Canmore is having a year. Just over a month after hosting the International Ski Federation (FIS) Cross Country World Cup, the Canmore Nordic Centre is pulling out all the stops and showcasing its brand-new biathlon facility as the host of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup Finals from Thursday, March 14 to Sunday, March 17. The world-class venue amid Canada’s Rocky Mountains is no stranger to World Cup nordic and mountain bike events. It...
We’re grinding on with our third episode in four days. Hope you’re still listening. If you don’t get the hat reference, read our coverage. We’ll be back with another episode after the last race in Canmore. To keep you from podcast withdrawal later in the week, we’ll roll out some interviews we did with a couple of international athletes here. Then we’ll be back again from Minneapolis this weekend. Speaking of Minneapolis, if you’ll be...
CANMORE, ALBERTA — Jack Young’s home in Vermont is two miles from the Canadian border. So it makes sense that he skied like he was right at home in Canada on Saturday, in a smoking fast finish in his first-ever race on the World Cup—the top-level circuit that saw him lining up against a bevy of Olympic medalists. Young, 21, placed 11th in the qualifying round of Saturday’s sprint race in Canmore, and 23rd in...
Coming in hot from Canmore, Alberta, where the World Cup circuit makes its North American return after five years away. We’ve got a preview here of sorts, featuring an interview with JC Schoonmaker, the California-raised U.S. Ski Team member who made his first World Cup podium earlier this season. We cover his rude awakening to the demands of elite-level training, his affection for his adopted home of Alaska and get some fun details about his...
While no one would choose the circumstances, pandemic induced cancellations presented marathoners with a unique calendar of events this fall. All six of the iconic World Marathon Majors — Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo (held virtually, in-person event postponed to 2022), and New York — took place within a span of 42 days. (In a typical season, Tokyo, Boston, and London are run in the spring.) While Shalane Flanagan has been in the limelight for...
For those who have yet to experience the beauty of Canmore, Alberta, a Google search for photos of the town alone should provide sufficient motivation to put it on your travel bucket list. A dramatic skyline of rugged and imposing peaks provide a backdrop to main street, the Nordic Centre, and pretty much anywhere else you could visit in the Kananaskis Valley. Smaller than its perhaps better-known neighbor, Banff, the streets of Canmore are lined...
FasterSkier dropped in at Canmore on the way to Québec City and got an update from Norbert Meier on the challenges of hosting in North America, all the activities that aren’t ski races, and the challenges of dealing with daily updates on managing the Coronavirus pandemic. While the World Health Organization upgraded Coronavirus to a pandemic a few hours before this interview, the status change is not a surprise as it was simply a matter...
The unofficial kickoff to the western Canadian racing season was held on November 13th and 14th. The traditional King’s Court sprint and interval start distance races are now called Nordiq Thunder — a re-brand from Frozen Thunder – but the relaxed feel and clockwork organization remain the same. With no trip selections on the line, the 93 sprinters and 105 distance racers were there to test their fitness and tune up for the races that...
Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 14, 2019 Dahria Beatty and Jesse Cockney Finish on Top in Nordiq Thunder Distance Races Isobel Hendry and Tom Stephen jump ump to top of podium in junior races CANMORE, Alta.—Olympians Dahria Beatty and Jesse Cockney topped the field in the Nordiq Thunder skate-ski distance races under ideal conditions at the Canmore Nordic Centre on Thursday. Dahria Beatty, who hails out of the Whitehorse Ski Club, dusted the...
(Note: The following workout was submitted to FasterSkier by ELA climbing guide) or in the Canadian Alpine Journal (CAJ v. 65 (1982), p. 24; 66 (1983), p. 98).) After a sabbatical year in 1979 in distant mountains (the Pyrenees, the Alps, Morocco, and Chile), the remainder of my Winnipeg years were focused on climbing trips: Mexico, Yosemite, the Red Rocks, the Dolomites, Ecuador, Nepal, and, most frequently, the Canadian Rockies. When I retired in 1997,...
Strength. Balance. Agility. Jesse Cockney had all of those qualities as a child growing up in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories — just like most Inuit kids — according to his father, Angus. But what he could do with that talent was what Angus hoped to nurture. Since he had put his son on skis at age 3, Angus reflected in an email that he “knew then that [Jess] had incredible potential to succeed.” And so the...
en français) Position: General Manager, Biathlon Canada Biathlon Canada, the National Sport Organization for biathlon in Canada, is seeking an independently minded and highly motivated individual to fill the position of General Manager for its operations. The successful candidate will be expected to lead Biathlon Canada to long-term success through the next two Olympic cycles. The General Manager is a key leadership position in the organization providing support to Biathlon Canada’s international and domestic programs....
Job posting – lmcleod@biathloncanada.ca. CLOSING DATE: April 25th, 2017 Biathlon Canada thanks all applicants for their interest in this position; however, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. To learn more about Biathlon Canada, visit our website:
In an effort to showcase the North Americans who competed at last week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 19-year-old Ty Godfrey, of Team R.A.D./Canmore Nordic, who represented Canada at his second Junior Worlds. Last week in Goms, Godfrey raced to 57th in the 10 k classic. ***...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans who competed at last week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 19-year-old Reed Godfrey, of Team R.A.D./Canmore Nordic, who represented Canada at his second Junior Worlds. Last week in Goms, Godfrey raced to 31st in the freestyle sprint and 54th...
Note: This article has been updated to include comments and verification from Biathlon Canada High Performance Director Roddy Ward, and explain the modified shooting format used for Friday’s sprint. *** Almost exactly two weeks before Biathlon Canada sends the rest of its World Cup team to Europe for the first trimeter of International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup racing, the national team held trials this past Tuesday through Friday on snow in Canmore, Alberta. Three...
Frozen Thunder is back, but it’s not the same Frozen Thunder you knew before. Every year, snow is stored all summer at the Canmore Nordic Centre in Canmore, Alberta, and rolled out in October to provide local ski and biathlon teams with on-snow training opportunities. This year, the loop has changed. “It feels good to be back on the snow after such a long time away,” Biathlon Canada’s Nathan Smith wrote in an email. “The...
For some American biathletes, there was a lot on the line in Jericho, Vermont this past weekend. Saturday and Sunday were rollerski biathlon competitions that served as the third and fourth of a four-race team selection series. Six athletes – Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Lowell Bailey, Leif Nordgren, Sean Doherty, and Tim Burke – had already booked their places for the first period of World Cup racing thanks to results from last season. But between...
Job posting) Position Opening: High Performance Coach – Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy The Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy (Alpine Insurance AWCA) has a current opening for a High Performance Coach for the 2017/18 competition year, November through March. This position could lead to a full-time contract for the 2018/19 training and competition season. As a designated NTDC, the Academy is part of Cross Country Canada’s national network of training centres and has...
Last Olympics, the first for Canadian cross-country skier Jesse Cockney, went almost exactly wrong. In Sochi, Russia, Cockney slumped to 53rd in the sprint — his signature event — missing the heats by 6.5 seconds in a lighter field than many World Cups (at the Olympics, no country can enter more than four athletes). “I honestly believed I would be better — I didn’t imagine I would be that far behind,” Cockney said in an...