HomeCategory

General

All other miscellaneous news.
Sweden’s Svahn and Two Finnish Athletes Cleared to Race Friday (Updated)

  Update: Expressen Sport, a Swedish daily, has reported Linn Svahn and two unnamed Finnish cross-country skiers are cleared to race in Friday’s mass start events after more sensitive Covid-19 PCR tests returned negative. Original Post: Earlier today, Swedish team doctor Per Andersson announced that Linn Svahn, who won the first two stages of the 2021 Tour de Ski in Val Müstair, has tested positive for COVID-19 on an antigen test. (The antigen test is...

BREAKING: Nordic Skiing Saved at UAA

ANCHORAGE — For the second time in four years, nordic skiing has been saved at the University of Alaska Anchorage, following a serious proposal to eliminate the ski team entirely. This time around, the victory is somewhat more of a pyrrhic one, as the University of Alaska Board of Regents voted Thursday to eliminate the alpine portion of the men’s and women’s ski team, unless supporters can raise over a half million dollars in advance...

Several RMISA Schools Currently Without an Active Nordic Coach

Multiple schools in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association are experiencing flux with their nordic coaching staff going into the 2020/2021 ski season, according to representatives from each school. The schools in question are the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Utah, and Montana State University, all of which have well-established nordic programs that placed highly at last year’s NCAA Championships. Neither Anchorage nor Montana State currently has anyone filling this position. Utah has two...

Longtime USST Teammates Reunite in Support of UAA Skiing

ANCHORAGE — The U.S. women’s epochal third-place relay finish at the World Cup stop in Gällivare, Sweden, in November 2012 is justly hailed as an inflection point for American skiing: For the first time in American nordic history, this country had four athletes who were all strong enough on the same day to challenge the traditional Scandinavian powers at their own game. The race begins Peggy Shinn’s historical treatment, World Class: The Making of the...

UAA Skiers, Past and Present, On What the Team Means to Them

ANCHORAGE — It’s déjà vu all over again for alumni and supporters of the University of Alaska Anchorage ski team, following the recent announcement that, for the second time in four years, university administration wishes to cut the team for budgetary reasons. A common theme in their current responses is their concern that this time, the cut may stick. To start with, consider what Adam Verrier wrote on his blog four years ago, in November...

Opening up European Cycling and What we Can Learn

This won’t be easy. Seeing a “normal” World Cup season go down will take considerable coordination, stakeholder buy-in to behavioral modifications aimed at community wellness not necessarily individual needs, and broader control over the spread of Covid-19. Here in the U.S., the major sports, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MSL, and MLB, have opened their respective seasons. The models for each league differ, the NBA maintains a relatively strict bubble, whereas the MLB chose a more lax...

An Eye on the EPA and Swix Consent Agreement

Keen on speed and the full complement of waxes to juice the skis? Then you’ve likely noticed the “full complement” has become markedly reduced in recent years when considering perfluorinated products. Further, PFOAs or C8 (eight chain) fluoro compounds were effectively banned in the EU as of July 4, and are no longer available for most uses in the U.S., including ski wax. Older waxes formulated with C8 are considered the most effective at repelling...

UAA Announces Plan to Cut Ski Team, Effective 2021/22

This article has been updated with a link to additional information in an Anchorage Daily News story. ANCHORAGE — The University of Alaska Anchorage announced Wednesday a planned “reconfiguration” of the UAA Athletics Department, which will involve cutting both the men’s and women’s ski teams after the 2020/2021 school year. School leaders will seek approval of their plan, which would also cut men’s hockey and women’s gymnastics, at the upcoming Board of Regents meeting on September...

FS News Roundup: More Covid-19 Related News

This news round has an eye towards the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) move to mitigate COVID spread on the World Cup as it eyes a new racing season.  Before we delve into that, we wanted to raise some awareness to a most excellent non-ski related podcast. In short, it’s called TWIV. Longform, it’s “This Week In Virology: the podcast about viruses – the kind that make you sick.” No, it’s not The Devon Kershaw Show....

A Major Setback For Petter Northug Jr.: Retired Skier Arrested for Speeding and Drug Possession

Widely reported in the Norwegian press over the weekend, former Norwegian ski star Petter Northug Jr. (34) was stopped for speeding by police in Romerike, Norway. Northug was suspected of driving while intoxicated and was taken to a hospital for a blood test.  The speeding incident occurred last Thursday while the police confirmed on Saturday Northug was the driver in question and had been cooperative.  Northug’s arrest for speeding and and pending toxicology report weren’t...

Luke Bodensteiner Talks New Potential and a Possible New Olympics in Utah

In the thick of the elite winter sport scene for more than 25 years. That would in part define Luke Bodensteiner. He strung together an Olympic cross-country ski career and ended his over two-decade stint at U.S. Ski & Snowboard as their Chief of Sport. For roughly the past year, Bodensteiner has worn two hats at the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation (UOLF): Chief of Sport Development and GM of Soldier Hollow (SoHo), the cross-country and...

News Roundup for Early August

The Power of One during the Power of Four:  Here are some vital stats from trailrunproject.com as it relates to the Audi Power of Four 50k trail run in Aspen, Colorado: 32.6 miles, 9,873’ vertical climb, 9,407’ descent, 56 percent max grade, and 74 percent “runnable”.  This weekend, Simi Hamilton, U.S. Ski Team member and Aspen native was peerless in the men’s 50 k trail run. At 33 years old, Hamilton won the race in 5:18:37.1...

Rebooting with Virginia Tech’s Bicycle Helmet Ratings

Last year, we ran a story on Virginia Tech’s Bicycle Helmet Ratings titled: Every day is Safety Day. That much remains true, every day is safety day. With some medical systems around the country stressed with obvious fall out from the pandemic, we thought it wise to republish parts of the piece we ran last year. Virginia Tech presents a methodical process to determine the safest bike helmets. Although the testing is not specific to rollerskiing,...

Nordiq Sports Strategy  Frequently Asked Questions (Press Release)

Press Release  What is the Nordic Sports Strategy? The Nordic Sports Strategy is a concept that Biathlon Canada, Nordic Combined Ski Canada, Nordiq Canada and Ski Jumping Canada can improve their operations and high-performance results by doing more together. The acknowledgement that there are 90+ Winter Olympic medals between these four sports began a conversation that identified a list of possibilities, extending beyond high performance results, that could be possible through collaboration. Canada’s four Nordic...

Canada’s Four Nordic Sports Sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to Explore Joint Opportunities to Achieve Performance and Operational Goals (Press Release)

Press Release New Steering Committee to guide Nordic Strategy research focused on evaluating opportunities to do more together   CANMORE, Alta.—Canada’s four Nordic sports have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to begin exploring ways they can work together to achieve their ultimate goals of putting more Canadian athletes on podiums and increasing participation in each of their sports. Biathlon Canada, Nordic Combined Ski Canada, Nordiq Canada and Ski Jumping Canada will work together to...

Kangaroo Hoppet 2020 – coming soon to a trail near you (press release)

Press release Kangaroo Hoppet 2020 – coming soon to a trail near you. With the Covid-19 restrictions on social gatherings,  not to mention domestic and international travel bans, the 42km Kangaroo Hoppet, the largest annual snowsports event in the southern hemisphere, will not be staged in August this year on its usual course at Falls Creek in Victoria’s snow-covered Alpine National Park. Instead, organizers are offering a virtual event – ‘Hoppet 2020 – Do It...

News Round-Up for Mid-July

  The Biathlon Integrity Unit Comes Online:  Earlier this month, the website biathlonintegrity.com came online. The site is the digital interface of the Biathlon Integrity Unit, an independent arm of the International Biathlon Union. Part of the Biathlon Integrity Unit’s mandate, according to the website, is to provide a mechanism to “investigate and prosecute violations” as they relate to “integrity related matters in Biathlon, including anti-doping, ethical breaches, betting-related issues and any kind of result...

Guiding to a New Outlook: By Clarence Feng

      My VIP was slow and deliberate, but in control. “Okay Joanne,” I directed her, “This is a grade 1 downhill, flat camber with a slight curve to the left part way down. Move forward and then get into a snowplow.” Following her down, I called out “Ski left” as the trail curved. “OK, now straighten out”. She reached the end of the ramp without incident, but I needed to make sure she...

A Conversation with Ben Popp of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation

Last week, FasterSkier connected with Ben Popp, Executive Director of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF) based in Hayward, Wisconsin. It’s mid-July and needless to say, some of our readers are already thinking about the 2021 Birkie. Amongst the topics we discussed were the possible modifications for that marquee race and how the organization is preparing for several possible scenarios. We also touch upon the ABSF’s agreement to purchase and develop Telemark Lodge.      FasterSkier:...