Erik Flora – FasterSkier.com

Schumacher’s Win—World-Class Talent is “Still in There”

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 19, 2024

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. MINNEAPOLIS — Gus Schumacher, a 23-year-old from Anchorage, accomplished something Sunday that no American man had done in 40 years: he beat every single Norwegian, Swede, Finn and all other comers in an...

Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: 2022 SuperTour Champion Rosie Frankowski in Transition

Rachel PerkinsJune 21, 2022

The Olympic Dream. Perhaps the opportunity to compete at the highest level of sport would not be as sought-after and revered were it not for the inherent scarcity of opportunities to achieve it. This year, only eight women and six men were able to represent the United States in cross-country skiing in Zhangjiakou, down from a total of twenty – 11 women, 9 men – who were selected for PyeongChang in 2018. Among those who...

Community News Regional / Local

Elite Team Preview: APU

Gavin KentchNovember 25, 2021

Team name and location: Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center (APU, or APUNSC); Anchorage, Alaska Coaches: Erik Flora (head coach/director), Jack Novak (assistant coach) Current roster: Penny Smyth, APUNSC Marketing & Communications, writes: “Women’s Team: Rosie Brennan (USSS A Team), Hailey Swirbul (USSS A Team), Hannah Halvorsen (USSS D Team), Rosie Frankowski (World Cup Alternate), Becca Rorabaugh, Anna Darnell, Annie Gonzales, Marit Flora, Lily Pannkuk, Zoe Noble “Men’s Team: Logan Hanneman (USSS B Team), Scott Patterson (USSS B Team), David Norris...

Feature Training

A Summer Without Snow: Athletes and Coaches on a Year with No Summer Skiing

Gavin KentchOctober 12, 2020

The koan that skiers are made in the summer has been around for longer than this website. The related truism, that summer snow time is necessary to effectively compete as a high-level skier come winter, also has a venerable history. For example, here’s Luke Bodensteiner, writing in Endless Winter about why he had journeyed to a place where “the weather sucks all year long” to ski on the Sognefjellet snowfields in August 1993: “We all...

Dryland General News

Elite Programs Ramp Up for Modified Training

Jason AlbertMay 20, 2020

Although the training cycle has officially begun, it decidedly has a different vibe and look. Adding some complexity to our short-term new normal are a crosshatch of state, county, and city regulations as it relates to mitigating the community spread of Covid-19. The core question elite cross-country ski programs are asking is this: How can we most responsibly promote safe and effective training for their athletes? (The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has...

General Interviews News

Still Charging: Erik Bjornsen Retires at 28

Jason AlbertApril 30, 2020

Bright lights in PyeongChang. The men’s second semifinal of the Olympic freestyle team sprint was a career highlight moment for Erik Bjornsen. Fourteen teams would crowd the start lanes with Martin Johnsrud Sundby in bib 1. The Norwegian was paired with Johannes Høsflot Klæbo: The duo blessed with Sundby’s stamina and his younger counterpart’s break-from-the-pack speed. With Simi Hamilton racing the second, fourth, and sixth legs for the U.S., and Bjornsen leading off, the semi...

Dryland General Interviews News Other Racing US Ski Team

After Winter Marred by Mono, Brennan Breaks Record at Alaska Run for Women

Gabby NaranjaJune 22, 2018

The last time Rosie Brennan was focused on competitive running, she was sporting a red, white and black singlet as a senior at Park City High School in Utah. In the 11 years since, the former U.S. Ski Team member’s running has shifted from a seasonal sport to supplemental training for her true passion: cross-country skiing. Yet earlier this month, on June 9, Brennan surged to the front of the Alaska Run for Women in...

General Interviews News Olympics Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Kikkan Randall: The Exit Interview (Part I): Looking Back

Gavin KentchMay 11, 2018

Kikkan Randall competed in her first World Cup race in 2001, and her last in 2018. In between, she won 14 World Cup races, three Sprint Cup Crystal Globes, three World Championships medals, and one Olympic gold medal accompanied by one very enthusiastic broadcast call from Chad Salmela. She appeared in television ads, received the Skis to the City from the mayor of Anchorage, and had an ice-cream flavor named after her. And long before...

Continental Cup General News Racing Results US Nationals

Scott Patterson Wins Home U.S. Nationals 15 k by Nearly a Minute

Gavin KentchJanuary 4, 2018

(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Noah Hoffman.) ANCHORAGE, Alaska — It was a day of homecomings and returns at snowy Kincaid Park for the first day of the 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships. Scott Patterson returned to his childhood training grounds with a convincing victory, Noah Hoffman returned to racing at U.S. nationals with second, and Matt Liebsch returned to the nationals podium with third in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle individual...

Continental Cup General Interviews Racing US Nationals

Logan Hanneman on Balancing Life and Skiing, and Enjoying It, in Olympic Quest

Peter MindeJanuary 2, 2018

Earlier this season, Logan Hanneman talked with FasterSkier about his laser-like focus on the 2018 Winter Olympics, which start on Feb. 10 in PyeongChang, South Korea. The 24-year-old Fairbanks native, who now lives and trains 300 miles south in Anchorage with Alaska Pacific University (APU), was specifically eyeing the men’s individual classic sprint on Feb. 13. Although first he has to qualify to get there. Entering this season, Hanneman was fresh off a skate sprint in West...

General Interviews News Regional / Local

Don’t Overfill Your Cup: APU Coach Erik Flora and the Complete Athlete

Gavin KentchSeptember 13, 2017

This week’s featured articles are made possible thanks to the generous support of Masters World Cup 2018. noted following the 2014 Man Camp at Eagle Glacier, “Flora has nailed the grooming. (It helps that he never sleeps.)”) Within a year, Erik’s parents, Sam and Berit Flora, had followed him to Bend. A period of athletic wanderlust and nomadism followed, as Flora fils “kind of bounced around to different places around the West.” There was a...

Camps Lifestyle Masters Racing Training

Masters Minds: From Texas to Eagle Glacier

Gavin KentchJuly 21, 2017

By Jason Somers Introduction: Welcome to the jungle My quads were burning from too much snowplowing. My coach’s words were echoing in my head: “You are most stable when tucking.” I willed, begged, and pleaded with my legs to assume the position, but being in this aerodynamic position also meant I would go fast, too fast, because at the moment I had one small problem – I couldn’t see where I was going. This small...

Interviews News Team nominations US Ski Team

The Incrementalist: Scott Patterson Gets USST Nod

Jason AlbertJune 8, 2017

Alaska Pacific University’s (APU) 25-year-old Scott Patterson isn’t easily distracted. His is a busy schedule with a repetitive cycle like something out of the movie “Groundhog Day”. In Patterson’s case, the routine goes something like this: wake, eat, train, eat, work, train, sleep … repeat. “My general plan is I try to put in about 25 hours a week,” Patterson said over the phone from his home base in Anchorage. Just so we’re clear, that’s...

General Multimedia News Racing US Ski Team Video World Cup

After The Medals: Team-Sprint Bronze Medalist Sadie Bjornsen

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 27, 2017

LAHTI, Finland — While Monday marked a rest day for skiers competing in the 2017 Nordic World Championships, FasterSkier took the opportunity to sit down and chat with Sadie Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team, one day after she earned bronze with teammate Jessie Diggins in the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic team sprint. Not only was it Bjornsen’s first-career World Championships medal, it was the first for the U.S. women’s program in a World Championships classic race....

News Racing US Nationals

On Crazy Championships Day, University of Utah’s Bolger Wins Classic-Sprint Title

Jason AlbertJanuary 9, 2017

Delivering in rain, sleet, and snow: University of Utah skier Kevin Bolger wins the classic sprint National Championships on a crazy crazy day.

Continental Cup General Interviews News

Eric Packer: From Incremental Gains to World Cup Starts

Gavin KentchNovember 30, 2016

Alaska Pacific University skier Eric Packer, the 2015/2016 SuperTour leader currently spending World Cup Period 1 in Europe, opens up about the training that got him there, as well as his career highlight to date. Plus the Birkie, breakfast, and beards.

Interviews News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

17 Questions for 2017: Rosie Brennan

FasterSkierNovember 24, 2016

Welcome to ’17 Questions for 2017′, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season. *** First named to the U.S. Ski Team in high school, Rosie Brennan dominated the 2015 SuperTour and earned rights to race in Europe, including at World Championships where she finished 16th in the 30 k classic. After a six-year absence she was renamed to the national team after that winter and...

General Interviews News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

17 Questions for 2017: Kikkan Randall

BrainspiralNovember 1, 2016

Kikkan Randall is back! Logging hours with her APU teammates in Anchorage and with the U.S. Ski Team at camps, the three-time Sprint Cup winner is looking forward to packing her Aeropress and heading back to the World Cup after a season off last year while pregnant with her son, Breck.

Camps Canadian National Ski Team Training US Ski Team Workouts

Throwback Workout: Pace-Development Intervals with the NAWTA (Remember That?)

BrainspiralAugust 31, 2016

Everything's better with a group -- at least in terms of threshold interval workouts. In this "Throwback Workout" from three years ago, U.S. women's coach Matt Whitcomb explains why this was one of the best workouts he had seen back then. “It doesn’t need to be incredibly hard — today was roughly threshold and above during bursts of speed — but it was about the terrain that helped push the pace for us,” he said.

General News Podcasts

FS Podcast: Holly Brooks Retires, Now the Work Begins

Jason AlbertAugust 2, 2016

During her short time on the U.S. Ski Team, Holly Brooks made the most of it. From the magic of the relay socks to a fifth place in a 5 k World Cup skate race, she put many exclamation points on an unconventional ski racing career. In this podcast, Brooks talks retirement and her new mission to educate female athletes.

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