Tor-Arne Hetland is officially part of the Canadian crew after wrapping up his first training camp with the Canadian World Cup Team in May. Onboard since April, he says he's eager to give the perspective and stability that Cross Country Canada wants. "It is asked for new ideas into the team and I’m ready to give this," Hetland says. "And also more stability in the World Cup."
The U.S. Ski Team recently returned from their first training camp of the season in Bend, Ore. The camp served as fresh start for the team as they work to become the most technically improved team on the World Cup circuit this season.
This week's workout comes from U.S. Ski Team Women's Coach Matt Whitcomb shortly after the team's on-snow camp in Bend, Ore., where they practiced improving technique after watching video clips, then created some footage of their own.
Are your a winter warrior but springtime sally when it comes to skiing? This author asks the question that several not-so-elite skiers might be dying to ask: are rollerskis right for us mortals, and if so, how do we use them without risking road rash?
Sophie Caldwell broke her funny bone just over a week ago during a team mountain-bike session in Bend, Ore., and while it's no laughing matter, she's found humor in the situation. "I actually accidentally found myself in a spin class for senior citizens and it was one of the top ten sweatiest workouts of my life," she explains. "We did stage 14 of the Tour of Italy."
Sarah Max has experience on her side when it comes to multi-sport races. "After a winter of planned workouts, I generally don’t follow a training plan for the Pole Pedal Paddle," the race's four-time winner explains. This year was no different. But she did incorporate running workouts to minimize the "brick" feeling one gets from transitioning from the bike to run.
Matt Briggs, who podiumed in his first Pole Pedal Paddle two weekends ago, talks about race prep for a six-stage event. "This race was basically a full-time job for the three weeks leading up to the race," he says. To remind himself why he was doing it, he did a workout each week called "Sanity Day."
While you're tipping back a beverage of choice this Memorial Day weekend, here's a look at Sylvan Ellefson's new enterprise with the 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Company in Vail, Colo., which pays tribute to the members of the 10th Mountain Division in the form of locally sourced whiskey, bourbon, vodka, and cordials. Ellefson retired from full-time nordic racing this spring.
This week's workout comes from Colette Bourgonje, a 10-time Paralympian who recently retired from the Canadian Para-Nordic Team with 10 Paralympic medals to her name. "I like this workout because of the change in pace, which makes you focus on technique with speed and adds variety with the distance you end up putting in," she says.
"It's not about skiing," Shungnak School Principal Roger Franklin wrote in an email to FasterSkier about NANANordic, newly expanded and known as Skiku. "It's much more, and it's saving lives daily." This year, the program brought skiing to 27 villages in Northwest Alaska.
Taylor Fletcher is not a master blaster, but the 24-year-old U.S. Nordic Combined skier does like to get out for a hard, group road ride a few times a month. Here's an example of a 2 to 2.5-hour workout, or race, depending on your viewpoint, called Wednesday Night Worlds.
Got nothing for mom yet? If you live close, try these Breakfast of Champions bars to make her feel like the superwoman she is. No cooking necessary!
Anyone who follows U.S. racing closely knows the name Patrick O'Brien. He's been a staple at Craftsbury for the last four years, captained the Dartmouth ski team, and is now delving into a career as head coach of the Stratton T2 Team -- something he didn't necessarily anticipate but sees as a good fit and ideal transition.
This week's workout comes from Ezekiel Williams, FasterSkier's newest intern and an athlete at the Alberta World Cup Academy. This time last season, Williams said he really enjoyed doing what his team called, the Agility Sprint Track Workout. "Combine the agility work and lactate threshold building into the short 1:30 hour workout time and it makes for a solid early training-season session," he says.
There could be such a thing as national-team walk-ons as a result of an upcoming US Biathlon tryout camp, a new format of its kind aimed at talented endurance athletes in the J1, OJ or collegiate age category.
“When I look at a trail, I look at it as a big earth sculpture,” Thom Perkins says. It’s the old joke: what do you do with a fine-arts degree? For Perkins, who spent the last 38 years as executive director of the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation, degrees in sculpture and photography led to sculpting land.
Having the opportunity to teach 8 days of cross country skiing to the remote villages of Alaska is both rewarding and demanding. It’s hard to pin down an exact ‘workout’ we do up there, because by the end of just one day, your feet burn, and your mental focus just got tested by 100+ eager Inupiaq kids, thirsty for time on skis. There can, however, be progress made toward personal growth depending on how you want to slice it.
Holly Brooks was the one well-known name left off the U.S. Ski Team's nomination list for 2014/2015, and that's by her choosing, she says. Rather than retire, she's hoping to tweak her training to get back to podium contention, especially in marathons and distance races.
This interview with 19-year-old Austin Huneck gives a glimpse of what it's like to be a postgraduate skier and make the transition to full-time training and racing after high school. Huneck liked it so much, he's onboard with the MWSC for the second-straight year.
Wishing you were with NANANordic teaching skiing in Northwest Alaska right now -- or wonder what the program's like? Check out these videos.