Julia Kern’s writing for FasterSkier is made possible through the generous support of our friends at The Memory Clinic, Bennington, Vermont. Since, 1987, clinicians at The Memory Clinic have been providing diagnosis and treatment of memory loss. If someone you care about is showing signs of memory loss please reach out to The Memory Clinic. How many pairs of skis do World Cup athletes have in their fleet? You may surprised by the answers, ranging...
Eli Brown, a member of the U.S. Ski Team’s waxing and ski service staff, joins us this week to talk about his job and the new enforcement of the rules banning fluorocarbons on the World Cup circuit. We recap another strong weekend for American athletes, along with all the hijinks that happened in Trondheim, Norway at the test event for next season’s World Championships. The World Cup takes a break next weekend before the Tour...
If you are craving a challenging ski workout that will train your agility, boost your strength, and add variety to your skiing, you should look no further than your local fat-bike, singletrack ride. Have you ever tried to keep up with the fat bikes? On their trail? “Hardest workout out there!” said Eli Brown, a longtime U.S. Ski Team volunteer wax tech from Michigan, who is doing the majority of his skiing this season on singletrack....
Traverse City Nordic Fest: America's biggest preseason XC party on a 350-foot loop. How do they do it? Lots of enthusiastic volunteers, long nights, and ice-rink shavings. The event kicks off Saturday.
Mantra Wax, a new wax company created by U.S. Ski Team servicemen Randy Gibbs and Oleg Ragilo, promises to deliver high-performance waxes to consumers in a fresh way. At SuperTour finals they turned heads by waxing successful skis for the Liz Stephen and the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, and by fall they plan to be ready to ship their line of powders and liquids directly to your wax box.
Our recent series on biathletes facing the question of when and whether to go to college (parts two, and
Our recent series on biathletes facing the question of when and whether to go to college (parts two, and first part of our series, we focused on several elite junior biathletes who, bucking the conventions of the early- and mid-2000’s, decided to go to college before returning – often extremely successfully – to biathlon. Without a single exception, the five athletes said that today’s juniors should not rule college out as a means of facilitating...
Note: This is the last piece in a three-part series following several groups of biathletes as they negotiate the college question. part two looked at USBA’s 2007-2010 Development Team. In November, 2011, Casey Smith was named Junior Biathlete of the Year for 2011 by the United States Biathlon Association (USBA). In a European country, that might mean a pat on the back from a coach at practice, perhaps an honorary celebration thrown by an athlete’s...
Kevin Sweeney was at the helm the last time that the University of Utah won an NCAA skiing championship, in 2003. So it’s only logical that the Utes would turn to Sweeney to help them win their next one. Sweeney’s appointment as Utah’s new director of skiing was announced yesterday by Associate Athletic Director Mary Bowman. Sweeney makes his return to the University after five years as the nordic race director for Swix Sport USA....
University of Utah Director of Skiing Eli Brown has resigned, leaving his job at the helm of one of the country’s most storied programs. In an interview, Brown cited a desire to spend more time with his family combined with changes to the direction of the Utah program as the reasons for his decision. When the University finds a replacement, Brown will be heading to join his wife and two children on the family farm...
The eternal question of cross-country ski training: how much to train? This is a debate that will never find resolution, for the simple reason that there is no one answer. A recent FasterSkier http://fasterskier.com/2010/06/after-ncaa-championship-gelso-to-join-sun-valley/) to give you background, so you may better understand where this is all coming from. One of the keys for any young skier using these charts would be to do it with you club or program coach, so you can decide...