December 29, 2014 – The next step in the development of the FIS Nordic Combined Youth system, and Ladies Nordic Combined in particular, has been made. On the 11. and 12th of March, 2015, the Norwegian venue of Trondheim will host the first-ever FIS Youth Cup in winter, which will also feature two international Ladies Nordic Combined competitions as did its counterpart in the summer in Oberstdorf.

„I am super happy about this new chance to compete on the international level. Nordic Combined has always been my dream. I have never been to Trondheim before but I am looking forward to a really exciting trip,“ Germany’s Anna Berktold gushed about the news.

Together with the young male athletes, all Nordic Combined Ladies who were born between 1998 and 2002 will get the chance to compete in Trondheim – high time for a first face-off in the sport’s original form: on snow.

On two days, two competitions will take place: in two Individual Gundersen races, Nordic Combined’s youth will face off and deliver first insights into their shapes on snow. Similar to the event in Oberstdorf, another focus of the event is also on getting to know and spending time with the fellow international athletes in a day-to-day side activity program. For the coaches, the Youth Cup is also all about exchange of knowledge and experiences.

For Race Director Lasse Ottesen, it was important to take this next step in the development of Nordic Combined, specifically also for the ladies: „We saw in the summer that we had nine nations on start with 60 boys and 40 girls and the level was much higher than expected. We know that a lot of nations also have national competitions for boys and girls but there has been no international offer so far. So now we need to establish a FIS Youth Cup system and hopefully in the future also a Continental Cup for the ladies.“

Sepp Buchner of the German Ski Federation, who was responsible for the coordination of the Youth Cup in Oberstdorf in summer fully agreed: „With this offer, we are coming full circle. If you see how enthusiastic the children are to compete in the summer, it’s great to give them the opportunity to also meet in the wintertime. On top of that, Trondheim as a venue will be a special incentive, I am sure everybody will be really eager to recommend themselves in order to be taken to this event.“

The female athletes of the discipline definitely couldn’t be happier about the development and the chance to compete against each other soon. „I liked it a lot to stay in Oberstdorf, it was a very cool experience to compete in another country. Therefore I would like to wish the rest of the Nordic Combined family welcome to Norway and I hope they will go home with the same good memories that I have left Oberstdorf with.“

FIS Nordic Combined Youth Cup fact sheet here.

All-clear for the World Cup in Schonach
All Nordic Combined enthusiasts who have been worrying about the snow situation for the next World Cup weekend in Schonach from the 2nd till th 4th of January can breathe again: at today’s due date, the OC gave the green light for the competition weekend.

„With the snowfall forecasted for tomorrow and the following days with cold temperatures, we expect that we will be able to organise the planned program. We still stay the course now“, OC president Gunter Schuster announced after talks to experts from the weather department and FIS.

With this, skifans can be looking forward to a Team Event (Jan. 3rd) and the traditional Schwarzwaldpokal Individual Gundersen on Sunday, January 4th on the Langenwaldschanze and the cross-country track in the Wittenbach valley. Local hero Fabian Rießle will delight the home audience by starting in the yellow bib of the World Cup leader.

Tickets and Information here.

Cancelled Klingenthal Continental Cup rescheduled
Good news for the athletes and followers of the Nordic Combined Continental Cup: the competitions in Klingenthal which had to be cancelled this past weekend due to the lack of snow have been rescheduled.

Together with the organising committees, Continental Cup Coordinator Toni Guggemoos was able to find the following solution: The competition weekend in Ramsau am Dachstein will be moved one week earlier and now take place on the 14th and 15th of Feburary while Klingenthal will move to the old Ramsau spot on the 21st and 22nd of February.

With hopefully enough snow in late February, the Continental Cup will enjoy a busy second and third calendar period before the big finals will take place in Chaikovskiy, Russia this year.

This is the updated program for Klingenthal and Ramsau am Dachstein:

14.02.2015 Ramsau (AUT), IG HS 96/10 km CC (instead of 21.02.2015)
15.02.2015 Ramsau (AUT), IG HS 96/10 km CC (instead of 22.02.2015)

21.02.2015 Klingenthal (GER), Team Sprint HS 140/2×7.5 km CC (instead of 20.12.2014)
22.02.2015 Klingenthal (GER), IG HS 140/10 km CC (instead of 21.12.2014)