More than 80 representatives of the international media and the international sports movement gathered last week at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne (SUI) to examine media and communications issues surrounding the fight against doping in sport. The specific goal of the WADA-hosted Symposium was to allow the media to learn more about the advances made to-date in anti-doping as well as about current opportunities and challenges. Following an introductory address by Jacques Rogge, President of...
NENSA is selling the XC classic Bill Koch: The Cross Country Experience reformatted on DVD. All proceeds will go to support NENSA's youth programming and the New England BKL Festival. For more info: http://www.nensa.net/videos/2006/bk.html Buy the full film reformatted for DVD in 2006. $15. Mail check to: NENSA 49 Pinelands Dr , Suite 301A New Gloucester, ME 04260 or call 207-688-6503 to pay by credit card.
Skiing around the trails in Houghton MI earlier this month with my longtime ski companion Kristina Owen, she said to me, “It doesn't change, does it? We're still skiing around together, talking about life and dreaming about being fast. Only now we're older, more educated, and we spend less time throwing snowballs during practice.” Heading into my first World Championships, I realize how right she was. I am about to start another cycle of racing...
Winters are hard & long up by Strawberry Reservoir located 30 minutes from Heber City, Utah — the home of cross country skiing at the 2002 Olympics. Sunday morning dawned a breezy 10 Fahrenheit up on the ridgeline. It is a place where snowmobilers and xc skiers peacefully coexist on endless trails that are groomed frequently at no charge to its users. Heaven? Well no it's just Utah in winter. Sunday mornings are best to...
This Saturday 86 Fairbanksans signed-in for the third annual Nordic Ski Club Fairbanks Ski Your Age in Kilometers. As the name suggests, participants take to the trails at Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Center with the goal of skiing as many kilometers as their age in years. The event is a very informal affair, loosely organized this year by FXC, the NSCF’s junior racing/training program. Participants show up for the event at a convenient time,...
Part 3 of 3. USST Strength coach Zach Weatherford demonstrates four key strength exercises. The USST recently put out coaches education “Strength and Power Training†CD showing how to develop the strength and power they believe is needed for ski performance. The link to the CD : http://educationshop.ussa.org/ Squat Key Points: • Look straight ahead, keeping one’s head and chest up — this aligns the spine, protecting it from injury. • Keep weight equally distributed...
With so much hype over the Yellowstone “Skiapalooza” Thanksgiving Camp, I figured a story about one of the “other” Thanksgiving camps might be of interest. Since I'm not really among the nation's elite level of Nordic skiers, I just couldn't justify making a long trip from my home in Los Alamos, NM, all the way up to West Yellowstone. It may only be two states away, but that is some serious geography (and in this...
Mystery Alaska? Pretty close. Not everyone attends West Yellowstone in the fall. Up in Anchorage, Alaska, many skiers did not travel to Montana on Thanksgiving weekend. And even though there is skiable snow on the ground in Anchorage, many didn't ski at all. Instead, they took advantage of prime ice skating conditions created by a recent cold snap. On Thanksgiving morning a large group of skiers played hockey on Portage Lake, in front of the...
Kuusamo (FIN) — Following the Olympic Winter Games in Turin, a study was carried out this summer and autumn to evaluate the possible causes for variation in the haemoglobin (Hb) values in elite Cross-Country skiers. Based on the initial findings of the WADA supported study, conducted by Professor Bengt Saltin in cooperation with the German, Swedish and French National Ski Associations, the Hb level is a robust and highly reproduceable variable on the individual level....
Petter Northug is sick but doesn’t know what’s wrong.
Kristin Murer Stemland (25) believes that the road to success is through stability
Finally — a world-class Nordic training camp in the High Sierra. For years Nordic skiers have made the early ski season pilgrimage to West Yellowstone. The High Sierra Nordic Camp is the alternative to this long travel and its high gas prices for the early season shake out the summer-cobwebs ski camp. It is ideally timed, in between holidays, yet still early in the season to provide that all-important jump start to your ski season....
3-day cross-country program designed for all ability levels A huge snow storm has delivered winter to the Colorado Mountains before Haloween this year and things are looking great for the Boulder Nordic Sport Thanksgiving Camp Nov 24-26. Devil’s Thumb has begun grooming trails in preparation for an early opening and conditions look excellent for Thanksgiving week. WHAT: 2006 Boulder Nordic Sport Thanksgiving Cross-Country Ski Camp WHEN: November 24-26, 2006 CAMP COST: $239 per person before...
Petter Northug has to slow down his training toward the Norwegian opening races at Beitostolen since he is coming down from high altitude. The altitude effect makes everything easier at sea-level. The danger of training too hard at sea-level and risking overtraining is therefore high. Northug has been told to be extra careful in the phase that he now approaches. – Focus will be on training easy, and I just have to put the brakes...
TORSBY, Sweden (Oct. 21) – Training by skiing in a tunnel can get boring, but it's usually better than pounding away outside in rain. “The snow in the tunnel is good…and it's even better when it's been raining outside every day,” said Chris Grover, sprint head coach for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. U.S. sprinters Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT), Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) and Chris Cook (Rhinelander, WI) are training in Torsby – in...
Sweden’s head coach Inge BrÃ¥ten doesn’t believe in Swedish sprint-dominance this season.
Øysteinâ€The Sausage†Pettersen is training alone in the Ramsau valley while the rest of the team is training at high altitude.
This past week I learned to bobsled when I joined the U.S. National Bobsledding Team for one week of their training camp at the Lake Placid, NY Olympic Training Center. Somehow, through serendipitous circumstances and the help of bobsled driver Sara Sprung, whom I pushed for, I arranged my own fantasy bobsledding camp during a low-volume training week. I learned how to move the 400 lb sleds around; sharpen and care for the runners; how...
Just as rollerskiing simulates skiing, physiology testing replicates, in isolated fashion, the demands of ski racing. For the third and final time this season the US National Sprint, Distance and Continental Cup teams came to Utah for poking, prodding and measurement. According to the USST sport science and coaching staff, fitness, speed and strength continue a positive trajectory. Pete Vordenberg getting his golf on at Lake Placid’s Bushwood Country Club. (Andrew Johnson photo). Day one...
Results and two pictures from an APU/UAA Time Trial last Saturday up Potter Hill in Anchorage, Alaska. APU coach Holly Brooks commented: “Overall times were slower than one month ago but we had a very strong headwind and rain – this let us see who could tough it out in crummy conditions! (Sometimes a very useful and applicable part of training!) Many of the APU athletes were out of town but a good time nonetheless!...