Between a rafting trip on the Snake River and working on his jumps with a new coach from Austria, Ben Berend also got in lots of nordic combined competition this summer: he podiumed at U.S. Nationals and competed in Europe in the Grand Prix. Bernend will start the season on the World Cup for the first time this year.
On the final days of the FIS Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix, Taylor Fletcher raced to 15th overall for the U.S. while teammates Ben Berend and Ben Loomis proved they can fly. "Throughout the two-week Grand Prix Tour I had some of the furthest jumps on the hill," Berend told FS. “By the time we got to Oberstdorf my confidence was through the roof."
It's a full three weeks until the end of summer, a perfect time for the FIS Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix. Last Sunday, Taylor Fletcher scorched in the 90-degree heat to ski the fastest time on the day and place seventh overall for the U.S. Racing wrapped up in Austria on Wednesday.
Happy Father's Day to all the pat-on-the-back, "go get 'em kid!" dads out there. We asked U.S. and Canadian national-team skiers to share the best advice or lessons they learned from their dad. As Ian Torchia's dad told him: "You know what happens to hot dogs, Ian? They get eaten!"
"What role did you mom play in your development as a skier?" was the single question we raised to North American cross-country, biathlon and nordic combined national-team members. Many of them had a hard time holding back in their responses.
This year's nordic-combined award winners are Bryan Fletcher, who led the U.S. in 20th overall on the World Cup, and U.S. development-team member Jasper Good, who notched 11th and 12th at Junior World Championships in Romania.
For the fourth year in a row, Germany's Eric Frenzel was crowned the Nordic Combined World Cup overall champion after three days of competitions in Val di Fiemme, Italy. The long weekend started off with Americans Bryan and Taylor Fletcher racing to sixth in the team sprint for the best U.S. result in the event since 2013.
Last Friday through Sunday, three days of Nordic Combined World Cup competitions took place in Lahti, Finland, with Germany's Eric Frenzel retaining the overall World Cup lead. Norwegian wünderkind, Jarl Magnus Riiber, missed out on his second World Cup win, as he made a wrong turn at the finish.
During three days of competition at the Seefeld Triple, Germany's Eric Frenzel proved he's Mr. Consistency, winning all three days for his third-straight Triple crown. In seventh overall, Bryan Fletcher led the U.S. for the third year in a row landing in the top 10 in Seefeld.
U.S. Nordic Combined coach Dave Jarrett talks about the cause and effect of a string of World Cup cancellations this season. "Every race that we have had the ability to start five guys on the World Cup has been canceled so far, and we are not going to get those chances back," he explains.
Jump, ski, repeat. That was the mantra in Park City and Midway, Utah, last weekend as some of the world’s best nordic combined skiers converged for a series of three Continental Cup races. Taylor Fletcher placed third, second and finally first to secure a fifth quota spot for the U.S. team at the World Cup.
In the first nordic-combined competition of World Championships, Germany's Johannes Rydzek had some of the best timing all day, attacking late to drop his lone rival before the finish: Italy's Alessandro Pittin. The U.S. saw top-20 jumps from Billy Demong and Ben Berend, and Taylor Fletcher skied up from 25th to 19th.
At 19, Ben Berend made his World Cup debut last month in Schonach, Germany. After a whirlwind trip to Kazakhstan for Junior Worlds and Austria for the last Continental Cup, the Colorado native is set to compete in his first senior World Championships on Friday in Falun, Sweden.
Park City hosted the first Nordic Combined Continental Cup of the season last week with jumping at Utah Olympic Park and the 10 k races at the Gorgoza tubing hill, moved there because of a lack of snow. Taylor Fletcher posted the two best U.S. performances in fifth and eighth place, followed by Billy Demong.