When Leif Zimmermann first got into skiing at age 13, he had no idea where it would take him. He quickly rose to Junior World and U.S. nationals success, making the U.S. Ski Team, World Cups, 2006 Olympics, and 2009 World Championships before retiring from the sport this spring.
To say that Jennie Bender had an inconsistent season is a bit of an understatement. She won her first national championship and dropped out of her first race within the same week this January, and in April finished last in the 30 k National Championship. Now, as she recovers from a herniated disk in her back, she's moving on from her team of the past three years at Central Cross Country to the Bridger Ski Foundation in Bozeman, Mont.
When Peru’s first Winter Olympian asks you to help him out, you say yes. At least that’s how Leif Zimmermann reacted last year. The two were acquaintances when Roberto Carcelén, a Peruvian cross-country skier who made the Vancouver Games at the age of 39, told Zimmermann – a Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) skier and 2006 Olympian – about his Inca Runners company. Still racing the occasional SuperTour, NorAm and national championship at the age of...
Note: This one 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. We will be publishing additional reports over the next few weeks. Teams are presented in no particular order. Team: Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) Nordic Elite Team Coaches: Dragan Danevski (program director/head coach), Tim Baucom (assistant coach/service tech), Andrew Morehouse (service tech) Roster: Torin Koos,...
In case you missed the action in Aspen, Colorado this weekend, check out the video below of the men’s 10 k classic on Saturday. The individual-start distance race followed the sprint qualifier by about two hours and featured two laps of a rolling 5 k course at over 8,000 feet. Matt Gelso (SVSEF) took home the 10 k title; Leif Zimmermann (BSF) was second and Vegard Kjoelhamar (CU) finished third. 10 k classic results
ASPEN, Colo. — The third time was the charm for Leif Zimmermann (BSF) at the Owl Creek Chase on Sunday. He had finished third in Aspen twice before, but for the 2012 edition he claimed the top spot in the 21 k mass start freestyle by 37.9 seconds over Matt Gelso (SVSEF). Pat O’Brien (CGRP) outsprinted Josh Smullin (Rossignol/SSCV) for third (+1:15.6). After what Zimmermann said was a disappointing week at U.S. Nationals in January,...
ASPEN, Colo. — On a bluebird morning in Colorado, the Aspen Nordic Festival kicked off on Saturday with a two-stage classic day; a sprint qualifier in the morning followed by a 10 k individual start for the men two hours later. Karl Nygren (CXC) started the weekend off by posting the fastest sprint time by 2.85 seconds, followed by Dylan McGuffin (CGRP) in second and Pat O’Brien (CGRP) in third (+3.21). The 1.4 k sprint...
ROSSLAND, British Columbia — It’s not that Kevin Sandau’s not a team player. He just puts the pedal down when he feels like it. One of four Alberta World Cup Academy skiers seeded in the top eight of Sunday’s NorAm 15 k freestyle mass start, Sandau pushed the pace early as he tried to break free of the 73-man field. It didn’t exactly work at first, but the man in the green leader’s jersey kept...
Though we didn’t have a staff reporter on-site at the Bozeman, MT SuperTour this weekend, there were still plenty of interesting anecdotes to take away from the accounts athletes gave of their races. Most significantly, Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation’s (SVSEF) Mike Sinnott will be headed to Europe in January for his first World Cups that side of the Atlantic. FIS awards World Cup starts to Continental Cup leaders at the end of Period 1,...
The second stop on the SuperTour featured another exhasting double-header—a skate sprint prologue in the morning followed by a 5/10 k freestyle at noon. Mike Sinnott (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) had another strong sprint day with a win in the prologue, and was followed by Torin Koos (BSF/Rossignol) and Leif Zimmermann (BSF) in second and third, respectively. Sinnott’s win—his second so far this season—puts him in a nearly-untouchable 28-point lead in the overall SuperTour...
With the weather changing drastically throughout the morning today’s West Yellowstone SuperTour was quite a spectacle. The ladies skied 10km, the men competed for 15km and the FasterSkier crew tried to keep up at several different locations on the course. Ladies’ 10km Skate: Men’s 15km Skate: Contributing camerawork by Audrey Mangan.
Leif Zimmermann (BSF/Madshus) made it three in a row by winning the 15-kilometer freestyle race in West Yellowstone, Montana. The 28-year-old from Bozeman, Montana weathered an intense snow squall and a strong challenge by Sylvan Ellefson (Team Homegrown) to earn a 23 second victory on the three lap course. Ellefson claimed second, closely followed by Wednesday’s Sprint Showdown winner Mike Sinnott (SVSEF). Sinnott barely edged out teammate Matt Gelso for the final podium spot, claiming...
Kris Freeman (USST) will be the odds-on favorite to win Saturday’s U.S. national championship in the 50 k classic. But the way his last two seasons wrapped up, just making it to the start line in Sun Valley, ID, is a victory in and of itself. In late March, 2009, Freeman was recuperating from surgery on his legs to relieve the debilitating symptoms of exertional compartment syndrome; he had been forced to end his season...
Not every day is an Extra Blue day!
Just before the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) named its team traveling to the 2011 World Championships in Oslo, Brian Gregg got a voicemail from U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Chris Grover. Gregg, a strong domestic skier on CXC’s Team Vertical Limit, was ranked eighth nationally, and had a shot—albeit a small one—at being selected to the group heading to Worlds. But the news from Grover was disappointing: Gregg’s results had been good, but...
Interval start races don’t usually end with desperate lunges for the finish line. But that’s exactly how Thursday’s 30 k national championship concluded in Rumford—with CXC’s Tad Elliott sprawled on his back, the winner over APU’s Lars Flora. The scene may have looked ridiculous, but Elliott needed every inch. After an hour and ten minutes of racing, his winning margin over Flora was a mere tenth of a second. “I knew it was really tight,”...
Classic distance races are on tap for the U.S. National Championships in Rumford, ME on Wednesday, after two days of rest to allow for optimal course preparation. Volunteers, coaches, and even U.S. Ski Team member Liz Stephen worked with heavy equipment and shovels throughout Tuesday, leaving a 2.5-kilometer loop available for racing at Rumford’s Black Mountain. Under clear skies and with temperatures cooler—in the 20’s—the action gets started with the women’s 10 k at 10...
Leif Zimmermann is one of only two athletes in West Yellowstone with European racing experience this winter. But he’s also one of two athletes coping with the effects of a transatlantic jet flight, making a pair of sensational performances this weekend even more impressive. With his 20-second victory in Saturday’s 10 k classic, Zimmermann (BSF) won for his third time in four years in West Yellowstone, less than one week removed from racing 4,500 miles...
It isn’t even Thanksgiving, and the international racing season is officially just over a week old, yet there has already been plenty of high-octane racing action to satisfy even the most demanding ski fan. With elite skiers tuning up for the season opener, and up-and-comers out to make a name for themselves, FIS races in Finland, Sweden, and Norway featured a level of competition usually limited to the World Cup. It is always a challenge...