COVID-19 – Page 2 – FasterSkier

NENSA Lays Out Contingencies for the 2020/2021 Race Season

Jason AlbertSeptember 1, 2020

For skiers and race organizers, remaining nimble and realistic are keystone 2020 attributes as the global pandemic commands our attention. Amidst the disruption, the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) remains committed to organizing races for the 2020-2021 season. Justin Beckwith, Competitive Program Director at NENSA, said the aim is clear during uncertain times: under-promise and over-deliver. As a case study, New England poses several challenges. Geographically several states with differing Covid-19 mandates share borders...

General News

Opening up European Cycling and What we Can Learn

Jason AlbertAugust 24, 2020

This won’t be easy. Seeing a “normal” World Cup season go down will take considerable coordination, stakeholder buy-in to behavioral modifications aimed at community wellness not necessarily individual needs, and broader control over the spread of Covid-19. Here in the U.S., the major sports, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MSL, and MLB, have opened their respective seasons. The models for each league differ, the NBA maintains a relatively strict bubble, whereas the MLB chose a more lax...

General News

FS News Roundup: More Covid-19 Related News

FasterSkierAugust 18, 2020

This news round has an eye towards the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) move to mitigate COVID spread on the World Cup as it eyes a new racing season. Before we delve into that, we wanted to raise some awareness to a most excellent non-ski related podcast. In short, it’s called TWIV. Longform, it’s “This Week In Virology: the podcast about viruses – the kind that make you sick.” No, it’s not The Devon Kershaw Show....

Community

Ahead of the Game Before Winter Comes

Jason AlbertJuly 14, 2020

With the summer solstice long and gone in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s true, the amount of available daylight wanes. Some are rollerskiing. Some stay fit through trail running or mountain biking. Behind the scenes, cross-country ski area operators are reimagining business practices during the pandemic as they prepare f0r the moment snow flies. “Chances are we are not having anything quick-fix,” said Reese Brown of the Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA). “The new world is...

General News

Covid-19 Trends and Early Season World Cups

FasterSkierJuly 8, 2020

The Covid-19 news in the United States is unequivocally grim: According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, July 3rd stands as the current peak of Covid-19 cases diagnosed in the U.S. The curve is spiking as opposed to flattening. Last week, the European Union took the unprecedented step of banning U.S. citizens from traveling to the region. With few exceptions, unless one is a healthcare professional, seasonal agricultural worker, diplomat, or an essential international...

General News

FIS sets Covid-19 Guidelines for World Cup Events

Jason AlbertJune 22, 2020

A phrase we probably have all become familiar with: Risk assessment and Covid-19. The International Ski Federation (FIS) published guidelines last week to assist local organizing committees of FIS World Cups to mitigate community spread at races. This comes on the heels of FIS joining an initiative called #Sport4Recovery. According to FIS, the new entity aims to organize stakeholders and “highlight the importance of sport for mental and physical health recovery as well as...

Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: Clean Sport, Testing Gaps, and Virtual Sample Collection with Noah Hoffman

Rachel PerkinsMay 27, 2020

As we all know, the COVID-19 global pandemic has left the world scrambling to adapt to the many challenges of slowing the spread of the virus. In the world of Olympic sports, the ripple effect has disrupted the efforts of anti-doping agencies worldwide to conduct the athlete testing normally relied upon to hold athletes accountable to abiding by the rules surrounding banned and controlled substances. Most international antidoping agencies have halted testing since mid-March as...

Interviews Para Nordic

Masters and Gretsch Prepare for Two Paralympic Cycles After Postponement of Tokyo Games

Rachel PerkinsMay 5, 2020

Of the members of the U.S. Para Nordic team, more than half compete at the highest level in both summer and winter sports. Instead of quadrennial, their training is designed for biennial Paralympic cycles, oscillating between sports each year with an overall focus shift toward whichever Games is approaching fastest. And the goal is not simply to compete in both rounds of the Games, it is to bring home medals. Illinois based Oksana Masters is...

Community News

Cloth Masks the Skida Way

Jason AlbertApril 23, 2020

During some conversations, there’s a moment of clarity. Talking to Corinne Prevot, the founder and CEO of Vermont based Skida Headwear, I had such a moment. Like many other companies skilled in prototyping and working with fabrics, Skida — an advertiser with FasterSkier — has retooled to make cloth masks. That’s the story to tell – but the fact that Skida is positioned to help Vermonters acquire masks has as much to do with the...

Community

BeFAST Sportgear: From Hats to Masks

Jason AlbertApril 15, 2020

Masks or no masks for the general public? The messaging pivoted like a sailboat running downwind then upwind. All along states reported a scarcity of masks approved by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The type of masks needed by health care workers on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. In early April, the CDC reversed course — that 180 degree pivot — and...

Lifestyle Resources Reviews

Subscription Review: Athletes for Yoga — Designed to Fit Into and Support and Athletic Lifestyle

Rachel PerkinsApril 14, 2020

My relationship with yoga is very one-sided. Though I do not consider it in any way lesser, I ignore it most of the year when considering my options for exercise, choosing primarily running or skiing instead. Then something crops up. A switch from skiing back to running in the spring makes my hips and IT bands cranky, causing pain in my knee. A couple ankle rolls on a trail run fire up my peroneal tendon....

Multimedia Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: Holly Brooks on Mental Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Rachel PerkinsApril 10, 2020

We’ve all heard the phrase: “These are unprecedented times.” And it is true. What the world is facing during the Covid-19 pandemic is something that none of us have experienced before. We are all feeling it. Uncertainty is ubiquitous and caused by a myriad of factors. We may be concerned about the health of ourselves and our families, or about the financial impacts of our country coming to a halt. We might be attempting to...

Community

Crested Butte Nordic Trails Become a Sanctuary During COVID-19 Crisis

Rachel PerkinsApril 8, 2020

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to inspire anyone to travel to Crested Butte at this time. The county’s public health office expressly asks you not to do so even if you are a second home owner. The aim here is to highlight the familiar therapeutic role cross country skiing has played in the community thus far during the COVID-19 crisis. Like many other small mountain towns, Crested Butte has been labeled a “coronavirus county...

General News

Sun Valley: Hot Spot

Jason AlbertApril 2, 2020

This story could be about many things; developing coping mechanisms when a stay at home order is in effect; finding ingenious ways to elevate the heart rate in a small space; fighting the urge to deem outsiders as outsiders; knowing when to check the urge to be selfish. Obvious disclaimer here, I live in a tourist town, Bend, Oregon where it’s clear tourists and fresh-air-seeking coronavirus “refugees” should abide by the city’s discouragement of...

Community

Silver Linings to an Abbreviated World Cup Season

Rachel PerkinsMarch 24, 2020

On March 13th, the rapidly evolving situation with COVID-19 caused the World Cup to come to an abrupt halt. Quebec, Minneapolis, and Canmore: all cancelled. SuperTour finals: also cancelled. For some U.S. athletes including Gus Schumacher and Katie Feldman, this meant missing their first ever World Cup starts. For others, like Andy Newell, it meant missing his last. Jessie Diggins was in sixth place in the

General News

Finnish Team Coach Tests Positive for Covid-19 Coronavirus (Press Release)

FasterSkierMarch 18, 2020

Press Release from the Finnish Ski Association Ville Oksanen, cross country skiing coach of the Finnish Ski Association, has been in quarantine since Wednesday last week due to exposure and infection with corona viruses. The Finnish team traveled to Québec City to Canada on Tuesday for the World Cup. The next day, Oksanen became aware of the exposure. “When I woke up on Wednesday morning, I had received calls and messages from Finland. The wedding I attended this weekend had...

Doping General News

News Roundup for Feb. 28 – Engadin Canceled

Jason AlbertFebruary 28, 2020

Engadin Canceled: Amidst the whirlwind of February racing, news happens beyond the ski tracks. Here are some notable news threads. It was announced yesterday that the famed Engadin Ski Marathon, to be held on March 8, has been canceled due to concerns related to the coronavirus (also referred to as COVID-19). “The spread of the coronavirus in Europe – with two cases in our vicinity – has left the authorities with no choice but to...

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