U.S. Ski & Snowboard – FasterSkier

Hunter Wonders, Flying by Instrument

Matthew VoisinFebruary 2, 2026

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. When U.S. Ski & Snowboard released its roster for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, Hunter Wonders’ name appeared without emphasis. No asterisk. No parenthetical explanation. Just another line in a list that had already absorbed months of speculation, anxiety, and arithmetic. To most readers, the name represented a straightforward...

Feature Olympics US Ski Team

Paul Choudoir — “The Right-Brain Grinder”

Matthew VoisinFebruary 1, 2026

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. A Portfolio, Not a Resume Paul Choudoir did not set out to work at the Olympic Games. He did not study engineering. He did not grow up in a wax room, nor did he apprentice under a legendary grinder with a machine humming in the background. He went to school...

Feature Olympics

Lauren Jortberg and the Long Way Around to the Olympics

Matthew VoisinJanuary 29, 2026

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. By the time Lauren Jortberg made the U.S. Olympic Cross-Country Ski Team, the achievement arrived not as a burst of disbelief or relief, but as something quieter and stranger: a moment that required processing. “It is a lot to take in,” she said, speaking from Seefeld, Austria in the...

Feature Olympics

U.S. Names Eight Women and Eight Men to 2026 Olympic Cross-Country Team

FasterSkierJanuary 22, 2026

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced its Olympic cross-country ski team for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games, naming eight women and eight men to represent the United States in Val di Fiemme, Italy, from Feb. 6–22, 2026. While the women were allocated eight Olympic starting positions outright, the men’s team was originally allotted seven. That number increased to eight after another nation declined to use one of its quota spots, allowing the United...

Feature World Cup

Two Degrees, One Dream: How a Future Teacher Found Her Way to the World Cup

Matthew VoisinDecember 10, 2025

The Hill That Got Easier On an ordinary winter afternoon in Fairbanks, before NCAA titles and World Cup bibs and FIS profiles, there was just a loop—eight hundred meters of snow and one long, unforgiving hill. Middle-school Kendall Kramer skied it after class, day after day, with her dad. Birch Hill. Blue Loop. One big climb, same as yesterday, same as tomorrow. What changed was how it felt. “We would just go for, like, 30...

US Ski Team

Three Frames: Jessie Diggins and the Art of What Endures

Matthew VoisinNovember 22, 2025

The Zoom room filled slowly, one journalist after another blinking into existence in a grid of small rectangles. Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Helsinki, Colorado, New York — not just the coordinates of U.S. skiing scattered across time zones, but also NPR, NBC, and European reporters, over 60 media outlets, all converging on a November morning. Jessie Diggins appeared in the largest box, glowing as she does all the way from Muonio, Finland, where she had arrived...

Camps Juniors News Training

U18 NTG Camp Wraps up in Whistler B.C.

Ella HallJune 29, 2022

After an untold number of bear sightings and many hours of quality training, the U18 National Training Group (NTG) camp wrapped up in Whistler, B.C. the third week of June. The first of the National Nordic Foundations (NNF) Summer Series, the goals of the camp were twofold: the first was to give these athletes a chance to meet and train together, particularly since the annual U18 Nordic Nations Cup trip was canceled in January due...

Community Feature Interviews News

U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Dexter Paine and FIS President Eliasch Weigh In on Controversial Ski Congress

Pasha KahnJune 20, 2022

Elections at FIS Congresses are normally not the scene of political intrigues, particularly when there is only one candidate for President. Yet, in a surprise twist, a bloc of powerful ski nations walked out on FIS President Johan Eliasch’s uncontested election and voted out Dexter Paine, the U.S. Ski & Snowboard representative, as well as a FIS Vice President and Councilor. Prior to the vote for President on May 26th in Milan, Italy, Croatia’s representative...

Multimedia Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: Cross-Country Program Director Chris Grover on Looking Back and Planning Ahead

Rachel PerkinsMay 26, 2022

I think we can all agree that the last two years have been a wild ride. For those at the helm of the cross-country program at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, added layers of COVID safety precautions and expensive testing have increased the otherwise mounting demands of preparing for an Olympic Games. There have been numerous domestic and international competitions canceled, including a full season of SuperTour racing in 2020/2021, numerous World Cups canceled, and three...

News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

US Ski & Snowboard Announces 2022-23 U.S. Cross Country Team Nominations

FasterSkierMay 10, 2022

By Tom Horrocks May, 10 2022 U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced the 22 athletes nominated to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team for the 2022-23 season. Nominations include those active athletes who qualified based on the published selection criteria in the prior season. In addition to established veterans, including three-time Olympic medalist Jessie Diggins and two-time Olympians Rosie Brennan and Scott Patterson, the 2022-23 Team includes five new members. Moving up to the A Team and joining...

Community News Olympics Racing Team nominations US Ski Team

(Press Release) U.S. Ski & Snowboard Nominates Cross Country Team Roster For Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022

FasterSkierJanuary 20, 2022

PARK CITY, UTAH (January 20, 2022) — U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today its nominations for the U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team to represent Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 from February 4-19, 2022. Nominations are to be confirmed by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee when it formally announces the U.S. Olympic Team. Fourteen athletes were nominated to Team USA, including the 2018 Olympic gold medalist and defending World Cup overall and...

Multimedia Nordic Nation

Nordic Nation: A Fall 2021 Pre-Season Chat With Matt Whitcomb

Rachel PerkinsNovember 2, 2021

In this episode, we connect with US Ski Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb following the US Ski Team and National Training Group camp in Park City. Whitcomb answers a variety of questions to provide insight into the upcoming season leading up to the 2022 Beijing Olympics. A couple of notes: Firstly, you’ll notice some crackling in the audio on our end. We’re working out the kinks. Thanks for your patience. Also, if your interest...

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Rollerski Safety Best Practices

FasterSkierMay 25, 2021

Due to the start of the rollerski season, we are republishing this story to help promote best practices when rollerskiing on the open road. Making yourself visible while rollerskiing is a must. And with a recent reminder from U.S. Ski Team (USST) World Cup coach Matt Whitcomb, the time of year has come when many skiers are training on roads in lower angle sunlight as we tip away from the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere. Below...

Feature News Racing Regional / Local

A New Push for Equal Distance Racing

Jason AlbertMay 14, 2021

The debate to run equal race distances for men and women remains. Molly Peters, the head cross-country ski coach at Vermont’s St. Michael’s College, has led a grassroots campaign to make equal distance racing commonplace at the NCAA level and beyond. She’s the lead voice for The Ski Equal Team. The group sent a letter to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Sport Committee, its Equity and Inclusion Committee, and CEO Tiger Shaw asking...

News Racing US Ski Team

2021-22 Davis U.S. Cross Country Team Nominations Announced (Press Release)

FasterSkierMay 5, 2021

Press Release U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team nominations for the 2021-22 Olympic season. Nominations include those active athletes who qualified based on published selection criteria in the prior season. The 2021-22 team is highlighted by an experienced group of World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic athletes, including Olympic gold medalist and 2021 FIS Overall Champion Jessie Diggins; two-time World Cup winner Rosie Brennan; and 2020 FIS Junior...

Feature Racing

Another Waxing Wormhole : Sanctioning Races and the Use of Fluoros (Updated)

Jason AlbertNovember 10, 2020

On short notice in October, the International Ski Federation (FIS) reversed its fluoro wax ban for the upcoming season. Bryan Fish, Cross Country Sport Development Manager for U.S. Ski & Snowboard, explained this was termed a “delayed implementation”. What had been expected to be a fluoro-free racing scene at the FIS level, became a business as usual wax policy for 2020-2021. In short, fluoros, C8 or otherwise, are allowed at FIS sanctioned events. The FIS...

News Racing

News Round Up: Canada Will Host 2023 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships

FasterSkierOctober 27, 2020

2023 World Juniors/U23 goes to Canada Recently, Canada was awarded the right to host the 2023 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships. The hosting club is Black Tusk Nordic which runs much of its ski training out of Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan Valley. The venue hosted nordic events that included cross-country, jumping, nordic combined, and biathlon at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. “We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to bring this prestigious event for...

Feature News Racing

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Announces Restructuring of National-Level Competitions for 2020-2021 (Includes Interview with Chris Grover)

Jason AlbertSeptember 3, 2020

A clean slate cancelation of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s cross-country national racing calendar. That’s a piece of the collateral damage in the niche world of domestic ski racing. The cancellation includes SuperTour, U.S. National Championships, SuperTour Finals, and the Junior National Championships. We’ll get to how these races may be replaced in a moment. First, U.S. Ski & Snowboard set forth a series of bullet points regarding the reasoning and considerations for the wholesale cancelation....

General News

Luke Bodensteiner Talks New Potential and a Possible New Olympics in Utah

Jason AlbertAugust 14, 2020

In the thick of the elite winter sport scene for more than 25 years. That would in part define Luke Bodensteiner. He strung together an Olympic cross-country ski career and ended his over two-decade stint at U.S. Ski & Snowboard as their Chief of Sport. For roughly the past year, Bodensteiner has worn two hats at the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation (UOLF): Chief of Sport Development and GM of Soldier Hollow (SoHo), the cross-country and...

Community

A U.S. Ski & Snowboard Virtual Panel: “Discussing Racial Diversity In Snowsports”

FasterSkierJuly 22, 2020

On July 13th U.S. Ski & Snowboard held a virtual discussion titled “Discussing Racial Diversity In Snowsports“. The panel, moderated by Henri Rivers, CEO, President and Founder of Drumriver Consultants and President of the National Brotherhood of Skiers takes an unfiltered view of diversity and inclusivity across the snowsport disciplines. The voices represented are well worth the listen as we envision a safer and more inclusive sport. Courtesy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, bios...

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