Many mornings, Eliška Hájek Albrigtsen’s husband, Tobias Albrigtsen, has to peel her out of bed. Living the life of an early bird like her spouse is nowhere near the top of her list — partly because she spends most nights prodding her hubby awake as he finishes his work, partly because she is strung out between four jobs of her own. Being in charge of three ski programs while assisting a fourth is not where...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at next 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 21-year-old Nichole Bathe, of University of Alaska Fairbanks and CXC Team, who’s representing the U.S. at her first U23 World...
With plans to begin research this fall, CXC's Madison-based Center of Excellence is on the brink of bringing new scientific studies to nordic skiing. “Our goal is to have top sports science facility to study latest innovations in the sport, potential application in cross country skiing to improve training, recovery and performance," CXC Executive and Athletic Director Yuriy Gusev explained.
Ivan Babikov's a World Cup racer, not a marathon specialist, but on Saturday, Feb. 20, he'll be one of the favorites at the 2016 American Birkebeiner in northern Wisconsin. He decided to do the race a week ago. “I remembered how crazy the Birkie is and how much people there care," he said. "This is their local Olympic Games, so I’m pretty pretty psyched to be going."
Sure, West Yellowstone's the biggest and one of the longest-standing annual November ski camps in North America, but there are several other options across the U.S. and Canada for early season skiing. Start planning next year's trip now.
The U.S. is hosting world championships this year -- specifically, Cable, Wis., where the American Birkebeiner starts annually, is gearing up to be the site of the 2015 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships from Jan. 22-Feb. 1.
You might say the CXC Team is rebuilding, but that wouldn't sum up what's entirely going on. "All the coaches agreed, the team needs to get back to the roots of developing athletes," executive director Yuriy Gusev said. A new head coach, Andy Keller, has been tasked with leading that effort.
CXC elite head coach Bill Pierce announced Thursday that he was leaving Wisconsin for Colorado, where he'll serve as nordic director at the Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA near Winter Park. "The hard part is leaving the relationships," he says.
One author shares his uneasiness with training plans and investigates CXC Academy, an online subscription service that provides nordic tips and regimens for skiers of all ages. "You will go faster when you want to go faster and it will be a lot more enjoyable," founder Yuriy Gusev says.
When CXC coach Igor Badamshin died of a heart attack out on the ski trails, the whole American ski community mourned - from the midwest to New England, his first home in America, and then all the way to the U.S. Ski Team in Europe and back to his homeland of Russia. Here are some remembrances of a man who dedicated so much to developing American skiing.
Just over two weeks ago, the sale of Telemark Resort to the highest bidder -- somewhat of an unknown entity in the Colorado-based Newco, LLC. -- left local stakeholders wary. Would they reopen the historic resort? And what would become of the start of the American Birkebeiner?
A World Cup cup race in the United States? Not impossible, but significant logistical and perhaps more importantly, financial barriers stand in the way. Still, Central Cross Country has been exploring the possibility, and there is also the dream of a Central Park sprint.
Athletes who buy U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) membership and compete in National Ranking List (NRL) events throughout the season will face higher race and membership prices this winter than in previous years. Due to an increase in its own administrative and insurance costs, USSA has raised the price of some of its services, which has some coaches and regional coordinators concerned about pricing entry-level skiers out of the sport. The head tax that...
Note: This is the fourth preview in a quick-and-dirty series on U.S. elite teams. We asked coaches to send their 2012/2013 rosters and tell us what’s new for the coming season. We will be publishing additional reports over the next few weeks. Teams are presented in no particular order. Team: Central Cross Country, known as CXC Team Coaches: Igor Badamshin (head coach), Andy Keller (assistant) Roster: Karl Nygren, Brian Gregg, Doug Debold, Adam Martin, Eric Wolcott; Jennie Bender, Caitlin Gregg, Nichole Bathe...
Central Cross-country Skiing (CXC) is starting the summer with a bang, scheduling three elite training camps at their new home at Wisconsin’s fabled Telemark Resort. Yuriy Gusev, CXC’s Executive and Athletic Director, said, “We’ve been looking for a training center for awhile.” While considering other training venues near Duluth and Wausau, WI, CXC kept coming back to Telemark and the Birkie area. Gusev cited the huge ski tradition in the Birkebeiner region, but noted challenges...
Just a month into his tenure as governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker made a bold political move: he proposed a bill which would limit the rights of union workers to use collective bargaining. With a strong Republican majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the bill appeared poised to pass. On Thursday, Senate Democrats boycotted: they didn’t come in to work, meaning that the Republicans didn’t have a quorum to hold a...
The Central Cross Country Ski Association (CXC) is pleased to announce the expansion of its Athlete Development Program. Beginning in the spring of 2011, CXC will be offering full support to America’s top junior skiers through the addition of an Elite Development Team. Selected junior skiersThose selected juniors for the Elite Development Team will train side-by-side with CXC’s top senior athletes throughout the year at camps held around the United States, and will continue to...
Racing for hours at a time is an entirely different kind of challenge than racing a 5 or a 10k and especially in the United States, the longer of these challenges tends to receive far less attention on the professional level. However, the Central Cross-Country Ski Association (CXC) is making plans to move ahead with the creation of an elite Worldloppet team. Athletes on the team would compete in the American Birkebeiner and Vassaloppet, the...