Devon and Nat go guest-less for this opening episode of 2023, recapping the first two stages of the Tour de Ski in Val Müstair, Switzerland. We’ve got full breakdowns of flashy performances by Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and a Jessie Diggins debacle in the opening sprint race. We’ll be back with another episode mid-week as the tour rolls on; hit us with questions or emails at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com
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. There’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, and then there’s everyone else: that’s what was proven in Sunday’s 10 k Pursuit at the Tour de Ski in Val Mustair, Switzerland. There were the...
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. On Sunday, Val Mustair, Switzerland played host to Stage 2 of the 2023 Tour de Ski: a 10 k Classic Pursuit. The Pursuit isn’t just a distance race. It’s...
The world of skiing is changing and Canada is changing with it. This season, Canada has a new head coach and is hitting the Tour de Ski for the first time in four years. New head coach Robin McKeever is bringing nine athletes, five wax techs, an osteopath, a coach, and a wax truck to Val Mustair. This is less bodies than Norway’s wax team, but it is still a big commitment from a country...
The FIS World Cup tour returned from a two-week holiday break, reconvening in Val Mustair, Switzerland for Stage 1 of the 17th Tour de Ski. A daunting mid-season challenge, the Tour de Ski (TDS) consists of seven stages contested over nine exhausting days, concluding next Sunday atop the Alpe di Cermis in Val di Fiemme, Italy. At the start of this year’s tour, all eyes were on Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), who finds himself in...
Editors note: FasterSkier’s coverage of FIS Cross Country World Cup Period I has been a cooperative effort among three dedicated staff writers: Ben Theyerl, Ken Roth, and John Teaford. Many early mornings, many calls and texts, many quotes and comments, many unforgiving deadlines bring this reporting to FasterSkier’s readers. We hope their insights have served to improve everyone’s enjoyment of the excellent racing witnessed in Period I, and that they can serve to prepare viewers...
Just the other day, a guy walked into a local cross-country ski area where a women’s World Cup race broadcast was streaming. Another patron asked him who he thought would win? He didn’t know what the race was or who the favorite was. But without so much as the bat of an eye, he replied, “Weng”—The odds were in his favor. Weng family members involved in World Cup skiing are a combination of cousins, sisters,...
Dear Cross Country Community, We are pleased to announce the USA Cross Country Team for World Cup Period 2 of the 2022-23 season: Tour de Ski 2022-23 Men Finn O’Connell Objective SuperTour Leader Ben Ogden Objective 8th World Cup Sprint, 12th Overall World Cup JC Schoonmaker Objective 19th World Cup Sprint Gus Schumacher Objective 29th World Cup Distance Hunter Wonders Objective 35th World Cup Distance Scott Patterson Discretion 14th Ruka 20 km F Pursuit...
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. Norway has long been a dominant force in cross country skiing, but that dominance may never have been more clearly evident than now. Norwegian men have claimed victory in the...
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. Today the World Cup returned to Davos, Switzerland where the women competed in the 20 k Individual Start Freestyle. As has been the case for the last several weeks, much...
Øystein Pettersen, the Norwegian Olympic champion also known as “Pølse,” or “Sausage,” joins the show to break down an epic weekend of racing in Switzerland — and to help Devon and Nat come up with ways to save the World Cup men’s distance racing from permanent Norwegian domination. As always, we’re at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com if you’ve got questions or feedback.
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. Today marked the return of the World Cup to the alpine valley of Davos, Switzerland. Davos, normally a luxury festooned playground for rock stars, politicians, royalty, and assorted billionaires would...
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. At an elevation of 5,118 feet above sea level, Davos Switzerland is the highest stop on the FIS cross Country World Cup tour—high enough that its elevation has definite effects...
The FIS instituted an overhaul of the points system used to determine the best individual skier in the World. We’re already seeing the consequences. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo had won all three races of the World Cup’s opening weekend races in Ruka. Any offseason doubts spurred by reports of his injuries or independent training practices went away. He was still the best skier in the world. Then, the following Friday in Lillehammer, illness forced Klaebo to...
A second weekend of racing in Norway left us with some breakout performances alongside the big names. Kikkan Randall, the Olympic gold medalist from Alaska, joins us for the recap. We’re at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com if you’ve got questions or feedback. See you next week.
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. In the third week of World Cup racing, the defining question seemed to be not who would be first to the finish line, but who was missing from the starting...
Norway in midwinter can take on the appearance of a snow globe: quaint little cabins covered in snow, drooping pines coated in layers of white, skiers trailing through the woods. That was the scene in Beitostolen, Norway for day two of the FIS Cross Country World Cup. Skiers awoke to withering cold with low temperatures creating squeaky snow on the race course. Waxing for kick would not be a problem, but enduring the cold for...
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. The women’s 10 kilometer individual classic race was held on the second day of the FIS World Cup stop in Beitostolen, Norway. So far this season, distance racing has been...
The sun had begun to set in Beitostolen, Norway. The day—and the day’s racing—entered its golden hour as Norwegian fans anticipated more success for World Cup Sprint Leader, Paal Golberg (NOR). That all changed in a flash as Golberg—wearing the yellow Leader’s bib—crashed on a curve in the men’s Classic Sprint final. Golberg fumbled in the snow, a stark contrast to the control he has shown through the first few weeks of this year’s World...
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. Today, the FIS World Cup travelled to the Norwegian countryside town of Beitostolen, Norway, a three-hour drive from Oslo. It would be the first time in the hamlet’s history that...