Though temperatures hadn’t dropped much at Soldier Hollow on Thursday, things felt different. The pure blue skies that had been a reliable fact of life at this year’s US Cross Country Ski National Championships (US Nationals) were clouded over as skiers took to the course for Skate Sprint qualifying. Temperatures hovered just below freezing creating fast, abrasive, consistent snow. The result was consistent wax conditions between morning qualifying and afternoon heats. Men’s Skate Sprint Two...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support Fasterskier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. Today marked the return of the World Cup to the alpine valley of Davos, Switzerland. Davos, normally a luxury festooned playground for rock stars, politicians, royalty, and assorted billionaires would...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. The temperature was a balmy -11℃ (12℉). A glow hung in the sky and new snow decorated the trees; a welcoming winter scene in Ruka, Finland. With the FIS Cross-Country...
After eight years at the helm of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 team, head coach Pat O’Brien is in the process of taking a few steps back, passing the reins to Perry Thomas, who has spent the last five years as the assistant coach at the University of Vermont. Perhaps highlighting this transition and the sharing of responsibilities the two are in the process of navigating, FasterSkier connected with Thomas in mid-May while he...
While World Cup Finals were underway in mid-March in Falun, Sweden, a second contingent of top American skiers was lining up roughly 2,000 kilometers south to race in the OPA Cup Finals in Sappada, Italy. Located along the northern edge of Italy near the Austrian border, the small town is nestled among the spectacular, jagged massifs of the Italian Dolomites, roughly an hour’s drive east of Toblach, which typically hosts the final stages of the...
“You need some Gordie Howe elbows out there today” said the commentator on the live feed at one point during Friday’s Team Sprint in Whistler. You know, just in case you needed a reminder that this is Canadian Nationals. Alongside his legacy as one of hockey’s greatest players of all time, leaving his mark on the sport as an indomitable force with both his goal scoring and dynamism on the ice, Howe was known as...
FasterSkier’s American Birkebeiner coverage is made possible through the generous support of New Moon Ski & Bike in Hayward, Wisconsin. While you are at the Birkie be sure to visit New Moon Ski & Bike for all your local expertise. Among the final major races in the ski world in 2020, the Slumberland American Birkebeiner pulled off an event with all the festivities for which the storied event is known. It was pure Birkie fever,...
By Ian Tovell and Rachel Bachman Perkins Find FasterSkier’s coverage of Friday’s freestyle sprints here. Saturday: 10 k Interval Start Classic After another 4+ inches of snow fell throughout the day on Friday, NENSA described the conditions for today’s 10-kilometer interval start race as a “banner day for classic skiing” on the two-lap course at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. The weekend of racing, titled the Henchey Memorial Carnival, included athletes of all levels, was described...
SuperTour racing continued on Friday in Craftsbury, Vermont, as part of the Henchey Memorial Carnival, which also included Eastern Cup and collegiate racing. The three-day event is presented by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, NENSA, U.S. Ski & Snowboard, and the University of Vermont (UVM), the EISA carnival host school. Racers were faced with snowy conditions for the opening 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint as a winter storm made its way across the Northeast. Friday morning’s grooming report...
Here’s a quick results recap from today’s SuperTour 10-kilometer mass start freestyle race in Lake Placid, NY. Stay tuned tomorrow for detailed coverage including comments from athletes. Racing continued at Mt. Van Hoevenberg this morning in what Weather.com called “bitterly cold” conditions. Near-zero temperatures and skate skiing can be a challenging combination for a distance race on a World Cup–level course, but racers nonetheless put together strong performances on the three-lap 10-kilometer course. In the...
By Rachel Bachman Perkins and Ben Theyerl After a brief break, the SuperTour picked up in Lake Placid this weekend, with a fluoro-free Period III kicking off with a 1.5-kilometer classic sprint. The frigid forecast called for overnight lows of -5 Fahrenheit, with a wind chill as low as -23F. Highs during the day were only predicted to climb into the low single digits. Qualifiers were scheduled for 10/10:45 am, with quarterfinals for the open...
Here’s a quick results recap from today’s SuperTour classic sprint in Lake Placid, NY. Stay tuned tomorrow for detailed coverage including comments from athletes. Period III of SuperTour racing kicked off in Lake Placid this morning with a frigid classic sprint. Recent improvements at Mt Hoevenberg included a new 5-kilometer World Cup and 1.5k sprint course, where athletes faced off today. On the men’s race, Zak Ketterson (Team Birkie) skied the fastest time in the...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Every Grand Tour must have a Queen Stage. Dreamt up by organizers, meant to stand at the crux of the race, animate its characters, and start the action...
By Rachel Bachman Perkins and Gavin Kentch After a successful opening weekend of SuperTour racing in Duluth, Minnesota, athletes, coaches, and techs made the short trek down to Birkieland for three days of racing out of the Birkie Trailhead in Cable, Wisconsin. APU skiers Rosie Frankowski and Tyler Kornfield came into Friday morning as the points leaders for the early-season SuperTour races. By Sunday afternoon, the leaders were, unofficially, Alayna Sonnesyn of SMS and Zak...
By Gavin Kentch and Rachel Bachman Perkins The SuperTour returned this weekend with races in Duluth, Minnesota, held on the new snowmaking courses at Grand Avenue Nordic Center. The weekend included all levels of racing, with green juniors lining up to race alongside the veterans racing on the SuperTour, and a strong sense of community and cross-country ski energy across the board. Skiers like to ski; athletes were glad to be back. Alaska Pacific University...
Team name and location: SMS T2 Team; Stratton Mountain, Vermont Coach: Patrick O’Brien Current roster: Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern, Katharine Ogden, Alayna Sonnesyn, Lina Sutro (women); Ian Torchia, Bill Harmeyer, Ben Ogden, Will Koch (men) Who’s new: Lina Sutro, coming from the University of Vermont ski team Who’s moved on: Sophie Caldwell Hamilton and Simi Hamilton, who celebrated their second wedding anniversary earlier this year, retired from pro skiing last spring and are beginning a new life...
As summer turned to fall, skiers from the Stratton Mountain School T2 team (SMS T2), the Sun Valley Gold Team (SVSEF), and the Bridger Ski Foundation Pro Team (BSF) met in Lake Placid, NY for a collaborative training camp, capped off with two stages of rollerski racing. The weekend featured a freestyle sprint event — The Keys to the Castle — on the rollerski track at Mt Van Hoevenberg, followed by a distance stage dubbed...
For most serious ski racers, the training calendar begins anew somewhere around the first of May. As such, the weeks between the final World Cup races (or Spring Series in a typical year) and the beginning of May is regarded as “off-season”. The primary goal is not necessarily to remain sedentary, rather to fill up your cup. To enjoy the activities that a full training and racing load might prohibit, to (safely) spend time with...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. If you had any question about the strength and depth of the Swedish sprint team, look no further than the qualification list from today’s classic sprint in Falun. Led...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. In case you missed it, yesterday’s 10-kilometer skate in Falun, Sweden was a standout day for the Americans, highlighted by a gutsy victory by Jessie Diggins. How deep into...