There is not a lot of snow in Anchorage but about a 15 minute drive up the hillside there is enough to do some quality rock skiing.Here is a couple picture from last week, right after we got the snow.Photo Credit: Davis DunlapPhoto Credit: Davis Dunlap...
Here is an update from Fairbanks, Alaska. The video is from a skate ski this morning, it was a supper cold, 1 degree fahrenheit. It feels great to be back on snow!!
The last fifteen days I've been training and living in Park City, Utah with the U.S. Ski Team. It has probably been the best camp I've had this year. The weather and training venue has been a really nice change, not that I don't love the Anchorage hurr...
The U.S. Ski Team’s cross-country athletes finished their final round of pre-season testing last week in Park City, Utah. Athlete blogs currently abound with documentation of skiers pushing themselves to the point of falling off the treadmill in order to collect data on how much they’ve each progressed since their last test. The importance an athlete attaches to his or her test results varies by individual, but in the lab and in training they can...
A little change in weather here in Anchorage. We got a little cold front that moved in, so it went from lots of rain to some fresh snow and clear blue skies. Today I went for a really nice rollerski and tried to soak up some of that vitamin D I've been...
It's been a super busy last couple weeks. My plan with school this year is to take a larger load now in the fall semester, so that I can take an easier load this winter when I will be traveling a lot. That means if I'm not working out there is a pretty...
Hi Readers,It has been a little while but here is an update from the last couple months. This summer I have spent most of my time training with the Alaska Pacific University mens team in Anchorage, Alaska. Check us out -->Our team is fortunate ...
This is the last of several previews in a quick-and-dirty series on U.S. elite teams. We asked coaches to send their 2012/2013 rosters and tell us what’s new for the coming season. Teams were presented in no particular order. Team name: Alaska Pacific University (APU) Nordic Ski Center Coach: Erik Flora (head coach/director) Roster: Kikkan Randall (U.S. Ski Team A-team), Holly Brooks (USST B-team), Sadie Bjornsen (USST B-team), Becca Rorabaugh, Rosie Brennan, Kate Fitzgerald, Erika...
My last post was about the last time I was in the full on ski scene. I took a month off after the Super Tour Finals in Vermont, I had a great time in Alaska doing things I rarely get to do. For me it is necessary to once a year push the good old reset ...
At the highest level of nordic ski racing in the U.S., athletes know making the national team isn’t so much of a black-and-white decision; coaches mostly see red. Based on U.S. Ski Team criteria, any skier that ends the season in the red group by finishing in the top 30 of the World Cup or FIS distance or sprint lists is essentially guaranteed a spot on the A-team. Those who finish outside those standards can...
Hi Everyone, sorry this has taken a couple days to get an update to you all. I'm back in Alaska, trying to get caught back up on my school work. I haven't been to a race in Vermont since I was younger racing the Bill Koch Festival. The east coast ...
JAY, Vermont — At the outset of the hill climb up Jay Peak on a blistery Wednesday morning, the four-race fight for the overall SuperTour Finals win had come down to two skiers: Kris Freeman (SSCV/USST) and Noah Hoffman (SSCV/USST). In the end, Freeman claimed the title just as he did in Sun Valley last spring: on a brutal pitch that left him and just about everyone else completely spent at the finish. Hoffman finished...
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — If anyone can attest to the fact that feeling off during a qualifier is no reason to count oneself out for the heats, it’s Dartmouth senior Eric Packer. Despite having “blown up a bit” in the classic sprint prelim at SuperTour Finals on Tuesday, qualifying in 16th, he didn’t throw up his hands in defeat. Instead, he went on to win the thing outright, beating SuperTour regulars and US Ski Team members...
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — Even in the morning rain, the men’s 15 k mass start classic played out essentially as expected on Sunday at the SuperTour Finals. A lead group of five separated themselves from the rest of the field fairly early, comprised of all the usual suspects in a domestic classic distance race. After keeping a consistent position at the heart of the lead group for the entire race, Kris Freeman (Team HomeGrown/USST) made his move...
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — Looking calm and relaxed as he finished the two-lap 3.2 k freestyle prologue on Saturday morning, Simi Hamilton (SVSEF/USST) skied to a comfortable win in the opening event of the SuperTour Finals at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. He beat Sylvan Ellefson (Team HomeGrown) by 6.6 seconds, and in a tie for third, Noah Hoffman (Team HomeGrown/USST) and Erik Bjornsen (APU/USST) both claimed bronze (+11.5). Kris Freeman (USST), skiing for Team HomeGrown this...
Holly Brooks (APU) wasn’t sure how to approach the first OPA cup of her life on Friday, but for Saturday’s 5 k classic she had a better feel for what to expect. Friday’s effort yielded a silver medal and one second’s separation from gold, and Saturday’s race was even closer. Brooks won the individual start race by 0.2 seconds over Barbara Jezersek (SLO), and third-place finisher Alenka Cebasek (SLO) was 0.9 behind. Brooks started directly...
Last week I spent in Rogla, Slovenia. This trip to Europe I have gotten to experience a lot of new countries and this was one of them. We stayed in a small resort town on the top of a mountain, a little different then most ski resorts in the U.S. where...
Thats right, I just spent a week in Switzerland. In one of the most beautiful towns I've been in, Fuetersoy. It was a really fun time, we had four days before our races and our goal was to ski a lot of kilometers to keep up our training. This is a grea...
The field strength may have paled in comparison to the World Cup, or even a Scando Cup event, but a win is a win and a podium a podium, especially on European snow. A group of American skiers posted strong results over the weekend in two days of Swiss Cup racing, led by Becca Rorabuagh’s win in the 10k classic on Sunday. Rorabaugh was also 3rd in Saturday’s 10k freestyle while Tad Elliott, fresh off...
The Under 23 World Championships has come to an end. Yesterday I competed in the 15km classic and Tuesday I did the skate sprint. I was pretty happy with my distance race yesterday, I think I have made a big jump in my distance racing this year. I'm pr...