On Friday, Kris Freeman, 34, will start the season in West Yellowstone for just the second time in his life. He's had quite a journey since his last visit in 2005, and even in the last year, and he explains how he's recovered from chronic fatigue and two procedures, and kept it all in perspective with his diabetes work.
One of Norway's rapidly rising stars, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, 24, took the time to chat with FasterSkier last weekend after her first FIS race of the season. Here she offers advice for anyone training full time: "You have to go for quality over quantity,” she says. “I used to just want to do more and more and more ... but what you do really matters more."
USSA CEO Tiger Shaw admits he blew a chance to connect with the nordic community when he unintentionally failed to mention cross country in his Fall Quarterly Update. He regrets it - but having already befriended the national team, he wants to reach out to the rest of the nordic world too.
The following is a letter that Scott Johnston, the coach of the Methow Olympic Development squad that at some points included Sadie and Erik Bjornsen and Torin Koos, and who also coached Team Gregg, shared with FasterSkier. He addressed it to U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association CEO Tiger Shaw after receiving Shaw’s Fall Quarterly Update, but says he has not received a reply. Some of Johnston’s concerns served as the basis of questions we asked...
You heard what happened in the opening FIS races this past weekend in a couple of hotspots in Scandinavia (namely Beitostølen, Bruksvallarna and Gällivare), but what about the rest of the skiing world?
This past weekend's Alaska Nordic Cup in Fairbanks was about more than early season races: it signified the essence of in-state rivalry between the University of Alaska Fairbanks, going for its third-straight title, and the University of Alaska Anchorage nordic teams.
Sunday was for the distance racers in Gällivare, Sweden, with five Canadians -- four men and one woman -- getting a chance to test their form in the 10/15 k classic races. Alex Harvey notched his second-podium performance in third, Emily Nishikawa was fourth, Devon Kershaw fifth, Ivan Babikov sixth, and Graeme Killick eighth.
Charlotte Kalla is heading home to Sundsvall to eat some smoked salmon and prep for Kuusamo; Calle Halfvarsson survived the prologue despite breaking a pole right out of the start gate, and bested the Poland's Maciej Starega as well as his Swedish teammates for the win.
Sondre Turvoll Fossli, the runner-up of Sunday's 1.5 k classic sprint in Beitostølen, Norway, knew Petter Northug was coming for him sooner or later. Sure enough, Northug on skate skis passed him in the final stretch before the finish for a 0.4-second FIS victory.
Barbro Kvåle, a 22-year-old Norwegian junior world champion in ski orienteering, joined the ranks of Therese Johaug and Marit Bjørgen on Sunday, winning the women’s 1.2-kilometer classic sprint by three-tenths of a second in Beitostølen, Norway.
Regulars for the last week in Gällivare, the Canadians put themselves in the mix in Saturday's classic sprints with Perianne Jones winning the women's final, Alex Harvey taking second to Russia's Sergey Ustiugov in the men's final, Lenny Valjas placing fourth and Jess Cockney bringing it home in sixth.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby apparently doesn't need to be 100 percent on any given day to beat some of his most competitive teammates. The 30-year-old Norwegian national-team member won Saturday's 15 k skate by nearly 17 seconds despite feeling drained after a long Friday.
FasterSkier was on site for the second day of FIS races in Beitostølen, Norway, where Marit Bjørgen had her revenge for what she determined was not-so-hot classic form on Friday. Therese Johaug placed second and Heidi Weng was third for the second day in a row.
Johan Olsson reigned supreme in the first FIS race of the season in Bruksvallarna on Friday, edging fellow Swedish national-team member Calle Halfvarsson by 0.4 seconds because of an announcer flub (and a self-described cocky move) at the finish. Charlotte Kalla topped the women's field by 13.4 seconds with a surprise first-year senior, Sophia Henriksson, in second.
When it comes to opening distance races, Therese Johaug is a gamer. On Friday, she won the first 10 k classic of the season for the fourth year in a row and third-straight Beitostølen distance opener -- once again ahead of Norwegian teammate Marit Bjørgen.
Defending overall World Cup champ Martin Johnsrud Sundby took it to his Norwegian teammates on Friday, winning the 15-kilometer classic FIS race in Beitostølen, Norway, by nearly 23 seconds.
Reese Hanneman spent most of last March on the World Cup circuit in Europe, so being in Finland is a little like coming home for the 24-year-old SuperTour leader -- except that he's 11 time zones away from home in Alaska.
For reasons as wide-ranging as fairness of competition, stress on athletes, health of coaches, and saving money, several North American ski and biathlon organizations have policies limiting the use of high-fluoro waxes at some competitions. And they have nothing but positive feedback from their experiences.
It has been an unseasonably warm and dry fall in Southwest Montana, with highs well above freezing and no snow events, but race directors are feeling better after the arrival of the first winter weather of the season shortly before the opening SuperTour races in West Yellowstone and Bozeman, Mont.
We caught up with Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg/Madshus) before she hopped aboard several planes en route to Muonio, Finland, where she'll train with the U.S. Ski Team for the next week before the season-opening World Cup in Kuusamo.