. She hadn’t lost the race, but could have been out of it entirely. The leader of Sunday’s NorAm 9.9 k freestyle mass start, Diggins immediately pulled...
ROSSLAND, British Columbia — Some 2,500 kilometers or 1,550 miles away from Wisconsin, the Central Cross Country (CXC) ski team was feeling a little travel-weary as it rolled into Rossland on Monday. After almost five weeks on the road, some of its members decided to remedy their bodies and minds with a distance ski on the Rossland-Paulson classic-only trail. A little confusion led Jessie Diggins and Jennie Bender to the wrong trail, Seven Summits, where...
ROSSLAND, British Columbia — Anyone who caught a glimpse of Jesse Cockney on Saturday probably saw him smiling — except for when he was racing, in which case he was concentrating. The first day of NorAm freestyle competition at Black Jack Ski Club started out well enough for the 22-year-old Alberta World Cup Academy skier, as Cockney won a sprint qualifier for the first time in his life. The fifth to start on a 1.6...
In any given year, readership at FasterSkier can fluctuate wildly depending on what’s going on in the racing world at the time. As you might expect, during Olympic or World Championship years the number of visits to our site skyrocket as the media hype builds leading up to these major events. This past weekend, as Kikkan Randall (USA) won her second consecutive World Cup, Devon Kershaw (CAN) had one of the best sprints of his career, and...
On November 2nd, snow-lovers gathered to celebrate the most recent inductees into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame. Gathering at the prestigious Chateau Cartier in Gatineau, Quebec, six nominees were celebrated in style, including Beckie Scott and the late Heinz Niederhauser. Part of the Canadian Ski Museum located in Ottawa, Ontario, the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame commemorates over 140 individuals involved in the ski or snowboarding world. Formerly named the Honour Roll of Canadian...
Brent McMurtry of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre and Foothills Nordic Ski Club said he and teammate David Greer were unhurt after his car slid off the road while driving from Silver Star to Rossland, British Columbia. The accident happened near the town of Midway, slightly more than halfway into the 370-kilometer (230-mile) trip. Several cross-country skiers and teams traveled the same route to prepare for the second set of NorAm races in Rossland this...
With the first two NorAm races of the season over and done, here are a few tidbits that didn’t make it into the recaps of the classic sprints and distance races from Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in British Columbia: On coming back to Canada after racing overseas in the World Cup: “Jet lag seemed to take a big grip on me for the first couple (days),” said Kevin Sandau, who returned about two weeks ago....
VERNON, British Columbia — In the tech center high above the stadium at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, several race organizers looked outside at the Alaska Pacific University (APU) skiers. They were doing it again. At the end of the NorAm Cup competition Sunday — after the men’s and women’s distance races, and the boys’ and girls’ junior and juvenile races — those wearing the black APU jackets went to work. According to Chief of...
VERNON, British Columbia — After five years on the NorAm Cup circuit, all Kevin Sandau needed was a little verification. Seeded first and the last to start in the men’s 15 k classic individual start on Sunday at Sovereign Lake, that meant something. The 23-year-old, who recently returned from several weeks of racing in World Cup and FIS races, had never started last in a Continental Cup race before. He had also never won one....
VERNON, British Columbia — Before the Alaska Pacific University racers stepped onto the course at Sovereign Lake, many of them sensed what it felt like to win. Their teammate and winner of Sunday’s World Cup freestyle sprint, Kikkan Randall gave them that feeling. While she won in Davos, Switzerland, the associated emotions resonated several thousands of miles to her APU counterparts in Silver Star, British Columbia. Upon hearing the news that Randall and another teammate,...
2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Under $20 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: $50 – $100 SkiErg and the e-Rudy.com. 08: Dale of Norway Sweater. Price: starting from $299.00. If you want to feel like you just got back from Scandinavia, then a Dale of Norway Sweater is for you. That special someone on your shopping list that will appreciate one as well. Let’s face it, there aren’t many other items out there that scream Norway like this sweater....
VERNON, British Columbia — Throughout Saturday’s NorAm Cup Teck Sprints, Jessie Diggins made a point to look back. There were a lot of things the current SuperTour leader and Central Cross Country (CXC) skier was working on, but keeping her distance ranked near the top. “I’ve had problems where I’ll get stepped on or pushed over or something,” said Diggins, who claimed her second classic sprint victory in the 1.2 k event in as many...
VERNON, British Columbia — As six men threaded the underpass and burst into the stadium at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, Canadian Brent McMurtry and American Mike Sinnott sent spectators running toward the finish. The men’s ‘A’ final of the 1.4-k classic Teck Sprints at the NorAm Cup opener Saturday was shaping up to be a close one, and who wanted to miss that? As he crossed the line just ahead of McMurtry, Sinnott knew he...
2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Under $20 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: $50 – $100 FasterSkier’s picks for the top ten gifts between $100 and $200: 10: Icebreaker Long Sleeve Top. Price: starting from $100. You don’t have to have an unlimited quantity of apparel if you have quality articles you can rely on. An Icebreaker long sleeve top will prove to be one of your favorites. Made of soft New Zealand Merino wool, it will surely keep...