A crowd favorite, Sylvan Ellefson (SSCV/Team HomeGrown) put down a bold move and broke away with 7.5 k to go in the men's 30 k freestyle mass start at U.S. nationals. “Whether they pick me for the Olympics this year or not, I’m just happy to have a national championship under my belt," he says.
We know, you’ve been on the edge of your seat since the release of “The Adventures of Gregg and Liebsch: Part I,” and you can’t wait to find out what happened to the two Midwest pals in their quest to qualify for the Olympics. Picking up where we left off: the plane ride from Washington state to Bozeman, Mont.
Last week, Brian Gregg and Matt Liebsch decided on a whim that they might as well splurge for a chartered flight to Bozeman, Mont., for the second set of SuperTour races there. This is the first part of a story about their journey, which started with a two-day drive from Montana to British Columbia and a forgotten passport.
It makes sense that two skiers born in Alaska and Russia won Sunday's classic mass starts in subzero temperatures just above the legal limit at the SuperTour in Bozeman, Mont. "No one's psyched to be so cold, but I just try to put it out of my mind and focus," Holmes says.
Photos from the season-opening NorAm at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, with 10/15 k freestyle and classic-sprint races in temperatures near -18 degrees Celsius on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Photos from the second set of SuperTour races at Bohart Ranch in Bozeman, Mont., with 10/15 k classic mass starts taking place in temperatures just above the legal limit of -4 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday.
Another cold one at Sovereign Lake kept the organizers and athletes scrambling in temperatures around -20 degrees Celsius, but the end result was an exciting first NorAm of the season, with two Americans taking the top spots in the men's 15 k and Heidi Widmer winning the 10 k skate.
Mads Strøm of the University of Colorado and Norwegian club, Bærums Verk IF, put down a ferocious last lap to win Saturday's 15 k freestyle, the last race of the West Yellowstone SuperTour weekend. Brian Gregg hung tough for second and Sylvan Ellefson edged Matt Liebsch for third.
A look at the top 10 and some other men in Saturday's 15-kilometer freestyle individual start -- the second and last race of the West Yellowstone SuperTour.
Some of the most competitive skiers in the U.S. SuperTour circuit give thanks and express appreciation for friends and family before, during and after their Thanksgiving ski sessions in West Yellowstone, Mont., one day before the SuperTour opens there on Friday.
Three years ago, Gear West began development with Segla Engineering on our Signature Flex Tester. As we discussed in a previous post on FasterSkier, the goal was to "unlock the 'black box' mystery of cross country ski flex analysis". Since then, development has never really stopped. The flex tester software has been updated to allow us record the entire dynamic response under load and to report the total force coming down within the kick zone under that load.
Matt Liebsch, like any pro skier, is all about hammering the rollerski training, but this year, he's taken a slightly different approach. "It is important to keep training fun and diverse at times," he writes. That means 2 1/2-mile swims once a week, indoor cycling training and more. Liebsch explains why it works.
Several U.S. skiers competed in the Engadin 42 k marathon two weekends ago in Switzerland, with Hannah Dreissigacker and Matt Liebsch both finishing in the top 25. Oliver Burruss blew away his top-100 goal in 50th. Burruss and Dreissigacker recall their first Engadin.
Gear West is excited to have received a shipment of Fischer Speedmax skate skis. Fischer’s new Cold Base Bonding technology equates to faster skis. By avoiding heat and pressure when the base is added the base material retains a high level of wax absorption. Better wax absorption equates to faster skis. Three Gear West ski experts: Matt Liebsch, Jan Guenther and Josh Doebbert share their thoughts regarding the Fischer Speedmax.
The teamwork and tactics of a group of Italians locked the American men out of the prize money on their home turf, with Sergio Bonaldi leading a sweep of the top four.
info@gearwest.com. We have both NIS and non-NIS plate skis. Skate Skis The S-Track and Plus ski have the industry standard “Plus” base. The difference is camber. The S-Track has more of a warm snow profile but it is important to remember that warm ski profiles can work very well in both warm and cold conditions. The S-Track’s main characteristic is that peak pressure occurs behind the ½ skier weight mark. This allows the ski to...
It’s been almost two weeks since the Americans competing in Canmore found out they’d earned World Cup spots as part of the nation's group. The initial excitement now abated, the athletes racing the mass start classic and skiathlon on Thursday and Sunday want to ski within themselves and not let the bright lights of the World Cup get too blinding.
Weeks of altitude training clearly paid off for Matt Liebsch (Borton Volvo XC United) in the first race of the year. The pride of the Midwest won the SuperTour 9 k freestyle on Friday morning on a fast but challenging point-to-point course looking like he had gas left in the tank.
Team XC United (formerly Team Birkie) is a Nordic race team comprised of master skiers that have come together to support elite skier Matthew Liebsch in his pursuit of the next Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Ready or not, the 2013 SuperTour season is fast approaching. Here’s what you need to know about the domestic race scene this year. At this point, we’ve pretty much said everything we can about the twelve senior ski programs in the U.S. We ran a series throughout the summer highlighting each team’s past accomplishments and goals for the future. Read back through ‘em for comprehensive rosters and standalone previews (scroll down for links). Now that...