Training

During the races at Beitostœlen, the Ski Foundation and the Institute of Sport Science collected wide-ranging data. The coordinator for the ski foundation and former U.S. national team coach, Vidar Lœfshus, explained the background. Significant Differences “Nordic skiing is a sport of margins and we are interested in finding areas where we can improve. We filmed technique and tactics in different types of terrain. The results are not ready, but there are significant differences between...

Editor's Note: This article was written earlier in the fall, but is still applicable as many of us are still in the middle of the transition to skiing. I’m sitting in my hotel room here about as far north as you can get in Finland. Sariselkaa is the place, a little town with a focus on Nordic skiing. The conditions are terrific here, with 5km of “train” track loops that will soon be 8 km,...

What's the one thing you are really nagging the skiers on right now? Right now, I’m really focusing on technique while also working strength. We’re doing a lot of double-poling, no-poles skiing and pull-ups. We also do a fair amount of speed and coordination work. I can’t absolutely say that doing agility drills and speed-work will make my skiers faster, but I can hope that when they play pick-up ultimate in college they won’t embarrass...

The 7th Annual New England Women's XC Ski Day, sponsored by TD Banknorth is a cross country event “for women, by women,” inspired by similar events in Norway (the Inga Lama) and Alaska (the Anchorage Women's Ski Day). Every woman interested in learning or improving her time on cross country skis is welcome to participate. Women are also encouraged to make it a weekend and stay at the www.nensa.net or mail to: Event Directors, P.O....

Several more inches of snow fell Saturday night in Foret Montmorency and the weather pattern looks as if it'll keep dropping snow on us a little bit at a time all week. The skiing is excellent! There are a ton of people here but most of the Canadian groups appear to be packing up. Along with UVM it looks like Stratton, Maine Coast Nordic, St Lawrence, and Bates are all here for some part of...

Bolton Valley, Vermont received 6″-8″ of nice snow Thursday and Friday. It was enough to get the snowmobile and small pull-behind-groomer out and do some packing. This made for both great skate and classic skiing. Broadway is the prefect place for early season no pole practice and distance skiing. There were some high school racers and college skiers out there today doing classic technique. For more early snow images from Bolton Valley visit, http://boltonnordic.wordpress.com

Why do I continue to train at competitive cross country skiing? This is a question that I get asked by many different people. My response to that question comes from a coach that I worked with when I was younger. She always said to me “You have to enjoy what you’re doing to succeed at it, to train well you must enjoy the training.” This little phrase has stuck with me from the moment I...

** Editors note: This will be a twice-monthly column highlighting our ski coaches from around the country… including elite coaches, college coaches, high school coaches, volunteer coaches, and learn-to-ski coaches. This is an effort to sample a diverse group of coaches and recognize the people who are the backbone of today’s skiers. If you would like to nominate a coach for an interview, please email rob@fasterskier.com. Please give coach’s name, email, and a several paragraph...

Continental Cup Team athletes recently completed a successful training and testing camp in Park City, UT. While the main goals of the camp for these development athletes were placed on training and altitude acclimatization for our Super Tour campaign, the Sports Science staff helped continue to track physiological changes in each of these athletes through the use of our treadmill. This treadmill test provides a wealth of physiological markers including Maximum VO2, Lactate Efficiency Curve,...

I hope things are going well out there in the ski world! On my end the season has just started, but for most of you there is still a waiting period. As soon as we get snow the first races will be here before you know it. Personally I am glad to be through with September and October — the two heaviest months of the year. A lot of hard training was laid down in...

Send your best “Fall Training” photo to FasterSkier.com and you could win a limited edition FasterSkier ski cap as well as one of several ski-related accessories from Fischer…not to mention the fame and glory of winning! Thanks to Fischer (

For a cross-country skier, there is nothing worse than the anxiety of waiting for that first snow to fall. The angst grows as deep as a bridled race horse waiting for the gates to open. All that we want to do is glide! Is it too much to ask that the weather reciprocate our enthusiasm? My options are limited compared to previous years. In my final semester of college, I don’t have the luxury of...

Editor’s Note: While Sportbladet and Kalla claim this to be a “radical” new form of training, intensity block methods, pioneered by Norweigan Jan Helgerud, have been in use in various forms for some years. Canadian Beckie Scott used this type of training on her way to second place overall in the World Cup in 2006. Swedish newspaper Sportbladet reports on the training of Charlotte Kalla. Hard training is going to take Kalla to the top:...

** Editors note: This will be a twice-monthly column highlighting our ski coaches from around the country… including elite coaches, college coaches, high school coaches, volunteer coaches, and learn-to-ski coaches. This is an effort to sample a diverse group of coaches and recognize the people who are the backbone of today’s skiers. If you would like to nominate a coach for an interview, please email rob@fasterskier.com. Please give coach’s name, email, and a several paragraph...