Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation

Q and A: Sun Valley’s Rick Kapala on coaching, sport development, and constructing a “complete ecosystem” in the skiing community

Ben TheyerlNovember 20, 2022

“I’m sorry, but once I start talking cross-country skiing, I can’t stop,” admits Rick Kapala. Remove the “talking” from that statement, and it’s still a succinct summary of long-time Sun Valley coach Rick Kapala’s career. This season will mark the first time in thirty-five years that Kapala won’t be manning the wax bench on race day for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. This summer, he turned to a new role at the Sun Valley...

Community Feature Interviews News Racing US Ski Team

Q&A with New Faces on the U.S. Ski Team: Sammy Smith

Ella HallJune 13, 2022

U.S. Ski & Snowboard recently announced its U.S. Ski Team nominations for the 2022-23 season. Of the 22 athletes named to the team this season, six were not on the previous year’s roster, either newly named or renamed: Michael Earnhart, Walker Hall, Zak Ketterson, Will Koch, Finn O’Connell, and Sammy Smith. To help fans get to know these new(er) faces, FasterSkier is doing a series of interviews, providing insights into the factors that have contributed...

Community Feature Juniors Resources Waxing

The Pros & Cons of League-wide Wax Protocols: Western Clubs Consider the Evolution and Impact (Part 2)

Rachel PerkinsJune 10, 2022

Here are links to earlier installments in this five-part series. The first two parts (part one; part two) spoke to the perspectives of high level wax technicians and industry representatives, while part three focused on the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League. To read the beginning of this article on the wax protocols of Western clubs, part four, click here. Leveling the Playing Field In regard to the question of whether the policy widens the gap in...

Community Feature Juniors Resources Waxing

The Pros & Cons of League-wide Wax Protocols: Western Clubs Consider the Evolution and Impact (Part 1)

Rachel PerkinsJune 9, 2022

In speaking with representatives from each of the leagues featured in this series, a few main points rose to the foreground in this discussion: the level of competition matters, how the policy came about matters, and how a program can enhance athlete support holistically by relieving wax-related expenses – measured both in time and dollars – matters. Before jumping into discussions for club level programs across the West, here are the links to view the...

Collegiate Community Interviews Resources

Unraveling the College Athlete Admission Process: A Look Into Post Graduate Gap Year Programs with Paul Smith of SVSEF

Rachel PerkinsOctober 14, 2019

Deciding how to handle the “college conflict”, as aptly phrased by Alayna Sonnesyn, is a daunting and somewhat mysterious prospect, particularly for athletes and families who are unfamiliar with the process. How does a junior athlete know that they are cut out for a collegiate program? NCAA or USCSA? What about a gap year? In this series, FasterSkier spoke with collegiate and junior coaches and athletes who have chosen different pathways to create a resource...

Continental Cup General Interviews US Ski Team World Cup

Bolger Spends His Summers Training with Big Guns in Norway

Gabby NaranjaAugust 30, 2018

There’s a reason Kevin Bolger has spent his last four summers in Trondheim, Norway, rent free. You could say it started in 2014, when his older brother, Conor, began his Ph.D. work at the Centre for Elite Sports Research in Trondheim. As a doctoral candidate in the center’s neuroscience department, Conor’s work involved lab time. Specifically, lactate and VO2 max testing on Norwegian cross-country and nordic-combined national team members. Conor soon established a relationship with a number...

General News Racing US Nationals

Two-for-Two: Patterson Wins Second-Straight Race at U.S. Nationals; Hart Takes Qualifier

Gabby NaranjaJanuary 6, 2018

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — For the throng of spectators who lined up along the colorfully flagged sprint course at Kincaid Park on Friday, Mother Nature had donned a new look: an earl-gray sky and a rising sun, making the white snow-dusted base of the state’s Tordrillo Mountains (known locally as the “Ghost Range”) if ever so faintly distinguishable to the southwest. Less than 48 hours had passed since the opening race of the 2018 U.S. Cross...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Other Racing

Frozen Thunder Day 2: Euro-Bound Holmes, Valjas Top Distance Races

Gabby NaranjaNovember 4, 2017

Frozen Thunder lived up to its name on Friday, with temperatures hovering below the legal race limit prior to the start of the second competition series of the week: the women’s 7.5- and men’s 10-kilometer freestyle individual starts. An hour delay was enough time to see temperatures rise to -10 degrees Celsius (14 Fahrenheit), and many skiers bundled in Buffs in prep for the five to six laps of racing. Overcast skies were a celestial...

General News Other Racing Results US Ski Team

Lustgarten, Diggins Double Up on Wins at Winter Games NZ

Gabby NaranjaSeptember 18, 2017

What if getting to snow-covered groomed trails came in three steps — those literally being from the front door to the trailhead. While recent winters may make this seem like a melting dream for many, a number of Americans made it their reality these past two weeks while staying at the Snow Farm in Wanaka, New Zealand. U.S. Ski Team (USST) members, as well as American skiers representing the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP), Sun...

General News Racing Results Travel Uncategorized

Havlick Wins 2017 Australian Hoppet; Rose Repeats in Second

Gabby NaranjaSeptember 1, 2017

When Australian Phillip Bellingham lunged for the finish line in the men’s 2017 Kangaroo Hoppet a week ago on Saturday, Aug. 26, in Falls Creek, Victoria, it wasn’t his fellow Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) Gold Team in 2016, Havlick enrolled at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway, to obtain a master’s degree in exercise physiology (he received an undergraduate degree in exercise physiology from the University of Utah...

General Interviews News Other Training

To the Top and Back Again, Bono Sets Denali Speed Record

Gabby NaranjaAugust 28, 2017

Editor’s Note: The subject of the following article, Katie Bono, spent one season as a become one, the state is also the home of Dartmouth College, Bono’s alma mater. Though originally recruited for cross-country skiing (she was the 2006 Minnesota state skiing champion), within two years of attending the Ivy League university, she had learned to love what many of her Big Green comrades adored: climbing. Introduced to the sport by the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club...

Collegiate General Interviews News

Houghton-Bound: Tom Smith Hired as Michigan Tech Nordic Coach

Jason AlbertJune 23, 2017

Locked in the heart of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on an arm of land stretching into Lake Superior is the small city of Houghton. Locals there are intimate with lake-effect snow, long winters and a strong sense of community. Houghton is also home to Michigan Technological University (MTU) and the school’s nordic ski team, which officially named MTU’s newest nordic head coach and cross-country running assistant coach. He’ll be joined by his partner and MTU alumna, Kristen Monahan,...

Biathlon Continental Cup General News Para Nordic Racing US Nationals

FasterSkier’s U.S. Breakthroughs of the Year: Chelsea Holmes & Scott Patterson

FasterSkierApril 11, 2017

With the 2016/2017 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to breakthrough U.S. skiers. Previous categories: Collegiate Skiers of the Year | U.S. Continental Skiers of the Year |...

Continental Cup General Multimedia Photo Gallery Racing

SuperTour Finals Photo Gallery: Skate Sprints

FasterSkierMarch 31, 2017

Spring Series opened earlier this week in Fairbanks, Alaska, with skiathlon races on Monday and freestyle sprints on Wednesday to wrap up the 2017 SuperTour season. Here is a photo gallery from

General News Racing World Cup

Setting the Scene: Pre-Competition Day at Lahti World Championships

FasterSkierFebruary 21, 2017

LAHTI, Finland — Tuesday at Lahti’s venue for the 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships, the sun sets early. Although technically sunset was 5:22 p.m., the sun on this clear-sky day was still wintertime reluctant. It seemed too short a time for the sun’s transect to thaw Lahti. Temps were in the mid-to-low 20 degrees Fahrenheit. But a brisk wind called for down coats and insulated pants for those not actively skiing — in the shade, it...

General News Other Racing

Morgan Gets What He Came For, 9th in U23 Classic Sprint

Alex KochonFebruary 1, 2017

Two weeks after being Cole Morgan still felt like he had something to prove, goals to chase, races to qualify for. That’s where U23 World Championships came in. For Morgan, a former University of Vermont skier who graduated last spring and began a professional racing career with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) in Sun Valley, Idaho, his goal for the one race he was competing in at his first U23 Worlds was to finish in the top...

Biathlon Camps Dryland General News

Craftsbury Splits Camp Between Slovenian Ski Tunnel and Dachstein Glacier

Gabby NaranjaSeptember 29, 2016

Eleven Craftsbury Green Racing Project skiers and three coaches took their training to Slovenia and Austria this month to check out Planica's new ski tunnel (in a three-level parking garage) then more snow time 9,000 feet above sea level at the Dachstein glacier.

General Interviews News

A New Chapter for GMVS with Rodgers, A New Start for SVSEF’s Gold Team with Mallory

Jason AlbertSeptember 14, 2016

Colin Rodgers has left Sun Valley to take charge at Green Mountain Valley School in his native Vermont, while his good friend Chris Mallory, also from Vermont, parted ways with UVM and is moving West to head up the SVSEF Gold Team.

General News Other Racing

Irwin and Gelso Win Australian Hoppet; USST Goes 1-2 in New Zealand Marathon

Gabby NaranjaSeptember 5, 2016

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.

General News Other Racing

‘Turning August Into February’: Sun Valley Gold Team Spends Month in Australia

Gabby NaranjaAugust 22, 2016

When the SVSEF Gold Team found out that Falls Creek, a ski resort located in Victoria, Australia, had premium on-snow training in August, several team members said yes to the trip Down Under for a monthlong camp.

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