This is part three in the “Road to Recovery' series. It has been many weeks since part two, and for that I apologize. But in a way, this is good news for me. After all, the fact that I have been too busy skiing to sit down and write part three means that my fractured collarbone must be healing well. That is true, but I am getting ahead of myself. Lets back up a bit…...
Frode Estil, Olympic and World Cross-Country Champion, warns ambitious young skiers against dropping their education in favor of sports. Even though there may be good money to make in Cross-Country, Frode Estil (31) is in no doubt when claiming: Cross-Country skiers should combine their skiing with education. – As a skier you have plenty of time to combine skiing and education. There is quite a risk in dropping out of school for a sport where...
Editor: Dave Knoop is one of our Fasterskier training partners, and is famous in our group for his adventurous, high-speed, and “bonkable” outings. I drove up to the Strawberry Reservoir area a little late on a Sunday am, about 10 am in the morning only to find it a well preserved winter wonderland everything still frozen and white as far as the eye could see even the reservoir looked mid winter frozen. Meanwhile a few...
JoAnn Hanowski has been one of the top female skiers on Team Rossignol for the past 15 years. She resides in Duluth, MN and is an avian ecologist at the University of MN Duluth. It seemed like a simple plan, after 5 marathons in 8 weeks, I would end my ski season by skiing across Finland. No race entries and travel logistics, no flourocarbon waxes, no worries about mass starts and snow conditions. The idea...
Norwegian Cross-Country World Cup Sprint stars Jens Arne Svartedal and HÃ¥vard Bjerkeli are among the favorites in the upcoming Norwegian 50 km National Championship. However, a 50 km race is not enough for them, they now have decided to ski the 90 km back home to Lillehammer after the long-distance race. But why? – asks langrenn.com. – As long as we ski far, let’s ski very far, jokes Jens Arne. But seriously, this is about...
This Friday marks the start of the Arctic Ski Race in Greenland. The race takes place through the magnificent countryside around Sisimiut on Greenland's west coast approx. 65 km north of the Arctic Circle. The total race distance is 160 km. The three-day race takes competitors through the magnificent, varied and sometimes harsh Greenlandic terrain. 3 Olympic participants The ski legend Bjœrn Dæhlie from Norway who is the most winning participant at the winter Olympic...
Park City/Heber Valley, Utah At the 2002 Olympic Venue – Soldier Hollow/ Heber, Utah FasterSkier summer camp – June 10-13, 2004 -Â individual technique reviews, learn the newest and most efficient training methods for Cross-Country skiers. Join us for some great altitude camps on the Olympic trails. Top international teams have raved about the dryland training (rollerskiing and running) and skiing at Soldier Hollow and the surrounding areas in Heber and Park City. Great terrain, scenic...
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Caitlin Cassidy is a member of the Durango, Colorado Nordic Ski Team This past year I have gone through a physical and mental change in my skiing abilities. In the physical aspect, before this change I was puny, and now, I’m ripped; I have built strength and improved my technique these past nine months. The mental change was what sparked the physical change; I had a change in my goals as a skier. Before, my...
Sweden’s Oscar Svard, Daniel Tynell and Henrik Eriksson can brag about something no currently active Norwegian top skiers can be proud of — they have all won the World largest and most prestigious ski marathon, the 90 kilometer long classic style Swedish Vasaloppet. Here is a recent interview from Swedish Skidsport.com. Not afraid of the Norwegians From Skidsport.com Oscar Svard is back on the ski tracks. He is not afraid after seeing all the pre-race...
Havard Bjerkeli was very impressive while winning the World Cup sprint classic in Drammen. He is now considering focusing entirely on the sprint events ” I tried to race regular races in addition to sprints before Christmas. That didn’t pan out well, and I have for that reason done mostly sprint races after Christmas,” explains the sprint winner from Drammen. “The recipe after Christmas has been to prioritize important races and skip certain other races,...
Skjeldal following his 6th place in Holmenkollen: Kristen Skjeldal was the best Norwegian with his 6th place in the 50-kilometer freestyle individual start in Saturday’s World Cup race in Holmenkollen (Oslo), Norway. Skjeldal was left out of the National team this season. He was skiing as fast as the two fastest, Sommerfeldt and Valbusa in several sections of the course. [Norway's] best distance skater is of the opinion that Norwegians need to show more guts...
Interview with the Norwegian Sprint Coach Ulf Morten Aune
The Susitna 100 is a 100 mile race through the frozen wilderness of Alaska. The race course follows remote snow machine trails that are extremely variable in both terrain and snow conditions. Racers can choose their mode of transportation: ski, bike, or run. The race starts at 9 am, and the fastest usually finish by midnight. A biker often wins, but not this year. This year Tim Kelley smoked the field on skis. He completed...
Last time, I introduced you to the plotline: While training for the upcoming ski season, I took a bad fall and shattered my collarbone. So now, instead of documenting my training routine, I am documenting my attempted recovery. For more details, as well as photos and X-rays, click on the link in the right-hand column. Now, back to our story… I tried to mentally prepare myself for the next few weeks. This would give me...
For those of you who don’t already know me, my name is Jess Kiesel. I am a cross country skier racing for the University of Utah. I have been skiing since I could stand and racing for as long as I can remember. I come from an incredible family with an incredible athletic history that includes World Cup wins, Olympic gold medals, U.S. National Championships wins, NCAA Championship wins, Junior Olympic wins and medals, former...
The Swedish 90 Kilometer long Vasaloppet has been a nightmare for Norwegian skiers for more than four decades. One Norwegian World Cup star after another has failed in their quest to become the first Norwegian since Ole “From the forest” Ellefsaeter won it more than 40 years ago! Oddvar Bra, Vegard Ulvang, Bjorn Daehlie, Erling Jevne and dozens of other great 50- kilometer skiers have all come up short to win the “Vasa” Super marathon....
Mass-start cross country ski races is increasing in popularity. Many skiers find themselves in unknown territory when they end up skiing with a small or large group of skiers – a “pack” – during part of, or for the entire race. Here are some suggestions for how to approach pack racing, enjoy the experience and avoid some common mistakes. Drafting It’s less energy demanding to ski behind someone in a race – especially on the...
We’ve all heard it said that in sports you should believe in yourself. Perhaps this is an unattainable ideal. After all, from my own experience the biggest obstacle to success has been controlling the “mental game†which dictates my physical ability to accomplish something. We as athletes, are always trying to be “mentally toughâ€, or to “get in the Gameâ€.  I recently proved to myself the absolute necessity for an athlete to believe in him/her...