The SuperTour Finals fits into a relatively new genre of competition – that of “mini-tour.” The term derives from the Tour De Ski, the multi-stage World Cup event featuring eight races in ten days. And while World Cup points are awarded for each individual race (half points actually), the big prize is the overall title. The success of the Tour on the global stage has led to the concept of the mini-tour, a similar format...
So you think you know North American skiing? Here’s your chance to prove it. The SuperTour Finals features an elite field with World Cup skiers and Olympians from both Canada and the United States. With the introduction of a read FasterSkier’s complete preview with predictions and can a full list of entries is available race website. The contest remains open until 2:00PM EST Friday. How to Play: 1. Enter your picks for the the podium...
Everyone’s excited about the three-day mini-tour at the 2010 SuperTour Finals, and why not? Featuring a mass start classic race, a classic sprint, and an uphill climb, the event has something for everyone: sprinters and distance specialists, climbers and all-rounders, fans, and the media. The only ones who might have reservations are the coaches, since they have to wax all the skis and tackle the logistics. But a survey of those here in Fort Kent...
Midway through the U.S. 50 k Championship race on Wednesday, Ivan Babikov was a nation of one. The lone Canadian in a group of five Americans, he was ineligible for the U.S. title. But that didn’t stop him from skiing away with the win, and the $1,200 check that goes with it. Nearing the end of the last of five ten kilometer laps, Babikov put the hammer down, dropping CXC’s Tad Elliot and APU’s Lars...
After four races and flying across half a dozen different time zones in the last week, Kikkan Randall probably had a tough time telling up from down and left from right on Wednesday. But in the U.S. 30 k National Championship, she could still do the one thing she does best: ski fast, and win. “My body really doesn’t know what to think,” she said. “But it’s in good shape, so we’ll just keep rolling.”...
Fort Kent and Madawaska may not be the most scintillating of towns, but there are, in fact, a handful of things to do aside from eat potatoes and chase moose around. We talked to a couple of locals to get the skinny on Fort Kent and Madawaska. Here are some suggestions. Fort Kent In terms of restaurants, there’s pretty much one game in town for dinner, and that’s The Swamp Buck, on Main Street. Nothing...
Ivan Babikov (CAN) has traveled more than 10,000 kilometers since the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Olympics in late February. He only has to go 50 more on Wednesday, but they’ll feel every bit as long and painful as his circuitous journey from Vancouver to Fort Kent, Maine. Babikov is the clear favorite for tomorrow’s U.S. freestyle 30/50 k championships, but racing just 72 hours removed from the World Cup Finals in Sweden, he’ll be...
Juergen Uhl (South Burlington, VT) and Audrey Weber (St. Louis Park, MN) may have graduated from college last spring, but they haven’t left their racing days behind. The UVM and Dartmouth ’09s captured the 54K Birkie Classic titles in February this year and will make their way to Maine to race at Spring Series this week. FasterSkier caught up with Juergen and Audrey on winning the Birkie Classic and life after EISA racing. Juergen Uhl...
Madawaska, ME—Eight U.S. Olympians, four Canadian Olympians, U.S. Ski Team athletes, U.S. Biathlon Team athletes, at least four NCAA Champions and multiple Junior National Champions will all make their way to the starting line of the 2010 U.S. SuperTour Finals this week. With excellent late season conditions on all three courses, and a forecast for continued cold weather, the skiing is fast and fantastic. Headliners Ivan Babikov, Kikkan Randall, James Southam, Caitlin Compton, Holly Brooks,...
It doesn’t happen that often, but when Russell Currier gets hot on the range, there’s not a lot that can stop him. The Maine native is a notoriously fast skier—but also a notoriously inconsistent shooter. Sunday, at the North American Biathlon Championships, he wasn’t exactly on fire—more of a slow burn, perhaps—but the fifteen of twenty targets he hit was just enough to net him a satisfying win in the 15 k mass start race,...
Seven penalties would normally be enough to take a biathlete out of a race. Not Susan Dunklee. In the North American Biathlon Championships 12.5 k mass start, Dunklee overcame some sketchy shooting to win a sprint finish with Tracy Barnes-Colliander, who was deprived of her third straight victory. It was the first North American championship for Dunklee, and it looked impossible after she missed six of her first ten shots—three penalties in each of the...
Sometimes, pretty good is good enough, and in Saturday’s races at the North American Biathlon Championships, that was the case. Despite a smattering of misses by each of them, Tracy Barnes-Colliander and Wynn Roberts skied to convincing wins in the 12.5/10 k pursuit. Walt Shepard and Marc-Andre Bedard took second and third in the men’s race, while Claude Godbout and Annelies Cook rounded out the women’s podium. “I was a little disappointed with my shooting...
Neither Tracy Barnes-Colliander nor Casey Simons got what they really wanted this winter, which was a trip to Vancouver to compete in the 2010 Olympics. But after today’s 10/7.5k sprint in Fort Kent, those two have pretty good consolation prizes: a North American biathlon title. Pushing through mushy trails, Barnes-Colliander and Simons were the winners of the first event of the three-race championships here, overcoming fields that included Olympic competitors in both genders. While Barnes-Colliander...
You can always count on snow in northern Maine. Throw in skis and guns, and you’ve got a recipe for a pretty good week. Three days of racing kick off this morning at the North American Biathlon Championships in the biathlon-crazed town of Fort Kent, Maine. The fields are small, but competitive at the top, with four biathletes racing fresh off the 2010 Olympic Games: Americans Haley Johnson, Laura Spector, and Wynn Roberts, and Canada’s...
Fort Kent, ME—Spring has come early to Aroostook County, but the snow has stayed with us. Daytime highs in the 40s and 50s with cold, clear nights well below freezing have made for excellent crust skiing, fast early morning conditions and softening snow in the afternoons. Currently, our extended forecast calls for similar conditions with chances of freezing precipitation and snow on Thursday night and next Monday. While the snowpack is well below normal for...
Rogla, Slovenia – The Spring 2010 OPA Cup trip came to an end with the last race of the OPA Cup Finals on Sunday. The US ended the European tour in fine form, posting excellent results in the three race mini-tour. The competition featured a 2.5/3.5km classic prologue on Friday, a mass start 5/10km classic on Saturday, and the final 10/15km handicap start on Sunday to determine the overall winners. Mike Sinnott led the way...
The IOC hasn’t yet decided on a location for the 2018 Winter Olympics. But it’s safe to say that the road to those Games travels through Slovenia, at least for some of America’s cross country skiers. Thanks to a $10,000 grant from the National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation (NCCSEF), and more funding from the U.S. Ski Team, a group of 15 athletes has set up shop in the resort town of Rogla. There, the...
Rogla, Slovenia – Nine American skiers are currently in Slovenia contesting the OPA Cup Finals, an event modeled on the popular Tour de Ski and World Cup Finals. Racing started on Friday with a 2.5/3.5km classic prologue, and continued Saturday with a 5/10km mass start. The overall winners will be determined in a 10/15km handicap start based on the overall standing from the first two races. The first across the line is the champion. The...
La Feclaz, France – A large contingent of American skiers are in Europe competing in the spring OPA cup races. The OPA cup is a European Continental Cup series along the lines of the US SuperTour. Ten men and six women competed in the 5/10km freestyle mass start event on Sunday. Brian Gregg led the men in 12th place, while Caitlin Compton paced the women in 10th. The major goal of the trip for these...
Madawaska, ME—With the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games just finished, the top Nordic skiers on the continent have jetted across the Atlantic for the final period of the World Cup. However, they will be back in just three short weeks and most plan to race in the far reaches of northern Maine for the 2010 U.S. SuperTour Finals. Confirmations have been pouring in for the event, with U.S. headliners Kikkan Randall (8th...