Interviews – Page 3 – FasterSkier.com

A Memorable First Postpartum Birkie For Caitlin Gregg (With Audio Interview)

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 28, 2020

Two hours and twenty minutes after leaving the starting gate in Cable, Caitlin Gregg crossed the finish line on Main Street in Hayward, her eighth journey through Wisconsin’s north woods during the American Birkebeiner. Five of these resulted in the win, but this year, Gregg was the fifth woman across the line. Butt was still a first — her first Birkie as a mom, just over one year after giving birth to her daughter, Heidi,...

Community Continental Cup Interviews Racing

A Norwegian in Hayward: Niklas Dyrhaug Wins The American Birkie (With Audio Interview)

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 27, 2020

Several inches of new snow five days out, a cold-snap that sent temperatures in Hayward plummeting to -24 degrees Fahrenheit two nights before the race, and a bluebird day with temperatures in the high teens at the start, climbing to mid-30s in the early afternoon. Firm tracks, perfect groom, and fast snow. You could not have asked for a more perfect day to showcase the trails linking Cable to Hayward, WI at the 2020 American...

Community Interviews Lifestyle

Transitions, Training, and Birkie Preparation: A Q&A with Riitta-Liisa Roponen

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 19, 2020

To view Riitta-Liisa Roponen’s complete FIS profile requires a lot of scrolling and selecting “show more.” The 41-year-old raced her first World Cup in Munio, Finland on November 28th, 1998. More than 20 years later, she raced her final World Cup event, helping the Finnish relay team to 3rd in Ulricehamn, Sweden on January 27th, 2019. She went on to race at the World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Austria, placing 22nd in the 30-kilometer mass start...

Interviews News Racing

High Altitude Recharge with Rosie Frankowski

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 6, 2020

On December 15th, 28-year-old Rosie Frankowski scored her first World Cup points after finishing 23rd in the 10-kilometer skate in Davos. She then flew back to Minneapolis to spend Christmas with her family before heading to Houghton, Michigan for US Nationals where despite coming down with a stomach bug, she finished 7th in the 10 k skate, 5th in the 20 k classic, and 6th in the classic sprint. FasterSkier connected with Frankowski as she...

Community General Interviews News

Sustaining Success: Year Two for the Methow’s Ski to the Sun Marathon and Relay

Jason AlbertJanuary 29, 2020

All things aligned: a gauzy low fog burned off into bluebird skies and the snow skied crisp along a 42-kilometer gem during the Methow Valley’s inaugural Ski to the Sun Marathon and Relay. Last year, we ran a piece exploring how the Ski to the Sun Marathon organizers were rebooting their marquee ski race. The valley’s signature race had for years been a two-day pursuit. An attractive format to many, but it eventually stagnated with...

Community Interviews US Ski Team

Breaking New Ground: Noel Keeffe

FasterSkierDecember 6, 2019

This article was originally published on November 11, 2019 in Steamboat Magazine. It is reposted with permission. By: Tiia Libin Being a “first-ever” is rare, especially in a town filled with Olympians. Noel Keeffe is one of them. Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Keeffe is the first Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club cross-country athlete to be named to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. “Our coaches continually remind us that our life as a student...

Community Interviews Para Nordic

Wednesday Workout: Structuring Training for Para Athletes Q&A with Martin Benes

Rachel PerkinsNovember 27, 2019

This insight into training para nordic athletes comes from Martin Benes, head coach of U.S. Para Nordic skiing. Benes joined U.S. Para Nordic in August 2018 after spending five years as the nordic ski director and head coach at Sugar Bowl Academy in Norden, CA. Benes responded via. email following a team training camp in Canmore, Alberta. FasterSkier: Before taking this job, did you have any background in or connections to para sports? What have...

Interviews News

Innovation and the Science of Over Summer Snow Storage at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center

Rachel PerkinsNovember 26, 2019

The Craftsbury Outdoor Center (COC) in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont has emerged as a premier year-round cross country ski training venue. The COC has also been a leader in embracing and promoting sustainability and environmental stewardships through their own day to day operations and educating their customers. They have invested in energy efficient buildings, a wood-burning central heating system, solar energy, and an abundant garden which allows them to grow much of their produce...

General Interviews News

Chris Grover and the 2019-2020 Pre-Season Interview

Jason AlbertNovember 7, 2019

We spoke with Chris Grover of the U.S. Ski Team on October 29, to get his thoughts on the new season. With a packed World Cup schedule and an off-year for major championship events, Grover and his team have myriad moving parts to make gel. He comes with a new title, that of Cross Country Program Director. Besides the title change, he remains the leader for the cross-country staff and athletes. Grover was at his...

Community Interviews

Kikkan Randall Joins the Sub Three Hour Marathon Club One Year Post Chemotherapy

Rachel PerkinsNovember 4, 2019

Statistically speaking, only 2% of people who enter a marathon will finish under three hours. The 2019 TCS New York City Marathon was a bit above average, with nearly 3% (1,563 of 53,508 runners) breaking the elusive three hour barrier. Yesterday, four familiar cross country skiers joined the speedy club of athletes who have achieved this result. Brian Gregg was first across the line, stopping the clock at 2:44:30 (6:17 per mile average). Next came...

Interviews Para Nordic

Non-Traditional Summer Training with Dan Cnossen

Rachel PerkinsOctober 28, 2019

Dan Cnossen is a badass. There. We said it. In the realm of para nordic sport, the 39-year-old medaled in each of the six biathlon and cross country events in which he competed during the 2018 Paralympic Games. At the 2019 World Championships, he Cnossen earned a silver medal in both the cross country sprint and middle distance races after a slew of podium finishes in World Cup events during the season. Prior to his...

Interviews Para Nordic

The Life of an Elite Multisport Para Athlete With Kendall Gretsch

Rachel PerkinsOctober 23, 2019

27-year-old Kendall Gretsch is a well-decorated athlete. A glance at the Illinois native’s bio shows three consecutive ITU Paratriathlon World Championship titles (2014 – 2016) plus a silver medal at this year’s event on September 1st in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is a five-time USA Paratriathlon national champion, four-time gold medalist at the PATCO/CAMTRI American Championships, and has four medals from ITU Paratriathlon World Cup events, two each of gold and silver. And that is just...

Collegiate Community Interviews Resources

Unraveling the College Athlete Admission Process: A Look Into Post Graduate Gap Year Programs with Paul Smith of SVSEF

Rachel PerkinsOctober 14, 2019

Deciding how to handle the “college conflict”, as aptly phrased by Alayna Sonnesyn, is a daunting and somewhat mysterious prospect, particularly for athletes and families who are unfamiliar with the process. How does a junior athlete know that they are cut out for a collegiate program? NCAA or USCSA? What about a gap year? In this series, FasterSkier spoke with collegiate and junior coaches and athletes who have chosen different pathways to create a resource...

Interviews News Para Nordic Racing

Mia Zutter and Kristina Trygstad-Saari: Interdependent on the Ski Tracks

Jason AlbertOctober 5, 2019

One skier is twenty years old, the other thirty four. Mia Zutter, the younger of the duo, and Kristina Trygstad-Saari, the eldest, exemplify interdependence on the ski tracks. One guides for the other. They met in Canmore in 2018 at a Para World Cup that served as a qualifier for the PyeongChang Paralympics. Zutter is a visually impaired skier. At the age of 12, having been a lifelong athlete immersed in gymnastics and figure skating,...

Interviews News

KO and the Long Range Plan

Gavin KentchSeptember 30, 2019

National team naming for American cross-country skiing tends to roughly correspond to the overall rhythm of the training year. Team nominations come out in May; World Cup Period I starts are (at least these days) announced in June; American professional skiers then know where they stand early in the summer, and can plan out their training and racing seasons accordingly. So far, so good. A total of twenty athletes were named to the U.S. Cross-Country Ski...

Interviews News

Erika Flowers Balances Life and Wins

Jason AlbertSeptember 23, 2019

Just shy of thirty-years-old, Bozeman’s Erika Flowers stills revs her aerobic engine up and over the big hills. The news that she had won the 50-kilometer The Rut mountain running race at Big Sky Resort outside Bozeman, Montana was a surprise to some — primarily to Flowers herself. She pulled away from full-time ski training last winter, but the 9,951 feet of climbing during The Rut proved she’s a multi-sport talent. Even with her reduced...

Interviews Multimedia News

Audio short with Marty Hall and NENSA’s Justin Beckwith

Jason AlbertSeptember 13, 2019

On the eve before a full weekend of rollerski racing in Lake Placid, New York, we spoke with NENSA’s Justin Beckwith and cross-country ski supporter Marty Hall about their involvement with developing rollerski races in the Northeast. Here’s an audio short of the interview with two people making things happen.

Interviews Lifestyle News

Jessie Diggins’ Lifelong Journey Toward the “Gold Medal Goal” of Eating Disorder Recovery

Rachel PerkinsSeptember 12, 2019

After appearing in ESPN’s Body Issue in June 2018, Jessie Diggins Diggins recommends utilizing resources from the “What to Say Initiative” launched by the WithAll Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on advancing eating disorder support and prevention. She explained that though a coach cannot cause an eating disorder in an athlete, research suggests that the language used by prominent adults in a young person’s life can greatly influence that persons’ body image, self-esteem, and likelihood...

Community Interviews

What Do Biathlon and Wedding Cakes Have in Common? Emily Dreissigacker.

Rachel PerkinsAugust 27, 2019

A glance at Emily Dreissigacker’s bio shows a slew of career highlights, including a 10th place finish in the sprint, a 9th place in the pursuit, and a 15th place in the mixed team relay at the 2019 Open European Championships in Minsk-Raubichi, Belarus. There is also a bit of Dreissigacker’s backstory — how both of her parents were Olympic rowers and how she also had outstanding results as a junior in rowing before shifting...

Interviews News

Although its Hard to Do, Catching up with Kendall Kramer

Jason AlbertAugust 22, 2019

As the title suggests, catching up with Kendall Kramer is no small task. The 17-year-old (as of late June) caught the attention of the cross-country world this past winter with stunning and consistent performances at Lahti, Finland’s Junior World Ski Championships. Although we’re about to rattle off some 2018-2019 results, to be clear this is no athlete who defines themselves solely by the metric of finish rank. That will come across in the interview below. ...

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