Over the dryland season, U.S. Ski Team sprinter Simi Hamilton has been working on improving his double poling and as always -- keeping the soul fed with adventure training. “I have been playing around with a much shorter range of motion on the climbs to keep my tempo much higher,” he explains.
"The goals of the workout are to increase classic striding leg speed and explosiveness, make neuromuscular gains, and increase aerobic capacity," explains Chris Mallory, new head coach of the SVSEF Gold Team. "The workout is fairly short and sweet, but very effective, and it helps to sharpen the athletes up as we near race season."
Earlier this month, the U.S. Ski Team returned to New Zealand's Snow Farm for on-snow training and racing. “The primary goal was extended time on snow working on group and individual technique needs,” head coach Chris Grover explained. “Another goal of the camp was to touch base with racing." Ten U.S. skiers started 2-4 races, and several racked up podiums.
Wrapping up their Australian camp, three Sun Valley skiers reached the podium at the 42 k Kangaroo Hoppet, part of the Worldloppet marathon series. Deedra Irwin edged teammate Mary Rose, and Matt Gelso won the men's race ahead of Australian national-team skiers. One weekend later, the U.S. Ski Team swept first and second New Zealand's Merino Muster.
Happy Father's Day to all the pat-on-the-back, "go get 'em kid!" dads out there. We asked U.S. and Canadian national-team skiers to share the best advice or lessons they learned from their dad. As Ian Torchia's dad told him: "You know what happens to hot dogs, Ian? They get eaten!"
Now that you know the eating habits of some of APU's top skiers in Anchorage, Alaska, we posed the question to Stratton Mountain School skiers based in southern Vermont. Their responses (and accompanying photos) will make your taste buds tingle.
The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team has announced its nominations for the 2016-17 season, and the list includes eight A-team members, three B-teamers, and five development-team skiers, including newbies Ian Torchia and Hannah Halvorsen.
It was a good year for North American skiers on the World Cup. Boiling down the choices for best North American cross-country performance of 2016 was no easy task. That's our disclaimer; now the drum roll ... our top awards go to Jessie Diggins and Sophie Caldwell (a tie for the women) and Alex Harvey.
Jessie Diggins and Simi Hamilton are trading their skis for dance shoes, at least for the start of the 2016/2017 season. The two both signed six-week contracts with the popular TV series, Dancing with the Stars, with filming starting in September in Los Angeles.
With the conclusion of the 2016 collegiate season, FasterSkier examines the traditional format of NCAA Skiing Championships with two distance races. Part I of a two-part series discusses proposed changes to NCAA Championships, including the addition of a sprint.
On a cold, clear day in historic Quebec City, Canada's Alex Harvey didn't take the win, but he stole the show. In an impressive run, Harvey placed second to France's Baptiste Gros in the Ski Tour Canada's Stage 3 freestyle sprint. The U.S. had three in the heats, with Simi Hamilton finishing eighth, Erik Bjornsen a career-best 20th and Andy Newell 29th. Canada's Jess Cockney notched 10th for his best result in four years.
Photos from the third stage of the Ski Tour Canada: the men's and women's freestyle sprints in Quebec City. Local legend Alex Harvey placed second in the men's race, and American Sadie Bjornsen led the U.S. women in eighth after winning the qualifier.
Norway keeps them coming. Norwegian young gun Emil Iversen took Stage 2 of the Ski Tour Canada, the men's 17.5 k classic mass start in Montreal, ahead of an all-star cast, including teammate Petter Northug, Russia's Sergey Ustiugov, and another Norwegian, Martin Johnsrud Sundby. Canada's Alex Harvey skied up to ninth for sixth overall in the Tour.
On a 1.7-kilometer technical course with hustling and jostling, U.S. sprinter Simi Hamilton proved he had the tactics and the lungs to ski with the world's best on Tuesday. He placed third in the Ski Tour Canada's opening skate sprint, 0.09 seconds behind Russia's Sergey Ustiugov in first and 0.01 behind France's Richard Jouve in second.
Jessie Diggins felt right at home on Tuesday in Gatineau, Quebec, racing to her fourth podium in the last two months in the first stage of the Ski Tour Canada. She timed her strikes and finished third overall, while three other U.S. women made the heats and Canada's Maya MacIsaac-Jones achieved 29th.
The U.S. Ski Team rocked the first stage of the Ski Tour Canada with back-to-back podiums, starting with Jessie Diggins in third in the women's freestyle sprint, followed by Simi Hamilton in third as well in the men's sprint.
FasterSkier has several boots on the ground in Gatineau, and over the last couple days, we gained a sense about the conditions and chatted with a few athletes before the Ski Tour Canada opens Tuesday with 1.7 k freestyle sprints. Snow reports, photos, quotes, and an added bonus: the U.S. Ski Team's latest music video.
On Sunday, the U.S. Ski Team released its 24-athlete roster for the upcoming Ski Tour Canada, with eight stages in 12 days starting Tuesday. (Note: this article has been updated as Caitlin Patterson will not be starting due to illness.)
When five out of six of the sprint finalists are Norwegian, more than one is bound for the podium. Saturday's freestyle sprint in Lahti, Finland, saw not just a top-three sweep for Norway, but Emil Iversen snag his second World Cup win of the season over teammates Petter Northug and Finn Hågan Krogh.
With fewer than two weeks remaining until the Ski Tour Canada visits Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, and Canmore from March 1-12, we spent some time breaking down the provisional North American picks and estimated costs for Canadian nation's group skiers at the season-ending World Cups.