Note: This one of several previews in a quick-and-dirty series on U.S. elite teams. We asked coaches to send their 2012/2013 rosters and tell us what’s new for the coming season. We will be publishing additional reports over the next few weeks. Teams are presented in no particular order. Team: Stratton Mountain School T2 Team (SMST2) Coaches: Gus Kaeding (first year; former assistant at Central Cross Country, or CXC) Roster: Andy Newell (U.S. Ski Team),...
Birkie Classic winner will challenge Birkie Skate winner at Telemark Forest Mountain Bike Race (Press release) CXC Team member Jennie Bender, the 2011 Birkie Classic Winner and 2012 Birkie skate third-place finisher, will be entering the CXC Triple standings and she is looking to make up ground before the Birkie Trail Run in September. Both athletes have great fitness right now and it should be a battle to the finish. Modeled after the prestigious Norwegian Birkebeiner Trippel, the CXC Triple provides competitors with a year-round competition to...
It’s easy to get caught up in busy work. Torin Koos has plenty between taking two summer courses toward his master’s at Westminster College, fitting in workouts and writing features for a ski website he and seven others took over June 1. The three-time Olympian has website-usability tests to prepare for, professional and technical writing work to do. His site, his blog, Koos reflected on two notable races at Norwegian nationals in March. First, he...
The Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) officially grew by two on Thursday, adding U.S. Ski Team veteran Kris Freeman and US Biathlete Annelies Cook to its roster. They join another national team member, biathlete Russell Currier, and three others on the Caribou-based club’s Olympic development team. While the MWSC’s competitive program took off in earnest 11 years ago and produced several Olympic biathletes and cross-country Olympian Ben Koons, the recent signings mean more good news...
BEND, Ore. – It may have been spring at Mount Bachelor this weekend, but by the time Wednesday rolled around, it was more like winter. Snow had fallen overnight and stuck to the mountain’s flanks, and flurries continued to drift from the sky as the U.S. and Canadian national ski teams competed in relay races with several club teams. Canadian Olympian and current Alberta World Cup Academy coach George Grey skied the course before the...
BEND, OREGON – How would a veteran describe Bend’s five-sport Pole, Pedal, Paddle to someone who has never seen it? “It’s a circus,” XC Oregon racer Stephanie Howe told FasterSkier at the race’s conclusion. “It’s the biggest logistic nightmare in the world… I just never have stuff lined up ahead of time. It’s always scrambling at the last minute.” First there’s the equipment: alpine skis, poles, boots, and a helmet; nordic skis, poles, and boots;...
When Carolyn and Santi Ocariz clicked into their rollerskis slightly more than two months ago, neither really knew what they were in for. The Wisconsin couple heard plenty of stories about the places they’d travel through. They took to heart the warnings about crazy drivers, snakes and treacherous temperatures while crossing America’s heartland. It might not be hot when they left, but it could get brutal, and the elements could change 180 degrees by the...
I got an interesting question from a reader the other day that I though I’d follow up on: As you know, the winners of all the continental cups gets to start the World Cup season. There are also intermediate rankings during the season that allows the current continental cup leaders to join the WC’s. My [...] Related posts:
MONT SAINTE ANNE, Québec — Already missing the warm weather and spring racing that took place at Canadian Ski Nationals in Québec from March 17-24? FasterSkier took plenty of photos and pared them down to some of the best from each of the senior/open races. Take a look on our All Canadian Nationals photos 5/10k Classic Freestyle sprints 30 k classic For results and start lists, visit
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — Presenting footage from the final race of the year, which conveniently was also the most spectator-friendly. Thirty-three laps was one heck of a way to finish off the season. Thanks for watching! (results).
CRAFTSBURY, Vt. — The women endured 20 laps and the men rounded the 1.5-kilometer loop 33 times in their respective 30- and 50-kilometer freestyle mass starts at U.S. Distance Nationals last weekend. Wondering how it played out with up to 90 racers on course at once? Take a look at our Women’s 30 k Women’s 30 k | Women’s |
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — For someone who was almost ready to hang up his skis and skip spring series altogether, Kris Freeman (SSC Vail/USST) sure knows how to turn things around over the course of a week. After fighting off a sinus infection during SuperTour Finals, and before that coming home from Europe disappointed with his World Cup season, Freeman handily defended his Distance Nationals 50 k title on Saturday, beating Tad Elliott (SSCV/USST) to the...
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — After 20 victory laps, the women are finished with their season. The fast pace set by Kikkan Randall, Jessie Diggins and Liz Stephen made for an exciting race; each pushed the pace and tried to break at some point, and the last two laps were an all out sprint. Randall prevailed, but as they crossed the finish line everyone was happy to simply be done. Interviews with top athetes follow the race...
CRAFTSBURY, Vt. – Shaking out the legs, clicking into their skis and moving their bodies just before the Friday’s 30-kilometer mass start at U.S. Distance Nationals, about 50 women looked straight ahead, all likely thinking the same thing. This is it. One more and we’re done. Some prepared for 20 times around a 1.5 k loop thinking each was a victory lap. Afterward, they’d be finished for the season. Four to five months of racing...
JAY, Vermont — The fourth and last stage of the 2012 SuperTour Finals was a 1.8 k suffer-fest up 1,079 vertical feet of a blue run at Jay Peak. Watch it unfold from the two spots on the course we had the cameras rolling.
click here. Women’s hill climb video footage from the hill with interviews
CRAFTSBURY, Vt. — Photo galleries from the men’s and women’s 1.6 k classic sprints are up on FasterSkier’s start list. For the heats, check out the Women’s qualifier photos | Men’s qualifier photos |
JAY, Vermont — At the outset of the hill climb up Jay Peak on a blistery Wednesday morning, the four-race fight for the overall SuperTour Finals win had come down to two skiers: Kris Freeman (SSCV/USST) and Noah Hoffman (SSCV/USST). In the end, Freeman claimed the title just as he did in Sun Valley last spring: on a brutal pitch that left him and just about everyone else completely spent at the finish. Hoffman finished...
JAY, Vt. – Every uphill has to end at some point. But what if it’s a mountain, and what if you can’t see the top? Nearly 70 women and 90 men probably thought something along those lines as they ascended a 1.8-kilometer freestyle hill climb at the Jay Peak alpine resort on Wednesday. As part of the SuperTour Finals, the event was a pursuit with the mini-tour leader starting first and the rest of the...
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — There were a few surprises on Tuesday during the classic sprints: distance specialists Kris Freeman and Liz Stephen made it to the A-final, while sprint standouts Simi Hamilton and Sadie Bjornsen got knocked out. But such is sprint racing, and our videographer was standing in the start and finish area to catch some of the action on film. Interviews with the top finishers follow, including some great reactions from athletes who were...