Inspired by the Maine Winter Sports Center, a small Montana community formed the Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS) in 2010, and this spring, ROCKS will file an application to build a new Seeley Lake nordic-ski venue. If all goes according to plan, the area would be one of six venues with D-category homologation.
An idea from Williams' associate athletic director came to life with the help of one of the college's skiers: Will Wicherski. By 2016, Williams could be hosting its Carnival on a homologated 5-kilometer loop at Prospect Mountain in Woodford, Vt.
The newest edition of the FIS Homologation Manual was published this month and two changes are significant for North American venues. Major A-climbs now require five fewer meters of elevation gain, and courses that reach above 1800 m have been clarified as eligible for certification (and always have been) at the Continental Cup level and below. According to John Aalberg, a FIS homologation coordinator for North America, the elevation clarification and A-climb reduction were...
Holding elite level events, whether World Cup races, National Championships or just FIS points competitions, pose numerous challenges for organizers and National Governing Bodies in the US and Canada. Over the course of the summer FasterSkier will examine the various issues at hand. Today we start with a piece on homologation, with future topics to include snowmaking and prize money, among others. Until this year, the U.S. and Canada have had reprieve from the International...
Back in June, Nat Herz ran a piece on homologation called “It’s Not as Boring as You Think.” Since then, I’ve gone through most of the process while working for the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Nat was right. It’s not boring. However, the relative ease or difficulty of some parts of the process took me by surprise. Since Nat introduced the concept of homologation on a theoretical level, I thought I would provide a first-person perspective...
What do a GPS, a retired airline pilot, and a Norwegian guru named Hermod Bjorkestol have in common? All are key components of a plan to bring many of the U.S.’s biggest venues in line with International Ski Federation (FIS) standards. At its annual meetings in Turkey in early June, FIS made it clear to American officials that a longstanding exception would be revoked: starting in the winter of 2011-2012, all races held in the...