While it might be tempting to grind your skis based on the long-term weather forecast, which calls for a cold, wet and stormy La Nina season with lots of snow dumps, experience is the best guide.
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Buoyed By Trust Fund, Callaghan Valley Readies for Future
FasterSkierSeptember 29, 2010
This article is the third in a series looking at the use of cross-country ski venues left behind by the Winter Olympics. The first two were on New York’s Lake Placid. After a Winter Olympics where nordic skiing took center stage, Whistler Olympic Park (WOP), 77 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia, faces the future with optimism, but with plans that are still murky. Cleaning up the detritus of the 2010 Games, including grandstands, transformers,...
Aside from a few small clusters in New England and New Zealand, millions of people glued to TV screens around the world were all asking the same question at the beginning of Saturday’s 30k pursuit: “Who is that guy?” That guy was Ben Koons, a former Dartmouth College skier and Maine resident competing for the Kiwis at the Games. Not even one kilometer from the start, Koons had slid into the track in the lead,...
Anyone watching knew that it was going to be close. When Sergey Novikov (BLR) left the range after his final round of shooting in the 20k individual start, he led Norwegians Emil Hegle Svendsen and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen by seven and 26 seconds, respectively. But Novikov’s lead was due to good shooting, not fast skiing, and the question was whether he could hold on. For the two Norwegians, who had already finished racing, the nine...
Lanny Barnes is known as a good shot. But coming into the Olympics, she said she had never shot perfectly in a race with four shooting stages over her entire ten-year international career. That ended today, as the Colorado native went 20 for 20 to propel herself to a 23rd place in the women’s 15k individual start race—the best Olympic result from an American woman since Joan Smith was 14th in Lillehammar in 1994. “It...
For some people, being stuck in a quarterfinal heat at the Olympics with Emil Joensson (SWE) would be intimidating. Not for Simi Hamilton. “Those days are over,” he said afterwards. The young American sprinter provided a tantalizing glimpse of the future in the sprint yesterday, striding strongly and confidently in the lead of his quarterfinal up the course’s final climb—ahead of Joensson and other World Cup veterans like Kalle Lassila (FIN) and Peeter Kummel (EST)—before...
If those pesky NBC producers were still searching for that perfect feel-good story, they sure got it today. After a horrifying crash in her warm-up for the women’s classic sprint at the Vancouver Olympics, Slovenia’s Petra Majdic was in so much pain that she could barely breath. But somehow, she still found the strength and courage to stay with the best skiers in the world, winning a bronze medal behind Norway’s Marit Bjoergen and Poland’s...
XC Wraps Up Camp in Whistler
FasterSkierSeptember 15, 2009
WHISTLER, BC (Sept. 14) – The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team wrapped up camp this week at its 2010 Olympic venue in Whistler and, according to Cross Country Coach Matt Whitcomb, everything is falling right in line with where the Team wants to be. “This was our fifth time up here in the past two and a half years and everything is feeling right on time. Nothing is rushed, nobody is panicked. The Team is collected...
The US Ski Team recently completed their last training camp at the 2010 Olympic Venue before the Games. They were joined by the National Elite Group and the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. A few highlights below. For photos and commentary: Whistler – September Camp Update 2
Lindsey Dehlin is already a veteran of two Olympic Games, having been selected to the U.S. teams in 2002 and 2006. In 2008, Dehlin won her first national championship, in the team sprint with Lindsay Williams. Last year, Dehlin took third place in the sprint at the U.S. National Championships in Anchorage, and eighth in the five k skate. FasterSkier: You went to Northern Michigan University for four years, and now you’re back training with...
The Road to Whistler: Tim Burke
Nathaniel HerzJuly 9, 2009
Tim Burke is a member of the U.S. Biathlon A Team, and has already qualified for the 2010 Olympics based on his results from last year. In 2008-2009, he finished 25th overall in the World Cup standings, with two top-ten finishes: eighth in the pursuit in Khanty-Mansijsk, Russia, and ninth in the sprint in Trondheim, Norway. He competed in the Olympics in Torino in 2006, placing 37th in the sprint. FasterSkier: You’re currently at a...
The training season is well underway, and North America’s best cross-country skiers are already well into their preparations for next winter. Over the course of the summer, FasterSkier will feature a weekly interview with elite American and Canadian athletes, following their training as they ready for the upcoming Olympic year. We first talked with James Southam, who races with the Alaska Pacific University Elite Team and placed 33rd in the 30k pursuit at the 2009...