This article has been updated with additional information on pro skiers who volunteered with Skiku, and additional pictures from Montana and New York. * * * It’s the last week of April. Skier New Year, May 1, looms next Tuesday. It’s roughly six months till So, caveat lector: Just because your favorite skier has been taking a well-deserved break from finding and curating Instagram-worthy content for your enjoyment, this doesn’t mean that they’ve been sitting on their...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) 2018 Youth and Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 18-year-old Grace Gilliland, who is representing the United States at her second World Youth Championships. On Friday, Gilliland placed 55th in the youth women’s 6 k sprint, meeting her...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) 2018 Youth and Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 16-year-old Helen Wilson, who is representing the United States at her second Youth World Championships. On Wednesday’s 3 x 6 k. *** “My full name is Helen Wilson but...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 18-year-old Luke Jager, of Alaska Pacific University (APU), who’s representing the U.S. at his first Junior Worlds. Jager started his week by racing to 60th in the freestyle sprint then...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — No two races are exactly alike, the saying goes, and there’s a lot of truth to this cliché. But if you step back just a little bit, two race days can start to look awfully similar to one another. For example, for the second time this week, a Hanneman brother won the sprint qualifier, Reese Hanneman won the final, and Alaska Pacific University (APU) put three athletes in the final and two on...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Friday was a good day for Team Hanneman and its friends. Younger brother Logan Hanneman won the qualifier, older brother Reese Hanneman won the final, and Alaska Pacific University (APU) put three skiers in the final and two on the podium in the men’s freestyle sprint on a bluebird day at Kincaid Park on Day 2 of racing at the 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships. A long day of sprint racing got...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — It was what most locals, or those familiar to the area, referred to as standard Anchorage weather: heavy, wet snow, temperatures reading around 31 degrees Fahrenheit, and a darkened sky that seemed to be brooding over whether or not to let the sun out of bed — the sky covered in a shroud of gray. With the Pacific Ocean just 600 meters to the southwest and Kincaid Park’s nordic venue, the host...
HATCHER PASS, above Palmer, Alaska — Thank you Ullr for the early-season weather and snow! The 2017/2018 ski season started for me on Sept. 30 with an overnight trip to the Snowbird Glacier in the Talkeetna Mountains above Palmer. The Mat-Su Ski Club (MSSC) believed to be the first cross-country ski race in the U.S. this winter, and the first ski race on natural snow anywhere on the continent. The race was held under partly cloudy skis and...
Note: We’re seeking submissions for this year’s “U.S. or info@fasterskier.com with the subject line: “Fall Skiing”. Deadline for submissions is Nov. 3. *** HATCHER PASS, above Palmer, Alaska — Winter is in the eye of the beholder, but whatever you’re looking for to mark the skier’s favorite season, this spot at 3,500 feet in the Talkeetna Mountains probably has it. Seven kilometers of groomed trails? Check. Literally Extra Blue conditions? Check. A nearby lodge with a...
The following Regional Elite Group (REG) camp recap was submitted by NSCF-FXC Interim Head Coach Alasdair Tutt. FasterSkier encourages coaches and athletes from any regional offseason camps (dryland or on-snow, in the U.S., Canada or abroad) to submit their own recaps and photos to Western and previous REG camps. The course saw the athletes wind up beside an alpine run before appearing out onto the road overlooking the sea. The fastest times were set by Ti Donaldson and...
NCAA Skiing Championships (Jackson, N.H.): 15/20 k freestyle mass starts On the final day of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Skiing Championships in northern New Hampshire, the University of Utah pulled out a 16.5-point victory over the University of Colorado-Boulder (and finished 17.5 points ahead of the University of Denver) in the team standings, and the Petra Hyncicova, achieved their second-straight titles in as many nordic races this week. On a frigid Saturday morning in Jackson,...
Press release) The newest installment of the community’s biggest ski event marks 100 years of ski racing in Anchorage ANCHORAGE – Nordic skiers from around Alaska and beyond will celebrate snow and 100 years of ski racing in our community at the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage’s premier event, the Tour of Anchorage on Sunday, March 5. This year’s event will also mark the first traditional Tour in three years – low snow the past...
Qaniq Challenge 2017 by the numbers: Two days, 35 kilometers, three feet of fresh snow. 33 racers. $10,000 purse. Why the country's second-richest cross-country ski race is in Valdez, Alaska, in mid-January.
What does Craftsbury's Caitlin Patterson pack first when she head's to Europe, for example for the first period of World Cup racing this season? "Metaphorically, I pack my camera first. Physically the camera doesn't go into the bottom of my bag, that would be my ski boots."
The previously scheduled rally to #savealaskaskiing suddenly became more a celebration than a wake, as local supporters gathered in Anchorage on Thursday afternoon to celebrate that morning’s decision and talk about what comes next. Another gathering was held in Fairbanks at the same time.
#savealaskaskiing may have achieved its mission, as the NCAA’s decision not to take any action on the University of Alaska’s waiver request has led the school’s president to recommend against eliminating any sports on either campus.
After top-20 individual finishes at the last two World Junior Championships, Torchia is moving into the U23 category and pumped up to do it in Utah: "Time to defend our home turf from the Russians and Norwegians."
Ski racing on natural snow has returned to North America. APU skier Scott Patterson used Saturday morning's Race to the Outhouse #1 to "lay down the law on some juniors and masters" en route to an easy victory.
University of Alaska officials previously suggested that all sports had been viewed equally as they attempted to balance the budget. But new documents appear to suggest that men's ice hockey is more equal than others.
The earliest FIS race ever held on natural snow in the Northern Hemisphere occurred in Fairbanks on this date in 1996. It was also one of the best races that two-time Olympian Ben Husaby ever had.