Top skiers' message to world leaders: we want to keep having winter, so make a legally-binding climate agreement. And the message to ski fans? Andy Newell says: "We need to get on the backs of the guys and women in the U.S. who make these decisions, and put some pressure on them.”
Regardless of when winter officially starts, it's here as far as the ski world is concerned, and there's a lot to be excited about in North American racing. Canadian biathletes Rosanna Crawford and Nathan Smith jumped out to a relay podium in the first IBU World Cup race, and Canadian cross-country skier Alex Harvey took second in the men's 10 k skate in Kuusamo, Finland, for his first early season podium.
Whatever Sadie Bjornsen was doing the first lap of Sunday's 10 k classic pursuit wasn't working for her, so she revamped and tackled the final three laps with a whole new attitude. "I gave myself a little smacking and realized I had to make my opportunity today," she said after placing 14th in the Ruka Triple for her best overall finish in Kuusamo, Finland.
Alex Harvey’s second place on Saturday remains a single drop in the bucket, but it’s a reminder that his quest for the World Cup overall is for real. With "new" legs post-surgery, the 27-year-old Canadian is now a contender in strenuous skate races as well as classic sprints and distance events.
It was a fight for every second in the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle on Saturday. Sadie Bjornsen led the U.S. women in 14th and teammate Jessie Diggins was less than two seconds back in 16th. “The difference between a good race and your best race ever here can be ten seconds,” U.S. coach Matt Whitcomb explained.
Andy Newell remembered a thing or two about the Kuusamo course, and he shared them with his U.S. teammates before the World-Cup opening classic sprint there on Friday. His calculations worked, as Newell ended up just over a second off the podium in fourth for his best result in three seasons.
This time last year, Ida Sargent had a career-best fifth in the first Word Cup of the season: the Ruka classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland. She came close on Friday, finishing seventh and missing the final by 0.37 seconds. Teammate Sadie Bjornsen won her quarterfinal and placed 12th overall.
A year after placing third behind fellow Norwegians Eirik Brandsdal and Petter Northug, Sondre Turvoll Fossli, 22, turned the tables on his teammates and won his first World Cup -- the Ruka classic sprint -- on Friday ahead of Brandsdal and Northug, respectively. American Andy Newell had his best World Cup result since February 2013.
Jessie Diggins did it again, winning her second-straight race in Gällivare, Sweden, on Sunday by 10 seconds over Czech skier Petra Novakova. Caitlin Gregg also reached the podium -- in day reminiscent of the 2015 World Championships 10 k -- and Liz Stephen and Rosie Brennan placed fourth and fifth.
Two Canadians landed in the top four in Sunday's 15 k freestyle FIS race in Gällivare, Sweden, with Alex Harvey reaching the podium in second and Devon Kershaw missing it by 23 seconds in fourth. Noah Hoffman finished sixth for the U.S., Canada's Ivan Babikov was eighth, and Erik Bjornsen (USA) notched his second-straight top 10.
In their first race of the season, Jessie Diggins and Sophie Caldwell of the U.S. Ski Team finished first and second, respectively, in the FIS classic sprint in Gällivare, Sweden. “It’s the best I’ve seen Jessie classic sprint ever,” coach Matt Whitcomb said. “It gives us a big boost as we move into the World Cup season next week.”
With more than half of the World Cup races being stages this season, the U.S. Ski Team has decided to incorporate the mini-tour format into its training and is ending its annual Park City camp with a three-day rollerski series.
After surgery on his hand and then a knee injury, U.S. Ski Team member Erik Bjornsen recently resumed full-on training, and did so with the help of French biathlete and multiple-time world champion Martin Fourcade in France. "It's crazy to see how famous he is," Bjornsen says. "He’s just a normal guy."
Julia Kern, Clare Egan, Emma Lunder, and Macx Davies talk about adjusting to their first, second, and third seasons on American and Canadian national teams for cross-country skiing and biathlon.
Kikkan Randall and her husband Jeff Ellis recently announced that they are expecting their first child in April 2016. While Randall, 32, will sit out the upcoming race season, she remains focused on the 2017 World Championships and 2018 Olympics.
The Toppidrettsveka race series wrapped up yesterday with an exciting pursuit in Trondheim, Norway. While some of the USST racers fell or broke a pole or two, the team as a whole had another successful day and is leaving the camp knowing what they need to do to improve before winter.
The Toppidrettsveka race series continued on Friday with a 15 kilometer skiathlon. The USST had more strong results, with Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall finishing in 6th and 7th and Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton placing in the top 30.
The U.S. Ski Team is in Aure, Norway, for their second training camp of the summer, preparing for this week's Toppidrettsveka rollerski races. FasterSkier caught up with some of the coaches and athletes to see how they are preparing for the three-day series.
For its first on-snow camp of the summer, the U.S. Ski Team traveled to New Zealand to train at the Snow Farm in Wanaka. With a full 15 days of skiing, the team was able to make some mid-summer improvements to technique while logging some serious distance on skis.
Joey Caterinichio, a longtime figure in the American cross-country skiing community, announced last month that she plans to step down as nordic manager at the United States Ski and Snowboard Association.