Race day at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah offers a microcosm for the role the venue has played in US skiing. The once, and possibly future, Olympic venue is consistent, stark, and starkly consistent in its conditions, its terrain, and in the quality of the events the crew at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center put on. The typical SoHo day starts dark, dry and frigid, before the sun crests the Wasatch Mountains and gives way...
Quick Recap: We’ll have a full race report up tomorrow, including athlete comments and plenty of photos, but here is a quick recap of the action in the men’s 30k and women’s 20k, which took place this morning at the 2022 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Soldier Hollow, Utah. Perhaps becoming a theme of the 2022 U.S. Cross Country Championships, the 20/30-kilometer mass start freestyle distance races were both won by athletes who have spent...
Jennie Bender is just coming off a dominating performance at US Nationals. She has had some bad luck the past few years with her health (Mononucleosis and back injuries) and it has been so inspiring to see her fight through it all with both patience and dogged determination. Congratulations Jennie! Toko All Stars: Jennie Bender 1. Who was your skiing role model when you were growing up and why? I looked up to each person...
We approached this week of nationals the same way we did last year: to try to find a good under layer, a good binder, and a good top end speed when the days warm to above freezing. For the distance classic day we went with Toko base green binder mixed with a little hard klister to keep the wax on for 10-15k. Toko jetstream red powder was the ticket for the afternoon racers and our...
With the first race of the 2014 U.S. Cross Country Championships taking place Saturday, FasterSkier took to the trails of Soldier Hollow to preview the course and get a sense of how racers were feeling about it. Between wax testing, tactic planning, and pickups, athletes expressed excitement about Saturday's 10 and 15 k classic races.
And just like that, it's all over. U.S. Nationals drew to a close on Tuesday at Soldier Hollow with the completion of the freestyle sprint. As usual, there were a lot of leftover bits and pieces from the post-race interviews.
Distance guys made the final, favorites got eliminated early and at the end of it all, Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess (Bend Endurance Academy) drew on the inspiration of an emotional week to pull off his first career national championship. Our photos from throughout the day.
With unmatched tactical intelligence, raw speed and a little inspiration, Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess won the title he's wanted for so long on Tuesday in the freestyle sprint at U.S. Nationals. Erik Bjornsen was second and Alex Howe finished third.
On an overcast morning before the freestyle sprint kicks off at Soldier Hollow, volunteers work hard on course preparation, coaches dial in wax and athletes arrive at the venue for one more nerve-wracking race. Some images from the final hours before the start.
Can anyone touch Torin Koos? Will Sadie Bjornsen be able to keep the ball rolling? Our final set of official U.S. Nationals predictions.
30 kilometers. Six laps. 18.6 miles. Ninety-plus minutes. Whichever way you cut it, the men's mass start classic race at U.S. Nationals was one long race. Our images from throughout the day.
Here you were thinking Torin Koos was a sprinter. Think again: he won his eighth career national title on Sunday in the 30 k mass start classic, his second of the week. He bested Erik Bjornsen and David Norris in second and third in a close, hard-fought race at Soldier Hollow.
Last night it was just a bit overcast which kept things from getting as clear and cold as it has been recently, but it was still 4f at the venue 2 hours before the start, so the snow was still cold. Although the conditions were slightly different (no hoarfrost that needed to be skied in for example), our wax tests (both kick and glide) showed that the same products that had been performing the past two days continued to.
Soldier Hollow gets busy as athletes arrive for the mass start classic race and coaches make last-minute adjustments to kick and glide. Some scenes from the stadium.
There’s nothing like mass start classic racing on a perfectly-groomed, hard-packed course, and that’s exactly what awaits athletes at Soldier Hollow for the 20/30 k on Sunday. Can the Bjornsens both put together classic wins on the same day?
Can't get enough of the action at U.S. Nationals? Here are some bits and pieces from top performers on Friday that didn't make the race reports.
Only minutes remain until the first starter takes off on the 5 k course at Soldier Hollow. Thermometers read - 7 degrees F early this morning and were still at -4 with only half an hour to go until takeoff. Some images from the scene
The opening event of the 2013 U.S. Cross Country Championships was as exciting as it gets, but it's a new day on Friday. The slate is wiped clean and athletes have another shot at glory in the 10/15 k freestyle.
The women's classic sprint at Soldier Hollow was a nail-biter of a race, decided in the final meters of the A-final when Jennie Bender eked ahead of Sadie Bjornsen to take her first U.S. Nationals title. Click through our photos to relive the excitement.