Royal Gorge – FasterSkier

The Wrong 30,000

Matthew VoisinJune 3, 2026

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. Will Sweetser thinks American Nordic skiing is recruiting in the wrong places. Here is what he is building on Donner Pass to prove it. This is the second of two parts — be sure to read part one, to learn about Sweetser’s background and coaching philosophy — Keep Showing Up:...

Feature Training

Keep Showing Up: Will Sweetser’s Unglamorous First Principle

Matthew VoisinMay 15, 2026

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. Two older girls on the Edward Little ski team went looking for bodies. It was the mid-1980s, the boys’ Nordic program at the Auburn, Maine, high school was thin and not very good, and the girls’ team was strong. The two girls, Becky Flynn (SVSEF) and Sarah Pribram (NWVE), knew...

News

Royal Gorge XC Resort to Offer Expanded Programming for Winter 2026-2027

Royal GorgeMarch 18, 2026

Thanks to the fantastic success of the redesigned youth programs at the resort this past winter, Royal Gorge XC will offer expanded teams for the 2026-2027 season. New team offerings for the coming season will include middle school age racing, junior racing, gap year programming, pro level racing and masters training groups. Youth programming will remain the same as offered this past season, with groups comprised of young skiers from Kindergarten through 8th grade with...

News

Gold Rush Races Cancelled, But Festival Lives On at Royal Gorge

Royal GorgeMarch 13, 2026

Low snowfall and warming temperatures across the Sierra Nevadas have forced Royal Gorge XC Resort to cancel the Gold Rush, Silver Rush, and Bronze Rush races originally scheduled for March 21, 2026. Pre-registered racers will be offered a refund or a deferred entry to the 2027 races. The long course races are off, but the Gold Rush Festival itself will carry on in a modified form on Saturday, March 21. Royal Gorge is planning a...

News

Sugar Bowl Academy Accepting Applications for Elite Team

Sugar Bowl AcademyApril 9, 2016

Sugar Bowl Academy is pleased to announce they are accepting applications for their Elite Nordic Team for the coming 2016/2017 season. The team will provide world-class coaching and training opportunities to its athletes. Head Sugar Bowl Nordic coach Martin Benes will oversee the program along with the Sugar Bowl Academy coaching staff. Athletes will be based out of the Royal Gorge-Sugar Bowl resort and have access to the wealth of training sites in the Truckee-Tahoe...

Other News

2016 AXCS National Masters Coming To Royal Gorge March 19-20

Eric ByramMarch 9, 2016

2016 AXCS National Masters Coming To Royal Gorge March 19-20 With several feet of recent fresh snowfall to replenish the trails, the world-famous Royal Gorge ski resort is ready and waiting for master skiers from across the USA to visit for the 2016 National Masters coming up March 19-20. Racing will start off on Saturday, March 19 with a 10km classic race. Skiers will start in various waves based on age category registration. An open...

Job Postings

Royal Gorge Seeking Full- and Part-Time Groomers + Ski Instructor

FasterSkierSeptember 17, 2015

Royal Gorge Cross Country is seeking a full-time and a part-time groomer and a full-time ski instructor for the 2015/16 season.

News

Sugar Bowl Academy’s Hannah Halvorsen Named to U.S. Scandanavian Cup Team

Royal GorgeJanuary 15, 2014

Continental Cup Racing

Video: U.S. Distance Championships Women’s 30 k Classic

FasterSkierApril 11, 2013

Liz Stephen put on another show of dominance in the women's 30 k classic at Royal Gorge XC for U.S. Distance National Championships, winning the race by over a minute. Kikkan Randall claimed silver and Rosie Brennan took third a minute after that. Our footage from the race.

Continental Cup Racing US Ski Team

Stephen Buckles Down on Single Pair of Skis, Wins U.S. Distance Nationals 30 k

Alex KochonApril 10, 2013

Liz Stephen didn't want to change skis, and completing the first of three laps first, she didn't have to. The 26-year-old U.S. Ski Team member proceeded to call the shots in a slow-and-slushy 30 k classic mass start at U.S. Distance Nationals, skipping both pit stops to win by more than a minute.

Continental Cup Racing

Facing Driest Winter on Record, Organizers Get Creative For SuperTour Finals

Audrey ManganApril 2, 2013

Snow trouble at major championships is the new normal, apparently. Race organizers for the 2013 SuperTour Finals and Distance Nationals, faced with driest winter on record and insufficient snowpack on the newly-homologated courses at Tahoe Donner Cross Country Ski Center, were forced to move three events to higher ground last week. The 30/50 k will now take place at Royal Gorge and the freestyle prologue and 10/15 k classic will be at Auburn Ski Club.

General News Places to Ski

An Uncertain Future for Royal Gorge

Alex KochonOctober 3, 20111

The thing about Royal Gorge is, nobody really knows how big it is. Trail reports have varied since the cross-country ski resort went up on Donner Summit in 1971, suggesting the nearly 3,000-acre property offers anywhere between 195 to 320 kilometers of groomed terrain. Back in the early stages of the Royal Gorge’s rapid development in Soda Springs, Calif., founder John Slouber claimed it was the largest nordic ski area in North America. Forty years...

Racing Results

Swank, Vinogradova Win 2009 California Gold Rush in White-Out Conditions

Ian CaseMarch 23, 20091

Challenging conditions for Gold Rush competitors Donner Summit, CA— More than a foot of snow fell on Donner Summit overnight Saturday and continued prior to the start of the annual California Gold Rush, a 46k cross country ski race held at Royal Gorge. The weather resulted in a delayed start and slight course change. The races started at 9:30 a.m. and instead of a two-lap 21k loop, Gold Rush competitors skied three laps of a...