Minneapolis – FasterSkier

The Secret Weapon Is Fun: Inside Kristen Bourne’s Collaborative Coaching on the U.S. Ski Team

Matthew VoisinNovember 11, 2025

When we spoke, Kristen Bourne was sitting on the couch in her living room in Truckee, California, a small ski town she now calls home. Tibetan prayer flags hung loosely behind her, shifting gently in the morning light that poured through the window. The room felt warm and calm — the kind of quiet space that comes from someone who spends much of her year on the move. Bourne smiled easily as she spoke, her...

Feature News World Cup

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...

The Devon Kershaw Show US Ski Team World Cup

The Devon Kershaw Show: Minneapolis magic with Muzzy, Benny and an extra special guest

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 18, 2024

What a weekend. If you weren’t able to make it to Minneapolis, we had the good fortune of taping this episode of the podcast in front of a live audience at a local brewery, and we think it brings through a little of the amazing atmosphere. British skier Andrew Musgrave joined us in-person, Ben Ogden zoomed in from mono jail and a very special guest whose name ends with Schumacher joined us mid-pod. The audio...

Feature World Cup

Tears and Glitter Flow in Minneapolis as Diggins Finally Comes Home

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 17, 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—The suspense and the nerves built all morning at Theodore Wirth Regional Park, where America’s cross-country skiers were set to contest their first World Cup race—the sport’s top competition circuit—in 23 years. By...

Community Feature IPC News

FIS is taking over governance of Para Nordic skiing, what does it mean for the sport’s development in the United States?

Ben TheyerlSeptember 4, 2022

The International Ski Federation’s (FIS) annual Congress held at the end of May this year was an unusually dramatic affair. Fights over media rights – whether to look at serializing the sport of Nordic skiing into something like Formula 1’s Drive to Survive – sent skiing’s international governing body into a metaphorically different part of the Netflix catalog, less Dive to Survive and more House of Cards, West Wing, or Newsroom. If only Aaron Sorkin...

Juniors News Racing Results US Nationals

2022 Junior Nationals Recap: After Long Wait, Minneapolis Hosts Top US Juniors for Full Slate of Racing

Ben TheyerlMarch 16, 2022

To trace the thread of the past, present, and future of American cross-country skiing, all you have to do is look at a golf course in Minneapolis that touches 3 of those 10,000 lakes in Minnesota; Theodore Wirth Park. Over the past week, America’s most-skied loop played host to the US Ski and Snowboard Junior Championships (formerly Junior Nationals, or “JNs”), bringing the top under-20 year old skiers from across the nation together for the...

Community News Regional / Local

Elite Team Preview: Team Birkie

Gavin KentchNovember 19, 2021

Team name and location: Team Birkie; Minneapolis, Minnesota (also Hayward, Wisconsin) Coach: Caitlin Gregg (co-coach), Leo Hipp (co-coach), Jeremy Hecker (technique coach and wax tech) Current roster: For the men: Zak Ketterson, Christian Gostout, Andrew Millan, Tony Mathie, Brian Gregg; Women: Ingrid Thyr, Julie Ensrud, Jordan Schuster, Abbie Drach, Amanda Kautzer (focusing on biathlon) What’s new: “Everything,” Gregg writes. While elite teams have existed in the Midwest in the past, Team Birkie is new this year....

Multimedia Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: Caitlin Gregg — Athlete, Mother, and Team Birkie Head Coach

Rachel PerkinsSeptember 1, 2021

In early July, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation announced the launch of the Team Birkie professional racing team. The elite post-graduate training group would pull from the three primary midwestern clubs, the Loppet Foundation, Central Cross Country Skiing (or CXC), and the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. While the midwest has a strong culture of cross country skiing with a breadth of strong youth and masters racing teams, it has been nearly a decade since the...

Community Feature Opinion

Why is the US Nordic Skiing Community so White?

FasterSkierAugust 27, 2020

Reflections From a White Skier On The Spaces and Places We Ski, And How To Build Inclusivity By: Ben Theyerl The typical life story of a competitive nordic skier in the U.S. tends to resemble a character out of a Robert Frost poem. It’s an appropriate metaphor; the Rikert Nordic Center at Middlebury, VT doubles as the quarters of the renowned Bread Loaf School of English during its summer months, where the Bard of New...

Community

True Value with the Greggs

Jason AlbertJune 25, 2020

Since 2011, Brian and Caitlin Gregg have been residents of north Minneapolis. They added daughter Heidi to the mix a year and a half ago. They are close to Theodore Wirth Park, an urban magnet for cross-country skiing with amenities like snowmaking, homologated trails, and mountain biking in the non-snow months. The Loppet Foundation, a local non-profit, was poised to host the first World Cup in the U.S. since 2001 until concerns and regulations...

Racing World Cup

Here Come the Americans: Your Guide to the U.S. Women Racing in Québec City and Minneapolis

Gavin KentchMarch 10, 2020

You may have heard that the World Cup is returning not only to North America, but also to American soil, within the next few weeks. The world’s best skiers will be contesting sprint races in Québec City on March 14 and 15; a sprint in Minneapolis on March 17; and distance races plus a mixed relay in Canmore on March 20-22. For all six races, including the five across the border, the U.S. has an...

Continental Cup General Interviews News Regional / Local

Soon-To-Be Parents, Caitlin and Brian Gregg on the Winter Ahead

Alex KochonOctober 9, 2018

The questions started rolling in this spring. How’s training going? Are you going for 2019 World Championships? What’s the plan for next winter? When you’re Caitlin and Brian Gregg, Olympians and local superstars in the Midwest, it’s hard to keep your athletic profile on the DL. Since buying a house on Theodore Wirth Park seven years ago, the couple has immersed themselves in the greater Minneapolis community — both in and out of skiing. They’ve...

Other News

Loppet Winter Festival Gets a New Home at The Trailhead in 2019

FasterSkierSeptember 13, 2018

(Press release) Minneapolis, MN — Big changes are coming to the annual City of Lakes Loppet Festival! Now in its 17th installment, the multi-day winter festival has become a Minneapolis staple for celebrating the wonder, adventure, and fun of the winter season in Minnesota. Now with the completion of The Trailhead, the Loppet Foundation’s long-awaited headquarters, most of this year’s City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival events will be centered in Theodore Wirth Regional Park...

General Masters News Racing

Masters World Cup: Day 5 Train Roadblock

FasterSkierJanuary 25, 2018

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Masters World Cup organizers had to make a fast change on Thursday partway through its classic distance races when a train parked itself on the course. “We had a lot of plans going into this race,” 2018 Masters World Cup Chief of Competition Nels Dyste explained. “We had plans for road crossings, we had plans for snow, we had plans for low year snow, plans for high snow. Unfortunately, the railroad did not...

General Masters Resources Training Workouts

Wednesday Workout: Masters Training Trips with Pioneer Midwest’s Brad Johnson

FasterSkierJanuary 17, 2018

This Saturday, Jan. 20, the

Last Call to Register for Masters World Cup 2018

Masters' World CupJanuary 3, 2018

Registration for Masters World Cup 2018 in Minneapolis Now Open

FasterSkierOctober 9, 2017

www.mwc2018.com. The Loppet Foundation is thrilled to host the 2018 Masters World Cup, taking place January 19 – 26, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The World Cup event is open to men and women skiers of all abilities who are 30 years of age and older (as of December 31, 2017). More than 1,000 racers from over two dozen countries will come to compete in up to three individual events, choosing between skate or classic. There...

General News Regional / Local

Wirth’s Big Facelift: Loppet Foundation Breaks Ground on Trailhead

Peter MindeAugust 2, 2017

After six years, the end is in sight: construction is underway for The Loppet Foundation’s Masters World Cup Jan. 19-26 at Wirth Park. Winning the World Masters bid added urgency to the project, and it’s given The Loppet Foundation an eye for future major nordic competitions. “We would like to bring in events like Junior Nationals, senior nationals and maybe even a World Cup,” Munger said. Brian Gregg, a 2014 Olympian and one of the highest-profile athletes associated...

General News Training Workouts

Wednesday Workout: Making the Most of a Small Hill with Caitlin Gregg

Chelsea LittleOctober 26, 2016

Need to train hills, but you don't live in the mountains? Caitlin Gregg and Loppet Nordic Racing are here to show you how to get a killer interval workout off just 175 feet of vertical.

General News Racing US Nationals

Eyes on Lahti 30 k and Feet Firmly in Midwest, Caitlin Gregg Ramps Up

Chelsea LittleSeptember 30, 2016

After partially relocating to Park City and "getting excited" with her training last year, Caitlin Gregg suffering World Cup disappointment. Based 100 percent in the Midwest again, Gregg is focusing on leading the SuperTour and showing up strong at U.S. nationals -- a.k.a, doing what might get her to Lahti, Finland, for World Championships.

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