It’s been a minute! With the arrival of host Rachel Perkins’ second baby in July and a subsequent job shift, Nordic Nation has been on pause, but we are excited to relaunch now with the hope of producing these regularly over the coming months! Our first guest of 2023 is the one and only Ben Ogden, who’s had a standout season of racing on the World Cup. Ben has cracked into the semifinals in four...
U.S. Ski & Snowboard recently announced its U.S. Ski Team nominations for the 2022-23 season. Of the 22 athletes named to the team this season, six were not on the previous year’s roster, either newly named or renamed: Michael Earnhart, Walker Hall, Zak Ketterson, Will Koch, Finn O’Connell, and Sammy Smith. To help fans get to know these new(er) faces, FasterSkier is doing a series of interviews, providing insights into the factors that have contributed to development,...
After eight years at the helm of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 team, head coach Pat O’Brien is in the process of taking a few steps back, passing the reins to Perry Thomas, who has spent the last five years as the assistant coach at the University of Vermont. Perhaps highlighting this transition and the sharing of responsibilities the two are in the process of navigating, FasterSkier connected with Thomas in mid-May while he...
The following was written by Alayna Sonnesyn, a new member of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team who graduated from the University of Vermont (UVM) this past spring. Originally from Plymouth, Minnesota, Sonnesyn, 22, raced on the UVM Ski Team for four years and qualified for four NCAA Skiing Championships teams. She placed second and third in two races at 2017 NCAA Championships, and in her senior season, won the first five Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association...
The following was written by Alayna Sonnesyn, a new member of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team who graduated from the University of Vermont (UVM) this past spring. Originally from Plymouth, Minnesota, Sonnesyn, 22, raced on the UVM Ski Team for four years and qualified for four NCAA Skiing Championships teams. She placed second and third in two races at 2017 NCAA Championships, and in her senior season, won the first five Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans who competed at last week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 20-year-old Bill Harmeyer, of the University of Vermont, who represented the U.S. at his first U23 Worlds (after competing at last year’s Junior Worlds in Utah). Last week in...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — No two races are exactly alike, the saying goes, and there’s a lot of truth to this cliché. But if you step back just a little bit, two race days can start to look awfully similar to one another. For example, for the second time this week, a Hanneman brother won the sprint qualifier, Reese Hanneman won the final, and Alaska Pacific University (APU) put three athletes in the final and two on...
In Part IV of “The Road to Jackson”, three of the six University of Vermont (UVM) nordic skiers that qualified for 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships — Alayna Sonnesyn, Iris Pessey and Cully Brown — tell us about their seasons and how skiing has impacted their lives. Jana Klaiber, Ian Moore and Juri Miosga are also headed to NCAA’s, which will be held Thursday and Saturday at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H. “Time just flies so...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 20-year-old Alayna Sonnesyn, of the University of Vermont, who’s representing the U.S. at her first U23 Worlds. On Thursday, she finished 33rd in the Saturday’s 20...
Two weeks after being Cole Morgan still felt like he had something to prove, goals to chase, races to qualify for. That’s where U23 World Championships came in. For Morgan, a former University of Vermont skier who graduated last spring and began a professional racing career with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) in Sun Valley, Idaho, his goal for the one race he was competing in at his first U23 Worlds was to finish in the top...
Colin Rodgers has left Sun Valley to take charge at Green Mountain Valley School in his native Vermont, while his good friend Chris Mallory, also from Vermont, parted ways with UVM and is moving West to head up the SVSEF Gold Team.
The University of Vermont (UVM) in Burlington, Vt., is in search of an assistant nordic ski coach to assist the head coach in performing the duties of managing the intercollegiate sport of skiing within the education mission of the University.
A few new competitors broke through on the second day of SuperTour racing in Craftsbury, Vt., in both the men's and women's 10 k classic event. In the women's race, Erika Flowers made a debut SuperTour win, while Liz Guiney and Julia Kern tied for second. Kris Freeman double poled to first in the men's race, ahead of two UVM skiers.
At the 2015 Blink Festival, Jørgen Grav, an incoming senior at UVM, wasn't one of the big names, but he was one of the 150 skiers selected to the high-profile event. He finished 45th in the opening hill climb, beating some of the top Norwegians. After graduating, he has his sights set on the Norwegian National Team.
Skyler Davis, former USST member and SMS T2 racer, retired from skiing in 2014. Since then he's picked up soccer and is finding success at the University of Vermont where he was recently named the team's captain.
When Stella Holt examined the life of Fred Fayette, she got more than she bargained for. Not only did she discover the rich life of the UVM assistant coach, but also found peace with her departure from a lifetime of competing in the sport.
Anja Gruber thought she was done with skiing after finishing high school in her native Germany. However, she received a call from Partrick Weaver of UVM that changed everything. Now, Gruber is a two-time NCAA Champion with eyes on the World Cup.
Photos from Tuesday's 4 x 5 k mixed relay, a new event at U.S. Distance Nationals, which was held at 5 p.m. in Anchorage and included 26 teams, 18 of which were vying for a national title.
Noah Hoffman knew he had to shake UVM senior Scott Patterson with every ounce of energy he had in Saturday's three-lap 15 k skate at SuperTour Finals. By the end of the second lap, Hoffman had built a nearly 5-second lead and extended it to 11 seconds through the finish.