With the weather changing drastically throughout the morning today’s West Yellowstone SuperTour was quite a spectacle. The ladies skied 10km, the men competed for 15km and the FasterSkier crew tried to keep up at several different locations on the course. Ladies’ 10km Skate: Men’s 15km Skate: Contributing camerawork by Audrey Mangan.
Leif Zimmermann (BSF/Madshus) made it three in a row by winning the 15-kilometer freestyle race in West Yellowstone, Montana. The 28-year-old from Bozeman, Montana weathered an intense snow squall and a strong challenge by Sylvan Ellefson (Team Homegrown) to earn a 23 second victory on the three lap course. Ellefson claimed second, closely followed by Wednesday’s Sprint Showdown winner Mike Sinnott (SVSEF). Sinnott barely edged out teammate Matt Gelso for the final podium spot, claiming...
The 2011-2012 SuperTour kicks off Wednesday morning with a two-round, individual-start sprint in West Yellowstone, MT. Racers will first cover the 1.5 k point-to-point course on classic skis, then recover for a bit before heading out again on skate equipment. The fastest combined time of the day for men and women takes the win. The most noticeable feature of the course is the finish, a steep climb that will leave athletes spent at the end...
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Rollerskiing through thick fog on a sleepy Thursday morning, several U.S. Ski Team and National Training Group athletes wheeled into the Olympic Jumping Complex parking lot. Almost an hour before their 9 a.m. sprint workout, the small group arrived earlier than some of the venue’s staff, but they weren’t the first athletes there. As they pulled up alongside a row of parked vehicles, a few skiers recognized one another, and without...
It is mid July and do you know where your rollerskis are? If you are Team Homegrown’s Sylvan Ellefson, they will likely be found heading up the valley from the town of Vail, Colorado to the top of Vail pass, cranking out some long level three intervals. Ellefson, a graduate of Bates College, native of Vail, and one of the founding member’s of the Ski and Snowboard Club of Vail Team Homegrown, likes to put...
Not every day is an Extra Blue day!
The OPA Cup series is supposedly to be skiing’s equivalent of baseball’s minor leagues. But last weekend’s racing in Ramsau was about as far from a dingy Southern ballpark as you can get. Surrounded by jagged, snowy peaks on a plateau in the Austrian Alps, Ramsau was the last stop on this year’s OPA circuit, which a contingent of U.S. athletes has been following for the last two weeks. Nearly a dozen Americans took part...
This past weekend a contingent of American athletes hit the road, looking for racing experience. Their first stop? Rogla, Slovenia, and two races on the OPA cup circuit. Rogla is no stranger to high-level racing – the venue has hosted World Cups in the past, and is considered a tough race, as it is at altitude, sitting 1500 m above sea level. While the snow coverage was a little sparse, and as the Americans arrived,...
Last year, the Birkie Elite Sprints, held on Main Street in Hayward, Wisconsin, two days before the Birkie, were a mostly American affair. Morten Pedersen of Norway won the men’s race, but most of the other top finishers were natives – including Audrey Weber, then skiing for CXC, who won the women’s heats. This year, things changed. The men’s final on Tuesday came down to a battle between Norwegian teammates Vetle Thyli and Martin Andersen....
The 2011 Owl Creek Chase field may have been dominated by collegiate skiers, but Sylvan Ellefson (Team Homegrown) made sure they knew their place. The Vail, Colorado native won his second race in two days, and with the Owl Creek Chase doubling as a SuperTour event, Ellefson continued to move up the US Continental Cup standings. Ellefson bested Glen Randall (BSF) by just under a minute over the winding 21k point-to-point course running from Snowmass...
Joanne Reid (CU) wins the USSA SuperTour 5K classic in Aspen, Colo., while local favorite Sylvan Ellefsson (Vail, Colo.) takes the men’s 10K classic.
This month, Fischer Skis U.S. kicks off the Fischer Select Athlete of the Month program to spotlight the superior talent of notable, up and coming cross country ski racers. This month’s featured athlete is 23-year-old Sylvan Ellefson of Vail, Colorado. Sylvan placed tenth in this year’s American Birkie 52km Freestyle. Below are insights on Sylvan’s training and lifestyle. Name: Sylvan Ellefson Age: 23 Home town: Vail, CO Team: SSCV Team HomeGrown Years skiing: 9 Years...
The first annual National Training Group (NTG) camp in Park City is underway, and participants were challenged early on with the infamous Agony Hill Time Trial on the first day. Alexa Turzian (SVSEF/CU) and Caitlin Patterson (Alaska Winter Stars/UVM) tied in the women’s race, both posting a time of 18:40. Kate Dolan (BSF/DU) finished third, 40 seconds back. Scott Patterson (Alaska Winter Stars/UVM) edged Reid Pletcher (SVSEF/CU) by two seconds in the men’s event, clocking...
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...
Rogla, Slovenia – Nine American skiers are currently in Slovenia contesting the OPA Cup Finals, an event modeled on the popular Tour de Ski and World Cup Finals. Racing started on Friday with a 2.5/3.5km classic prologue, and continued Saturday with a 5/10km mass start. The overall winners will be determined in a 10/15km handicap start based on the overall standing from the first two races. The first across the line is the champion. The...