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Juniors

The future of our sport! Junior racing can be a lot of fun, but it can also be exciting and competitive. Information for, by and about junior skiers, including coverage of major events like World Juniors and Junior Nationals.
Alaska REG Camp: Putting in the Work

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...

U18 NTG Camp Wraps up in Whistler B.C.

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...

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

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...

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

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...

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

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...

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

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...

Plain Valley Nordic: The Little Team that Could

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Alaska Junior Camp Wraps Up Summer Regional Elite Group Training

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...

Soldier Hollow Collegiate/PG Biathlon and XC Summer Training Group

  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...

Multiple American Women Held Out of World Juniors Races After Positive Covid Test or Contacts

Three American junior women have been held out of competing at 2021 Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Vuokatti, Finland, following a positive Covid test or potential exposure to a positive case, Skinnyski.com has reported. Yesterday, American skier Michaela Keller-Miller wrote on SkinnySki, “Unfortunately, three members of the women’s US Junior team are in quarantine after one positive Covid-19 test and two possible exposures after contact tracing. As a result, American medal contenders Novie McCabe,...

American Teams Announced for 2021 World Juniors/U23s in Vuokatti

Last week, U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced team nominations for 2021 FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships, which will be held in Vuokatti, Finland, in early February. The athletes selected were as follows: U23 World Championships Team Women: Hailey Swirbul (APU Nordic Ski Center/El Jebel, Colo.) Sophia Laukli (Middlebury College/Yarmouth, Maine) Alex Lawson (Middlebury College/West Burke, Vt.) Hannah Halvorsen (APU/Anchorage, Alaska) Renae Anderson (Loppet Nordic Racing/Golden Valley, Minn.) Alternate 1: Leah Lange (University...

A Postmortem on the Junior Worlds Women’s Relay: John Estle on Lessons for Organizers, Officials, Coaches, and Skiers

Editor’s note: FasterSkier’s initial coverage of the women’s relay at this year’s FIS Nordic Junior World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, gave just the facts: The American women, fourth in this event a year before, skied their way up to second this year. This was entirely true, but didn’t get at the whole story. FasterSkier analyst Devon Kershaw, in a podcast shared later that day, hinted at some of the madness behind these facts, proclaiming early in...

U23 World’s closed out today in Oberwiesenthal, Germany with the 4 x 5 k mixed relay. Norway, which had struggled in both the junior women’s and junior men’s relay won in 54:40.5 minutes. Russia followed in second (+26.7), and Italy third (+40.2). The U.S. placed fifth (+54.6) of the 15 teams finishing the event. Canada’s foursome of U23 skiers finished in 14th (+4:00.6). Results

Junior World’s Relay: U.S. Women 2nd, U.S Men 1st, Canada 2nd

Friday was a much anticipated day across the Atlantic from the Oberwiesenthal, Germany: Junior World’s relay day.  Junior Women’s 4 x 3.3 k Relay For the U.S. junior 4 x 3.3 k relay, oh-so-close was last year’s World’s just off the podium fourth place performance. Twelve months later and a loaded team featuring (in this order) Sydney Palmer-Leger, Kendall Kramer, Sophia Laukli, and Novie McCabe, the group skied themselves into second overall, 4.9 seconds off...

U23 World’s 15 k / 30 k Mass Start Rundown

U23 Women’s 15 k Mass Start Sweden-Sweden-Sweden: Ebba Andersson, Moa Lundgren, and Emma Ribom went 1-2-3 for the all Sweden podium. If one thing is certain from our race coverage this season, we know Sweden is ready for World Cup podiums now. The U23 sweep in Oberwiesenthal, Germany at these U23 World Championships likely means more to come. Andersson crossed the finish line alone in 35:44.4. Lundgren came across 37.1 seconds back, Ribom 45.2 seconds...