The world of skiing is changing and Canada is changing with it. This season, Canada has a new head coach and is hitting the Tour de Ski for the first time in four years. New head coach Robin McKeever is bringing nine athletes, five wax techs, an osteopath, a coach, and a wax truck to Val Mustair. This is less bodies than Norway’s wax team, but it is still a big commitment from a country...
The FIS World Cup tour returned from a two-week holiday break, reconvening in Val Mustair, Switzerland for Stage 1 of the 17th Tour de Ski. A daunting mid-season challenge, the Tour de Ski (TDS) consists of seven stages contested over nine exhausting days, concluding next Sunday atop the Alpe di Cermis in Val di Fiemme, Italy. At the start of this year’s tour, all eyes were on Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), who finds himself in...
Editors note: FasterSkier’s coverage of FIS Cross Country World Cup Period I has been a cooperative effort among three dedicated staff writers: Ben Theyerl, Ken Roth, and John Teaford. Many early mornings, many calls and texts, many quotes and comments, many unforgiving deadlines bring this reporting to FasterSkier’s readers. We hope their insights have served to improve everyone’s enjoyment of the excellent racing witnessed in Period I, and that they can serve to prepare viewers...
Mont Sainte Anne (MSA) held the final pre-Christmas races in Canada over the weekend, with a 20km freestyle mass start Friday, freestyle sprints on Saturday, and 10km individual start classic on Sunday. Fresh snow, steep hills, and temperatures comfortably below freezing greeted 400+ racers at a continental cup hosted by Skibec, Centre National d’Entraïnemente Pierre Harvey (CNEPH) , and Club Nordique MSA. MSA is a popular racing destination, as Nakkertok’s Bronwyn Williams explained: “I love...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support Fasterskier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. Norway has long been a dominant force in cross country skiing, but that dominance may never have been more clearly evident than now. Norwegian men have claimed victory in the...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. Today the World Cup returned to Davos, Switzerland where the women competed in the 20 k Individual Start Freestyle. As has been the case for the last several weeks, much...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support Fasterskier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. Today marked the return of the World Cup to the alpine valley of Davos, Switzerland. Davos, normally a luxury festooned playground for rock stars, politicians, royalty, and assorted billionaires would...
The FIS instituted an overhaul of the points system used to determine the best individual skier in the World. We’re already seeing the consequences. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo had won all three races of the World Cup’s opening weekend races in Ruka. Any offseason doubts spurred by reports of his injuries or independent training practices went away. He was still the best skier in the world. Then, the following Friday in Lillehammer, illness forced Klaebo to...
Canmore Nordic Ski Club is located in the beautiful Canadian Rockies and operates out of the Canmore Nordic Centre, the site of the nordic and biathlon events for the 1988 Winter Olympics. The center has received regular updates to its trails and facilities and hosts World Cup races for both cross country skiing and biathlon. The Canmore Nordic Ski Club strives to be one the premier cross country ski clubs in Canada and is...
Just a two-hour drive from Vancouver along the awe-inspiring Sea to Sky Highway. Featuring over 160km of trails sweeping across pristine mountain wilderness, Whistler’s extensive cross-country ski trail network means plenty of variety for all ability levels. So, what are you waiting for? Dive in and explore Whistler’s three world-class Nordic locations all easily accessible from the buzzing Whistler Village. Read more here. Stay longer and save more when you package your accommodation with...
Canadian racing continued with the Eastern Canada Cup #1 at Nakkertok Trails on December 10th and 11th. The event is hosted by Évènements Nordiques Gatineau Nordic Events (ÉNGNE), a collaborative organization that leverages the skills and volunteers of four local clubs: Chelsea Nordiq Ski Club, Nakkertok Nordic Ski Association, Club Skinouk and the Gatineau Loppet. Canada recently divided the Canada Cup series into Eastern and Western to reduce the need for travel and to make the...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. In the third week of World Cup racing, the defining question seemed to be not who would be first to the finish line, but who was missing from the starting...
Norway in midwinter can take on the appearance of a snow globe: quaint little cabins covered in snow, drooping pines coated in layers of white, skiers trailing through the woods. That was the scene in Beitostolen, Norway for day two of the FIS Cross Country World Cup. Skiers awoke to withering cold with low temperatures creating squeaky snow on the race course. Waxing for kick would not be a problem, but enduring the cold for...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. The women’s 10 kilometer individual classic race was held on the second day of the FIS World Cup stop in Beitostolen, Norway. So far this season, distance racing has been...
The sun had begun to set in Beitostolen, Norway. The day—and the day’s racing—entered its golden hour as Norwegian fans anticipated more success for World Cup Sprint Leader, Paal Golberg (NOR). That all changed in a flash as Golberg—wearing the yellow Leader’s bib—crashed on a curve in the men’s Classic Sprint final. Golberg fumbled in the snow, a stark contrast to the control he has shown through the first few weeks of this year’s World...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Today, the FIS World Cup travelled to the Norwegian countryside town of Beitostolen, Norway, a three-hour drive from Oslo. It would be the first time in the hamlet’s history that...
Race day four at Sovereign Lake was a 10km individual start classic in the sunshine. With humid new snow at -10C all day while the air warmed up to -4C, all the teams found fast skis and solid kick on a great day for striding. Once again, the Open and U20 categories skied 2x5km first, followed by U18 and U16 who skied 2×2.5km, for a total of 385 starters Sunday. Individual start races are about...
LUMI TRIP GIVEAWAY! As the world’s premier cross country ski travel company, Lumi Experiences is excited to announce their continued partnership with the Worldloppet international ski marathon series as an official tour operator. You can travel to 8 different Worldloppet events on Lumi trips, including support from local trip leaders, race waxing, transportation, accommodation and meals that reflect the tastes of the region where you’re traveling. To celebrate, Lumi is giving away a trip for...
With the first round of SuperTour racing complete in Sovereign Lakes, British Columbia, the NNF is proud to announce the return of the NNF Cup as a presenting sponsor of the US SuperTour this season. Originally launched in 2012, the NNF Cup celebrates club excellence in America’s premier domestic ski competition by tallying performance of club teams across the SuperTour season. The NNF Cup was awarded to Alaska Pacific University last season. The recent success...
Formed in 2019, the Women’s Ski Coaches Association (WSCA) has been a consistent and ardent supporter of creating gender equality in all areas of North American skiing. With WSCA founders—St. Scholastica Head Coach Maria Stuber and Staffer, Craftsbury Green Racing Project Biathlete (and former St. Scholastica skier) Kelsey Dickinson at the organizational core—a strong actor-network has been formed to advocate for women in the ski coaching profession. This has included some notable partnerships with...