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Ben Ogden

Faehndrich’s Speed and Klaebo’s Course Management On Display in TDS Stage 1

The FIS World Cup tour returned from a two-week holiday break, reconvening in Val Mustair, Switzerland for Stage 1 of the 17th Tour de Ski. A daunting mid-season challenge, the Tour de Ski (TDS) consists of seven stages contested over nine exhausting days, concluding next Sunday atop the Alpe di Cermis in Val di Fiemme, Italy. At the start of this year’s tour, all eyes were on Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), who finds himself in...

World Cup:  Period I into Period II

Editors note:  FasterSkier’s coverage of FIS Cross Country World Cup Period I has been a cooperative effort among three dedicated staff writers: Ben Theyerl, Ken Roth, and John Teaford. Many early mornings, many calls and texts, many quotes and comments, many unforgiving deadlines bring this reporting to FasterSkier’s readers. We hope their insights  have served to improve everyone’s enjoyment of the excellent racing witnessed in Period I, and that they can serve to prepare viewers...

Pellegrino Triumphant in Davos Men’s Sprint

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. At an elevation of 5,118 feet above sea level, Davos Switzerland is the highest stop on the FIS cross Country World Cup tour—high enough that its elevation has definite effects...

US Squad Uses Team Relay to Re-Charge as Norway Takes Top 2 Spots

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. In the third week of World Cup racing, the defining question seemed to be not who would be first to the finish line, but who was missing from the starting...

Beitostolen 10 k Classic: Golberg Dominates, Musgrave Podiums, Wonders and Ogden Top 20

Norway in midwinter can take on the appearance of a snow globe: quaint little cabins covered in snow, drooping pines coated in layers of white, skiers trailing through the woods. That was the scene in Beitostolen, Norway for day two of the FIS Cross Country World Cup. Skiers awoke to withering cold with low temperatures creating squeaky snow on the race course. Waxing for kick would not be a problem, but enduring the cold for...

Ben Ogden Races to 7th Place in Beitostolen as Richard Jouve takes the Win

The sun had begun to set in Beitostolen, Norway. The day—and the day’s racing—entered its golden hour as Norwegian fans anticipated more success for World Cup Sprint Leader, Paal Golberg (NOR). That all changed in a flash as Golberg—wearing the yellow Leader’s bib—crashed on a curve in the men’s Classic Sprint final. Golberg fumbled in the snow, a stark contrast to the control he has shown through the first few weeks of this year’s World...

Ogden and Schoonmaker Miss Skate Sprint Final by Narrowest of Margins as Klaebo Wins Again

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. Lillehammer, Norway—that most timeless of ski venues—provided viewers with a familiar scene on Saturday: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo exiting the final turn in the lead, gliding away from the field en...

Ruka Men’s 10 Kilometer Classic Individual Start:  It’s all Team Norway.

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.   Ruka Men’s 10K Classic Individual Start Ruka presented less challenging conditions this year compared to last year for the athletes.  Temperatures were in the high teens (-8.0 Centigrade) with...

Ben Ogden Leads Americans in Opening Race at Toppidrettsveka

After technique work on snow comes race effort on rollerskis. Racing Thursday evening in Hitra, Norway, Ben Ogden led four American men when he placed 18th in a field of nearly 100 in the 54-kilometer classic mass start, the opening race of the Toppidrettsveka race series in the Trondheim region of western Norway. Ogden finished 50.2 seconds back of the winner, and 10.4 seconds off the podium. He was followed by fellow USST athletes Finn O’Connell...

Men at Work: U.S. Ski Team Takes on Torsby Ski Tunnel

If it’s August, it must be time to ski. Head Coach Matt Whitcomb and roughly half the men on the U.S. Ski Team, accompanied by a couple of well-known distaff guests, have spent the last week on snow in the Torsby Ski Tunnel in southwest Sweden. They raced in the nearby Inge Bråten Memorial rollerski race earlier today, and will compete in the Toppidrettsveka rollerski series in Norway starting on Thursday. It’s a multi-stage Scandinavian...

NENSA Summer Series Kicks Off with Lost Nation Roll and Some On-Snow Action

The 2022 NENSA Summer Series hosted its first rollerski race of the season at the beginning of July. The Lost Nation Roll took place at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center on July 3rd, and by all accounts, was a huge success. Both men and women raced 10 k in an interval start format on the Outdoor Center’s paved rollerski loop.  Coinciding with the Eastern Regional Elite Group (REG) camp, around 40 top Eastern juniors boosted the...

Head Coach Transitions for the SMS T2 Program with Pat O’Brien and Perry Thomas

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...

Ben Ogden: Balancing Olympic and NCAA Skiing Ambitions Alongside a New Wave of Top US Skiers

“So after the World Cup, Olympics, and NCAAs, is that it for you this season?” “Well…I think I’m going to race the Rikert Grand Prix this weekend.” (He won). I couldn’t have stumbled upon a more apt soundbite to describe Ben Ogden, and he offered it up ten seconds into our interview. Skiing for the US Ski Team and University of Vermont (UVM), Ogden is primed to write the next chapter in American men’s skiing...

(Press Release) Utah captures its third consecutive NCAA Championship, Ben Ogden and Sophia Laukli win individual Nordic titles

MIDWAY, Utah – The University of Utah won going away Saturday at the 69th Annual NCAA Skiing Championships, using an impressive performance in the freestyle Nordic events to win its third straight national title. The championships concluded with the men’s 20K and women’s 15K mass start freestyle events at Soldier Hollow, a world class venue constructed for the 2002 Winter Olympics. After three days of competition, Utah led Vermont by 27.5 points. With Utah outscoring...

(Press Release) 2022 NCAA Skiing Championships – 5/10 k Classic Recap

PARK CITY, Utah – The 2022 NCAA Skiing Championships got underway on Thursday at Park City Mountain Resort and Soldier Hollow in Midway. Cool temperatures in the mid-20’s and sunny skies welcomed the competitors on the first official day of competition. Utah’s Novie McCabe claimed her first NCAA title by winning the women’s 5K classic at Soldier Hollow. Ben Ogden of Vermont was crowned a national champion for the second time in his career by winning the...

Norway Pulls off a Historic Team Sprint Gold Repeat; Canadians in 5th and Americans in 9th for Strong Team Debut

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 team sprint: it’s the youngest event on the Olympic program, having been contested only since the 2006 Torino Games. The event has since become a marquee event...

Niskanen with the golden stride in 15 k classic, while North American men hold strong on tough tracks

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.   In the sport of cross country skiing, the Olympic 15-kilometer individual start classic might be considered the “granddaddy of them all.” The technique was classic, as was the...

Klæbo Defends Olympic Gold as Americans Soar to New Heights in the Freestyle Sprint

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.   During the American broadcast of the 30-kilometer Skiathlon on Sunday, NBC Analyst Chad Salmela made the comment that race represented the “old-school” of long-burn, grind-it-out ski racing. That...

The Devon Kershaw Show: Diggins Bronze Medal Highlights Historic Day for Americans in Freestyle Sprint

Get your cheese doodles ready. Here’s Nat and Devon breaking down (and celebrating) an historic day for the U.S. A bronze medal for Jessie Diggins stands as the highlight – she’s the first American woman to win an individual medal – but there were several other steps taken forward by the men and women wearing stars and stripes. In particular, Rosie Brennan popped the second fast time in qualification. Overcoming a bad pole plant-induced fall...

(Press Release) U.S. Ski & Snowboard Nominates Cross Country Team Roster For Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022

PARK CITY, UTAH (January 20, 2022) — U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today its nominations for the U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team to represent Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 from February 4-19, 2022. Nominations are to be confirmed by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee when it formally announces the U.S. Olympic Team. Fourteen athletes were nominated to Team USA, including the 2018 Olympic gold medalist and defending World Cup overall and...