Thanksgiving day featured the first double sprint qualifier in SuperTour history. As is usually the case in West Yellowstone at this time of year, the races featured large fields – over 200 athletes took part in the class and skate sprint events. Cold temperatures and tough courses made for a challenging day and some memorable expressions…
The SuperTour Sprint Showdown in West Yellowstone kicks off the North American Continental Cup racing season on Thanksgiving day. Two separate races, classic and freestyle sprint “qualifiers”, use nearly identical courses, starting in the biathlon stadium, and finishing out on the Deja View loop, for a point-to-point route. Men and women will race the same newly homologated courses, with the classic sprint clocking in at a hair over 1.6km and the skate a bit shorter...
Road closures and frigid temperatures have forced the postponement of Wednesday’s opening race at the 2010 West Yellowstone Ski Festival. The shutdown of Highway 20 has stranded timing equipment in Idaho, causing the race jury to push back the double sprint qualifier by 24 hours. Temperatures on Thanksgiving day are predicted to be milder, with highs above the legal racing limit, and an employee of the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said that the highway was...
As snow hammers Idaho and Montana and forecasts call for frigid temperatures, the fate of Wednesday’s SuperTour-opening double sprint qualifier hangs in the balance. With road closures stranding the race timer and other officials in Idaho, and the National Weather Service (NWS) predicting a high of negative seven degrees on Wednesday, the start of the event has already been pushed back two hours, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. And since the International Ski Federation’s...
When James Southam lined up for the start of a 30 k pursuit race at the Olympics in Whistler in February, it was the first time he’d done so all year. At the 2009 World Championships in the Czech Republic, Southam faced a similar challenge: the pursuit race there was only his second of the season, following a World Cup in Whistler earlier that year. Of the 24 SuperTour races scheduled by the U.S. Ski...
So you think you know North American skiing? Here’s your chance to prove it. The SuperTour Finals features an elite field with World Cup skiers and Olympians from both Canada and the United States. With the introduction of a read FasterSkier’s complete preview with predictions and can a full list of entries is available race website. The contest remains open until 2:00PM EST Friday. How to Play: 1. Enter your picks for the the podium...
Madawaska, ME—With the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games just finished, the top Nordic skiers on the continent have jetted across the Atlantic for the final period of the World Cup. However, they will be back in just three short weeks and most plan to race in the far reaches of northern Maine for the 2010 U.S. SuperTour Finals. Confirmations have been pouring in for the event, with U.S. headliners Kikkan Randall (8th...
The 2010 US 30km/50km Championships and SuperTour Finals are just a month away, and organizers in Madawaska and Fort Kent, Maine are preparing for an outstanding event. With ample snow at both the 4 Seasons Lodge in Madawaska and the 10th Mountain Lodge in Fort Kent (host of 2004 and 2011 Biathlon World Cup events), competitors can expect excellent racing conditions and challenging courses. The SuperTour Finals will follow a tour-de-ski format, which will yield...
With their wins in today’s classic sprints, Phil Widmer and Rebecca Dussault both swept the Madison SuperTour weekend. Both the men and women chose to double-pole the soft course around Madison’s Capital Square. In a repeat of yesterday’s dominating performance, Dussault qualified first, won her semi-final looking relaxed, then skied away from the rest of the women in the A final. After her the results sheet was identical to the day before, with Maria Stuber...
Phil Widmer and Rebecca Dussault take victory at the Madison SuperTour Criterium races. Dussault, the 2010 ITU Winter Triathlon Championship, blew away a small but talented women's field to take an authoritative victory. Widmer over came a tough men's field made up of top Americans and Canadians to take victory in what was for many the first Nordic criterium of their careers.
Brayton Osgood (Bend, OR) and Kristina Trygstad-Saari (Bozeman, MT) skied to victory in the 5/10K classic races in the opening day of the Aspen Valley Ski Club SuperTour. The former Dartmouth College skiers each captured their first SuperTour title of the season, with Osgood winning a tight race over a competitive men’s field, while Trygstad-Saari opened up nearly a thirty second lead over a fairly spread out women’s field. In the men’s 10K classic race,...
Brian Gregg picked up two podium finishes in this weekend’s SuperTour in Telemark, WI. Racing for CXC, Gregg placed third in yesterday’s classic race and then outsprinted teammate Matt Liebsch for the win in today’s mass start skate race. Gregg took a break from packing his bags (flying to the Canmore World Cups) to give the scoop on today’s race. How did the race play out – when did the field spread out and when...
Matt Liebsch, CXC, will soon be headed to the Canmore World Cup races, and in yesterday’s SuperTour race he proved he was further sharpening his speed. At last weekend’s SuperTour in Minneapolis he won the skate race and took fifth in the classic race. Liebsch was just two seconds behind Bryan Cook in the 10km individual start classic race yesterday in Telemark, Wisconsin. Liebsch gives Fasterskier a taste of the race, in which he and...
Telemark, WI Team CXC dominated their home turf yesterday by taking 5 out of the 6 podium places in the 5/10km classic races of the Telemark SuperTour. In the women’s 5km race Rebecca Dussault won by a commanding 31 seconds over teammate Maria Stuber, mimicking their 1-2 placements in both of last weekend’s SuperTour races in Minneapolis. Third place went to Melissa Schwartz, who finished another 13 seconds behind Stuber, both previous teammates at NMU....
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Brian Gregg and Rebecca Dussault gave CXC Team Vertical Limit a second consecutive day on top of the podium. Dussault repeated continued her winning ways, skiing to a convincing 17 second win in the women’s 10km classic. Gregg, 2nd in yesterday’s freestyle race, took the victory in the 15km classic, edging Martin Banerud by five seconds. Bryan Cook (CXC Team Vertical Limit) matched his place from yesterday, taking the final podium spot,...
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Matt Liebsch and Rebecca Dussault led CXC Team Vertical Limit in a dominating performance this morning as the US SuperTour continued in Minnesota. Liebsch, winner of last year’s American Birkebeiner, posted a convincing win at the head of a trio of CXC skiers. He completed the 10km freestyle race in a time of 22:23, 38 seconds faster than teammate Brain Gregg. Bryan Cook completed the CXC Team Vertical Limit sweep just 4.2...
Maria Stuber and Brian Gregg, teammates on CXC Team Vertical Limit both finished 2nd in today’s 5/10km freestyle SuperTour in Minneapolis. They took a few minutes to answer some questions following the race. Maria Stuber It sounds like the conditions were pretty sloppy out there with all of the warm and wet weather. Can you tell us a bit about the conditions; how did the weather effect things, how the trails held up, etc? Maria...
FasterSkier was able to catch up with Torin Koos during his travels after his recent victories at the Methow SuperTours. FS: The conditions for the classic race sounded pretty difficult with all of the rain that had hit the Methow Valley. How was it out there for you? TK: Sunday’s distance race was a tough one. The rains left such little snow pack the course we used in Saturday’s sprint couldn’t take classic tracks. The...
Photographer Ed Stockard was on the scene at last Saturday’s SuperTour in the Methow Valley and he captured some great shots of the action going down. Visit his full gallery
Torin Koos (USST) skied to a convincing win in the freestyle sprint as the SuperTour stopped in the Methow Valley. As a member of the US World Cup Team, Koos doesn’t have many opportunities to race domestically, let alone in his home state. His thoughts on today’s race and the upcoming Olympics. The weather leading up to the race was rather lousy. What were the conditions like throughout the day? How did the course hold...