The Devon Kershaw Show – Page 3

The Devon Kershaw Show: A Birthday, Spicy Food, and the Solid Sprinting from Dresden

Devon KershawDecember 21, 2020

Full disclosure, we do get to the Dresden sprints, we swear, but it takes a few minutes in this episode. On a day when Devon’s began his 39th trip around the sun – it was his birthday on December 20th – the discourse shimmied to a full spectrum of topics – most of which directly tie into sliding on snow. (For the most part.) There’s the chat about backcountry skiing and the lovely video...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: The Ruka Triple — So Far So Good, a Great World Cup Opener

Devon KershawNovember 30, 2020

This episode of The Devon Kershaw Show is supported by Boulder Nordic Sport. We appreciate their ongoing partnership as we cover the World Cup. So much to break down. Ruka, Finland presented a challenge on several fronts. The women and men contested a classic sprint, a 10 k / 15 k interval start classic, and a 10 k / 15 k skate pursuit over a three day period. A great way to exhaust...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: The Preseason Episode, Descending on Ruka

Devon KershawNovember 23, 2020

This episode of the Devon Kershaw Show is brought to you by The Craftsbury Outdoor Center. The Outdoor Center is excited to offer a Collegiate Winter Term training program in 2021. Beitostølen, Norway and Bruksvallarna, Sweden hosted FIS Cup racing over the weekend. The news from Norway tells of a Johannes Høsflot Klæbo who might be back on form when it comes to his distance racing chops. He’s also keyed in for the sprints....

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The Devon Kershaw Show: See the Forest for the Trees – An Eye on FIS

Devon KershawOctober 22, 2020

Like so many organizations, FIS, the governing body for international skiing, is a slow-to-change entity. Doping reforms, for example, have evolved but at a yawn-worthy rate. So in rather atypical fashion, like a finger snap, FIS voted to oust its Secretary General, Sarah Lewis, on October 9th. Lewis had been considered a lifer at FIS. She’d been on staff for two decades. News on the “why” of her removal remains sparse. Yet it was an...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: A Return

Devon KershawSeptember 17, 2020

March 31st is the last day we posted a new episode. Depending on where you stand in the COVID time machine, that might as well be a light year. Or a nano-second. From Oslo, Norway Devon chats about the time that was and the time that will be as we lurch into fall and then winter. In other words, it’s about time we rebooted this project. On the list of topics discussed, staying put...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Out of Quarantine and a Dive into the News Cycle

FasterSkierMarch 31, 2020

Kershaw is free from quarantine and back at home in Lillehammer. As we all know, the race season has been shut down. That means it’s time to discuss news items of note. Like…the “flexing” of some skiers as they ski an un-godly number of kilometers, Stina Nilsson’s switch from cross-country to biathlon, the Norwegian Ski Federation’s financial crisis, and, the retirement of Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal. (The U.S. Ski Team’s Erik Bjornsen also announced his retirement...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: The Quarantined in Sjusjøen Episode

FasterSkierMarch 16, 2020

Canceled. The North American leg of the World Cup became a blip as the weight of a pandemic became too much to bear for organizers. Minneapolis canceled. Canmore canceled. And….finally…Québec canceled. We discuss what was a crazy week when, accordingly, the globe shut down pro and amateur sport. We spoke with Kershaw when he was six days into a 14-day quarantine. Kershaw had been in Germany for World Juniors and upon his return to...

The Kershaw Show: Back in Oslo, Post Holmenkollen

Jason AlbertMarch 9, 2020

A return to semi-normal: Devon is back from World Juniors and better for it. It was a big week in Germany for North America. This episode is a return to our discussion of the World Cup. The famed Holmenkollen hosted the weekend’s 30 k / 50 k classic mass start races. Hindsight is 20/20, the Norwegian women should have swapped skis, and frankly, not much anybody can do about a steamrolling Bolshunov.

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The Devon Kershaw Show: An American in Germany … and A Recap of Lahti’s Relays

FasterSkierMarch 2, 2020

It is Monday after all. A day late for the Lahti relay recap but right on time to discuss U.S. skier, Gus Schumacher’s 10 k classic win at World Juniors. The 19-year-old Schumacher from Anchorage, Alaska can close – and he did that Monday with a burning fast final 3.3 k loop in taking the win. And yeah, the women’s 4 x 5 k and the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relays played out at...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Living Large in Lahti and a Wee Bit on Junior Worlds

FasterSkierFebruary 29, 2020

Post-Ski Tour 2020 it was back to the basics for the World Cup: Interval start classic races for the men and women. The local boy, Iivo Niskanen, still claims the 15 k classic as his race, especially when it goes down in Finland. For the women, Norway’s Therese Johaug pipped it out the win over Ebba Andersson of Sweden. This was good solid racing in the 10 k and 15 k, respectively. Devon, by...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Stage 6 Ski Tour 2020 — Waxing for Hell or High Water

FasterSkierFebruary 24, 2020

Stage 6 of the Ski Tour 2020 was, by any stretch of the imagination, a steamroller for Norway. A clean sweep on the men’s and women’s podium. On the men’s side, that’s not exactly what we expected. Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov looked like a sure thing for the overall win. A 30 k classic for the 23-year-old, I mean who would have predicted anything different? The weather was all over the place. As Devon has said...

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Stage 5 Ski Tour 2020: Championship Style Classic Sprinting

FasterSkierFebruary 22, 2020

A full-on championship course in Trondheim, Norway where the World Championships will go down in the mid-2020s. That’s a long way off. This much was true: the venue, like this tour, has been kind to Norway. Maiken Caspersen Falla and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo pleased the home fans. And yes, with all the fans, it seems this might be a venue to revisit in the near future. One more day, a Stage 6 15 k/ 30...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Stage 3 Ski Tour 2020 – The Leg Flooding Sprint

Jason AlbertFebruary 19, 2020

Åre, Sweden — the site of the national (alpine) ski area in Sweden. Also the site of Stage 3 of the Ski Tour 2020’s skate sprint. Short at 0.66 k, but oh so steep with a finishing climb with slopes at 28 percent. Yah! 28 percent. Maybe part sideshow, maybe not. Either way, athletes had to get themselves to the top. In what was a leg-burning affair, for a one-off event, it was sporting entertainment....

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Ski Tour 2020 Stage 1

FasterSkierFebruary 15, 2020

It was all Norway in both the men’s and women’s Stage 1 of the Ski Tour 2020 from Östersund, Sweden. Sjur Røthe on the men’s side was pacing perfection while Therese Johaug simply steamrolled. This was clear, Norway had the best skis, and perhaps by default, the fastest skiers almost across the top-10 board. Yet, it is a long week ahead, and we are one stage into a six-stage event. Here’s the debrief from Devon:...

Racing World Cup

Johaug Tops an All-Norwegian Podium; Diggins 8th, Brennan 9th

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 15, 2020

Here we go again. A new Scandinavian Ski Tour takes the spot of a World Championship or Olympic Games during this off-cycle year. Six stages working east from Östersund, Sweden to Trondheim, Norway, beginning with today’s 10-kilometer individual start freestyle event. Under clear skies, light fading and shadows lengthening as the sunset looms just a few hours away, the women time trialed through the tall conifers to set the tone of the overall tour standings....

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Falun’s Mass Starts and Eating Words

FasterSkierFebruary 10, 2020

Sometimes when the unexpected happens, it’s a good thing. That’s what went down today in Falun, Sweden. In the men’s 15 k mass start skate, it was not a scrum of 20 to 30 skiers in a cluster at the finish. A fast and furious pace set by Hans Christer Holund turned that concept on its head. Although the race was won by Alexander Bolshunov, the wily Norwegian that is Holund, took it out hot...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Bravo Falun! We Loved the Classic Sprint Show

FasterSkierFebruary 8, 2020

In this episode — an analysis of a wonderful day of classic sprinting in Falun, Sweden. First off, hats off to the organizing committee: the fans were out in force, Sweden showed up to race, Johaug advanced to the semis, two Norwegians pounced in the men’s race….inhale — it was simply a fun day of skiing. And, Falun’s course was for real. Stout climbs forced athletes to run hills and technical banked turns kept everybody...

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Slinging Stats with the Statistical Skier

FasterSkierFebruary 5, 2020

This week, we re-posted a great piece from the Statistical Skier (Joran Elias). Before jumping into this episode, it’s worth taking some time to digest some of the findings. He wrote the piece in response to a podcast we posted after the classic sprint in Oberstdorf, Germany. In that sprint, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo had an astounding qualifier. In the podcast following the race, we discussed Klæbo’performance and the time-back to some skiers in...

Racing World Cup

Statistical Skier: Unusual WC Sprint Qualifying Time Gaps

FasterSkierFebruary 4, 2020

This piece was originally was published on

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The Devon Kershaw Show: Finding the Magic in Oberstdorf — Day 2 Classic Sprints

FasterSkierJanuary 26, 2020

In this episode of of The Devon Kershaw Show from FasterSkier, it is all classic: a deep breakdown from Devon on the nature of Obertsdorf, Germany’s classic sprint course. The course has some relevance for this basic reason: the 2021 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships will be held at this venue next season. And what a preview. With three steep climbs, a wee bit of recovery, this sprint course demands big capacity. There’s also the...

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