In most sports, the question of whether men and women would compete on equal playing fields, so to speak, was answered long ago. While gender inequalities remain- a recent decision by the IOC to maintain the exclusion of Women’s Nordic Combined from the Olympics comes to mind- the sport of cross-country skiing will now be joining the list of those in which competition is equal for men and women. In a press release issued on...
Female American and Swedish cross-country skiers are pushing to race equal distances as men. But some of the sport’s star women remain unconvinced. ZHIANGJIAKOU, CHINA — At the end of her first-ever competition at the Winter Olympics — a 15-kilometer effort that left her sprawled on the ground gasping for breath — Julia Kern contemplated the idea of racing twice as far. “I personally like the shorter distances,” said Kern, a rising American star. But,...
The debate to run equal race distances for men and women remains. Molly Peters, the head cross-country ski coach at Vermont’s St. Michael’s College, has led a grassroots campaign to make equal distance racing commonplace at the NCAA level and beyond. She’s the lead voice for The Ski Equal Team. The group sent a letter to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Sport Committee, its Equity and Inclusion Committee, and CEO Tiger Shaw asking...
Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont is looking for an assistant coach for this Nordic season. We compete on the highly competitive EISA Carnival circuit. Looking for help starting mid-October through the end of February. It is a part-time stipend position with flexible hours and includes a free class each semester. Waxing experience required. Please contact Molly Peters for further information or to submit your resume:
Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vt., is looking for an assistant coach for the upcoming nordic season. The position is part time with flexible hours and includes a free class each semester.
Do gender equality in sport and race distances go hand in hand? We asked a multitude of skiers and coaches who raced (or are currently involved in racing) at the collegiate level, as well as FIS Cross-Country Committee Chair Vegard Ulvang: should men's and women's distances be the same, and if so, how do you go about doing that at every level?
In Bozeman earlier this season, bibs had to be redistributed for SuperTour sprint heats once starters were already on lining up. More recently and catastrophically in Craftsbury, an Eastern Cup had to cancel its sprint heats and hold a second qualifier after cascading hardware failures wreaked havoc on results. Here's why we can't expect these problems to go away.