(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Noah Hoffman.) ANCHORAGE, Alaska — It was a day of homecomings and returns at snowy Kincaid Park for the first day of the 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships. Scott Patterson returned to his childhood training grounds with a convincing victory, Noah Hoffman returned to racing at U.S. nationals with second, and Matt Liebsch returned to the nationals podium with third in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle individual...
2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships (Anchorage, Alaska): 10/15 k freestyle Women’s report The Patterson siblings are crushing it on Day 1 of the U.S. Cross Country Championships at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska. Scott Patterson raced to a 55.2-second victory over Noah Hoffman in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle individual start on Wednesday. Patterson is an Anchorage-based U.S. Ski Team (USST) member who trains with Alaska Pacific University (APU). Hoffman is a former USST member who...
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...
www.anchoragenordicski.com. NSAA uses machinery to combat erosion, ruts and growth which keeps trails sustainable for all users. NSAA Operations staff will be on hand at both events to talk about their year-round, behind-the-scenes trail work. Anchorage’s trail history is rooted in hundreds of NSAA volunteers. Since the early ‘60s, dirt, sweat, planning and passion have built Anchorage’s world-class trails, particularly Kincaid Park where many of these early volunteers have trails named after them. Following the...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — There are several strategies for winning the Tour of Anchorage, the annual 50-kilometer freestyle marathon from one side of town to the other that is the unofficial citizens’ race championship for the State of Alaska. There is one obvious way to lose it: Go out too hard on the climbs of the first 10 k, only to lose steam and be swallowed up by a chase pack at some point in the...
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 15-year-old Helen Wilson, of Alaska Nordic Racing and Anchorage Biathlon Club, who represented the U.S at her first Youth Worlds. In two individual races at the championships, she placed 62nd in the youth women’s 10 k individual and 67th in the 6 k sprint....
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 16-year-old Grace Gilliland, of the Alaska Biathlon Club and Alaska Pacific University (APU) Junior Ski Team, who is representing the U.S. at her first Youth Worlds. She qualified for today’s youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit with a 46th place in 10 k individual....
You know the drill. We did “Under 23 Questions” with the North American athletes at Nordic Junior and U23 World Championships, now we’re checking in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. We had them fill in the blanks to tell us more about themselves. Starting off, here’s 18-year-old Alex Kilby, of Alaska Winter...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — So how cold was it at Kincaid Park Sunday morning for the last of four Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) races held in the Anchorage area this week? “It’s f—ing cold,” said women’s winner Merete Myrseth of the University of Utah. “It was cold,” said men’s winner Moritz Madlener of the University of Denver. “Now we fly back to Denver and get warm.” [Unavailable for comment] were the two skiers who...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this past week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 19-year-old Natalie Hynes, of the University of Alaska Anchorage, who represented Canada at her second Junior Worlds. Last Friday, Hynes led Canada...
U.S. Ski Team B-team member hasn't made many big changes to his training plan this year.
Note: FasterSkier is accepting submissions for regional race reports. If you would like to see a particular race circuit covered and have the writer with the will to do it, please have them email last eight domestic 15 k races, dating back to West Yellowstone in November 2015, he has eight podium finishes, including five wins. But he is quick with an answer when asked about the last 15 k skate he did not win:...
Welcome to ’17 Questions for 2017′, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season. *** First named to the U.S. Ski Team in high school, Rosie Brennan dominated the 2015 SuperTour and earned rights to race in Europe, including at World Championships where she finished 16th in the 30 k classic. After a six-year absence she was renamed to the national team after that winter and...
Natural snow is where it’s at, unless there’s none to be found. In high-elevation places like West Yellowstone, Mont., (roughly 6,600 feet above sea level) and Crested Butte (nearly 9,000 feet), November skiing is http://www.skirunbikemt.com/yellowstone-ski-festival.html When: Tuesday, Nov. 22 – Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016 How many years running: Over 30 years. “It started with Drew Barney, Torbjorn Karlsen and Dick Hunt More details | clinics and held a FIS race on Nov. 2. Temperatures are reliably cold, and any snow that falls...
Kikkan Randall is back! Logging hours with her APU teammates in Anchorage and with the U.S. Ski Team at camps, the three-time Sprint Cup winner is looking forward to packing her Aeropress and heading back to the World Cup after a season off last year while pregnant with her son, Breck.
U.S. Ski Team and Alaska Pacific University skier Sadie Bjornsen has seen a few changes this summer including an increase in monthly training hours and the number of those sessions with her teammate Kikkan Randall. "It was definitely a new level of training for me, but I felt like I was able to absorb it, so that was cool," Bjornsen said.
The University of Alaska president has recommended two options that could preserve the future of intercollegiate skiing at one or both of Alaska’s NCAA member schools – but both options may be without precedent in modern NCAA history. The final decision will be made by the Board of Regents in mid-November.
Everything's better with a group -- at least in terms of threshold interval workouts. In this "Throwback Workout" from three years ago, U.S. women's coach Matt Whitcomb explains why this was one of the best workouts he had seen back then. “It doesn’t need to be incredibly hard — today was roughly threshold and above during bursts of speed — but it was about the terrain that helped push the pace for us,” he said.
During the U.S. Ski Team's Alaska camp this month, FasterSkier caught the team during a rollerski in Anchorage and chatted with U.S. women's coach Matt Whitcomb. He addressed everything from the upcoming World Championships to Kikkan Randall's return, the assimilation of new team members, and what gives the U.S team its competitive edge.
Anchorage-based reporter Gavin Kentch observes and outlines the ins-and-outs of a U.S. Ski Team classic speeds rollerski. U.S. women's coach Matt Whitcomb explains how each session is deliberately engineered and how a single workout can vary among individuals. (Includes photos and video clips)