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The Russian men dominated yesterday's sprint, sweeping the podium and placing 4 in the top 5. The Germans nearly matched that performance today, finishing 1st, 3rd and 5th in the 15km classic. With many World Cup skiers in the huge 239 skier field, competition was stiff. Two-time World Cup Champion, Tobias Angerer skied to an 11 second victory over Estonian Aivar Rehemma. Another former world Cup Champion, Axel Teichmann (GER) finished third, +12.44. Olympic medalist...

This is the fourth article in a four part series documenting the 2008 Ski Mountaineering Season from the perspective of Lyndsay Meyer and Nina Silitch. 2008 Ski Mountaineering Season Recap – Part 2: World Championships Next they inspected skis and poles and put shiny PDG stickers behind each rear binding. We were one of only 26 women's teams for course A, compared to 300 or so male teams. Stickers in place (the more race stickers...

This is the third article in a four part series documenting the 2008 Ski Mountaineering Season from the perspective of Lyndsay Meyer and Nina Silitch. 2008 Ski Mountaineering Season Recap – Part 2: World Championships 9800 meters of uphill over four days of racing. I stared wide-eyed at the profile of the Pierra Menta. Thank God this was a team event. My partner, Nina Silitch and I sat at the pre-race briefing and began to...

This is the second article in a four part series documenting the 2008 Ski Mountaineering Season from the perspective of Lyndsay Meyer and Nina Silitch. Next up, the night relay. We had one male team of four racers, each would complete two laps of the course for a total of eight laps. Held under the lights, racers began with a fast climb, a short bootpack with skis on pack, another quick climb with the skins,...

This is the first article in a three part series documenting the 2008 Ski Mountaineering Season from the perspective of Lyndsay Meyer and Nina Silitch. Nina Silitch and I sat upstairs in her home office in Chamonix silently filling out a stack of race forms. She translated the French words I didn't understand, and in turn I handed her a stack of Euros so she could write the checks. This was our second year of...

Australian Open / Junior Championship and FIS Australian New Zealand Cup Update August 25 The 2008 Australian Open and Junior Championships for Cross Country Skiing concluded this weekend August 23-24 at Falls Creek with interval start classic and freestyle races. The open 5km events for women and open 10km events for men were also part of the 2008 FIS Australia — New Zealand Cup (ANC), which concludes next weekend with the Kangaroo Hoppet 42km event...

Racing at 9500 feet is a whole new world of fun. I was just standing beside my bed this morning and my heart rate monitor showed 120 bpm. No lie. The past several mornings, my heart rate has been high, but not that high. Before every race, I like to have a very good idea of how things will go. In biathlon, there are a lot more things that you can't control than in, say,...

A night-time 1.2km classic sprint held at the base of the Cerro Castor alpine ski area outside of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina served as the third and final event in the Tierra del Fuego Nordic Ski Championships on the 9th of August. A visiting American skier, Sam Evans-Brown, won the final heat in 2 minutes 24 seconds. Close behind were Fueguino strongmen Martín Bianchi and Federico Cichero. The women’s event was contested only in...

Jericho, VT – Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) in his first competition since the end of March, started a new season exactly where he left off, with a win in the 10K Sprint today at the Ethan Allen Firing Range. Today’s rollerski biathlon competitions kicked off the new season for US Biathletes. Burke covered the 10K distance in 25:08, with Jesse Downs (Jericho, VT) 1:01 back. Burke and Downs had a good battle, with both...

Winter is in full-swing in Australia at the moment. At the cross country skiing National Team Training Centre at Falls Creek there is nearly one metre of snow covering everything, and 40-50km of trails being groomed every day. Club competitions were held on the first three weekends of July, and the first Australian Championship events took place last weekend July 26/27. 22-year-old Ben Sim won the men's 30km Classic by only seven seconds ahead of...

New Gloucester, ME. The 2008 Summer Biathlon National Championships and World Championships Team Trials open this Friday at the Whitetail preserve in Luzerne County near Bloomsburg, PA. Competitions begin with the Mass Start on Friday, followed by Sprints on Saturday and closing with Pursuits on Sunday. Categories include juniors, seniors, and masters for both men and women. The host Whitetail Preserve offers a variety of hunting options including quail and chukar as well skeet, trap,...

Meraker, Norway. Monday’s final pursuit stage of the summer Tour de Trondelag was a battle between Norway and the Czech Republic where Norway prevailed in an exciting roller-ski sprint finish. Eldar Ronning sprinted to victory on his old stomping grounds in the small town of Meraker near the Swedish border in Jamtland county. Anders Aukland followed in second, but didn’t have a chance in the final stretch. Behind the two Norwegians were the two Czechs,...

The opening weekend of the Roller Ski World Cup hosted in Piglio (Frosinone – Italy) and organized by the Sci Club Madonna del Monte, concluded with two clear victories by athletes of the Italian national cross-country team in the 10/15km mass start. A light rain provided welcome relief from the high temperatures. After victories by Roland Clara and Arianna Follis on in the 5 km up-hill race, yesterday’s race was again dominated by the “specialists...

The dry-land training and Roller Skiing season started in earnest around Europe with the arrival of the summer. While some national races have already taken place, the FIS Roller Skiing World Cup 2008 will kickkicked off yesterday in Piglio/Frosinone, near Rome (ITA), the host city of the FIS Roller Skiing World Championships 2009. Three competitions are on schedule in Italy from 26th to 28th June, a sprint in the free technique in Frosinone, as well...

The second annual Summer Ski Tour outside of Changchun, China was completed this weekend with competitiors from China, Scandinavia, Central Europe, and even Canada. The tour, organized by sino-adventure sport developer Nordic Ways, consisted of two sprint races on preserved snow at Changbai Mountain near Changchun in northeastern China. This year, the event coordinators invited numerous European skiers to participate in the event alongside Chinese athletes. Bjorn Lind and Hannah Falk, both of Sweden, took...

Marshall Greene and Sarah Max, both of Bend, won the famous Pole Pedal Paddle in the men's and women's elite fields, respectively. The event, which has been held since 1976, consists of five different sports – an alpine ski down Mt. Bachelor, an 8km Nordic, a 22 mile road bike, a 10km run, 1.5 mile canoe/kayak and a final 1/3 of a mile sprint on foot to the finish line. Alpina/Madshus' Green won his third...

The first ever cross-country ski race up Snowbird from the base to the top of tram took place on Saturday April 19th. Maybe the toughest ski race in America? Good times were had by all. We hope this becomes an annual event. Join us in 2009! Results Women Wendy Wagner 1:16:00 Elizabeth Guiney 1:19:20 Giggi Nyquist-Burns 1:20:20 Debbie Wagner 1:21:30 Marit Glenne 1:24:24 Lisa Bruns 1:34:45 Mary Burton 1:34:45 Chirne Njeim 1:36:05 Annelies Cook 1:36:05...

Torin Koos wasn't ready to start resting following US Distance Nationals. Following on the heels of a an impressive performance in the 50km classic National Championship, where he took the silver, Koos dominated the 5-sport Ridge to River Run. Ironman and Ironwomen competitors downhill ski, cross-country ski, run, bike and paddle. Koos won in a time of 2:07, defending his title. Second place finisher Darell Sofield finished 15 minutes back of the World Cup sprinter....

Rebecca Dussault is an Olympic and US National Champion Cross-Country skier. She lives in Colorado with her family. The Elk Mountain Grand Traverse is bound to be an epic adventure no matter who you do it with or what the conditions are. With over 40 miles of backcountry terrain and 6000 ft. of climbing, I’ve learned in doing it three different times, be prepared for anything. I teamed up for the race this year with...

Whistler BC, Canada. The US won the 3 X 6K Mixed Relay competitions in both the Open and Junior categories today by putting together teams with three of the best athletes from both the World Cup and National Junior Team in the final competition at the Canadian National Championships. The team of Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY), and Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) were the overall winners in a time of...