This year’s Swedish Vasaloppet saw a record number of racers. There were 15,702 finishers in the 90 kilometer classic race, which saw it’s first running in 1922 with 100 participants. The race’s history comes from the beginning of Sweden’s independence from Denmark, led by nobleman Gustav Vasa. After his first failed attempt at recruiting his countrymen to join in his revolt, Vasa fled toward Norway. Two Swedish skiers were sent to bring Vasa back and...
John Morton received this year’s EISA Service Award for the work he has done in trail design which has so positively affected many communities and nordic skiers; racers and recreational tourists alike. Many of the EISA college races are run on trails that he has designed or modified, including the new homologated race courses at Trapps Family Lodge in Stowe, VT, and The Jackson Touring Center in New Hampshire. Morton is a two-time Olympian who...
The Craftsbury Green Racing Project is now accepting applications for the 2010-2011 training year. Space will be limited as all current team members are planning to continue with the program. We hope to be able to add at least 2 new members to the team. Applications will be due by April 1st and decisions will be made by May 1st at the latest. The GRP had a successful first year, with members earning a number...
The 2010 Junior Olympics will take place March 8th through the 12th at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, Maine. First race up: the classic sprint on March 8th. The sprint trail was widened in anticipation of this event, with a successful trial of the course held in December with Eastern Cup sprint races. Next article of discussion: the vision, birth, and trail design of these world-class trails; Morton Trail design; and the importance...
“That was definitely a surprise.” Tadd Elliott, 2nd place 2010 American Birkebeiner 2010 Birkie Top Three This year’s 37th American Birkebeiner was won by Fabio Santus, of Milano Italy. Coming into the Birkie, Santus was ranked 2nd on the FIS Marathon Cup list after taking second at the Italian La Sgambeda and winning the Austrian Dolomitenlauf earlier this season. Santus won the Birkie with a time of 1:56:58.6. Tad Elliott finished second, in 1:57:06.7, and...
The stakes were high and the intensity higher at this weekend’s EISA Regional Championships at Middlebury, VT. The snow storm that hit a good portion of the east coast delayed races by a day, as the trail and slope crews busied themselves dealing with an onslaught of heavy, wet, snow. Saturday’s classic races reflected the tail-end of the snow storm, as warm temperatures combined with wet snow squals provided a Vancouver-esque day at the Rikert...
Before the NBC video feed of the cross-country skiing events at the 2010 Vancouver Games reaches a single American household, it must first flow through a cramped, spare, six by eight foot room perched above the bleachers at Whistler Olympic Park. Inside, off two small monitors, is where announcers Al Trautwig and Chad Salmela call the action, with the help of their three producers and researchers. No room for lunchboxes—those are outside the door. Fifty...
As writers and commentators deconstructed the decision to sit Brian McKeever in the men’s 50 k classic on Sunday, the four Canadians in the race got down to business. It wasn’t a good day for Alex Harvey and Ivan Babikov, who were dropped from the lead pack early on. But Devon Kershaw and George Grey had a pair of strong performances, skiing at the front and asserting the team’s status as a force to be...
As much as anyone might begrudge Team Canada coaches Dave Wood and National Inge Braten’s decision to sit Brian McKeever in Sunday’s 50 k classic, it’s hard to disagree with the fact that the two were presented with an agonizing choice. While starting McKeever would have meant making history—the Canadian would have been the first athlete to compete in both the winter Olympics and Paralympics—it also would have meant holding a potential medal contender out...
Saturday’s race at Whistler Olympic Park was about 20 times as long as Kikkan Randall’s best distance. But no matter: the Alaskan more known for her sprinting put in another outstanding performance Saturday in the 30 k classic, finishing 24th—a career-best in the event. It was Randall’s first time competing in the long-distance race at the Games, and only her third time racing over 15 k on the World Cup. Coming into the Games, she...
There are very few athletes in the U.S. brimming with potential like Simi Hamilton. With a national championship in the skate sprint, a win in the qualifying round of the same event at the U-23 World Championships (punctuated by an
With all of the serious commentary and discussion that revolves around the Olympics we thought it might be useful to lighten things up for a moment. Every Olympics new product is revealed on this largest of international stages, among them are the uniforms worn by the athletes. In our sport the race suits have very practical purposes, but we are not considering those at this time. This is all about fashion! So what are the...
The Heat is Feverish for the 37th American Birkebeiner Trail conditions are reportedly “elite field is packed with contenders. The men’s elite wave is highly contestable. Last year saw the absence of Italian favorites who have previously dominated the American Birkie. This year four Italians are back, led by Marco Cattaneo who won the Birkie in 2005 and 2006 and is ranked third on the overall FIS Marathon Cup. Cattaneo has taken 4th at two...
Tea for Two – Or Two Hundred Ski and Tea started, three years ago, as a women’s training and social group that had a non-competitive focus. This year more than two dozen members are signed up for the Birkie races, some of whom never had any intention of completing a ski race in their life – let alone a marathon. Amy Rowley is an example of one of those women. As an alpine skier who...
As Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane strode triumphantly to the podium for the flower ceremony after today’s nordic combined competition, a parade of sullen-looking Europeans was walking through the mixed zone, in the other direction. It was easy to miss them—after all, they weren’t the ones who won medals. But they had an interesting story to tell, too: how Thursday’s weather conditions in the jumping round had ruined their chances for Olympic glory. Big names...
Whistler, British Columbia – The US Nordic Combined team will paying overweight on their flight back to Park City. A historic day doubled their Vancouver medal haul, giving them nearly nine pounds of hardware. Billy Demong skied away from teammate Johnny Spillane and Austrian Bernard Gruber on the final climb to claim Olympic gold. With a move of his own, Spillane left Gruber in the dust, too—laying claim to his 3rd silver medal of the...
Three Elite Wave Racers with Hayward and Birkie Experience John Bauer has lived in Hayward five years and has raced the Birkie for six. As a 2002 Olympian in Salt Lake, Bauer placed 12th, 19th, and 33rdin the distance races, and 5th in the relay. He has been a member of the Rossignol team for 20 years, and tough he is still strongly competitive, his family has taken over a large part of his life...
Whistler, British Columbia – The heavy snow had stopped, and as Marcus Hellner made his way around the stadium, the clouds broke. For the first time in two days, the sun shown down on Whistler Olympic Park, revealing a golden afternoon for the Swedish men’s cross-country team. It took 22 years and a return to Canadian soil for Sweden to regain the top step of the podium in the 4x10km relay. And for the Anders...
Whistler, British Columbia – The two skiers swept around the large curve down into the stadium, Billy Demong of the USA in the lead, Austrian Mario Stecher right on his heels, the gold medal waiting, just 200 meters away. Stecher stepped out, tucking past Demong. There would be no sprint for the line. The gap was enough, and Austria champions. The American team, in claiming the silver, made US Nordic Combined history for the second...
