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Bill Koch

Glitter, Knitting, and a Phone Call from Bill Koch: The U.S. Ski Team Is Ready for Lake Placid
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Glitter, Knitting, and a Phone Call from Bill Koch: The U.S. Ski Team Is Ready for Lake Placid

Matthew VoisinMarch 19, 2026

This 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. Lake Placid, N.Y. — The eve of the World Cup finals at Mount Van Hoevenberg brought press conferences, sound checks that went sideways, and three American skiers who couldn’t stop making each...

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Lake Placid Set to Host World Cup Finals with Full Festival Lineup March 19–22
FeatureNews

Lake Placid Set to Host World Cup Finals with Full Festival Lineup March 19–22

FasterSkierMarch 16, 2026

Stifel Lake Placid Finals, a Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup, to Bring Elite Ski Racing and Winter Festival Atmosphere to Lake Placid FIS Cross-Country World Cup racing, fan experiences, athlete engagement, and live entertainment coming March 19–22 LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — The Stifel Lake Placid Finals, a Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup, will offer more than world-class competition this March. The event will transform Lake Placid into a multi-day winter sports festival featuring themed race...

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Ben Ogden’s Olympic Silver, 50 Years After Bill Koch — A Trailside Reflection
FeatureOlympics

Ben Ogden’s Olympic Silver, 50 Years After Bill Koch — A Trailside Reflection

Jim GalanesMarch 6, 2026

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. This essay by Jim Galanes was written on the evening of the Olympic Men’s Classic Sprint in Val di Fiemme, when Ben Ogden won silver to become the first American man in 50 years to medal in an Olympic cross-country skiing event. It was drafted from the race course...

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The Life That Grew Our Sport: John Caldwell, 1928–2026
FeatureNewsUS Ski Team

The Life That Grew Our Sport: John Caldwell, 1928–2026

Jim GalanesMarch 3, 2026

John Caldwell, born November 28, 1928, passed away February 27 at 97 years old. John’s contribution to cross-country skiing in the United States is unquestioned. He was a 1952 Olympian in Nordic Combined. He wrote several books on cross-country skiing that became our training guidance, our bibles, in the early and mid-1970s. He was a long-time teacher and coach at The Putney School, an early U.S. Ski Team coach, and a member of the coaching...

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Long Ago and Far Away
FeatureNews

Long Ago and Far Away

John TeafordJune 25, 2025

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers.  If you would like to see more articles like this one, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription.   There are many famous innovators and trend-setters in the sport of cross-country skiing: I’m not one of those, though I was around at a time when cross-country skiing was changing fast, and when many voices participated in discussions of what the sport would become. A...

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Q&A with New Faces on the U.S. Ski Team: Will Koch
CommunityFeatureInterviewsNewsRacingTeam nominations

Q&A with New Faces on the U.S. Ski Team: Will Koch

Ella HallJuly 2, 2022

U.S. Ski & Snowboard recently announced its U.S. Ski Team nominations for the 2022-23 season. Of the 22 athletes named to the team this season, six were not on the previous year’s roster, either newly named or renamed: Michael Earnhart, Walker Hall, Zak Ketterson, Will Koch, Finn O’Connell, and Sammy Smith. To help fans get to know these new(er) faces, FasterSkier is doing a series of interviews, providing insights into the factors that have contributed...

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The Legends We All Are Living Out: “Winter’s Children: A Celebration of Nordic Skiing” Book Review
Book ReviewCommunityNews

The Legends We All Are Living Out: “Winter’s Children: A Celebration of Nordic Skiing” Book Review

Ben TheyerlMarch 7, 2022

In a history of American skiing centered around the Upper Midwest, author Ryan Rodgers weaves together the stories of individuals who have found joy, love, and purpose in skiing with their heel detached, inspiring his readers to do so, too.  At the intersection of outdoors and pursuits, the street signs read “myth” and “heroes.” And we, those who spend our time outside, are here to patiently listen. That intersection has given rise to classics across...

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Covering Juniors and Some Fine Youth Olympic Games Performances
JuniorsNewsRacing

Covering Juniors and Some Fine Youth Olympic Games Performances

FasterSkierJanuary 24, 2020

The news coming out of Lausanne, Switzerland this week was reaffirming for competitive U.S. skiing: at the Winter Youth Olympics two American junior skiers podiumed and one had a near miss in fourth. Kendall Kramer, out of Fairbanks, Alaska placed third (+20.6) in the 5 k individual classic while Sydney Palmer-Leger of Sun Valley, Idaho was fourth (+27.6). Will Koch of Peru, Vermont placed third in the 10 k individual classic.  The results speak of...

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Reflections of an Old-Timer at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics
BiathlonGeneralOlympicsRacing

Reflections of an Old-Timer at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics

FasterSkierMarch 2, 2018

The following was submitted to FasterSkier by John Morton, a former U.S. biathlete and two-time Olympian (1972 and 1976) who has attended 10 Winter Olympics as “either an athlete, a coach, the Biathlon Team Leader, Chief of Course or, more recently as a spectator,” according to his bio (at end of article). Today, Morton, 71, lives in Thetford, Vermont, and works in trail design. *** I’ve had the remarkable good fortune of attending 10 Winter Olympic Games....

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Bill Koch Reflects on U.S. Gold: ‘This could just be the start of an era’
GeneralInterviewsNewsOlympics

Bill Koch Reflects on U.S. Gold: ‘This could just be the start of an era’

Alex KochonFebruary 22, 2018

Like the rest of the U.S. cross-country skiing community with a watchful eye on the Olympics, Bill Koch had been waiting for Olympic women’s freestyle team sprint unfold via live timing on the computer — numbers rather than images — as opposed to a live broadcast. When he saw USA rank first at the finish, becoming the first Americans to do so in an Olympic cross-country race (and the first to win a medal since his...

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GeneralInterviewsNewsOlympicsRacingUS Ski Team

After 42 Years, U.S. Strikes Olympic Gold with Randall, Diggins in Team Sprint

Jason AlbertFebruary 21, 2018

FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Concept2, 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Diggins and Randall won gold. Before Wednesday, the two had not contested a team sprint together since those 2013 championships. Much has changed since then. Randall, 35, took the 2016/2017 winter off to start a family. After a difficult return to World Cup racing, she earned an individual freestyle sprint medal (bronze) at last year’s 2017 World Championships...

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Nordic Nation: Calling John Caldwell
MultimediaNordic NationPodcasts

Nordic Nation: Calling John Caldwell

Jason AlbertAugust 11, 2017

  Flashback to 1964. That’s six years after the mega-fad of hula hooping, and five years before the psychedelic haze of Woodstock. A time when the country teetered towards war protest and Tricky Dick … (as in, “I am not a crook.” — Richard Nixon). What could possibly supplant hula hoops and pending cultural disruption? You guessed it, cross-country skiing. In 1964, John Caldwell wrote the first edition, of eight editions in total, what’s now...

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November Skiing in Canada: Where The (Skiable) White Stuff Is
CampsGeneralLifestylePlaces to Ski

November Skiing in Canada: Where The (Skiable) White Stuff Is

Gerry FursethNovember 29, 2016

As promised, the Canadian version of “Where the (Skiable) White Stuff Is” (a.k.a. November skiing) is here, minus the bit about classic sprint in Canmore, Alberta, and ending in click here).  If your favourite early season spot isn’t featured, you are in good company. Let us know in the comments below. And if you are visiting Canada, remember that the U.S. dollar is worth $1.35 up here. *** CAMPS XC SuperCamp Where: Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre and...

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With Elite Team, Stratton Aims To Create “Hotbed of Skiing” in Southern Vermont
GeneralNews

With Elite Team, Stratton Aims To Create “Hotbed of Skiing” in Southern Vermont

Audrey ManganMay 1, 2012

Back in early February, Stratton Mountain School (SMS), one of the country’s most successful ski academies, announced that it would be starting a new elite professional ski team in the 2012-2013 season. Gus Kaeding, who most recently coached at CXC, signed on as the head coach to join longtime Stratton nordic director Sverre Caldwell at the southern Vermont program. The announcement was subsequently buried by a busy period of domestic and international racing, but the...

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Where Are They Now: Mike Gallagher (with Audio)
InterviewsLifestyleNews

Where Are They Now: Mike Gallagher (with Audio)

Alex KochonNovember 21, 20113

This article is the third profile in the ‘Where Are They Now’ series, made possible through the generous support of Fischer Sports. Learn more about their products at www.fischersports.com. here) PITTSFIELD, Vt. — The “XC1” license plate on the Subaru wagon should have been a dead giveaway. Instead, it took a minute to be sure the man walking across the general-store parking lot was Mike Gallagher, one of the pivotal players who put U.S. nordic...

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