This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. TESERO, ITALY — After Gus Schumacher and Ben Ogden on Wednesday won only the third-ever U.S. men’s medal in cross-country skiing at the Olympics, one of the biggest grins in the stadium was on the face of...
The Craftsbury Outdoor Center is hiring for two coaching roles within its Green Racing Project (GRP), a year‑round elite Nordic ski program supporting post‑collegiate athletes pursuing national and international competition. These positions are in‑person roles based in Craftsbury Common, Vermont and are integral to the daily training, development, and competitive success of GRP athletes. Head Ski Coach – Green Racing Project The Head Ski Coach is responsible for leading the GRP ski program and overseeing...
The hills above Moretown are the kind that teach you to move without thinking about it: long grades through maple and birch, a tangle of dirt roads, a thousand sneaky rollers perfect for running shoes or a classic stride. From the valley floor, you can see Sugarbush and Mad River Glen, their lifts still in October and their trails crisscrossed by hikers who’ll be skiers in a few short weeks. This is the terrain that...
The first time you meet Patrick Weaver, you might not realize you’re talking to one of the most quietly influential coaches in American skiing. There’s no bravado, no self-promotion. Just an easy Vermont calm — a man who measures his words the same way his athletes measure their training: carefully, purposefully, with feel. On a fall morning, the UVM Nordic team threads through the mist at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, the quiet hum of rollerskis...
Green Racing Project (GRP) Ski & Biathlon teams are now accepting applications for the 2024-25 training year. Applications will be due by the end of day March 24 and decisions will be made by April 10. (U23 skiers’ and biathletes’ summer program is its own program for 2024. Find information about U23 programming here.) GRP is looking for skiers and biathletes who have shown good ski speed over the past couple years. Skiers who have...
Editor’s note: This is the third essay in our series, “Letters to my younger self.” Lauren Fleshman provided the modern locus classicus for this genre, while John Wood and Adam Verrier kick-started the series on FasterSkier. When the private school at which my husband teaches offered him a sabbatical for the 2020-21 school year, we quickly began to fantasize about the ski town(s) in which we’d spend the following winter. A February 2020 trip to...
A pair of American skiing pioneers skied up Mt. Mansfield, Vermont in 1946, skied down to settle a bet, and in the process created a race that’s remained true to the individual and communal spirit that sustains nordic skiing to this day. At one point in time, skiing was simply a way to get from point A to point B. Take stock of humans gliding on snow at this moment in 2022, though, and it can...
Team name and location: SMS T2 Team; Stratton Mountain, Vermont Coach: Patrick O’Brien Current roster: Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern, Katharine Ogden, Alayna Sonnesyn, Lina Sutro (women); Ian Torchia, Bill Harmeyer, Ben Ogden, Will Koch (men) Who’s new: Lina Sutro, coming from the University of Vermont ski team Who’s moved on: Sophie Caldwell Hamilton and Simi Hamilton, who celebrated their second wedding anniversary earlier this year, retired from pro skiing last spring and are beginning a new life...
Stratton Mountain School is seeking a Nordic Coach for the 2019-20 season and beyond. This is a full time career based coaching position. Candidates should have experience in most aspects of junior cross country ski racing. Preferred start date between June 15th and August 10th. School Philosophy: Stratton Mountain School provides a unique environment that offers each student the opportunity to pursue excellence in competitive winter sports and college preparatory academics while developing strong...
When Andy Newell took to social media about a week and a half ago to announce that he was parting ways with the U.S. Ski Team (USST) after 16 years, some people might have assumed that he was leaving the sport. They would be wrong. Newell, a 34-year-old Shaftsbury, Vermont, native and USST A-team member for the last 12 seasons, was quick to clarify that he’s not retiring from racing. After four Olympics and 16...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) 2018 Youth and Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 19-year-old Chloe Levins, who is representing the United States at her first Junior World Championships. She previously represented the U.S. at Youth World Championships, including a
Flashback to 1964. That’s six years after the mega-fad of hula hooping, and five years before the psychedelic haze of Woodstock. A time when the country teetered towards war protest and Tricky Dick … (as in, “I am not a crook.” — Richard Nixon). What could possibly supplant hula hoops and pending cultural disruption? You guessed it, cross-country skiing. In 1964, John Caldwell wrote the first edition, of eight editions in total, what’s now...
A recently promised revival of the nordic program at Vermont’s Burke Mountain Academy (BMA) now seems to be on hold, following a recent change in leadership and what appears to be the school’s subsequent decision to cut ties with its describes itself as “the preeminent ski academy” was bright. A a May 26 article on FasterSkier. “We felt really welcomed there,” Sweetser said of the Burke community. He dismissed concerns that the school’s nordic program...
If you are from New England, you’ve probably heard of Will Sweetser. Originally from Auburn, Maine, Sweetser, 47, has been coaching nordic for the last 25 years. He skied for Dartmouth and coached at Bates College, the Jackson Hole Ski Club, Carrabassett Valley Academy, and Rangeley Lakes Ski Club before spendingOutdoor Sports Institute and expanded its mission to four seasons of outdoor sports in Maine. With a baby on the way, Sweetser and his wife, Sarah Dominick,...
What does Craftsbury's Caitlin Patterson pack first when she head's to Europe, for example for the first period of World Cup racing this season? "Metaphorically, I pack my camera first. Physically the camera doesn't go into the bottom of my bag, that would be my ski boots."
Out of school and upping the volume, U.S. Ski Team "D" teamer Katharine Ogden is ready for the season, particularly the new SuperTour stop in Silver Star, British Columbia.
Paddy Caldwell of the Stratton Mountain School and Dartmouth College is looking forward to giving U23 racing one last hurrah at Soldier Hollow this winter. "I think my top-end speed has improved since last year," he explains.
(Press release) Cross-country skier Andy Newell of Shaftsbury, Vermont, has competed in three Winter Olympic Games, representing Team USA in pursuit of that elusive gold medal. In addition to hours of training in the gym and on snow, his preparation for the 2018 Olympics looks a little bit different. This time he will be fueled by Vermont Bread Company. Last week Vermont Bread Company and Newell solidified a two-year partnership that will run through the...
Having joined the SMST2 Elite Team this year as well as enrolling at Dartmouth College, Kern has made some changes and is looking forward to another big year. "I think there isn’t one specific area where I have seen improvement over the past few months, but actually in every area," she wrote.
Go, go, go. That's the type of energy Liz Stephen brings to skiing. From a high-tempo skate technique to steeper is better, Stephen has been a force on the Distance World Cup since her push into the top 30 in 2012. Last year was a setback for the Park City resident and she feels like this offseason she's done the work to make a rebound.