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“It’s a Good Time to be an American Ski Racer”: A Look Inside the OPA Cup Finals Trip to Sappada, ITA
Continental CupFeatureJuniorsNewsRacingUS Ski TeamWorld Cup

“It’s a Good Time to be an American Ski Racer”: A Look Inside the OPA Cup Finals Trip to Sappada, ITA

Rachel PerkinsApril 6, 2022

While World Cup Finals were underway in mid-March in Falun, Sweden, a second contingent of top American skiers was lining up roughly 2,000 kilometers south to race in the OPA Cup Finals in Sappada, Italy. Located along the northern edge of Italy near the Austrian border, the small town is nestled among the spectacular, jagged massifs of the Italian Dolomites, roughly an hour’s drive east of Toblach, which typically hosts the final stages of the...

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Sunday Rundown: Ramsau, Toblach, Annecy, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)
BiathlonBiathlon CanadaCanadian National Ski TeamContinental CupNewsNordic CombinedRacingUS BiathlonUS Ski TeamWorld Cup

Sunday Rundown: Ramsau, Toblach, Annecy, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)

FasterSkierDecember 17, 2017

NorAm mini tour (Rossland, B.C.): 10/15 k freestyle pursuits Team Gregg ended the Rossland NorAm mini tour with another double win, with American Caitlin Gregg and her husband Brian Gregg winning the 10- and 15-kilometer freestyle pursuits, respectively, at the Black Jack Ski Club trails. Caitlin capped the long weekend with her third-straight win, a 48.28-second victory over former Canadian biathlete Zina Kocher (Foothills Nordic). Caitlin started first and was first across the finish in 29:02.86,...

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Saturday Rundown: Annecy, Toblach, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)
BiathlonBiathlon CanadaContinental CupNewsRacingUS BiathlonWorld Cup

Saturday Rundown: Annecy, Toblach, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)

FasterSkierDecember 16, 2017

NorAm Mini Tour (Rossland, B.C.): Freestyle sprints On Day 2 of NorAm racing in Rossland, British Columbia, Julien Locke, of the Black Jack Ski Club and Canadian National U25 Team, won the men’s 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint final on his home trails by just one-hundredth of a second over Evan Palmer-Charrette, of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, in 2:38.13. NTDC Thunder Bay had two on the podium with Julian Smith in third, 0.4...

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Friday Rundown: Annecy, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)
BiathlonBiathlon CanadaContinental CupNewsRacingUS Biathlon

Friday Rundown: Annecy, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)

FasterSkierDecember 15, 2017

IBU World Cup (Annecy, France): Men’s 10 k sprint (Note: This rundown has been updated to include quotes from US Biathlon’s Tim Burke and Sean Doherty.) Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø racked up his third-straight individual win of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season on Friday (and fourth non-relay win of 2017/2018), topping the men’s 10-kilometer sprint in Annecy, France. And he did so in head-turning fashion, beating French superstar Martin Fourcade, the race’s...

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Saturday Rundown: Val di Fiemme, Oberhof, Soldier Hollow, Planica (Updated x3)
BiathlonBiathlon CanadaCanadian National Ski TeamNewsRacingTour de SkiUS BiathlonUS NationalsUS Ski TeamWorld Cup

Saturday Rundown: Val di Fiemme, Oberhof, Soldier Hollow, Planica (Updated x3)

FasterSkierJanuary 7, 2017

U.S. Cross Country Championships (Soldier Hollow): 10 k skate [UPDATED] Don’t bet against Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg) in a distance skate event. The 36-year-old took another national title in the 10-kilometer freestyle individual start at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, earlier today in the first event of the 2017 U.S. Cross Country Championships. Gregg’s winning time was 27:00.6 on a cold, slow-snow morning at SoHo. Chelsea Holmes (Alaska Pacific University) was second, 2.2 seconds back,...

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Valjas 5/100ths of a Second from Qualifying; MacIsaac-Jones Also 31st, Beatty 32nd for Canada
Canadian National Ski TeamGeneralNewsRacingWorld Cup

Valjas 5/100ths of a Second from Qualifying; MacIsaac-Jones Also 31st, Beatty 32nd for Canada

Alex KochonJanuary 16, 2016

Three Canadians missed the heats by slim margins on Saturday, with Len Valjas placing 31st for the third time in a World Cup skate sprint this season and Maya MacIsaac-Jones finishing 31st in the women's race, followed by Dahria Beatty in 32nd. “It’s a great start, it’s exciting and that’s why we have them over [there],” head coach Justin Wadsworth says.

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World CupXCFeeds

Minor Leagues

JoranSeptember 13, 2012

OPA Cup races (also known as Alpen Cup) and Scandinavian Cup races have acquired an informal reputation as a sort of “minor league” racing circuit, relative to the World Cup.  One question this leads me to ask is exactly how much movement is there between these two circuits? To answer this question I took data [...] Related posts:

  1. OPA Cup vs Scandinavian Cup: Quality
  2. Predicting FIS Points For World Cup Races
  3. Predicting World Cup FIS Points (con’t)

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Nishikawa Breaks Away to Finish Fifth in Scando Cup 30 k
Continental CupGeneralNewsRacingResults

Nishikawa Breaks Away to Finish Fifth in Scando Cup 30 k

Alex KochonFebruary 9, 20121

There’s something to be said about consistency. Canadians Graham Nishikawa and Michael Somppi might say it’s a little annoying. With repeat results, the two can’t be too upset with their performances in recent Alpen and Scandinavian Cup races. Both Senior Development Team skiers, Nishikawa and Somppi finished the same as they did in their previous races. At the Alpen Cup in Switzerland on Sunday, Nishikawa of the Alberta World Cup Academy was fifth in the...

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Widmer, Sinnott Trail Norwegians in Scando Cup Final
Continental CupGeneralNewsRacingResults

Widmer, Sinnott Trail Norwegians in Scando Cup Final

Alex KochonFebruary 8, 2012

Any high-level racer will tell you experience is key, but sometimes it’s just as important to take in the moment. Ask Mike Sinnott, a member of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team who recently competed in a couple of World Cups. Six days after placing 37th in the Moscow freestyle sprints for his second-best individual World Cup result, Sinnott made his first Scandinavian Cup start this year on Wednesday in Madona, Latvia. There,...

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Continental CupGeneralInterviewsLifestyleNewsRacing

Self-Described ‘Late Bloomer,’ Thomas Embarks on First OPA Trip

Alex KochonFebruary 1, 2012

When the phone rang and Alana Thomas answered to hear the voice of Tom Holland, Cross Country Canada’s high-performance director, she had a sense of what was coming. The 23-year-old Nakkertok racer, who lives and trains in Ottawa, had been waiting for a similar call since she started skiing competitively more than seven years ago. With a considerably better-than-average start to her season this year, Thomas knew this might be her best chance to earn...

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XCFeeds

OPA + Scandinavian Cup FIS Points Follow-Up

JoranOctober 12, 2011

I started writing an answer to a comment to Monday’s post, but it started getting long, so I thought I’d make it a short post, instead. Basically, the question was how can the points be so different between OPA and Scandinavian Cup races when the penalty calculation methods is exactly the same. Recall that these [...] Related posts:

  1. OPA Cup vs Scandinavian Cup: Quality
  2. How To Win The SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup Contest
  3. Predicting FIS Points For World Cup Races

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XCFeeds

OPA + Scandinavian Cup FIS Points Follow-Up

JoranOctober 12, 2011

I started writing an answer to a comment to Monday’s post, but it started getting long, so I thought I’d make it a short post, instead. Basically, the question was how can the points be so different between OPA and Scandinavian Cup races when the penalty calculation methods is exactly the same. Recall that these [...] Related posts:

  1. OPA Cup vs Scandinavian Cup: Quality
  2. How To Win The SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup Contest
  3. Predicting FIS Points For World Cup Races

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XCFeeds

Accuracy of FIS Points In OPA Cups vs Scandinavian Cups

JoranOctober 10, 2011

Some comments on a recent post got me curious about the FIS points awarded at OPA Cup races. Similarly to my commenters, I’d noticed that oftentimes the top skiers at an OPA Cup race would receive very low (i.e. good) points for that race, and that this often wouldn’t seem to match up well with [...] Related posts:

  1. A New Sprint Points Method
  2. OPA Cup vs Scandinavian Cup: Quality
  3. FIS Points Development Guide

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XCFeeds

Accuracy of FIS Points In OPA Cups vs Scandinavian Cups

JoranOctober 10, 2011

Some comments on a recent post got me curious about the FIS points awarded at OPA Cup races. Similarly to my commenters, I’d noticed that oftentimes the top skiers at an OPA Cup race would receive very low (i.e. good) points for that race, and that this often wouldn’t seem to match up well with [...] Related posts:

  1. A New Sprint Points Method
  2. OPA Cup vs Scandinavian Cup: Quality
  3. FIS Points Development Guide

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World CupXCFeeds

Predicting FIS Points For World Cup Races

JoranAugust 24, 2011

The title of this post has dramatically over-promised on the actual content.  Sorry. I’ve talked a little before about race penalties.  Since race penalties are specifically intended to adjust for the strength of the field, I thought it would interesting to think up some way to see how well they do that. Everything having to [...] Related posts:

  1. Variability In World Cup Ski Racers
  2. How Well Prepared Are World Cup Rookies? (Part 1a: Distance)
  3. OPA Cup vs Scandinavian Cup: Quality

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GeneralNewsUncategorized

McMurtry Misses World Champs, But Gains European Racing Experience

Kieran JonesMarch 7, 2011

There is no doubt that when Canadian Brent McMurtry trained this summer, he was motivated by the thought of standing on the start line in the stadium in Oslo, Norway, in February. But for McMurtry, a member of the Pierre Harvey National Development Center (CNEPH) and one of Canada’s most promising young skiers, had a self-described “disappointing” start to the season. During the first World Cup period, he fell flat, cracking the top 50 just...

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Continental CupRacing

US OPA Trip Ends With a Bang

Topher SabotMarch 15, 2010

Rogla, Slovenia – The Spring 2010 OPA Cup trip came to an end with the last race of the OPA Cup Finals on Sunday.  The US ended the European tour in fine form, posting excellent results in the three race mini-tour. The competition featured a 2.5/3.5km classic prologue on Friday, a mass start 5/10km classic on Saturday, and the final 10/15km handicap start on Sunday to determine the overall winners. Mike Sinnott led the way...

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How Do You Get 15 Skiers to Slovenia?
Continental CupGeneralNewsRacingUS Ski Team

How Do You Get 15 Skiers to Slovenia?

Nathaniel HerzMarch 13, 20101

The IOC hasn’t yet decided on a location for the 2018 Winter Olympics. But it’s safe to say that the road to those Games travels through Slovenia, at least for some of America’s cross country skiers. Thanks to a $10,000 grant from the National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation (NCCSEF), and more funding from the U.S. Ski Team, a group of 15 athletes has set up shop in the resort town of Rogla. There, the...

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