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US Ski Team

Information about the United States Ski Team.
Schumaker and Cyr in Top 20, Golberg Gets First Race Win of Season in Classic 20 k

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. If Saturday’s individual sprint race was a return to the archetype for this era of World Cup skiing, then Sunday marked something completely new. Part by design, part by necessity,...

Ogden and Schoonmaker Miss Skate Sprint Final by Narrowest of Margins as Klaebo Wins Again

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Lillehammer, Norway—that most timeless of ski venues—provided viewers with a familiar scene on Saturday: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo exiting the final turn in the lead, gliding away from the field en...

Women’s 20-Kilometer Pursuit: U.S. Places Two in the Top 10 with Diggins and Brennan.

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Women’s 20K Pursuit. Today, Ruka, Finland was home to the inaugural running of the women’s 20K pursuit. The format is now a 20-kilometer skate race with interval starts based upon...

New Season, Same Swedes: Ribom Notches First Career World Cup Win, Kern Strong into Semis

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. The temperature was a balmy -11℃ (12℉). A glow hung in the sky and new snow decorated the trees; a welcoming winter scene in Ruka, Finland. With the FIS Cross-Country...

Season Preview with Chris Grover, United States’ Cross Country Program Director,  Part II

Chris Grover is the U.S. Cross-Country Program Director.  He has held that position for three years. He corresponded with FasterSkier’s Ken Roth in discussing the upcoming World Cup season, and an overview of the U.S. program.  This is the second in a series of interviews with Mr. Grover. FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation) has reaffirmed the Russian ban.  How do participating athletes feel about it?  Do they feel deprived not being able to compete...

Jessie Diggins Looks Ahead

American cross country skiers continue to climb the international ladder, and any number of them are likely to find their names in the headlines this winter, but it’s Jessie Diggins who continues to be the skier, the competitor, and the leader through which this team is recognized. It’s a distinction she’s earned time and time again. On the morning of November 21, Jessie (who is in Ruka, Finland in preparation for the season’s first World...

Season Preview with Chris Grover, United States’ Cross Country Program Director,  Part I

Chris Grover is the U.S. Cross-Country Program Director, a position he’s held for three years. He sat down with FasterSkier’s Ken Roth to discuss the upcoming World Cup season, and an overview of the U.S. program. What exactly is the job of Program Director? I oversee all aspects of the program for team development, coaches’ education, events, budgets, selection criteria, and all other staff. This includes technicians, volunteer physical therapist, volunteer doctors, sports psychologist, and...

US Ski and Snowboard Coaches Symposium returns in Virtual Format

Convened for the first time since the pandemic, USSS’s biennial coaches National Coaches’ Symposium brings focus to US Skiing’s progress, and highlights the ever-evolving nature of the sport. Last held in 2019, the US Ski and Snowboard’s National Coaches’ Symposium has traditionally provided insight into program priorities and training philosophies of those coaches working directly with the US Ski Team. With in-person conventions having been interrupted by the Covid pandemic, this season’s re-convening of the...

Join the National Coaches’ Ed. Symposium

Dear Cross Country Community, The staff from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Cross Country Team will host a 2022 Cross Country National Coaches’ Symposium this next week on October 28th and 29th. Please click on the previous link to register. The Symposium will take place via Zoom to keep costs low and facilitate greater participation by our community. Here is a link to the Presentation Schedule and Presenter Bios. The Symposium will count towards 8 Continuing Education Credits for...

Schutzenski:  Biathlon and Nordic Blaze the Trails

Clear, crisp autumn mornings in the Heber Valley are a delight to the senses: scrub oak and sumac color the high slopes, willow and cottonwood fill the dry washes, and the scents of cedar and sage waft up from nearby flats. On just such a morning—dry, windless, and cool—this section of “Utah’s Alps” rang with the sounds of cheering along the trails and the pops of rifles on the range. Schutzenski Festival 2022 had arrived...

Q&A with US Ski D-Team Coach Kristen Bourne: How her Journey in Coaching Inspired a New Fellowship

Earlier this month, the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), in partnership with the Women Ski Coach’s Association (WSCA) and the Olympic Women’s Cross-Country Book Project, announced the Trail to Gold Fellowship. The Fellowship aims to correct for a historical gender imbalance in U.S. coaching at the club, collegiate, and international level by providing fellows with funding to complete a two-week internship with the U.S. Ski Team on the World Cup this winter. The Trail to Gold Fellowship...

Three weeks down under: Diggins and Kern find snow in Australia

You might imagine traveling from the U.S. to Australia as being an arduous marathon of flights- and it is- but as Jessie Diggins points out, it turns out to be about the same length of journey time as the U.S. Ski Team makes annually when heading to Ruka, Finland for the first World Cup of the season. “So in my head, I was ready for it to be like this crazy long, super hard travel,”...

US Ski and Snowboard WC Period 1 Nominations

Dear Cross Country Community,   We are pleased to announce the XC Team for Period 1 of the 2022-23 World Cup season: Ruka Sprint C, Lillehammer Sprint F, Beitostølen Sprint C, Davos Sprint F Men Adam Martin                            Objective          21-22 Overall SuperTour Leader JC Schoonmaker                        Objective          19th 21-22 Sprint World Cup Ben Ogden                                Objective          30th 21-22 Sprint World Cup Kevin Bolger                             Discretion         39 Sprint Points 21-22 Season Luke Jager                                Discretion         17 Sprint Points 21-22 Season Logan...

U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Announces Selection Criteria for 2023-24

Dear Cross Country Community, You can find the newly posted U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Selection Criterion for 2023-24 here: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/sport-programs/criteria/us-cross-country-team-criteria The criterion utilizes the same selection methods used in past seasons, and reverts to relying on a published FIS points list (8th list of the 22-23 season) now that the FIS has begun to run single-year points lists again. As always, please be sure to reach out if you have any questions or concerns....

Sophia Laukli Wins Norway’s Marquee Rollerski Race, Climbing to Top of Fjord and Podium in Lysebotn

It’s the kind of event that explains Norwegian’s love for cross country skiing – it represents all they want to represent about themselves, and nothing else. In the humid, green summer, some of the world’s best winter athletes come to the coastal town of Sandnes in the country’s south for four days of roller skiing racing – the Blink Festival – in which spectators will pack nearly every inch of town center, mountainside, or arena...

US Ski and Snowboard Sets Selection Criteria for 2022-23 World Cup and 2023 World Championships

Dear Cross Country Community, Now that World Cup and SuperTour calendars for the 2022-23 season are confirmed, we have finalized the 2023 Nordic World Championships selection criterion and the 2022-23 World Cup selection criterion.  Both criteria have been approved by the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sport Committee. The Nordic World Championships criterion for Planica, SLO 2023 can be found here: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/sport-programs/criteria/cross-country-world-championships-criteria The Cross Country World Cup criterion for 2022-23 can be found here: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/sport-programs/criteria/cross-country-world-cup-criteria Both...

Q&A with New Faces on the U.S. Ski Team: Walker Hall

U.S. Ski & Snowboard recently announced its U.S. Ski Team nominations for the 2022-23 season. Of the 22 athletes named to the team this season, six were not on the previous year’s roster, either newly named or renamed: Michael Earnhart, Walker Hall, Zak Ketterson, Will Koch, Finn O’Connell, and Sammy Smith. To help fans get to know these new(er) faces, FasterSkier is doing a series of interviews, providing insights into the factors that have contributed...

Q & A with New Faces on the US Ski Team: Michael Earnhart

U.S. Ski & Snowboard recently announced its U.S. Ski Team nominations for the 2022-23 season. Of the 22 athletes named to the team this season, six were not on the previous year’s roster, either newly named or renamed: Michael Earnhart, Walker Hall, Zak Ketterson, Will Koch, Finn O’Connell, and Sammy Smith. To help fans get to know these new(er) faces, FasterSkier is doing a series of interviews, providing insights into the factors that have contributed to development,...

Two Years In, the BSF Pro Team is on the Rise: An Interview with Head Coach Andy Newell

In the spring of 2020, the Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) launched a new professional racing team, led by Andy Newell, who spent nearly two decades on the U.S. Ski Team as a staple and leader of the American men’s program. Launching early in the pandemic, the BSF Pro Team had few opportunities to show their strength in the first race season, but they came on strong in 2021-22. During U.S. Nationals in Soldier Hollow in...

Q&A with New Faces on the U.S. Ski Team: Sammy Smith

U.S. Ski & Snowboard recently announced its U.S. Ski Team nominations for the 2022-23 season. Of the 22 athletes named to the team this season, six were not on the previous year’s roster, either newly named or renamed: Michael Earnhart, Walker Hall, Zak Ketterson, Will Koch, Finn O’Connell, and Sammy Smith. To help fans get to know these new(er) faces, FasterSkier is doing a series of interviews, providing insights into the factors that have contributed...