Video by the US Ski Team’s Torin Koos – Double Pole and Class Stride. Be sure to read the commentary below the video by US Ski Team Coach Justin Wadsworth. Commentary from Justin Wadsworth On the Double Pole Sections: This video footage was taken while doing Vo2 max work during an intensity block in Lake placid, New york. In the double poling, I want to see Torin stay forward with upperbody. With the group sprint...
The US Ski Team’s Torin Koos put together a number of videos from the the recently completed training camp at the Olympic Venue in Whistler and the on-snow camp in New Zealand. These videos show the best in the country mixing it up during training. If a picture is worth a thousand words, when it comes to technique, video is off the charts. USST Mens Double Pole USST Ladies Double Pole USST Ladies Classic Torin...
The US Ski Team’s Torin Koos put together a number of videos from the the recently completed training camp at the Olympic Venue in Whistler and the on-snow camp in New Zealand. These videos show the best in the country mixing it up during training. If a picture is worth a thousand words, when it comes to technique, video is off the charts. USST Ladies Skating USST Mens Skating Torin Koos is a member of...
“After Torino, I wasn’t going to spend the next four years to hope American skiers could win Olympic medals in Vancouver. I am done with hoping,” said Pete Vordenberg on the first night of the September National Team Camp in Whistler, B.C. “I dedicated the last four years to knowing we can have that success this winter. That’s what the last four years have been about. This is the difference from Torino to now. This...
Editor’s Note: This is the third of a three part series. You can read the second part here. Torin Koos: The 1998 Nagano Olympics were your first big races. The results for North Americans were not the most promising. I remember you talking about “emerging from the disaster that was Nagano.” Sara Renner: Yes. Nagano was awful. Truly awful. I don’t think I could have expected it to be good, really. Sometimes you think that...
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three part series. Torin Koos is a member of the National A Team for the United States. A World Cup, World Championship and Olympic competitor, Koos brings this experience to the FasterSkier sportscasting arena. Equipment: Rossignol Skis, Boots and Bindings, Toko gloves and wax, Marwe, Exel poles, Rudy Project Eyewear, Rossignol Softgoods Home Ski Club: Leavenworth Winter Sports Club (www.usapears.com) Best Western Icicle Inn (www.biosports.net) Torin Koos...
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three part series. It’s springtime in Falun. The best cross country skiers in the world are all congregated together as I saddle up next to Sara Renner on St. Patty’s Day. A passerby gives Sara a hard time for not wearing green. “No, that’s not true. I have green on. You just can’t see it.” The world wanted to know. Now we do. Sara loves green socks....
The penultimate day of the ski championships in Liberec, Czech Republic was one of ebullient hope for the future of American skiing with the races and results from the young women’s performances in the 30 kilometer mass start skate. This day also demonstrated the heights nordic sports the U.S. is reaching with Billy Demong’s win in big hill, single jump 10 kilometer (a.k.a. the Gundersen HS134/10.0), capping off three individual nordic combined gold medals in...
Sometimes, the specifics of ski racing are not necessarily told through the results sheet. Sometimes, there’s more to the story than meets a singular pair of eyes. Here are a few impressions from the US Ski Team, told through pictures and through words from the opening World Cup race of the season in Gallivare, Sweden. Enjoy. Hellner displays a little flow to complement his snappy, powerful, effective skate style. Helner’s always been a skater. He’s...
Roland Clara leads an Italian teammate into the stadium on his final lap of the Muonio FIS Cups. (Torin Koos photo). Kris Freeman driving hard over the top of race’s next-to-last climb. (Torin Koos photo). Freeman: Energy’s High “Muonio’s been good. Energy’s been high. I feel pretty good out there skiing. I’m almost over the jet lag and the race today will help out with this even more. “I don’t feel too great about today’s...
Chris Klebl gaining kilometers at the Wairaou Snow Farm on a bluebird, hard-track, high air pressure day. This year Klebl’s been up to his old innovating, regimented self. “In April I added six centimeters to my pole length and artificially added as much resistance to my double-pole mountain board as I could – I’ve blown out a couple bearings from overheating caused by ratcheting them so tightly. My training is cadence-focused. I begin the training...
The view from the back of the pack. From L-R: Koos, Cook, Wadsworth, Newell. (Photo by Paul Murray). “As a team we really feel New Zealand provides the best on-snow training in the world, said Wadsworth. “We’ve been to the Haig. We’ve been to Dachstein. New Zealand’s got them all beat. It’s the absolute best skiing in the world. Sitting at 1600 meters, it’s not too high. You can get in quality speed and interval...
The most revered of American traditions — tailgating before a track & field meet on July 4th. I hope Uncle Sam would be proud. “We crack open some oversized bottles of beer,†wrote Colby, my former college roommate in the blue cycling cap. “The bottles have a picture of a track spike on the label. We make a loud, boisterous toast as passersbys look on with curious envy at our feast, wondering if they’re at...
The national sprint team — Chris Cook, Andrew Newell and Torin Koos — headed out Friday to New Zealand’s South Island. It’s the seventh consecutive year the Waiorau Snow Farm has played host to the U.S. Ski Team for the summer on-snow camp. The Canadian national team already is in the Southern Hemisphere. The two national teams are talking about hooking horns in two time trials – a skate sprint and a ten kilometer classic....
After a six year reprieve, the U.S. Ski Team finished its second camp of the season and second spring on-snow camp in Bend, Oregon in as many years this last week. Ten days at Mt. Bachelor Nordic Resort played host to a myriad of conditions — from classic Oregon crust to transformed spring slush to fresh powder — giving athletes the chance to test equipment in an assortment of snows. Andrew Newell and Chris Grover...
Choosing your own line out in a big open meadow in the Deschutes National Forest is what makes the West’s spring skiing scene so special. This year six hundred inches of snowfall, combined with the high desert climate of sub-zero Celsius nights and sunny days make for epic crust cruises. It’s June 15th and rollerskiing’s a choice, not a necessity. Running high on the trail up Cascade Head, above where saltwater and freshwater meet. Nothing...
Editor's Note: This is the second installment of a three-part interview. The next section will be available over the coming week. Read Part 2 Sue, what are your impressions on the coach education going on in America? I don’t have a great feel for the collegiate sport system. I see this, though, as a weakness. College sports come down mainly to competing against each other. It cannot help information sharing when people are focused on...
Editor's Note: This is the second installment of a three-part interview. Read Part 3 Sue, you talked earlier about building the environment and the requisite coaching knowledge, what are other countries doing in regards to this? What is the Australian talent identification program like? The talent identification is not that big of a deal. You hear about it externally and it sounds like they’re scouring the countryside, funneling people into specialized training centers. Yes, they...
Editor's Note: This is the first installment of a three-part interview. The next two sections will be available over the coming week. Over the past nine years the US Ski Team has relied on the services of Sue Robson as head sports physiologist. During this time, Sue worked hands-on with coaches and athletes alike, making sure the physical training of America’s speed and tech racers, cross-country and Nordic combiners reflected the aspirations of the USSA...
From the Yaroslav Military Air Base we loaded into buses for the ride into Rybinsk. Compared to last year’s eight-hour marathon from Moscow to race venue, this 2.5 hour ride was a welcome respite. A lead police car escorted us through Russia’s rutted country roadways. At every city intersection military roadblocks kept us out of traffic delays. Some serious planning went into getting all the athletes from Central Europe to Rybinsk. Nice. With nightfall came...