Juniors – FasterSkier.com

National Nordic Foundation: Bridging the Funding Gap

Ken RothNovember 12, 2024

There’s a great scene in the 1983 classic movie epic The Right Stuff, where the test pilots are hanging out in their dank watering hole discussing the future of supersonic flight and bemoaning what they see as misplaced priorities. The press liaison throwing back a beer with Chuck Yeager and Jack Ridley seems to innocently ask, “you know what makes your rocket planes fly?” The aeronautical engineer puts down his beer and responds by beginning...

Feature Juniors News Racing

Bend’s Neve Gerard Embarks on Her Next Chapter

Alex KochonSeptember 19, 2024

As a sixth grader growing up in Bend, Ore., Neve Gerard was paying attention when Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins won U.S. cross-country skiing’s first Olympic gold medal. She wasn’t a full-on skier back then—she was more into running and mountain biking—but she remembers thinking how cool it was. Nearly six years later, she found herself warming up on the same Olympic course where the duo won the team sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea. Gerard,...

Feature Juniors News Racing

Ukrainian XC Family Lands in Bend—Of All Places

Alex KochonJuly 3, 2024

Anhelina Hryhorenko is a typical 14-year-old girl in many ways—she loves art and isn’t a fan of math. And she’s excited to have her freshman year of school over. But she’s got a lot of unique qualities, too. For one, she’s a junior national champion with more medals than she can hold in two hands. She’s also the daughter of a former national cross-country ski team member team and the niece of a three-time...

Biathlon Collegiate Juniors News

Sugar Bowl Academy Invites Motivated U14-U20 Athletes for Gap/PG Program

FasterSkierMay 7, 2024

Sugar Bowl Academy invites motivated U14-U20 athletes to consider joining us for amazing training and racing in sunny California. Our program offers some of the best training in North America: more than 140km of trails at Royal Gorge XC, groomed through our campus, 300+ days of sun, 480 inches of snow annually, on campus strength and conditioning coach and facilities, thousands of miles of amazing single track for biking and running, biathlon, SkiMo, mountain biking...

Biathlon Collegiate Juniors News

Fort Kent Outdoor Center is Accepting Applications for its PG Program

FasterSkierMay 6, 2024

The Fort Kent Outdoor Center in Fort Kent, Maine, is currently accepting applications for our 2024-2025 post graduate program. The program is designed for high school graduated nordic skiers and biathletes who are hoping to take their training to the next level with year-round coached training sessions. With a 3km paved rollerski loop, full 30-point shooting range, and 25km of nordic trails in the snowiest corner of the northeast, Fort Kent provides an ideal...

Feature Juniors News Racing

“A Miracle We’re Not On Ice”—Lake Placid’s Fun, Unpredictable Junior Nationals

Ben TheyerlMarch 20, 2024

Lake Placid is a place defined by a particular story of a Miracle. USA v. Soviet Union. 1980. Al Michaels. You know the one. We retell the story because we love the idea: something greater than the sum of all its human parts happens when a community’s energy moves in a clearly focused direction. In 1980, it was a hockey team. In 2024, a community’s dream focused on the efforts of young skiers at Junior...

General Juniors News Racing

Alaska REG Camp: Putting in the Work

Gavin KentchJuly 28, 2022

ANCHORAGE — Watching training sessions at a Regional Elite Group camp, the summer training series held around the country for the nation’s top junior skiers, is one part tantalizing glimpses of the future of American skiing, ten parts the cumulative reality of a lot of focused work in the present. These kids are fast, they are committed, and they are strong. But long-term success in endurance sport takes time, and they know it. Judging from...

Camps Juniors News Training

U18 NTG Camp Wraps up in Whistler B.C.

Ella HallJune 29, 2022

After an untold number of bear sightings and many hours of quality training, the U18 National Training Group (NTG) camp wrapped up in Whistler, B.C. the third week of June. The first of the National Nordic Foundations (NNF) Summer Series, the goals of the camp were twofold: the first was to give these athletes a chance to meet and train together, particularly since the annual U18 Nordic Nations Cup trip was canceled in January due...

Community Feature Juniors Resources Waxing

The Pros & Cons of League-wide Wax Protocols: Western Clubs Consider the Evolution and Impact (Part 2)

Rachel PerkinsJune 10, 2022

Here are links to earlier installments in this five-part series. The first two parts (part one; part two) spoke to the perspectives of high level wax technicians and industry representatives, while part three focused on the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League. To read the beginning of this article on the wax protocols of Western clubs, part four, click here. Leveling the Playing Field In regard to the question of whether the policy widens the gap in...

Community Feature Juniors Resources Waxing

The Pros & Cons of League-wide Wax Protocols: Western Clubs Consider the Evolution and Impact (Part 1)

Rachel PerkinsJune 9, 2022

In speaking with representatives from each of the leagues featured in this series, a few main points rose to the foreground in this discussion: the level of competition matters, how the policy came about matters, and how a program can enhance athlete support holistically by relieving wax-related expenses – measured both in time and dollars – matters. Before jumping into discussions for club level programs across the West, here are the links to view the...

Continental Cup Feature Juniors News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

“It’s a Good Time to be an American Ski Racer”: A Look Inside the OPA Cup Finals Trip to Sappada, ITA

Rachel PerkinsApril 6, 2022

While World Cup Finals were underway in mid-March in Falun, Sweden, a second contingent of top American skiers was lining up roughly 2,000 kilometers south to race in the OPA Cup Finals in Sappada, Italy. Located along the northern edge of Italy near the Austrian border, the small town is nestled among the spectacular, jagged massifs of the Italian Dolomites, roughly an hour’s drive east of Toblach, which typically hosts the final stages of the...

Juniors News Racing Results US Nationals

2022 Junior Nationals Recap: After Long Wait, Minneapolis Hosts Top US Juniors for Full Slate of Racing

Ben TheyerlMarch 16, 2022

To trace the thread of the past, present, and future of American cross-country skiing, all you have to do is look at a golf course in Minneapolis that touches 3 of those 10,000 lakes in Minnesota; Theodore Wirth Park. Over the past week, America’s most-skied loop played host to the US Ski and Snowboard Junior Championships (formerly Junior Nationals, or “JNs”), bringing the top under-20 year old skiers from across the nation together for the...

Community Feature Juniors Racing

Plain Valley Nordic: The Little Team that Could

FasterSkierMarch 7, 2022

As the 2022 Junior National Championships kick off, we’re featuring a small team from the Pacific Northwest who has sent eleven athletes to Minneapolis, MN, including the author of this story. To follow JN’s, you can view a livestream of races on the National Nordic Foundation (NNF) Facebook page, and find live results on SuperiorTiming.com. By Isabel Menna In March of 2021, in the tiny resort town of Jackson, Wyoming, the Intermountain Division Junior National...

Juniors Racing

World Juniors: Schumacher leads North American U23 Sprint Contingent in 19th

Ella HallFebruary 26, 2022

The 2022 FIS Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trip has been made possible through support from the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), which has identified this invaluable opportunity for developing athletes as one of its “Pillar Projects”. You can support the NNF and the next generations of America’s top skiers by making a donation here. LYGNA, Norway – The second U23 event took place Saturday morning in the form of a 1.2-kilometer skate sprint. Qualification occurred under a sunny...

Juniors News Racing

World Juniors: Canada puts two in top ten as Russia sweeps 5/10 k classic; Will Koch top American in 13th

Gavin KentchFebruary 25, 2022

The 2022 FIS Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trip has been made possible through support from the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), which has identified this invaluable opportunity for developing athletes as one of its “Pillar Projects”. You can support the NNF and the next generations of America’s top skiers by making a donation here. Friday at 2022 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Lygna, Norway, marked the phase that Steve Fuller, on site to take photographs...

Juniors News Racing

World Juniors: Zanden McMullen leads the way for the Americans in 10/15 k classic with 14th; Abigail Jarzin top female athlete in 36th

Gavin KentchFebruary 24, 2022

The 2022 FIS Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trip has been made possible through support from the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), which has identified this invaluable opportunity for developing athletes as one of its “Pillar Projects”. You can support the NNF and the next generations of America’s top skiers by making a donation here. Thursday marked the third day of 2022 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Lygna, Norway, but the first day of competition for...

Community Juniors News Racing

Exciting Relay Day 2 at World Juniors with US Women 5th and US Men on the Podium in 3rd

Ella HallFebruary 23, 2022

The 2022 FIS Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trip has been made possible through support from the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), which has identified this invaluable opportunity for developing athletes as one of its “Pillar Projects”. You can support the NNF and the next generations of America’s top skiers by making a donation here. LYGNA, NOR — The second event of the week for 2022 FIS Junior World Ski Championships, and perhaps the most highly anticipated, was the...

Community Juniors Racing

The 2022 FIS Junior World Ski Championships kick off in Lygna, NOR with 15/30 k skate

Ella HallFebruary 23, 2022

The 2022 FIS Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trip has been made possible through support from the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), which has identified this invaluable opportunity for developing athletes as one of its “Pillar Projects”. You can support the NNF and the next generations of America’s top skiers by making a donation here. LYGNA, NOR — Originally scheduled to take place in Zakopane, Poland but moved to Lygna, Norway, the 2022 FIS Junior World Ski Championships...

Juniors News Regional / Local

Alaska Junior Camp Wraps Up Summer Regional Elite Group Training

Gavin KentchJuly 29, 2021

ANCHORAGE — As allegories for skiing development go, the uphill run time trial is tough to beat. It’s hard to start with, it gets harder as you approach your goal, and success requires pushing all the way to the finish. “Paying the tax on the road to the podium,” as Sadie Maubet Bjornsen once wrote of a photo of her on Gasline. Tuesday morning in Anchorage, a group of the state’s top juniors took on...

Biathlon Collegiate Juniors News

Soldier Hollow Collegiate/PG Biathlon and XC Summer Training Group

FasterSkierMarch 29, 2021

Team Soldier Hollow is looking for ambitious skiers and biathletes who want to train and race at a high level collegiately or professionally and who will contribute to our growing club and vision of “Developing Champions in Sport and Life.” We invite you to spend your summer training at Soldier Hollow, the 2002 Olympic venue for XC skiing and Biathlon and more recently, host of the 2017 XC World Junior Championships and 2019 BMW...

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