Thanks to everybody contributing to the recent debate on the status of US cross-country skiing. The articles gave a good status report and frank opinions, and best of all a host of ideas to explore for the road ahead. There are a lot of positive aspects of US skiing. We have the best gene pool in the world and we are the wealthiest nation on earth. We have a lot of good skiers of all...
It’s common for sports commentators to break down important stats or concepts for the audience. Such as Adam Vinatieri’s field goal percentage from 34 yards into a headwind when it’s snowing during an afternoon away game. Our sporting culture is consumed by an analytical obsession and the purpose of this is not merely trivial. It’s to gain a richer understanding of what’s going on, because sports are more entertaining when they’re meaningful. It’s been interesting,...
USSA Cross-Country is, in practical terms, a staff driven organization. The volunteer (political) committee structure is in place, but is pretty much non-functional in terms of an ability to change or implement any new policies, directions and priorities. The committees get together once a year to go through a standard agenda, without including time for (prepared) discussions such as the one we’ve seen here at Fasterskier.com. There is hardly any committee work done, or any...
By Torbjorn Karlsen, with contributions by John Aalberg and Cory Smith Thanks to everyone who contributed to 'The Current State Of US XC Skiing' discussion. It’s great to see that we can have a nationwide forum like this. Maybe we can make this an annual event: a season wrap-up here on Fasterskier.com by the USSA staff, the regional head coaches, and the most successful club coaches. It would help to improve communication and make sure...
Editor's Note: FasterSkier will wrap up this discussion with one final article tomorrow. If there’s one thing that can be gleaned from the postings this week, it’s that there’s a strong desire to develop athletes regionally and locally. This, of course, is neither a novel idea nor a revolutionary strategy. Local development has happened in the past and continues today in many different ways across the country. This collection of clubs, regions and coaches is...
Thanks to Fasterskier for hosting this healthy discussion and thanks to all of you that participated. In reading through the responses there are a few things I would like to comment on. I will try to summarize some of them and come up with my view. Topics are not in any particular order. 1. It takes lots of hard work and a large group of talent to succeed. This is self explanatory. Even Norway is...
Thank you for all the positive feedback, the constructive criticism and the good ideas. I thank you also for the opportunity to be heard and to share our own ideas and vision with you. For my part it is especially exciting to share our idea of the XCNDS. Just because this discussion is closed here at Fasterskier does not mean the doors are closed to communication. Keep the ideas flowing. For me it is not...
Thank you Fasterskier.com for this opportunity to express concerns regarding the development of skiing here in the U.S. I have read many good opinions over the past few days and I would like to thank all of the individuals who have contributed several constructive ideas for change. We all know one thing for sure and that is the NGB for skiing USSA has over the years not been able to establish consistent funding. The inconsistent...
Challenge: Assessing and Improving The Development of US Cross Country Skiers By: Jim Galanes Contributor: Jon Quinn-Hurst Written during the winter of 2005 "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert Einstein At the present time there is an immediate and pressing challenge facing the Nordic ski community in the U.S. We must take immediate steps to improve our development system if we hope to become a major power...
Editor's Note: Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We will be wrapping it up in the next couple of days with a final response from the US Ski Team and our own thoughts. Feel free to continue posting your own comments at the bottom of each article. Many new comments have been added recently, so we encourage you to browse through all of the “Current State of US Skiing” articles (at...
These are some of the comments we have received from readers about our discussion of US skiing, including thoughts from Eli Brown of Fischer Skis. Many people have also been posting comments at the bottom of each article in the series, so if it has been a few days since you read the article, we recommend you go back and read all the comments as well. All articles in this series can be found in...
The following article is a reader's response to http://www.usskiteam.com/PublishingFolder/2878.htm http://www.ussa.org/PublishingFolder/272_3099.htm http://www.ussa.org/PublishingFolder/272_3098.htm Media: http://educationshop.ussa.org/product.asp?sku=186&category=elite http://educationshop.ussa.org/product.asp?sku=188&category=elite I hope this helps give you a better understanding about the challenges we face, how we addresss them, and why we operate the way we do.
Editor's Note: This is the third article in our discussion of the current state of US skiing. See also: Luke Bodensteiner Outlines The USSA Development Plan We appreciate Trond taking the time to share his insight. Coaches and athletes – we encourage you to share your thoughts. You are at the heart of this subject and your opinions should be heard. Here is your captive audience! Add comments below or
Editor's Note: This is the second article in our discussion of the current state of US skiing. It is a follow-up to Torbjorn Karlsen's article from yesterday ( Kris Freeman – part of the USST development plan
Editor's Note: Just a few years ago, it looked as if US skiers were gaining major ground in international competition. Among the signs of progress were 5th place finish in the 2002 Olympic relay and top five finishes by Kris Freeman and Carl Swenson at the 2003 World Championships. The future looked very bright. This year, however, the results took a step back. US elite skiers were not close to winning World Cup races, and...
FasterSkier.com is inviting you to join in a discussion about the current state of cross country ski racing in the United States. This discussion will include US Ski Team head coach Trond Nystad, Nordic Program director Luke Bodensteiner, FasterSkier.com writers, other coaches, and our readers. Just a few years ago, it looked as if US skiers were gaining major ground in international competition. The future looked very bright. This year, however, the top results took...
[Author's note: the views and opinions expressed in this piece are not necessarily those of me, and stand an even less-likely chance of being claimed by fasterskier.com. Any complaints can be directed to the non-existent email adress of your choosing (for those requiring assistance in coming up with an address, please contact http://www.fasterskier.com/racing2086.html ] The World Cup turned its focus to the Norwegian city of Drammen today, where thousands of ski-crazy spectators packed in along...
Three Russian women on top in a World Cup race for the first time in four years — five days before the start of the World Championship. It raises lingering suspicions. Several coaches doubt that the Russians are clean reports Norwegian newspaper VG (www.vg.no story on We all know the real winner Russia went from having one skier in the top twelve (3rd place) in the 10-k skate in Nove Mesto on January 15 and...
The response to our January 14, article “Sprint Racing — How Can We Get Better?” ( http://www.fasterskier.com/Club/info.php Here are some emails we received: – I believe very strongly that we indeed need to specialize. I am in total agreement with Torbjorn’s suggestions/thoughts/ideas pertaining to the development of World Class Sprinters and need for many, many more race starts for our sprinters. Our athletes who love/live for sprinting and want to be the best in the...
The following is meant to be a contribution to get creative ideas coming and a discussion going regarding sprint race-schedules, race format and athlete selection: I have had a chance to observe the last three main sprint races in the US and have some suggestions for how to make training for sprint racing more attractive and for North American sprinters to become better. There are not enough sprint races. Sprinters need more races and 1000-1500...