Andy Newell didn’t have time to make a game plan. It all came kind of naturally. The 27-year-old U.S. Ski Team veteran (who also skis for the Stratton Mountain School T2 Team) was pretty busy worrying about whether he’d have enough time to warm up for the inaugural WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic on Friday, and how late that school bus he was following was going to make him. Turns out he had just enough time...
You can say a lot about Marty Hall—and, in fact, most of it has probably already been said. The former coach of the American and Canadian national cross-country ski teams is an outspoken and prolific observer of the sport today, but that’s nothing new. He famously implied that the Russians were doping at the 1988 Olympic Games, and an Ottawa newspaper story upon his departure from the Canadian squad referred to him as the “opinionated...
Before the sun rises in Canmore, Alberta, those near the ski trails can probably hear the sounds of striding and skating along hard-packed snow this time of year. That’s likely accompanied by voices, chit-chatting as skiers compete 1.8-kilometer loops around the Canmore Nordic Centre before trail passes go on sale at 9 a.m. They’re not exactly renegades, night owls or extreme enthusiasts. For the most part, these individuals belong to clubs – some of which...
When the head of F.A.S.T. Performance Training in Hayward, Wis., Bill Pierce heard Tad Elliott pulled off a cross-Atlantic trip to win the American Birkebeiner last February, he knew he had to have him back in town. Matt Liebsch, one of the Midwest’s nordic heroes and 2009 Birkie champion, thought the same. In July, F.A.S.T. held its first “Train Like a Birkie Champion” “Live & Ski Like a Champion” Purpose: This camp designed for the...
When Kikkan Randall talks about being injured, her tone matches the description of any other day: the sun is shining; life is good. For more than two months, the 29-year-old U.S. Ski Team (USST) veteran has been
Is it based on the number of km of trails, number of skiers, skiers per capita, or some other criteria? We at the National Nordic Foundation (NNF) believe it should be contributions to our status as a “Nordic Nation” We call on all citizens of America’s Nordic ski towns to participate in the NNF’s Nordic Town USA Challenge. The National Nordic Foundation exists to support tomorrow’s Nordic stars today and thereby grow our status as...
The U.S. Nordic Ski Team’s final dryland camp of the season starts in earnest on Monday, but many of its athletes are already getting after it in Park City, Utah. Liz Stephen, Noah Hoffman and Tad Elliott generally live in the high-altitude training mecca when they’re not traveling, and Jessie Diggins arrived almost a week ago. According to U.S. Ski Team (USST) head coach Chris Grover, the Alaska Pacific University (APU) athletes rolled into town...
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Exactly a week ago, 40 elite skiers threw down some solid efforts at a U.S. Ski Team (USST) classic rollerski time trial, with the fastest men and women moving on to their respective quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Sophie Caldwell and Andy Newell of the Stratton Mountain School T2 Team topped the women’s and men’s fields in the sprint workout. For more about the races,
Fischer Skis Announces 2012-2013 Athlete Signings, Led by World Cup Champion Kikkan Randall Eight of Thirteen U.S. Ski Team Cross-Country Racers Choose Fischer Skis AUBURN, N.H. — September 25, 2012 — Fischer Skis announced today that four of the six A Team athletes on the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team have committed to race on Fischer skis through the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Ala.), Andrew Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.), Kris Freeman (Andover,...
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Friday morning’s U.S. Ski Team workout at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg nordic trails wasn’t designed to be too hard. According to men’s coach Jason Cork, the idea was to run with poles and ski bound for 45 minutes at Level 3 – a sort of tempo pace. Once a couple dozen athletes between the U.S. Ski Team (USST) and National Elite Group (NEG) got going around the designated loop, most realized...
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Flinging around a sharp corner about a ski length behind one another, Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain School T2 Team), Ida Sargent (Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Caitlin Patterson (CGRP) and Jessie Diggins (SMS) each lowered into a tuck and prepared for a long, steep descent. Diggins called out to the others just ahead of her in the classic rollerski sprint at Lake Placid’s Olympic Jumping Complex. “That’s it,” the U.S. Ski Team...
FasterSkier would like to thank the last summer when he nearly bested Canadian National Team Biathlete Marc-Andre Bedard in the grueling Spartan Beast Race in Killington, Vt. — though Bedard got the win when Dorais doubled back on the course to tackle several missed obstacles. However, one should not expect Dorais to round out a World Championship relay team any time soon. While his performance is still impressive impressive, the 34-year-old was aided by quick rolling...
FasterSkier would like to thank the Official Results: NYSEF Climb to the Castle Women — Matt Voisin contributed reporting
WILMINGTON, N.Y. — The view from partially up Whiteface Mountain on Wednesday morning was about as picturesque as they get. From the trail, one could see that the leaves had started to turn shades of red and yellow — just in time for the U.S. Ski Team’s fall training camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. Way down below, a few small dots proceeded up the dirt access road: first to warm up, then to get after...
Last week in Anchorage, a freak windstorm rolled through that would have devastated most mainland Americans. Gusts estimated at 130 miles per hour spewed trees across Alaska’s largest city, leaving at least a thousand residents without power through Saturday – almost four days after the storm hit Tuesday night. In a phone interview, U.S. Ski Team member Kikkan Randall said the electricity and all the lights at her home came on at 2:15 a.m. Saturday....
Since its six-skier strong elite club based in the resort town of Stratton, Vt. Stratton Mountain School (SMS) graduates Andy Newell and Skyler Davis were originally part of the program. This year, the two U.S. Ski Team (USST) members are joined by three Dartmouth graduates — Eric Packer, Sophie Caldwell and Erika Flowers — and USST member Jessie Diggins, formerly of Central Cross Country (CXC). Head coach Gus Kaeding also came from CXC, where he was an...
Noah Hoffman has been all over the world this summer in search of snow, and in less than a week the U.S. Ski Team member will be jetting off again to find more. This time he’s headed to the Southern Hemisphere along with teammate Kris Freeman to train at the Snow Farm, New Zealand’s premier cross-country ski field and, until this year, a regular U.S. training destination. It won’t be the first time this summer...
It’s almost September, and let’s be honest, you’re in great shape. Or you’re almost there. Just a little longer distances, some slightly harder efforts and bam! You suddenly feel a tickle in your throat. Your head’s pounding, your legs are shot and your heart races when you start working out. You’re having trouble sleeping and this head cold is something you hadn’t bargained for. What gives? Probably overtraining. “Pish-posh,” you think. “I’m not an elite...
Between training on an Austrian glacier and inside a ski tunnel in Germany, a guy’s got to have some off-snow fun. Not that skiing isn’t fun, but when it’s your job, an offer to play pickup soccer with several top Norwegian and German nordic skiers is difficult to pass up. For Andy Newell, the invite came nonchalantly from Norwegian men’s coach Trond Nystad, who previously headed the U.S. Ski Team. With little notice, the 27-year-old...
Just over a week ago, five U.S. Ski Team women and one Canadian packed their bags in various parts of the world and set off to meet in Sweden. Usually faced with the task of preparing for months of overseas travel, some might have scratched their heads. What do you bring for just two weeks? Americans Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen had already been in Europe for nearly a month, first competing in the Blink...