November 18, 2012 (Bruksvallarna, Sweden) – Chandra Crawford got an early birthday present by winning the silver medal on Sunday in her final cross-country ski tune-up race in Bruksvallarna, Sweden.

One day removed from her 29th birthday, the Olympic gold medallist led all four Canadian men and women that suited up for the skate-sprint races into the head-to-head heats with the top-30 qualifiers when she posted the seventh-fastest time. The 2006 Olympic gold medallist carried that momentum with her in the knockout rounds, advancing her way to the final heat around the 1.2-kilometre Swedish track against some of the top sprinters in the world.

“My theme this year is to be fast, female and fearless,” said Crawford, who leveraged her Olympic victory to launch a Fast and Female program that encourages young girls to get involved in sport. “The women’s program took a lot of risks in training this summer and I feel like that paid off today. I just attacked and it was exciting out there.”

The two-time Olympian of Canmore, Alta., who won her quarter-final heat, and secured her spot in thefinal after finishing second in the semifinals, came up just short in a sprint finish against Sweden’s high-powered Ida Ingemarsdotter who Crawford says will be a force forCanadians to watch when the top skiers on the planet descend on Quebec Citynext month for the World Cup. Slovenia’s Katja Visnar, who led for the first half of the final heat, held on for the bronze medal.

The podium performance has Crawford right where she wants to be heading into the critical pre-Olympic season after battling through a number of difficult years, before and after the 2010 Games, that have been plagued with injuries and family illness.

“I feel really positive about where I am right now for sure,” said Crawford, who won her first individual medal in three seasons last year when she was second in Rogla, Slovenia. “I feel so strong from the adversity I’ve been though <in my career>. There is so much out there that can go wrong and when you get through it you are just so appreciative of the opportunities you have.”

Crawford’s teammates, Daria Gaiazova, of Banff, Alta., and Perianne Jones, of Almonte, Ont., also qualified for the heats. Gaiazova drew a tough draw being matched up in her opening heat with Crawford. Her day came to an end after finishing third in the heat – only the top-two of the six athletes in each heat move on to the next round. The 27-year-old Jones, who qualified 16th, also headed to the sidelines to cheer on Crawford after finishing fourth in her quarter-final heat.

On the men’s side of the draw, Alex Harvey, of St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., was the lone Canadian to hit the start line, and finished eighth.

After qualifying for the round of 30 in 11th spot, the 24-year-old Harvey punched his ticket into the semifinals with a comfortable opening heat where he finished in second spot. Racing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the top Swedish sprinters, it was a challenging semifinal round for the talented Canuck. Harvey dropped to the back of the pack after a slow start, and didn’t have the kick at the finish to earn a spot into the final. A fourth-place finish in the semifinal heat relegated Harvey to the B final where he was second to cross the line, finishing eighth overall.

It was a Swedish sweep of the men’s podium with Teodor Peterson on top, followed by Emil Jönsson in the silver-medal position, and Calle Halvarsson skiing to third

As the lone Canuck in the men’s 1.4km FR Sprint, Alex Harvey took on the Swedes with a decent 11th-place finish as Sweden’s speed king Emil Joensson lead a sweep by the host country with Johan Edin in second and Simon Persson third.

Full results HERE.

November 18, 2012 (Muonio, Finland) – USST skier Liz Stephen took aim and fired straight for the top spot on the podium in the women’s 10km FR as she challenged Polish queen Justyna Kowalczyk to finish only 4.5s behind to claim her first FIS podium in Europe and the USA’s first podium of the season in a very tight race.

Stephen held off Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva who grabbed third nipping Finland’s Riitta-Liisa Roponen in fourth to claim her best-ever European result against a tough international field.

The American women were clearly on form to make their mark as Holly Brooks placed 7th and Jessie Diggins claimed 9th putting three US women in the top 10.

In the men’s 15km FR it was Noah Hoffman leading the American men in 13th with Kris Freeman in 14th as Sylvan Ellefson made the points placing 29th. Finland’s Matti Heikkinen took the win over Lukas Bauer (CZE) in second with Jens Filbrich (GER) in third.

Results

Women

1. Justyna Kowalczyck (POL)  00:26:21,47
2. Liz Stephen (USA) 00:26:25,93
3. Yulia Tchekaleva (RUS) 00:26:27,06

7. Holly Brooks (USA) 00:26:47,67
9. Jessie Diggins (USA) 00:26:55,37

Men

1. Matti Heikkinen (FIN) 00:34:40,54
2. Lukas Bauer (CZE) 00:34:50,40
3. Jens Filbrich (GER) 00:35:09,06

13. Noah Hoffman (USA) 00:35:59,19
14. Kris Freeman (USA) 00:35:59,66
29. Sylvan Ellefson (USA) 00:36:24,21
53. Simeon Hamilton (USA) 00:37:08,52
77. Andy Newell (USA) 00:37:50,14   

Full results HERE.

November 17, 2012 – North America’s top xc skiers have had a good start as their official season got underway in Bruksvallarna, Sweden for the Canadians and in Muonio, Finland for the US Team.

On Day 1 it was Canada’s Alex Harvey was just off the podium in 4th in the men’s 10km CL while Chandra Crawford placed a strong 8th in the women’s 5km CL. For the Americans Andy Newell was also just off the podium by one spot in the men’s sprint while Ida Sargent signaled her form with a 6th place score.

Day 2 featured the first podium of the season for Canada as Ivan Babikov turned heads with a superb day claiming 3rd in the men’s 15km FR race in Bruksvallarna with teammate Devon Kershaw in 10th. Babikov, who struggled last year, lived up to head coach Justin Wadsworth’s prediction that he was ready to make a big jump in performance this season.

Meanwhile American Kris Freeman who also had a so-so season last year on the Euro circuit blasted out of the gates going for the win in the men’s 10km CL, one of his favourite races, and nailed a strong 4th. Liz Stephen was the top American woman in 13th in the women’s 5km as Kikkan Randall is on the sidelines still nursing her foot and hopes to be on the start line in Gallivare, Sweden for the start of the WCup next weekend.

We caught up with Babikov, Kershaw, Freeman, Jessie Diggins (28th today) and Noah Hoffman (30th today) for their impressions of the courses, the snow, their races and their form…

Ivan Babikov – 3rd, 15km FR (Bruksvallarna, Sweden)
I felt pretty good during that race. Condition were good for early season… a very fast course and not hard enough for my taste, but that even more surprising for me was to ski that fast on that kind of profile.

Justin (Wadsworth, head coach) and I decided to try a bit different tactic today – start very conservative and save it all for the second part of the race. As you can see it worked very well.

That was more of a test race and next weekend it could be all very different, but hopefully I can keep my shape up till then.

————-

Devan Kershaw – 10th, 15km FR (Bruksvallarna, Sweden)

How did it feel to be on your first Euro start line of the season?
I felt no so bad starting today, but that quickly turned badly. The first 5km I was skiing well, smooth, relaxed and gliding well – but come my last lap things were going south. The last 3km especially. It was on really rolling terrain (short punchy hills, lots of corners) where you had to be attacking. But I was in survival mode – trying (and failing) to recover, so no kick to the finish for me. I’m disappointed with how it went.

How were conditions in Bruksvallarna compared to previous years?
Seems as though there is more snow this year than the last couple years, but not as much as we’ve had here 4/5 years ago type thing. It was warm (+2), misting a bit as well and the conditions were wet transformed snow, getting icy in the descents/corners for sure.

What’s the energy like on the team with a great start?
It was great to see Ivan ski so well, that’s amazing. Everyone is really happy for him as he’s worked immensely hard this year (as all years), and is extra motivated to snag some World Cup podiums. Looks like he’s in a great place. Also, yesterday’s highlights (Alex 4th, and Chandra 8th) makes the team’s energy quite good. Alex was in such a tight classic race, and for Chandra to be so close to Olympic medal winners like Anna Haag in distance races looks really good. Everyone is excited for tomorrow too – the course suits Chandra super well (short, corners, lots of free skating) – so it’ll be exciting to see how she, Dasha and Peri do. Alex will take the line for the men, and I have no doubts that he’ll be wicked-fast.

And what’s the status of your foot?
Foot isn’t super, but I can ski and train fairly normally. Just going to take some time.

Is your conditioning on track with your expectations as the season begins to unfold?
I’ve trained quite a bit as per other years so I’m feeling a bit beat down. Of course I expect great things out of myself week in, week out, but you have to roll with it, believe in the preparations you’ve done and stay positive. Today was marginally better than my opener last year – whatever that means – so there you go. Training has been going really well and it’s too early for me to read too much into these first few weeks of racing.

What’s your focus for next weekend’s World Cup start?
Of course, with next weekend’s World Cup opener I am hoping first and foremost to be feeling better than I was feeling out there today. That first World Cup of the year is usually terrible for me (as in, not even in the points), so it’s important for me to ski super smooth, focus on the technique and perhaps dial back my starting speed a bit to give myself the best chance to have a great last lap where I can take the most time on people that are coming unglued. I just hope I’m not one of those guys coming unglued like I was today. We’ll just have to see what happens. I’d expect Ivan will be super great, Alex too (he was 5th in the opener last year in Norway). Should be exciting for our team!

————-

Kris Freeman – 4th, 10km CL (Muonio, Finland)

How did it feel to be on your first start line of the season?
I have been on snow frequently this summer and raced two week ago in Calgary.  It didn’t feel like my first race of the year.

What were conditions like and how was the course?
The conditions were ideal.  Special purple/multigrade hard wax. The course is pretty flat but has a 4-minute gradual sustained climb that can result in a lot of lactate.

How did the race unfold?
I went out hard and was 6th at the lap. I tried to speed up and was 4th at the finish.

Was the podium on your radar from the start as the 10km CL is one of your favourite races ?
I was trying to win.

Tell us a bit about your conditioning and how your training has gone?
I introduced a lot more intensity this off season and also began using the weight room for the first time in five years.

This has to build confidence for next weekend’s World Cup start?
This race was better than any result I had last year.  So yes.

What’s the energy like on the US Team this season?
Very positive

————-

Jessie Diggins – 28th  5km CL (Muonio, Finland)
Today was another good chance to shake out more cobwebs. I was focusing on process goals like smoothly testing skis and making sure I focused on technique during the race instead of getting sloppy. So the game plan was to not worry about results or placing but to get in a really good workout, zone in on what race-pace needs to be, and work out the kinks of racing again. The tracks were perfect and the coaches and wax techs did a great job today.

For me, the race felt like it was over much too fast; I think I could have gotten in a sharper warmup and pushed much harder sooner. But I guess that’s why we’re doing this – to remember what a 5km pace is really like!

I trained as hard and well as I could all spring, summer and fall (like I do every year) so I am happy with where my body is. As a younger athlete I’m still trying to learn what pre-season and early-season feels like in the body when you’re going to have a good year, so whenever people ask me if I’m “fit” I honestly don’t know how to answer. I have no regrets with my training or what I’m doing, so I’m happy, and that’s all I really need.

————-

Noah Hoffman – 30th, 1om CL (Muonio, Finland)
I have had a very light training load this week, so I felt rested and ready to go on the start line this morning. Unfortunately I didn’t have the result I was looking to achieve, but it is a result I can build on in the weeks to come. The times were very tight.

My skis were good and the conditions were perfect, blue skies, hard tracks, and temperatures just below freezing. My training overall has gone as well as I could have hoped all summer long. I hope to put it to good use in the weeks ahead.

This is my third season on the World Cup circuit and while I haven’t achieved the level of USST A Team yet my goal is to make it into the Red Group (top-30 distance skiers in the World) to do that.

November 17, 2012 (Muonio, Finland) – USST veteran Kris Freeman powered to 4th place landing just off the podium in the men’s 1okm CL in Muonio on Saturday while Liz Stephen lead the American women’s contingent in 13th as Justyna Kowalczyk claimed her second victory in Finland.

Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ) made it 2-for-2 in the men’s race as Czech strongman Lukas Bauer grabbed second with Jens Filbrich taking the final podium spot over Freeman by 5s. Noah Hoffman finished 3oth and Sylvan Ellefson placed 44th. Tad Elliott, Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton were non-starters.

Following Stephen in 28th was Jessie Diggins with Holly Brooks 34th and Ida Sargent in 36th. Kikkan Randall, while on the start list, remained on the sidelines due to her foot still in recovery mode.

Results (brief)

Men

1. Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ) 00:25:33,61
2. Lukas Bauer (CZE) 00:25:38,43
3. Jens Filbrich (GER) 00:25:46,79
4. Kris Freeman (USA) 00:25:51,91

30. Noah Hoffman (USA) 00:26:33,81
44. Sylvan Ellefson (USA) 00:26:47,37

Women

1. Justyna Kowalczyck (POL)  00:13:35,64
2. Yulia Tchekaleva (RUS) 00:14:04,65
3. Masako Ishida (JPN) 00:14:11,60

28. Jessie Diggins (USA) 00:14:56,70
34. Holly Brooks (USA) 00:15:03,04
36. Ida Sargent (USA) 00:15:03,25

Full results HERE.

November 16, 2012 – This week on Talkin’ with the Gravy Train, we bring you Part 1 of an interview with young U.S. cross country skiing superstar Jessie Diggins. Talkin’ with the Gravy Train is a series of audio interviews hosted by famous sports commentator and journalist Peter Graves, that provides a forum for notable Nordic personalities to talk about the sport they love in their own words and express their point of view.

Jessie Diggins – Making Her Mark
The US Ski Team’s Jessie Diggins, a 21-year-old Minnesota native, has enjoyed a strong off-season of training and is anxious to start racing again.

Diggins enjoyed a breakthrough season last year with fine results like her second place finish in a team sprint in Milano with Kikkan Randall, at just her third World Cup start. She also scored her first World Cup points last season taking a 6th place in a sprint in downtown Moscow. With results like that the sky’s the limit and in this candid interview she talks about her goals for the season and contemplates that this could be a more challenging campaign.

Diggins goes into the year with five US National titles in her career, and will be targeting the FIS top-seeded Red Group for both sprinting and distance skiing

We caught up with her last week, as she was training and packing for the start of the international season. She’s currently in Finland with the rest of the USST team, and in this edition of TWTGT she shares her passion and joy of cross-country skiing and a look at what’s ahead.

November 16, 2012 (Bruksvallarna, Sweden) – Alex Harvey and Chandra Crawford answered the bell to the start of a new cross-country ski season by narrowly missing the podium in a short-distance classic-ski race in Bruksvallarna, Sweden on Friday.

In the final tune-up race before the start of the World Cup season next week, Harvey, of St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., skied just shy of the podium in fourth spot with a time of 22 minutes, 24.0 seconds in the men’s 10-kilometre classic-ski race, while Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., clocked-in at 13:06.8 for eighth place in the women’s five-kilometre classic-ski race.

“I arrived in Sweden 10 days ago and we’ve had a really hard block of training. I wasn’t 100 per cent today, but the body felt good and I had lots of energy,” said Harvey, who finished sixth overall on the World Cup last year with one gold, two silver and one bronze medal. “Today was about testing new things including skis and doing a quicker start than usual because it was a course with fast conditions, but you also want to use this weekend to get back in your normal routine.”

Three Swedish athletes grabbed the medals on their home turf. Daniel Richardsson posted the goldentime of 22:15.3, while Marcus Hellner was second at 22:20.5, and Lars Nelson claimed the bronze medal with a time of 22:21.6.

Calgary’s Kevin Sandau was the only other Canadian in the men’s field of 140 athletes. Sandau finished 34th with a time of 23:41.6.

Meanwhile, Chandra Crawford led the Canadians into the top-10 in the women’s five-kilometre race. The sprint specialist surpassed her own expectations with an eight-place finish(13:06.8) against a strong women’s field of 77 athletes.

“It was a lot better than I expected today. It felt great to get a race bib on and hit the start line after a very long and grueling training season,” said Crawford. “All of my objectives today were process goals. I was happy with my result, but also that I met my goals of pace, pushing my speed, and my technique that I’ve been working on. The skis were so great today too and our team did an awesome job.”

Crawford finished 34 seconds behind the race winner, Emma Wicken of Sweden, who set the time to beat at 12:33.1. Charlotte Kalla, of Sweden, was two seconds off the pace in the silver-medal position at 12:35.5, while Ida Ingemarsdotter, rounded out the Swedish sweep of the podium in third with a time of 12:42.4.

Canada’s Perianne Jones, of Almonte, Ont., also had a solid first race to kick-off the 2012-13 season. The 27-year-old fought her way into the top-15 with a 14th-place finish at 13:10.6.

Races continue in Bruksvallarna, Sweden on Saturday with 10- and 15-kilometre skate-ski racesbefore Sunday’s sprint events.

Women’s results.
Men’s results.

November 15, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – We’re excited to report that our popular annual SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup Contest has over 200 teams from around the world entered for its 2012/13 edition. If you want to get in on the action, you have until 10pm EST on Friday, Nov. 23 to register your team. The following day will see the 2012/13 Viessmann XC FIS World Cup season kick off in Gallivare, Sweden!

This is the first of four Fantasy Contests this season… up next is the FIS Marathon Cup contest, followed by the popular Tour de Ski contest, and finally fans can enjoy our Fiemme 2013 Nordic World Championships contest.

Register your team of four (4) men, and four (4) women including two (2) Outlaw Skiers – one (1) male and one (1) female not in the top 15 of the FIS World Cup overall rankings.

Points will be awarded following each World Cup based on each skier’s performance and published regularly at skitrax.com so you can see how your score compares to other international players and the actual FIS standings. Earn bonus TdS or Fiemme 2013 points, and other bonus points – all information, skier menus and contest rules are available when you register your team.

These are the only FIS Fantasy Nordic contests of their kind worldwide so don’t miss your chance to enjoy fabulous top level xc ski racing and the chance to win fabulous prizes.

The deadline to register or revise your team is Friday, Nov. 23, at 10pm EST, the day before the Viessmann XC FIS World Cup season kicks off in Gallivare, Sweden –  good luck to all contestants.

Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, Trapp Family Lodge, SkiGo, Alpina, One Way, Bjorn Daehlie, 2XU, Bliz, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Auclair, and Buff.

To register click HERE.

SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2012/13 Contest Prizes
* 1st Prize – Fischer 12/13 Carbonlite Skating Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100)
* 2nd Prize – Trapp Family Lodge – 2 nights lodging in a Deluxe Room w/breakfast (value $600)
* 3rd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 335 Skate Roller Skis (value $420)
* 4th Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $419)
* 5th Prize – One Way Premio Ski Poles (value $400)
* 6th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300)
* 7th Prize – 2XU Long Sleeve Thermal Compression Top and Elite Socks (value $195)
* 8th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129)
* 9th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $100)
* 10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65)
* WCup Breaks – Buff Headware to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski (value $23)

SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).

November 15, 2012 (Munio, Finland) – Here’s the latest from the US Ski Team in Finland set to race this weekend. Check out these photos as they hooked up with ski shop owner Juhani and visited some Finnish schools.

This is what D25 day looks like in Muonio. Juhani owns the only ski shop there and is a friend of mine. Nice to see our Ambassadors at work. Thanks everyone for making this such an awesome day!

Dave Knoop
NNF

———

Juhani,

Nice to meet you this afternoon! Thank you so much for taking the time to say hi to us and for the gift of the pocket knives! What a nice way to remember Muonio! I’m including the pictures that we took with you as well as a few from the school visit yesterday.

Dave – little did we know but we met one of Juhani’s sons yesterday during our visit at the middle school.  He’s wearing a green sweatshirt. He had by far the best English and had been to many places in the US including California & the Grand Canyon. Sounds like he’s hoping to study abroad in New Zealand?

Have a great day everyone,

Cheers,
Holly

November 15, 2012 – North American WCs – I was reading a Kikkan blog and she was talking about packing for the 5 months adventure in Europe and on the WC circuit that is ahead of her this winter. As you’ve read in my writings, the Euros will side step the Quebec and Canmore races in big numbers, especially the stars. Is it possible that one or some of the North American skiers might go in this direction – stay in Europe during those races? Remember they have the TdS, the World Champs, WC and the trip to NA…just thinking about it?

Haig Glacier – Interesting that Canada’s National Team only was on the glacier for for a very few days this summer – that was the men – the women never showed up. Having an asset like that and never using it…what happened to altitude training? Guess it’s only good if you have to travel for it.

Kershaw Again – Talk about a very interesting experience Devon was recently tested by CCES (doping control in Canada) and then was tested again a couple of days later. A sneaky move by CCES, sort of doubling back on the athlete in case they doped during a training season and think he/she won’t be tested for a number of weeks. It is a big possibility, as PEDs do help big time during training for recovery or injury and for boosting the hours and intensities.

Perianne Jones – Saw a flyer promoting an evening fundraiser for her in the Ottawa region. In the flyer there was a statement about her training hours per year being 600 hrs. I think she is potentially a more talented skier then she is at the present time, but she needs to get on track with the hours she is doing when considering her time in the sport and her training background. She should be doing 700- 750 hrs if she ever wants to realize her dream of making the podium in Sochi 2014. It’s too late for this year at the WSC in Val di Fiemme!

One caveat, a medal is possible (long shot) in the team sprint at the WSC, as her teammate, most likely Chandra Crawford could pull her onto the podium if Jones is chosen for that event.

50/30 km National Championship Races, Are They Dead? – Please read the following article here. Usually when this type of rhetoric is published, it means the decision has essentially been made within the inner workings of the association. I will still offer my opinions as I think the 50/30km championships are a dying event – which is too bad as it crowns the king and queen of racing for that particular year. I have some points to make:

To shift this distance race focus to one of Canada’s marathons has already been tried and has faded away into oblivion. The Gatineau 55 has served this responsibility – all the good guys are gone chasing the WC and the National Champs are lost in the main focus of the race. It becomes like a 3rd nostril – a non-entity. The skiers lose their identity in the vastness of the race. Prize ceremony is rinky dinky.

FIS and all of it’s associations (CCC) are making the schedule easier and easier – HOW? Mass starts are one thing (the field cruises until the last 3-5 km and then they put on the jets), shortening races like the CCC proposal, FIS reducing the men’s relay distances to 7.5 km, course criteria’s single maximum climb has been dramatically reduced – climbing a hill with maximum of 50 meters height difference isn’t like doing a 100 meters which was the old limit (huge difference).

The National Champs now have 2-sprints, 2-15 km races and the 50/30km—lose the 50/30km and you have a “baby” championships. A 30/20 km that would be added never stresses all the systems.  The skiers will ski the same way, cruise to 25/15kms and then the race will begin. I could rationalize having a 10/5 km and forgetting the longer races.

These are the major domo of all the races in the season attracting the best field and requiring the best effort, strategy, tactics, skis, feeding stations, support and the top physiological beast left at this time of the year—the way it should be

My suggestion is to make this race an individual start, and have prize money $1000, $750 and $500 it will heighten interest and take care of all this wishy washy babble.

Frozen Thunder One More Time – CCC and the local Chamber of Commerce need to promote the hell out of Frozen Thunder all over NA and the rest of the world to try and attract clubs, teams, master skiers and any other level of skiers to be in Canmore for this phenomenon. Regulate the hours on the track just like they do with ice hockey rinks. Also, schedule training camps for masters, on-snow clinics for the weekends, equipment demos. I’m sure this could be built into an economic impact for Canmore – make some attractive packages price-wise, as this is a quiet time of the year for tourists. The Silver Star Camps started out as just such an idea in 1988 and the are still impacting Silver Star 25 years later.

NKT – NENSA recently had a coaches seminar at Stratton, VT, about a month ago and it has come to my attention that NKT (Nose, Knee, Toe) is still in question…??? If you need to confirm your thoughts watch this video. Two skate (front view). This pic below will also confirm what skating is all about – STILL.

Sebastian Coe – Do you know this name? He was a famous middle distance runner in the late 70s and early 80s. Set a number of world records and won two golds in the 1,500 meter run at the ’80 and 84 Olympics. His latest gig has been the Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the London Olympics this summer and now he’s the Chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA). The Olympic word is being thrown around a lot for Sir Seb and me thinks he will be the next president of the IOC, as it is rumored that Jacques Rogge, the current president, is due to retire. You heard it here first.

Talk to you soon.
misterxc@aol.com

November 14, 2012 (Park City, Utah) – With their Olympic debut just 15 months away, three of the world’s top women’s ski jumpers have been named to the 2012-13 U.S. Ski Jumping Team. Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, UT), who won nine of 13 FIS World Cups last season, leads the squad along with 2009 World Champion Lindsey Van and Jessica Jerome (both Park City, UT). The women will open the World Cup Nov. 23-25 on the Olympic jumps in Lillehammer, Norway with the season highlight coming in February with FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

Highlights
– FIS World Cup champion Sarah Hendrickson leads three women on to the 2012-13 U.S. Ski Jumping Team along with 2009 World Champion Lindsey Van and Jessica Jerome (all Park City, UT)
– Hendrickson won nine of 13 events in the debut of the FIS World Cup last season.
– Hendrickson has been rehabbing from knee surgery in April with a regular presence training at the USSA Center of Excellence, beginning jumping in mid-September.
– The FIS Nordic Ski World Championships are set for Predazzo in Val di Fiemme, Italy Feb. 20-Mar. 3, where Hendrickson swept a pair of events last season including a stunning 108-meter ride.
– The Val di Fiemme venue is also the backyard of Coach Paulo Bernardi. The team was on the Predazzo jumps this fall for a two-week camp.
– Jerome is presently a student in the U.S. Ski Team’s partnership program at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

Quotes
Sarah Hendrickson, FIS World Cup Champion
I am still following the roadmap I laid out after Vancouver. After a year almost off followed by a season of increased training and focus where I managed to get back on the podium, I am continuing to ramp it up mentally and physically. At this point I am satisfied with the way summer jumping ended and now focusing on my last weeks of high school (Winter Sports School, Park City) before heading to Norway later this month.

Alan Alborn, Head Jumping Coach
The summer has been a great success in the sense we had the team all back in the gym looking stronger than ever as a group and ready to head to Lillehammer late November to start off the second World Cup season. Sarah Hendrickson will be defending her World Cup title from last year and Lindsey Van is looking forward to the season, happy and healthy. Jessica Jerome has had a great summer of ski jumping and training in the gym – she’s been very consistent and had strong results in the summer series in Germany and France. Watch out world!

2013 U.S. Ski Jumping Team
Name, Hometown, Club, Date of Birth
*Indicates Westminster College student

A Team
– Sarah Hendrickson, Park City, UT, Park City Nordic Ski Club, 8/1/94
– Jessica Jerome, Park City, UT, Women’s Ski Jumping USA, 2/8/87 *
– Lindsey Van, Park City, UT, Park City Nordic Ski Club, 11/27/84

Coaching Staff
– Alan Alborn
– Paulo Bernardi

Official Ski Jumping Suppliers
Uniforms
– Bjørn Dæhlie

Equipment
– Alpina
– Atomic
– Bollé
– Briko
– Fischer
– Oakley
– POC
– Rudy Project

Wax, Tools and Training Devices
– Bosu
– Dominator
– Holmenkol
– Kenwood Radios
– Sun Valley Ski Tools
– Swix
– Toko
– Tools4boards
– Wintersteiger
– World Cup Supply

November 12, 2012 (West Yellowstone, MO) – The snow is falling in West Yellowstone, Montana!  SuperTour races and ski clinics are NOT in danger of being cancelled.  There was a lot of hype last week about major storms rolling through the area, but the Rendezvous Ski Trails caught only the tail end of the storm.  The South Plateau has enough snow for the races and clinics.  About 3”-4” cover the lower elevation trails at this time, though a couple more inches are expected overnight.

While this isn’t enough snow to run a groomer over, the Festival is still a week out.  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting snowfall for the next three days and into the end of next week.  Please check yellowstoneskifestival.com for more information.

Plans are moving forward with the Festival and event organizers are cautiously optimistic about the snow reports.  Should there not be enough snow at lower elevations to hold the SuperTour races and ski clinics, the contingency plan of moving to the South Plateau will take effect.  Decisions about the venue changes for the SuperTour races will be made by the Organizing Committee, in conjunction with the Technical Delegates, no later than 12:00pm (noon) on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 for the SuperTour Freestyle Sprint to be held on Friday, November 23, 2012.  The decision of the SuperTour Freestyle Distance 10/15K will be made no later than 12:00pm (noon) on Friday, November 23, 2013.  Changing the venue of the clinics will be made before Tuesday, November 20, 2012.

Events such as the Indoor Expo, S’mores & Skiers, Backcountry Film Festival, and the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center programs will be held regardless of snow conditions.  Visit yellowstoneskifestival.com for the complete listing of events.

Until then, THINK SNOW!

November 11, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – We’re pleased to announce the launch of our annual SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup 2012/13 Contest for contestants around the world. This is the first of four Fantasy Contests this season… up next is the FIS Marathon Cup contest, followed by the popular Tour de Ski contest, and finally fans can enjoy our Fiemme 2013 Nordic World Championships contest.

Register your team of four (4) men, and four (4) women including two (2) Outlaw Skiers – one (1) male and one (1) female not in the top 15 of the FIS World Cup overall rankings.

Points will be awarded following each World Cup based on each skier’s performance and published regularly at skitrax.com so you can see how your score compares to other international players and the actual FIS standings. Earn bonus TdS or Fiemme 2013 points, and other bonus points – all information, skier menues and contest rules are available when you register your team.

These are the only FIS Fantasy Nordic contests of their kind worldwide so don’t miss your chance to enjoy fabulous top level xc ski racing and the chance to win fabulous prizes.

The deadline to register or revise your team is Friday, Nov. 23, at 10pm EST, the day before the Viessmann XC FIS World Cup season kicks off in Gallivare, Sweden –  good luck to all contestants.

Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, Trapp Family Lodge, SkiGo, Alpina, One Way, Bjorn Daehlie, 2XU, Bliz, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Auclair, and Buff.

To register click HERE.

SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2012/13 Contest Prizes
* 1st Prize – Fischer 12/13 Carbonlite Skating Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100)
* 2nd Prize – Trapp Family Lodge – 2 nights lodging in a Deluxe Room w/breakfast (value $600)
* 3rd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 335 Skate Roller Skis (value $420)
* 4th Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $419)
* 5th Prize – One Way Premio Ski Poles (value $400)
* 6th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300)
* 7th Prize – 2XU Long Sleeve Thermal Compression Top and Elite Socks (value $195)
* 8th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129)
* 9th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $100)
* 10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65)
* WCup Breaks – Buff Headware to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski (value $23)

SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).

November 06, 2012 – On November 1, men across the country shaved their faces in preparation for Movember, a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for men’s health. Canadian XC skiers are participating in the event and Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey, Gord Jewett, Kevin Sandau, and Ivan Babikov are among the nine-man Sno Mos squad. Check out their team page HERE.

November 05, 2012 – WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic – What a great name for the race, and what a great idea for getting the ski season underway in a novel news media attention-getting format. Now to make it an even bigger attention drawing event – list it on the FIS calendar as the first ski race of the winter.

I was surprised at the number of top athletes that by passed this race – it has been a known quantity and on the schedule for a couple of  months, so any coach can plan or adjust a training program to fit into any skiers’ program. What a shame to miss this opportunity to get in a first race, start that lung-blood taste feeling (we all love) and find out where you are or aren’t! Nothing beats racing – too bad if you missed it.

You Tube and Other Videos – these are the best learning tools, but they need commentary with them as only half the potential is being realized. Music is the easy way out and is for other social situations, as the people making most of the videos are the learning leaders in our communities, the coaches. We need to hear them comment on what we are seeing and make this a 100% learning experience.

Here is a new video format – with variable speeds – with music…can you believe what a learning tool this is going to be – add the commentary – PLEASE.

See here.

CCC Women’s Team – there has been a lot of rhetoric these past few months about team building within the women’s national Team and program, with comments especially from Coach deNys. It is also apparent that this has to be one of a communications break through as about 90% of the time Dasha Gaiazova is in the “la belle” province training when her teammates are in Bend, Canmore, Park City, Alaska, Whitefish and St George.

I have written about the tail wagging the dog and here is another incident that is confusing and continues to the show me this is not a coordinated team effort – as Crawford and Jones leave Frozen Thunder after skiing for the past two weeks and head for the World Cup circuit and training in Sweden. They leave while Dasha is just arriving in Canmore to get in some skiing by herself and head off to Sweden a week later than her so-called teammates.

She’ll be joined on the late departure by Ivan Babikov from the men’s team so he can be with his family longer. Ivan is playing with fire – his second half of last winter was quite weak and it would be interesting to know if he made the team selection criteria. He has spent the last month at least with his family – these are considerations of the sport that you should be accommodating like a professional.

Drug Free Sport – not that we can ever expect to reach this goal, but we are damn sure getting closer and need to pass the 4-year sanction to close the door tighter. I’ve been beating this drum for a lot of years and I know that our North American skiers have benefited from the gains as part of all that they have accomplished since the start of this decade. Is the avalanche in motion(?)…I know I like what I see from all the NA skiers.

Lance Armstrong…My Thoughts – I was asked in one of my comments what I thought of the Lance Armstrong debacle. My party line over the years has not changed – he is a cheater and a liar as all PED users that get caught ARE! I have no sympathy for him – not a speck.

I think there are a lot of contributors to the situation because they were de0linquent from the beginning at trying to squash these cheaters – the IOC, WADA, USADA, UCI and all the other international federations and associations that had their heads in the sand back in the 70s and 80s when the athletes were really running amuck. So many “big wig” leaders were hiding, not admitting or just reluctant to take the action that all the honest athletes deserved.

There are a lot of hypocrites in all that has taken place – Lance is a cheater. I’m sure we all can agree to this, but wasn’t Tiger Woods? What was good for the goose (Lancie boy) should be good for the gander (Tiger) and have his neck (sponsorship) cut off as well. The way I look at it – cheating is cheating – and he was cheating – COME’ON Nike!!??

Kershaw – I think he has a legitimate chance to win the overall WC not just place 2nd like he did this past year, and for years to come. He just has to figure out how to get to his top RPM racing level going for the 1st half of the season. In the first half of the season this last year he scored 377 WC points and missed 4 races for assorted reasons. In the 2nd half of the season he scored 1,094 WC points and only missed two races. That’s a big enough differential to give it some thought – I’m sure he realizes this happened and will make program adjustments to try to be more race-ready early in the year.

Talk to You Soon.
misterxc@aol.com

November 05, 2012 (Park City, UT) – In a joint agreement announced today USA Ski Jumping and Ski Jumping Canada announced they have reached an innovative agreement to pool coaching resources and other related programs to form an alliance as the FIS World Cup ski jumping season beckons.

USA Ski Jumping CEO Jeff Hastings said today in making the announcement…”the Canadian program faces all the same challenges that we do–they’re small with limited resources and are based 5,000 miles away from the sport’s nerve center which makes it all the more expensive to fund a competitive program. The partnership we’re forging will help both programs make the most of those precious resources. We’ll be able to climb on each others shoulders both financially and competitively. It’s going to provide an enormous lift to both programs.”

Brent Morrice, the chairman of Ski Jumping Canada said that the U.S.A. and Canada have been working together for many years and the new concept was the culminations of those efforts. “In Canada we cheer as the U.S. jumpers win internationally, and the American community cheers just as loudly when Canadian athletes win and compete with the best in the world. Now, we have a formal agreement to maximize our expertise and give the North American jumping community everything our combined organizations can give them. We will work with a common goal which is to get North American ski jumping athletes on the podium in 2014 and 2018”, he said.

While both teams will continue to represent their own nations, coaching and traveling will be but one area where the agreement will help streamline operations. In addition, both nations will benefit from the consistent coaching, Hastings added.

USA coach Clint Jones (Park City, UT) will oversee the coaching efforts on the international scene. Jones is no stranger to the Canadian program having worked for them during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Canadian coach Gregor Linseg will shift his duties now to oversee the Canadian women’s program and will support Jones whenever both teams compete at the same venue. In addition, according to Linseg…”we have hired former Swedish coach Hartmann Wolfgang to coach some of the men’s COC events with our development team in Canada, he will be joining us in Park City soon to meet both teams and get familiar with the “Team North America” concept. We are very pleased with the way everything has come together.”

USASJ Athletic Director Alan Johnson said the innovative concept exemplifies the spirit of cooperation. “Our programs have always enjoyed close ties–and both programs have very limited financial resources. It only makes sense to combine those resources at as many levels as possible in order to optimize the quality of our programming which will allow our athletes to succeed.” The new plan will take place immediately.

November 02, 2012 – This week on Talkin’ with the Gravy Train, we bring you Part 2 of the interview with the multi-talented and well-known former US star skier and coach, Jim Galanes. Talkin’ with the Gravy Train is a series of audio interviews hosted by famous sports commentator and journalist Peter Graves, that provides a forum for notable Nordic personalities to talk about the sport they love in their own words and express their point of view.

Jim Galanes – A Man For All Seasons Seasons
I have known Jim Galanes since we were both teenagers growing up in Southern Vermont. A truly gifted athlete, he excelled in the Nordic sports and later in cycling. Born in Brattleboro, Vermont, his brilliant ski racing career began with Nordic Combined as the local famed Harris Hill was calling. His prodigious talents and his drive helped him secure a USST berth at the tender age of 17. A member of three US Olympic teams in ’76, ’80 and 1984, Galanes dropped ski jumping to focus on cross-country skiing and turned in many outstanding international performances. A twelve-year member of the U.S. Ski Team he won three national Nordic Combined championships and two World Cups, in addition to ten xc ski national championships.

His interest in coaching led Galanes to head up the US Ski Team from 1986-1992, followed by a stint at Vermont’s SMS leading to his outstanding career at APU from 1995-2006. Considered among the elite of the coaching fraternity, he has worked and coached many of America’s top skiing talents. Recently he moved from Anchorage to Sun Valley where he currently operates Galanes Sports Lab Institute in Ketchum, Idaho, offering a variety of services from coaching, ski trail design, program development and ski products – read more HERE.

Jim Galanes – Part 2

Review Part 1 of the Jim Galanes interview

November 01, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – With under a month to go to the first World Cup we’re excited once again to announce that Phase 1 of our international 4-in-1 SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup, Tour de Ski, Marathon and Nordic Worlds contests will be launching soon for contestants around the world – the only Nordic contests of their kind worldwide.

Last year our FIS Fantasy Contests broke records with almost 500 contestants competing in our World Cup season opener with skiers from 28 countries participating. With the Nordic World Championships in Val di Fiemme in the mix this year we’ve got a full deck of contests – four in total.

These Fantasy Contests reach out to skiers of all stripes creating a fabulous new dimension to the sport adding excitement for skiers around the world for these legendary races that are steeped in history.

Once again the contests feature a host of fabulous sponsors and lots of great prizes that could reach $10,000 or more – Fischer, Mont Ste-Anne, Nipika, One Way, SkiGo, Alpina, Bjorn Daehlie, Bliz, Halti, Yoko, 2XU, Rottefella, Auclair, Buff, Fresh Air Experience and High Peaks Cyclery have all signed on again with more companies to be announced soon.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s coming for race fans the world over, so start planning now for the most exciting Nordic Ski Fantasy Contests anywhere.

———

SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup Contest
– register your team of four (4) men, and four (4) women plus two “Outlaw” skiers
– bonus Tour de Ski and other bonus points
– 1st prize is a Fischer package (to be announced soon)
– first World Cup is Nov. 24 in Gallivare, Sweden
– registration opens early November

———

SkiTrax FIS Fantasy Marathon Contest
– register your team of four (4) men and four (4) women plus two (2) “Outlaw” skiers
– bonus points for American Birkebeiner and Gatineau Loppet events
– 1st prize is a Nipika Resort Lodge package (to be announced soon)
– first Marathon event is La Sgambeda on Dec. 16 in Livigno, Italy
– registration opens late November

———

SkiTrax FIS Fantasy Tour de Ski Contest
– register your team of four (4) men, and four (4) women plus two “Outlaw” skiers
– bonus Team and Val Climb points
– 1st prize is a Mont Ste-Anne package (to be announced soon)
– first TdS event is Dec. 29 in Oberhof, Germany
– registration opens early December

———

SkiTrax FIS Fantasy Nordic Worlds Contest
– select the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place podium spots for each competition
– score points for both men and women
– Bonus points for top Canadian and top US skiers
– 1st prize to be announced shortly
– Feb. 20-March 3 in Val di Fiemme, Italy
– registration opens late January 2013

Stay tuned for more FIS Fantasy Contest updates coming soon…

October 31, 2012 (Québec City, QC) – What better time to unveil the honorary president of Sprint Québec presented by Québecor than at the official launch of the FIS Cross-country Sprint World Cup, an event that’s set to take Québec’s National Assembly by storm from December 7-9! With preparations for the international event in full swing, the organizing committee is proud to announce Pierre Harvey’s involvement as honorary president of this first Cross-country World Cup to be held in the heart of America.

“Everybody knows him in the sport. He’s right up there with the very best of them—he’s still active and a competitor as well as being a father to three athletes, including local favourite Alex Harvey,” says Martial De Rome, president of Québec Winter Sports Events Corporation as he lists Pierre Harvey’s many qualities. An ambassador for the sport at home in Québec and abroad, Pierre Harvey says he is honoured to have been approached to act as honorary president for Sprint Québec 2012.

“At last! A Ski World Cup right on our doorstep in Québec and right in the heart of the city, to boot! Skiers of all ages will be more motivated than ever at seeing the world’s top cross-country skiers in action. And this is also the type of event that encourages the public to opt for healthy, active lifestyles,” he says, adding that it’s also the perfect opportunity for Quebecers to show the rest of the world just how warm a welcome can be! “Québec City is fast becoming a city synonymous with sports and this event will keep us right on track,” adds Québec City mayor Régis Labeaume. “Sprint Québec is another chance for us to show off our know-how—and our beautiful city.”

Putting on a show!
Designed with television very much in mind, Sprint Québec will wow crowds gathered in front of the National Assembly by the thousand, eager to see 150 athletes from close to 20 countries in action. “The pictures will really be something special with the National Assembly in the background,” explains Patrice Drouin, president of Gestev, the event management company tasked with putting on the event. And for Martial De Rome, putting on an event like this will highlight the capital’s Nordic lifestyle and show just how wide it can open its arms—a welcome boost to a potential Olympic bid.

But putting on a show of this magnitude is nevertheless a feat for an organizing committee that requires 10,000m3 of snow to cover the course. And that’s why it’s so pleasing to see major partners from across the province get behind the event to help set up a course that’s 850 m long and between 6 m and 13 m wide. “We’re planning to start snow production over the next few days, using state-of-the-art snow cannons from Neige“, a Québec specialist. Prinoth will supply the snow groomers to spread the snow and help us build the course with the rest of our team,” explains Patrice Drouin.

Fun, fun, fun!
Also at the press conference to mark the launch of Sprint Québec, Alex Harvey believes that bringing the mountain to the city will see lots of people turn out on Parliament Hill for the occasion. “It’s going to be a fun event, that’s for sure. I can’t wait to compete in front of my home crowd.” If the cross-country star is to be believed, city races are an unbelievable source of energy for athletes since the crowd is so close, and at the Team Sprint event on Friday, December 7 at 2 p.m., Alex Harvey will be racing with Devon Kershaw, who will also be competing in the Individual Sprint on Saturday, December 8, at 1:15 p.m. Kershaw admits he can’t wait to see the reception reserved for Alex, now the face of cross-country skiing in Québec City! “Hosting World Cup races at home gives our athletes the chance to shine on home snow, but it also creates an opportunity for families to see sport at its highest caliber in one of the country’s most spectacular cities. We are very lucky to have the opportunity to showcase our sport in Quebec City and the following week in Canmore “, said Matthew Jeffries, director of business development, Cross Country Canada.

A don’t-miss weekend!
At 10 a.m. on Friday, December 7, the Sprint Québec Village at Place George V will open its doors to the public. Young and old will be able to meet industry specialists and winter sports fans and take part in a host of activities at the hydraSense Family Zone. Children age 9 to 12 can take part in free Iniski to learn skating technique with Rossignol professionals. And local microbrewery Archibald will be there for adults in search of a refreshing beer. Then the weekend will end on a high note on Sunday, December 9 with the amateur event Sprint Québec Open fuelled by Chocolate Milk, the final event of the weekend with cross-country skiers of all stripes invited to tackle the World Cup course in a race against the clock. Divided into categories according to age and ability, the participants will get a chance to see how they do compared to their favourite athlete from the Canadian national team in the race of their lives!

Sprint Quebec Animated course HERE.

Sprint Quebec Course map

Sprint Quebec Key Facts

October 29, 2012 – Welcome to a new season of Talkin’ with the Gravy Train where notable Nordic personalities have a forum to talk about the sport they love in their own words and express their point of view. We’d like to thank all of our guests for taking the time to chat with us and our loyal audience for listening. Our first guest this season is the multi-talented and well-known former US star skier and coach, Jim Galanes.

We just realized that the correct Part 1 of this two-part interview was not provided (only about 3min was included) initially when we first posted this interview and we apologize to all readers – the correct version is now linked below.

Jim Galanes – A Man For All Seasons Seasons
I have known Jim Galanes since we were both teenagers growing up in Southern Vermont. A truly gifted athlete, he excelled in the Nordic sports and later in cycling. Born in Brattleboro, Vermont, his brilliant ski racing career began with Nordic Combined as the local famed Harris Hill was calling. His prodigious talents and his drive helped him secure a USST berth at the tender age of 17. A member of three US Olympic teams in ’76, ’80 and 1984, Galanes dropped ski jumping to focus on cross-country skiing and turned in many outstanding international performances. A twelve-year member of the U.S. Ski Team he won three national Nordic Combined championships and two World Cups, in addition to ten xc ski national championships.

His interest in coaching led Galanes to head up the US Ski Team from 1986-1992, followed by a stint at Vermont’s SMS leading to his outstanding career at APU from 1995-2006. Considered among the elite of the coaching fraternity, he has worked and coached many of America’s top skiing talents. Recently he moved from Anchorage to Sun Valley where he currently operates Galanes Sports Lab Institute in Ketchum, Idaho, offering a variety of services from coaching, ski trail design, program development and ski products – read more here.

Jim Galanes – Part 1

October 29, 2012 (Canmore, AB) – Camp wrapped up today in Canmore with a classic sprint time trial and strength. My warmup for strength was somewhat more embarrassing than usual since I lost a bet in the race and had to wear my underwear over my tights. But that’s not all that crazy.

The crazy part of this time trial/pre-season race was that there were actually some of the very best sprinters in the world in attendance; an Olympic gold medalist, World Champs gold medalist, multiple World Cup race podiums scattered throughout the start list. It’s cool seeing so many North Americans kicking butt. And it’s cool training with them and learning from every session, time trial and race experience!

I’d almost forgotten some of the sensations that accompany sprinting: the lactic acid and nerves seemingly boring a hole in my stomach (maybe I’m slowly developing and ulcer and don’t know it?); trying to stay warm while not sweating too much so I don’t freeze once I finally do take my jacket off; trying to dial in kick and not knowing when to add more or go with better glide. It’s a circus, all right!

And today was the best practice ever, thanks to Cross-Country Canada for hosting! I know classic sprinting is my biggest weakness and therefore I’m super thankful for any good chance to work on it that I can get. I felt a little like I was spinning my wheels, going nowhere during the race, but I worked hard and even when I totally ran out of energy (and technique!) in the final, it was a sweet learning experience. Slowly but surely, it’ll get better!

The interesting thing about racing is that while there is one person who wins, there is also someone who pushes the hardest, someone who dials in their skis the best, someone who has the best technique, someone who hurts the most and someone who uses the smartest tactics.

Whenever I get nervous, I focus on trying to be everything but the person who wins and more on the things I can control. Then, sometimes, things pull together and result in a good race. And sometimes not…

Tomorrow I fly back to gool ‘ol Minnesota, and I’m super pumped to get in a WHOLE TWO WEEKS there! Yes, that’s right, you heard me. 2 weeks in one spot NOT for a training camp. It’s a rare, beautiful thing.

However, I will be sad to leave all my teammates, especially since I won’t see my SMS crew for a month and a half! It’s been an amazing summer and fall, and I know we’ll have even more good stories when we’re reunited in Quebec.

Several of these shots are those One Way’s Reese Hanneman took (Engine Room Media). We had a fun time taking some goofy shots (I can’t help myself) and some better ones, too. Check them all out HERE.

October 26, 2012 (Canmore, AB) – Canada’s Chandra Crawford narrowly edged out NST teammate, Perianne Jones, in a photo-finish while the USA’s Andy Newell double-poled his way to victory over top Canadian Devon Kershaw at the Winsport Frozen Thunder Classic sprint Race on Friday, Oct. 26, at the CanmoreNordic Centre.

Jones, the top women’s qualifier, had the lead in the women’s A Final 100 metres, however Crawford managed to catch her just before the line. American Ida Sargent claimed the final podium spot.

Crawford breezed through the heats and went out just trying to have fun on her home course. “The course was fun; it’s the perfect course for us. It’s not too hilly that you can’t train on it all day and it has lots of corners,” said Crawford.

Following the race, she had nothing but praise for her teammate and training partner. “Perianne Jones is a superb athlete. I’m really lucky to be training with her for years, especially this summer. She’s really been pushing our team, making the team faster,” Crawford told SkiTrax.

Jones appeared to have the win wrapped up, but she let up slightly, opening the door for Crawford. “Coming down the final stretch, I thought I kinda had it, but I’m learning,” Jones explained. She reveled in the great conditions. “It’s mid-February on snow out here. This is the best FrozenThunder conditions we’ve ever had,” she added.

Newell, who qualified first, gambled with his skate skis in the final, which proved to be the right choice in winter-like conditions. He finished nearly four second ahead of Kershaw for the win. Fellow American Kris Freeman was the third man across the line.

“My classic skis weren’t running great today. We don’t have our full fleet of race skis here and I’m typically a strong double-poler, so it was fun with some nice big uphills to go against people on classics,” Newell told Trax. “It’s a real treat to ski in real winter conditions. To have this level of racing in October is pretty awesome. We don’t get to do this very often.

Kershaw decided to stay on classic skis, however the decision proved costly. “He’s such a beast. With such fast skis and double poling, I had no chance,” said Kershaw. “Today, I thought the course would favour classic skis as the heats went on, but that was entirely not the case.”

Given a chance to race competitively in October and test himself against the Americans was something Kershaw didn’t want to pass up.

“It’s better than a NorAm field. It’s a nice little time trial and it was really cool that the Americans came to train in our backyard,” added the Canadian star. “Andy’s medaled three times on the World Cup and he’s a sprint specialist. Any chance to work out next to him is a super-positive experience.

In the B-final, American Patrick O’Brien defeated Eric Packer, with Canada’s Patrick Stewart-Jones finishing third. The U.S.A. also topped the women’s B final, with Liz Stephen defeating Australia’s Esther Bottomley and Banff’s Heidi Widmer.

About half of Canada’s national team competed in the time trials, which looped around the kilometre-and-a-half track at the NordicCentre.

Qualifications (brief)

Men
1. Andrew Newell (USA)  03:36.47
2. Philip Widmer (Can) 03:45.57
3. Devon Kershaw (Can) 03:45.58
4. Skyler Davis (USA) 03:46.35
5. Michael Sinnott (USA) 03:48.05

Full men’s results HERE.

Women
1. Perianne Jones (Can) 04:15.88
2. Chandra Crawford (Can) 04:19.23
3. Alysson Marshall (Can) 04:22.14
4. Ida Sargent (USA) 04:24.71
5. Elizabeth Stephen (USA) 04:25.15

Full women’s results HERE.

Final Results

Men A-Final: 11:05:58.70
1. Andrew Newell (USA)  0:03:32.10
2. Devon Kershaw (Can) 0:03:35.93
3. Kris Freeman (USA) 0:03:36.57
4. Skyler Davis (USA) 0:03:42.78

Men B-Final: 11:00:58.70
1. Patrick O’Brien (USA) 0:03:50.79
2. Eric Packer  (USA) 0:03:51.00
3. Patrick Stewart-Jones (Can) 0:03:51.98
4. Philip Widmer (Can) 0:03:53.09

Women A-Final: 11:15:21
1. Chandra Crawford (Can) 0:04:10.29
2. Perianne Jones (Can) 0:04:10.46
3. Ida Sargent (USA) 0:04:15.92
4. Alysson Marshall (Can) 0:04:26.51

Women B-Final: 11:10:23
1. Elizabeth Stephen (USA) 0:04:21.95
2. Esther Bottomley (Aus) 0:04:22.15
3. Heidi Widmer (Can) 0:04:28.24
4. Jessica Diggins (USA) 0:04:32.13

Full results HERE.

October 26, 2012 – “It’s been 26 years running that we’ve had early season ski camps on the mountain,” said Guy Paulsen, Nordic Manager at Silver Star Mountain Resort.

For the first time in the history, Canada’s longest running early season cross country ski camp will be co-hosted by the two neighbouring Nordic operators, Silver Star Mountain Resort and Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre. “We believe by combining the camps, we are bringing the best of both to our skiing guests.” said Guy Paulsen.

As Silver Star Mountain Resort and Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre prepare to co-host the early season “XC Supercamp” running November 19th to December 2, they are looking back to their respective ski roots on the mountain.

Largest Early Season Trail System
“Skiing on the mountain started in the 1930’s when the pioneer skiers would catch the bus to the end of the road by the school house, which was near the bottom of the hill, then they would ski up the mountain. It was an all-day event,” said Don Wylie of Sovereign Lake. “Back then, you could ski the whole mountain because it was bare. Today we have first class groomed trails to follow and between the two areas we have the largest early season trail system in Western Canada.”

European Spa and 5-Star Dining
We’re really excited about the added features that  XC Supercamp can offer that are unique to our area. Campers may spend a relaxing afternoon at Sparkling Hill Resort, the only European spa of it’s kind in North America, where they will have access to seven unique aromatherapy sauna and steam rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, and hydrotherapy pool. The evening will finish with a five-star dinning experience overlooking Okanagan Lake.

Popular Biathlon Experience
XC Supercamp is pleased to offer biathlon as an option to the five-day and weekend camps. “It was such a hit at the Sovereign Lake camps last year that we decided to include it in this year’s program,” said Darren Derochie, senior coach at XC Supercamp. “For some it’s something they have never tried before. This allows them the opportunity to experience biathlon.  For others, they may have experience shooting, the new experience is doing it on skis.”

Skiers across Canada and the U.S. have come to trust the early season snow and excellent coaching to start their season at Silver Star and Sovereign Lake. “With significant snow on the mountain already, we are on track for our forecasted opening November 9th and possibly sooner.”

October 21, 2012 (Canmore, AB) – It’s been a busy last month and a half and when things are busy they tend to rip along at a good clip. Things are getting real in real hurry is what I’m trying to say. In a scant 17 days I will be on a plane heading over to Scandinavia to begin yet another year of racing the skinny skis.

I know I probably state this every single year, but I swear this training season went by the fastest-ever. I can still remember sitting in Candlestick Park, the 4,000km backcountry ski roadtrip and that Hawaiian breeze like it was yesterday when in reality it was 6 long months ago.

I’m wordy enough, so I’ll save the nostalgia and move on to the goods. A few days ago I returned home to Canmore from our last altitude camp down in Park City, UT.

How did it go? It was phenomenal, thanks for asking. Seriously, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better place to train between 2,100-3,000m above the sea for dry land training anywhere in the world (as a cross-country skier of course). It’s so beautiful and inspirational that most workouts seemed to go by in mere seconds instead of the 4-5 hours of work.

The colors this season as well were an added bonus – the mosaic that greeted us everyday on the roadsides twisting through the Wasatch Mountains or trailside high on the ridges were magnificent. That’s right – magnificent –I could think of no other adjective to use when describing that explosion of color.

What was also magnificent and seems to be a standard deal in late September/early October is the weather. Everyday is a blue blazer – sunny, cloudless, inviting. It’s just so enticing to get head out the door to bang out long, lung searing workouts when that sun is shining down – almost makes the incessant smack and verbal diarrhea that Mr. Harvey exudes during all training sessions bearable (kidding buddy – I’m just as bad – but the sentence was too beautiful to edit out, haha).

This season we were joined by the entire Senior Development Team – so we were quite the crew – 11 men together (with Dasha joining the men’s program as well for the camp) training most sessions all together. We all get along super well and have a fantastic time together – so to have the opportunity to share in the smiles and pain with such great friends is pretty sweet.

I was really happy to have the big crew with us in Park City and a highlight was showing some of the youngsters (I can say that – I’m almost 30!!) what Park City and area has to offer was cool (there were a few dudes down there that had never been down to the Canadian National Team autumn staple). The training, trails, roads, and canyons – everything is worth sharing that’s for sure!

When not training the scene is pretty chilled out – expect if we’re playing children’s board games (this year’s edition is “Settlers of Catan” which has replaced Monopoly) or if it’s NFL Sunday (of the 11 men down there, 9 of us play Fantasy football against each other. Yes – we are total dorks, so there’s no need to point that out. We’re well aware).

Most of you have read enough athletes’ blogs to know that when we’re not training most of the time we are sleeping, eating, getting therapy or chilling out. It’s an interesting existence if you live it – one I’ve fully embraced obviously – but it doesn’t make for great mind-blowing blog updates, so I’ll leave that as is.

That said, some semantics for the Jamie Coatsworths out there: We trained roughly 20hrs a week with the normal longer sessions mixed in with strength and interval training. From my point of view everyone came out of the camp looking great and feeling good – which is a success in itself as training at altitude (as it’s well documented) can be a bit tricky and/or risky. Again, our men’s and women’s teams train separately – so our staff down there working with the men – Justin, Louis, Stef, Jodi, Charles, and our therapists extraordinaire – Scott, Wolfman, and Anne – did an excellent job – so biggest thanks!

Directly from Park City I traveled East to Ontario to spend some days with my mom on the shores of the stunning Lake Superior. It was so good to connect with family and I miss most – if not all traditional family holidays – so we made up for it by having a wonderful Thanksgiving (albeit late) together, had a great hike down in Minnesota, and enjoying the Ontario autumn together. I most certainly give so much thanks to my fantastic family for their love and support. Ok, ok, I know I promised no fluffy-woffy or nostalgia – I digress.

Now, I’m back in Canmore. They’ve (the Canmore Nordic Centre) laid out the snow – laying out the same 1.8km of snow they saved from last winter – and I’ve been skiing on “Frozen Thunder” a bit while maintaining my normal dryland training. I’m feeling pretty good coming out of the camp and I am most certainly excited to get over to Europe again to get things revved up – that’s what all the hard work is for.

For some fun, here’s what I’ve been listening to these days on heavy rotation (in my opinion these are just beauty albums). Check em’ out if you’re in need of some new/great tunes. I’m a total old-school “full album” appreciator/listener/dork – so these few new albums have made a big impression.

– Grizzly Bear’s latest: Shields. Words cannot describe how boss this album is
– Band of Horses – Garage Rock. A little more country feeling, but some real gems on the album – no question.
– Cat Power’s Sun. Whoooaaaaa. Amazing. Even after epic amounts of listening, the song “Nothin but time” gives me goosebumps.
– Santogold – Master of my make believe. Sure, a bit fluffy – but you got to listen to some fun, energizing stuff sometimes right?

On the book shelf – (now read and literally on the bookshelf after the Park City camp) were:

– The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
– The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton/Daniel Coyle (Scary. Sad. Jeez, cycling is both beautiful and a mess).
– The last 4 editions of the New Yorker. Always amazing reading
– The Walrus (magazine).
– And now I’m reading “Hemingway’s Boat Everything he loved in life and lost 1934-1961 by Paul Hendrickson. A bit repetitive at times, but interesting nonetheless. Hemingway is QUITE the guy, but we knew that already.

Also, if you’re interested at all in the US election, check this interesting read in Vanity Fair by Michael Lewis. Great read HERE.

Cools! Keep that stick on the ice,

Devon

October 20, 2012 – The 2nd edition of the largest winter event in the world is less than 100 days away, to be held on Sunday, January 20, 2013, aims to bring children aged between four and fourteen – together with their families – to the slopes, trails and tracks, in a fun-filled day of events, activities and competitions on snow. There are currently 72 locations committed to celebrating World Snow Day in some 20 countries, an increase of 38% compared with a year ago at this time.

World Snow Day falls under FIS’s ‘Bring Children to the Snow’ campaign. Since its creation in 2007, this campaign celebrates winter sports as a fun, healthy and social recreational activity for children. World Snow Day 2013 will again take place on a global scale, celebrating snow sports as part of a healthy lifestyle, and fostering global awareness of the importance of nurturing the natural environment.

FIS President Gian Franco Kasper said: “The first edition of World Snow Day was a great success and we now continue to build on this momentum. Through FIS’s Bring Children to the Snow campaign we seek to communicate that winter sports is something for everyone. We hope that the 2nd FIS World Snow Day will encourage even more youngsters to take to the snow for the first time and help us foster a future generation of snow lovers.”

Countries committed to participating include Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, India, China, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland and the USA, among others. Whilst the event’s themes to Explore, Experience and Enjoy the snow will be shared across the world, the worldwide festivities will recognize the unique winter sports culture of each location. Organizations interested in hosting a World Snow Day event will receive event guidelines and suggestions for the types of events and activities to host, but are also encouraged to be creative and unique. Although World Snow Day is primarily geared for young children and their families, people of all ages are invited to attend and the activities offered range from beginner lessons to various fun options for those that already participate.

The 100-day landmark until World Snow Day signals only the beginning of the final build-up – so stay tuned! There is still time to join, as event registration for Organisers remains open until 15th December. Do join to become part of the biggest day on the snow all year!

Visit www.world-snow-day.com now to find out more!

October 19, 2012 (Canmore, AB) – The trail to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games for Canada’s newly named World Cup Nordic teams will start at the Canmore Nordic Centre, thanks to Frozen Thunder.

The innovative stock piling of snow project at the Nordic Centre, which was originally piloted in 2009, provides the nation’s cross-country skiing and biathletes with early season on-snow training on more than two-kilometres of solid skiable terrain. The project will now host its first major sprint race for more than 100 Nordic athletes fromCanada and the United States. The inaugural WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic, presented by Buff, will be held on October 26. Qualifying will start at 9 a.m. with the head-to-head heats starting at 10 a.m.

The Canmore Nordic Centre stores snow in the spring in a massive pile under a thick layer of sawdust to insulate it over the summer months. Modeled after snow preservation projects in Europe, the Canmore Nordic Centre was the first to take on the project in North America – and is subsequently the first to open its trails on the continent each year – providing another critical resource for Canada’s high-performance Nordic sports.

“The sprint race is another important element in Frozen Thunder’s delivery of what Canada’s athletes have asked for, and need, in their pursuit of international excellence,” said Michael Roycroft, area manager, Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park. “We believe our athletes deserve the best tools possible to achieve their goals of international leadership. Through the financial backing of the Government of Canada’s commitment to the Own the Podium program, along with WinSport Canada, this multi-year effort complements the more than $30 million these organizations, along with the Government of Alberta, have invested into the facilities and resources at the Canmore Nordic Centre over the last two Olympic cycles to help our Nordic athletes reach their goals.”

Focused on winning more medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Frozen Thunder represents another key initiative in Own the Podium, WinSport Canada, Canadian Sport Centre Calgary and the national sport organization’s continued commitment to building a competitive culture of excellence at the Canmore Nordic Centre, ensuring athletes have the critical resources needed to excel against the world’s best.

Earlier this fall, these samepartners announced the creation of a $1-million Nordic Consortium spearheaded by Own the Podium that brings together sport directors from Cross Country Canada and Biathlon Canada with advisors from Own the Podium, Canadian Sport Centre Calgary, WinSport Canada and the Canmore Nordic Centre to share research and information in an effort to pull more Olympic and Paralympic medals from the Nordic venue.

“There is significant momentum in Canmore that now allows for world-leading, year-round training, in addition to hosting major international competitions, that will be essential to Canada’s success in the Nordic sports well beyond 2014,” said Tom Holland, high-performance director, Cross Country Canada, who added the addition of a specially designed treadmill for Nordic athletes, along with an indoor biathlon rifle lab was the first project unveiled by the Consortium last month. “Frozen Thunder builds on the culture of excellence in Canmore, and provides a cost-effective alternative to our program that has traditionally sent athletes to Europe for early-season training. It is now core to our early-season training program, and keeps our athletes home, rested and fully prepared for the start of the World Cup in November.”

Athletes newly-named to CrossCountry Canada and Biathlon Canada’s World Cup Teams for the criticalpre-Olympic season were the first to ski onto the Frozen Thunder trails lined by dozens of young skiers from the Canmore Nordic Ski Club during a media conference on Friday.

Feeding off of one of the most successful seasons in the organization’s history, Cross Country Canada named an experienced group of seven athletes to its 2012-13 World Cup Team that combined to win an unprecedented 14 medals last year including: Alex Harvey (St-Ferreol les Neiges, Que.); Devon Kershaw (Sudbury, Ont.); Ivan Babikov (Canmore, Alta.); Len Valjas (Toronto); Chandra Crawford (Canmore, Alta.); Dasha Gaiazova (Banff, Alta.); and Perianne Jones (Almonte, Ont.).

The governing body for cross-country skiing in Canada also announced that five athletes, who won a record 21 medals last year, will return to the Para-Nordic Ski Team. Athletes include: Brian McKeever and guide Erik Carleton (Canmore, Alta.); Chris Klebl (Canmore, Alta.); Colette Bourgonje (Saskatoon); and Mark Arendz (Springton, P.E.I.).

Demonstrating theunique sport partnership created in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, Biathlon Canada unveiled its World Cup squad for the first time ever in conjunction with Cross Country Canada. Five athletes who are knocking on the door of the international biathlon podium will wear Canadian colours for the start of the Biathlon World Cup this year. Olympians Jean-Philippe Le Guellec (Shannon, Que.); Megan Imrie (Falcon Lake, Man.); and Zina Kocher (Red Deer, Alta.); will be joined by Scott Perras (Regina); and Nathan Smith (Calgary).

“Our Government is pleased to congratulate the members of the 2013 World Cup Cross-Country Ski and Biathlon teams,” said the Honourable Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport). “Through our record-level support to the Canadian sport system, including the Own the Podium program and national sport organizations, we are working to ensure that Canada keeps up its reputation as a leading sport nation. We look forward to cheering on our athletes on the road to Sochi 2014.”

The trail to Sochi for Cross Country Canada’s World Cup Team moves from the Canmore Nordic Centre to Gaellivare, Sweden for the season-opener, November 24-25. The top cross-country skiers in the world will return to Canada for back-to-back World Cups beginning in Quebec City, December 7-8 before traveling back to the Canmore Nordic Centre for three more races, December 13-16. The Biathlon World Cup kicks off on November 24 in Ostersund, Sweden. Both teams will hit the start line for the Win Sport Frozen Thunder Classic later this month before heading to Europe.

October 19, 2012 (Predazzo, Italy) – With a strong summer of preparation behind, the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team has its sights set on the 2013 World Championships and the Olympics in Sochi just a year away. A talented squad of 10 athletes, including three newcomers, was officially named during a final pre-season tune-up camp on the World Championship jumps in Italy following a camp at the Center of Excellence in Utah. A-Teamers Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY), Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) together account for a dozen Olympic and World Championship medals, along with Bryan Fletcher’s (Steamboat Springs, CO) stunning season-ending victory in the King’s Cup at Holmenkollen in Norway.

Highlights
– The U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team named 10 athletes to its 2012-13 squad led by Olympic medalists Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY), Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) and King’s Cup winner Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO).
– Together, Demong, Lodwick and Spillane account for a dozen Olympic and World Championship medals.
– Bryan Fletcher established himself as a major contender last season, steadily building up to a breakthrough win in the final World Cup at Holmenkollen, taking the prestigious King’s Cup.
– Three newcomers were added to the B Team including Adam Loomis (Eau Claire, WI), Erik Lynch (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Michael Ward (Aspen, CO).
– The FIS World Cup season opens Nov. 24-25 on the Olympic venue in Lillehammer, Norway.
– The FIS Nordic Ski World Championships return to Val di Fiemme, Italy Feb. 20-Mar. 3, the site of Spillane’s breakthrough World Championship gold 10 years ago.
– Five Team athletes are enrolled in the U.S. Ski Team’s partnership program with Westminster College in Salt Lake City including Brett Denney, Bryan Fletcher, Taylor Fletcher, Nick Hendrickson and Adam Loomis.
– Following a successful camp at the USSA Center of Excellence, Utah Olympic Park and Soldier Hollow in Utah, the Team was in Predazzo, Italy for a final tune-up on the World Championship jumps in Val di Fiemme.

Quotes
Billy Demong, Olympic champion
This is a team with great depth – never in history have we had ten nordic combined guys who are so close. The first time trial of the year I was seventh but not even a minute back in a race 25 minutes long. We’ve had different guys take the lead over the course of the summer to push the team in training but especially Bryan (Fletcher) who has continued to be a yardstick on the jump hill, while his brother (Taylor Fletcher) is the toughest on the cross country side.

I am still following the roadmap I laid out after Vancouver. After a year almost off followed by a season of increased training and focus where I managed to get back on the podium, I am continuing to ramp it up mentally and physically.

I am certainly looking forward to World Championships this season. Val di Fiemme is a venue where I’ve had personal success and our team has made history with Johnny’s (Spillane) crown in 2003 and Todd and my one-two finish in 2010.

I feel that the team is much more competitive than in the past and looking forward to its continued growth and success. It’s exciting to see that our continued effort to work together is yielding amazing dividends and that making our world cup team is becoming an increasingly challenging endeavor.

Bryan Fletcher, Holmenkollen King’s Cup champion
Coming off last season with a win definitely kick started some momentum heading into training this summer. The most exciting thing is the momentum hasn’t worn off. Our team has picked up that momentum and is working hard to keep the ball rolling through the next season – hopefully helping all of us take that next step both individually and as a team.

This season is definitely important for many reasons, the most prominent reason being World Championships. Athletes particularly value this World Champs because it is the biggest event that precedes the Olympics. On the whole scale however this season is important because it’s a great chance to improve before the Olympics. There is a lot of experience that can be gained and a chance to put yourself in a great position results wise before the Olympic year.

Obviously a medal at World Championships would create some great momentum heading into next season. If nothing less this season signifies the countdown toward the Olympics, which I think every athlete gets a little giddy thinking about the next two years!

Dave Jarrett, Head Coach
Everyone has done a good job preparing for the season and we are psyched to start with strong A and B Teams. We have two important seasons coming up with World Championships and Olympics. We want to execute this year so that we have confidence going into the Olympic season.

The mix of youth and experience is good and the competition among teammates is making everyone better and keeping everyone honest.  Bryan (Fletcher), Taylor (Fletcher), Todd (Lodwick), and Johnny (Spillane) have had a solid summer of training among the A-Team. Billy (Demong) is still working on equipment issues but we expect him to running on all cylinders soon.  Nick Hendrickson, Adam Loomis and Michael Ward have taken a huge step this summer from the B-Team.

2013 U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team
Name, Hometown, Club (Skis (jumping/cross country), Boots (jumping/cross country), Bindings, Eyewear, Poles) Date of Birth
* Indicates Olympian
**Indicates Westminster College student

A Team
– Billy Demong, Vermontville, NY, New York Ski Education Foundation (Fluege/Atomic, Rass/Atomic, Atomic, Uvex, Swix) 3/29/80 *
– Bryan Fletcher, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Elan/Madshus, Rass/Madshus, Rottefella, Uvex, Madshus) 6/27/86 **
– Taylor Fletcher, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Fluege/Atomic, Rass/Atomic, Atomic, Uvex/Rudy Project, Swix) 5/11/90 * **
– Todd Lodwick, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Elan/Madshus, Rass/Madshus, Madshus, TBD, Swix) 11/21/76 *
– Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Fluege/Atomic, Rass/Atomic, Atomic, Uvex, One Way) 11/24/80 *

B Team
– Brett Denney, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Elan/Madshus, Rass/Alpina, Rotefella, Uvex/Rudy Project, Swix) 2/26/90 **
– Nick Hendrickson, Park City, UT, Park City Nordic Ski Club (Elan/Madshus, Rass/Alpina, Rottefella, Uvex/Rudy Project, Swix) 6/20/91 **
– Adam Loomis, Eau Claire, WI, Eau Claire Flying Eagles Ski Club (Fluege/Madshus, Rass/Madshus, Rottefella, Uvex/Rudy Project, Madshus) **
– Erik Lynch, Steamboat Springs, UT, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Fischer/Madshus, Rass/Madshus, Rottefella, Uvex, Madshus)
– Michael Ward, Aspen, CO, Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club (Fischer/Madshus, Rass/Madshus, Rottefella, Uvex, Swix)

Coaching Staff
– Dave Jarrett, Head Coach
– Chris Gilbertson, World Cup Jumping Coach
– Greg Poirer, Continental Cup Coach/Development Coach

World Cup Service Team
– Andrej Jezeršek
– Matjaz Dobrovoljc

Official Nordic Combined Suppliers
– Uniforms
– Bjørn Dæhlie

Equipment
– Alpina
– Atomic
– Bolle
– Briko
– Fischer
– Madshus
– Oakley
– OneWay
– POC
– Rossignol
– Rudy Project
– Salomon
– Swix

Wax, Tools and Training Devices
– Bosu
– Dominator
– Holmenkol
– Kenwood Radios
– Sun Valley Ski Tools
– Swix
– Toko
– Tools4boards
– Wintersteiger
– World Cup Supply

October 17, 2012 (Fairbanks, Alaska) – There is snow in Alaska, and the gang at Birch Hill in Fairbanks took some great photos of the NSCF-FXC Comp Team out training yesterday afternoon. Last report was that there is more snow coming down. Just 145 days until the Junior Nationals start on these same trails.

Skiing was reportedly… “Still a bit scratchy, but hey, it’s skiing.”  The groomers rolled a couple of km, so the squad skied around a bit and did some double pole sprints as a group.

October 16, 2012 – FIS is pleased to announce the introduction of a new sprint ranking in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup for bonus sprints in mass start competitions and bonus seconds in stage competitions. In close cooperation with FIS Marketing AG the new concept for the World Cup bonus sprints has been created to improve the presentation of the bonuses.The BMW xDrive Trophy will be put in place as from the 2012/13 season supported by the premium sponsor of the FIS Cross Country World Cup, by awarding two BMW X1 20d for the winners of the new ranking.

Animation of Competitions

FIS and its partners are always searching for elements that integrate additional animation and action in distance competitions. Special attention has been paid to awarding athletes who succeed in the bonus sprint challenges and to involving sprint specialists in distance competitions.

“The BMW xDrive Trophy will increase the interest of athletes in bonus sprints from the beginning until the end of the season. Intermediate bonus sprints were introduced two years ago to increase the excitement in mass start competitions. The value of these bonus sprints will be increased further with this opportunity to leave the Finals in Falun with a BMW car. I’m really looking forward to seeing the season’s last mass start races in Oslo and Falun in March 2013,” remarked FIS Cross-Country Race Director Pierre Mignerey.

We are pleased to support the newly initiated sprint ranking that should make Cross-Country even more attractive to spectators and athletes“, commented Johannes Seibert, Marketing Director at BMW Germany. “We are excited to find out whjch athletes will triumph in this ranking and are looking forward to some spectacular duels next season.“

Ranking

The ranking will be calculated on the basis of bonus seconds and bonus World Cup points awarded from the beginning to the end of the World Cup season.

The winners of the new trophy will be the athletes (male & female) who have collected the most bonus seconds or/and bonus points during the season. One bonus World Cup point equals one bonus second.

The first bonus seconds will be awarded in the classical sprint at the stage 1 of Ruka Triple in Kuusamo (FIN). The last bonus seconds will be given out in the mass start competition in Falun (SWE), stage three of the World Cup Final on 23rd March 2013. The next day, on 24th March, two brand new BMW X1 will find their owners.

Understandable and Easy to Follow

FIS and FIS Marketing AG have been working together with BMW on a new visual identification and installations for the BMW xDrive Trophy that will be easy to follow and understandable for Cross-Country Skiing fans and TV viewers. Brand new TV graphics will be introduced.

“The new competition will augment the value of bonus sprints during the whole season. Bonus World Cup points and bonus seconds together with the BMW car will stay in focus for five months. Bonus point will get its own branding, including countdown signs to guide the athletes before the decision point. They will also make the sprint bonus points more visible for TV audiences. All bonus points/seconds will count and good sprinters will have a chance to go for the BMW car too. Three factors are important: the BMW xDrive Trophy will be easy to understand, straightforward to follow and it will create new potential for future communications,” Jürg Capol FIS Marketing AG Nordic Director stated.

Share the Pleasure

A pleasure of sports, fighting spirit, tackling the challenge of fierce competitions along with demanding snow and weather conditions are the common values shared between FIS and premium sponsor of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup BMW.

Virtual Standing 2011/2012

Looking back at the virtual unofficial BMW xDrive Trophy standing from last season, the classification on the ladies’ side remained open until the second to last competition of the season. In the end, Marit Bjoergen (NOR) would have driven away with the new BMW as she would have collected 483 points, whilst Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) would have finished second, only 3 points behind after the entire season.

On the men’s side Dario Cologna would have won the BMW car ahead of Devon Kershaw (CAN) and Petter Northug (NOR).

“I do love the dynamics that those intermediate sprints add and I seem to be decent at snagging them. I think that the new competition will make it even more exciting and enticing though – it’s almost a “most aggressive award” like they have in cycling. Should be fun to see who goes for it,” Canada’s Devon Kershaw says.

October 12, 2012   – Women’s Ski Jumping USA has named the athletes to represent the Visa Women’s Ski Jumping Team this year on the World and Continental Cup circuits.

2013 Visa Women’s Ski Jumping Team
Women’s Ski Jumping USA

Team A
– Sarah Hendrickson, Park City, UT
– Jessica Jerome, Park City, UT
– Lindsey Van, Park City, UT

Team C
– Abby Hughes, Park City, UT
– Alissa Johnson, Park City, UT
– Nina Lussi, Lake Placid, NY (invitee)
– Development Team
– Emilee Anderson, Eau Claire, WI
– Elyse Hoffmann, Madison, WI
– Elizabeth Wallace, Woodbury, MN

The U.S. women are going into the 2012-13 winter World Cup season as the No. 1 ranked team in the world after dominating the competitions last year. Hendrickson, 18, who is set to graduate in November from the Winter Sports School in Park City, led the team last season by winning nine of 13 World Cup events and becoming the individual World Cup overall champion. Van finished the season fifth overall and Jerome was ninth.

“It’s obviously a lot of pressure to go into a World Champs season with the globe from last year, but that’s what makes it exciting,” Hendrickson said. “Going into it I have to use that energy to my advantage and work toward my special goals. I am hoping for another fun winter to come and hoping the results will be there as well.”

Women’s ski jumping made its debut on the International Ski Federation World Cup circuit last winter, which meant better ski jumping venues and more international support and broadcast time for the events.

This year is significant for two reasons: one of the World Cup stops is in Sochi, Russia, site of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games where women will be allowed to compete in ski jumping for the first time; and the 2013 World Ski Jumping Championships will be in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

Top team members spent much of the summer working to resolve nagging joint issues. Hendrickson, Van and Jerome underwent knee surgeries and Johnson had shoulder surgery. Alan Alborn, Head Program and Development Coach, said those issues seemed to hold the athletes back from their true potential last season.

“We are on track to having 99 percent of the team healthy and confident in their bodies going into the season,” Alborn said. “The summer has been very important for us to hold the reigns back on the team and make sure to the best of our ability everyone is healthy and ready.”

Team members recently spent two weeks training at Val di Fiemme, Italy. They got a good chance to work intensely on the hill in which they will jump in the 2013 World Championships.

There will be 16 competitions on the women’s World Cup winter circuit, including stops in Norway, Austria, Russia, Germany, Japan and Slovenia. The WC opener is Nov. 24 in Lillehammer, NOR and the season ends March 17, 2013, in Oslo, NOR. The Nordic Junior World Ski Championships are Jan. 20-27 in Liberec, Czech Republic and the Nordic World Ski Championships are Feb. 20-March 3.

Head World Cup Coach Paolo Bernardi is looking forward to another season and knows other teams already have the U.S. women in their viewfinder.

“I feel pretty good in this position, knowing the power of our athletes and what they are capable of,” said Bernardi. “I prefer to be hunted from the other team than trying to catch them.”

Also this year, in addition to the primary support and infrastructure provided by WSJ-USA, Jerome, Van and Hendrickson have met U.S. Ski Team criteria to receive some access and assistance to elite athlete resources offered through the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.

Women’s Ski Jumping USA is the primary support group for the VISA Women’s Ski Jumping Team and aims to foster development level athletes throughout the U.S. WSJ-USA, a 501c3 foundation, also advocates for equality for women and girls in sports.

October 09, 2012 – Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone! Ok, now the blog post can begin. The Fast and Female event in Park City was officially AWESOME. As per my usual, I got to lead the dancing/endurance station, where we keep moving the entire time and each girl gets to add a dance move of her own to the group dance. The dance gets longer and longer and by the last group of the day I’m always working so hard to try and remember which move comes next! But it’s so much fun. Anne Hart was my dance station partner and we had a blast although by the end we both had jelly legs and were wiped out.

For me the coolest thing is seeing each girls face light up as the entire group does the dance move SHE got to add. It’s fun to make each girl be the star for 10 seconds!

And now… the National Nordic Foundation’s Drive for 25.

I realize that there are a ton of fundraisers going on this fall. And my personal fundraiser, the Chilkoot Cafe dinner in Stillwater, is going on this fall as well, on November 10th. But, I’m putting this up because the National Nordic Foundation directly helps me as well as many other junior, senior and U23 athletes looking to take the next step in international racing. NNF lowers trip costs for World Juniors/U23′s, and help pay for World Cup expenses. NNF also helped the US Women’s team travel to Sweden to train with some of the best in the world and improve.

So!

If you cannot come to Stillwater, MN on November 10th but are a friend of mine and/or Nordic Skiing and want to help out, this fundraiser is the best way to do it. I’ve linked my fundraising page below, and my goal is to get 20 people to donate $25. All the fundraiser information is on the link – even if you do not want to donate, please check out the NNF and their mission – the stories, pictures and race blogs are well worth looking at. Thanks for your time!

Jessie’s Drive for 25 page HERE.

October 08, 2012 (Mora, Sweden) – Now 50,000 participants have registered entries to one of the eight races in Vasaloppet’s winter Week 2013. This is four weeks earlier than last year that the 50,000 figure was passed, and indicates that we will see many well-prepared and well-trained participants on Vasaloppets Arena ski tracks this winter.

For the fourth successive year Vasaloppet’s Winter Week has attracted at least 50,000 entries. Vasaloppet (15,800 entries) and StafettVasan (8,000 entries) are already completely full. TjejVasan is filled to about 75-80 percent, with already almost 8,000 entries. The registration ceiling is 10,000 for TjejVasan. The same ceiling also applies for KortVasan which is already two thirds full.

Öppet Spår has in total over 9,000 entries registered, but here there are in total 18,000 places available divided over the two days. The two other races are HalvVasan and UngdomsVasan.

Last winter 97 percent of those that started reached their finish during the winter week, a very high figure. With so many now registered so early, we can expect that participants come to the start even better prepared for 2013. For the 2013 summer races, CykelVasan and VasaStafetten, there are also more than 13,000 registered entries.

Bibs available for Vasaloppet Winter Week

– Vasaloppet: 0 (15,800)
– StafettVasan: 0 (8,000)
– UngdomsVasan: 1,500 (1,600)
– TjejVasan: 2,100 (10,000)
– HalvVasan: 2,800 (5,000)
– KortVasan: 3,300 (10,000)
– Öppet Spår Sunday: 3,700 (10,000)
– Öppet Spår Monday: 5,000 (8,000)

October 07, 2012 (Lake Placid, NY) – Pete Frenette (Saranac Lake, NY) grew up jumping on the hill’s of Lake Placid’s Intervale ski jumping complex and today he demonstrated his mastery of the hills, winning by just over ten points at the annual Flaming Leaves Ski Jumping Festival, despite rain that lasted throughout the tournament. Keeping his cool Frenette was the picture of consistency with jumps of 97 and 96 meters, and points of 253.5.

Two-time Olympian Anders Johnson (Park City, UT) had the day’s longest jump of 100.5 in his first competition ride, while his second effort was at 90.5, giving him overall points of 243.0 and second place. Mike Glasder (Cary,IL) took third with jumps of 90.0 and 93.0 meters, garnering total points of 230.0. Perhaps the other biggest excitement today was the impressive performance of the Norge Ski Club’s Kevin Bickner who finished fourth. Bicker had jumps of 93 and 87 with points of 221.0. Fifth went to the USASJ’s Brian Wallace with 86 and 92 meters with points of 218.5.

Following the win Frenette was wearing a big smile, telling us…”it’s always nice to win on my home hill. I’ve jumped this hill for a long time, so I know how to jump this hill pretty well. I’m pretty happy about today. You know, I had some pretty good jumps in Europe and it gave me a lot of confidence coming in here. I’m still a little tired today from just coming back from Europe but it went well.” Frenette also added that he is still working on his timing and that he felt he had a late takeoff today, and “needs to keep pushing his hips thru the jump but I am excited for the winter.”

Coach Clint Jones was pleased with both Frenette and Johnson’s performances commenting…”I think both Peter and Anders did well, there were some tricky conditions out there with the wind changing direction quickly, and it was cold out there today. I think they both were the favorites coming into today, and to have them on top of the podium was good. But we still can use some improvement for Sunday’s event.”

Jones also praised Kevin Bickner’s jumping, noting…”his fourth place was wonderful and the conditions he had during the second round were tough, and yet he was still right up there with our guys and that’s good to see. We are encouraged by his performance today.” Following the event we caught up with Bickner who seemed to take his outstanding performance in stride noting…”I think I have been taking a lot of jumps lately along with a lot of dryland training, and I feel like I am jumping well…all those jumps add up. I just tried to stay focused today on doing the best I could, and this gives me added confidence going into the winter.”

The USASJ’s Brian Wallace was fifth with jumps of 86 and 92 meters, while sixth went to Alex Haupt with 88.5 and 83 meter jumps. Seventh place went to Christian Friberg while eighth went to Trevor Wert, rebounding from surgery, Taylor Hoffman was 9th and Central’s AJ Brown was tenth.

Lake Placid’s Miles Lussi was dominant in the junior class with jumps of 92 and 88 meters and points of 222.5, while Central’s Trevor Edlund took second with jumps of 86 and 81.5 meters and points of 191. Luke Daniels was third, while Henry Kavanagh-Beltman was fourth. Central’s Nate Mattoon placed fifth and Matt Doyle was sixth. A second competition, the NYSEF event will be held on the K-90 on Sunday, starting at noon.

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Results (brief)

1. Pete Frenette (Saranac Lake, NY) 253.5
2. Anders Johnson (Park City, UT) 243.0
3. Mike Glasder (Cary,IL) 230.0
4. Kevin Bickner (Norge Ski Club) 221.0.
5. Brian Wallace (USASJ)218.5

October 05, 2012 (Gatineau, QC) – Summer is not over and the first flakes have not yet fallen but the Gatineau Loppet’s organizing committee is ready to celebrate the 35th edition of Canada’s biggest cross country ski event which will be held from February 15 to 17, 2013. Cross-country skiers are excited by the completely new course that will go through the municipalities of La Pêche, Chelsea and Gatineau.

Two new linear 38 km and 55 km classic style courses will link Lake Philippe to Mont-Bleu High School in Gatineau. The president of the Gatineau Loppet, Mr. Yan Michaud, is “extremely pleased to offer this 35th anniversary gift for ski lovers in the region and abroad.” These new courses were tested last winter by Mr. Richard Weber, Canadian Explorer and cross-country ski master. He was thrilled with the quality of the courses and strongly encourages skiers to try them in 2013. Please note that, in addition to these new courses, races of 2, 5, 20 km classic style and 10, 31 and 51 km freestyle will still be scheduled from Mont-Bleu High School.

The organizing committee would also like to announce the official launch of registration starting today. A discount of up to 40% on all races will be offered to participants that register before September 28, 2012. Also, through a partnership with les Services récréatifs DEMSIS, participants of the Gatineau Loppet will get a 15% discount on the price of the winter pass of Gatineau Park if they register between October 15 and December 1, 2012.

The organizing committee wishes to mention the partnerships with Ville de Gatineau, National Capital Commission (NCC), Winterlude, les Services récréatifs DEMSIS, Chelsea Pub, Sport Échange Outaouais, Conférence régionale des élus de l’Outaouais (CRE- O), the Centre local de développement de Gatineau (CLD), the Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sports (MELS), École secondaire Mont-Bleu, La Relance Outaouais, Holiday Inn, Ramada Plaza Manoir Casino and Buff Canada.

For more information, visit the website of the Gatineau Loppet at www.gatineauloppet.com.

October 04, 2012 (Gatineau, QC) – Fresh Air Experience is once again hosting a rollerskiing event in Gatineau Park, this time with guest star Perrianne Jones, National Team member. Two years ago was our first attempt at gathering the most rollerskiers in one place and we successfully counted 257 rollerskiers in our turnout. Sadly no other ski club or area challenged our number but we are doing it again anyway and of course we are going for a higher number.

We know that we have one of the best, most active ski areas in all of North America with more than 10 active ski clubs and thousands of ski club members. We know hundreds of those skiers rollerski, so come on out Sunday, Oct.14th and join Perrianne Jones and hundreds of others to show our pride in cross-country skiing and our great ski spirit.

Sunday, Oct. 12, 8:00am, parking at P9, alternate parking at P8. Put on your rollerskis and go to the middle parking lot between P9 and P8. We gather, say hi to Perianne, take a group picture and we will then ski as a group to P9. We will once again collect names for proof of attendance and forward our results to Guiness to try to qualify for a World Record.

Any questions contact Chris Bloch-Hansen, Fresh Air Experience, Ottawa, 613-729-3002 or 1-877-722-3002.

Please also remember the Perianne Jones Fundraiser, Tuesday, Oct. 16th, 7:00-9:00pm, Britannia Yacht Club. Presentation by Perianne Jones, Silent Auction, Waxing Talk by Joel Jacques (National Team Wax Technician). Tickets available throught Fresh Air Experience at the same above phone numbers.

October 03, 2012 – This season, Canada will see the planet’s top cross-country ski racers make two stops in Canada for FIS World Cup events. The first layover will be in Quebec City, with the second in a perennial favourite venue, Canmore, AB.

Quebec City Sprints
Renowned Quebec event organizer Gestev is in charge of the Quebec City edition, December 6-9. Ski fans will see their favourite athletes go head-to-head in historic downtown Quebec in exciting sprint competitions, including individual and team sprint races. All hopes will be on local hero Alex Harvey’s shoulders as he goes full throttle on home turf.

More info HERE.

Alberta World Cup
Athletes will then head to the beautiful Rocky Mountain town of Canmore, AB, December 13-16. As the HQ for Cross Country Canada and the Canadian Ski Team, this is the country’s flagship event. Coming just two weeks before Christmas, World Cup 2012 will have a distinctive Christmas theme surrounding the actual races and part of the Canmore downtown activities as well.

Races will include sprint and distance events to test athletes to their fullest. The Alberta World Cup 2012 is hosted by the Alberta World Cup Society and is expected to have a worldwide TV audience of over 35 million people.

www.albertaworldcup.com

October 01, 2012 (Park City, UT) – The USST’s Noah Hoffman has had a busy fall after returning from a training camp in New Zealand with a quick stopover in Putney, VT. Back home in Park City, Hoffman has been enjoying the fall weather, quality time with family and friends, and hard training sessions in preparation for the upcoming competitive season.

Find out more on his blog HERE.

September 28, 2012 (Vancouver, BC) – John Furlong, the head of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) is trying to hide a sordid past reports The Georgia Straight. The revelations, first brought to light by reporter Laura Robinson, are also casting serious doubts about background checks done by VANOC and by the City of Vancouver.

The Straight article – at 4,000 words – goes into great detail about how Furlong, now 61, had already lived in Canada from 1969 to 1974 prior to “immigrating” to this country. Despite no formal training in teaching, Furlong taught First Nations children at the Immaculata Elementary School in Burns Lake, B.C. (later called O’Grady Catholic High School). Eight former students of Furlong’s have signed affidavits for the Georgia Straight alleging that he caused them physical and mental abuse during this time.

None of this history is included in either John Furlong’s official Olympic CV nor in a book he authored, Patriot Hearts. According to the “official version,” Furlong arrived in Canada from Ireland in the fall of 1974. There is no mention of him arriving in 1969, as an Oblate Frontier Apostle missionary. According to The Straight, Furlong married Margaret Cook, another Frontier Apostle teacher, in 1970 and their two children were born in Canada, not Ireland. Regardless of the serious complaints of abuse, this raises other serious questions about the procedure for background checks of candidates for important positions.

Rusty Goepel chaired VANOC’s hiring committee when Furlong was brought on board, but admits not remembering if he saw Furlong’s CV. The City of Vancouver also played a role in Furlong’s hiring but Mayor Gregor Robertson’s office has not responded to The Straight on its role in VANOC and whether it practised due diligence in terms of hiring.

Furlong addressed the media Thursday. “As you are aware I have been accused of physical abuse and apparently within the last hour, sexual abuse. I want you to know I categorically deny absolutely any wrongdoing and I believe that the RCMP looking into this matter will discredit the complaint entirely because it did not happen.”

He did acknowledge spending “a brief and uneventful time” in Burns Lake, BC before coming to Canada as a landed immigrant in 1974. Furlong calls the allegations, “serious and unfounded.” He also claims that when he first heard of these allegations, he was led to believe that the matter would “disappear” if he paid some money. Furlong maintains to have contacted the police about this matter.

He also claims that The Georgia Straight did not contact him to validate any of the details prior to publication of the article. Furlong’s lawyer indicated that his client has no choice but to seek full and complete recourse before the courts.

Among Furlong’s accolades, the Globe and Mail named him Canadian of the year in 2010; he is a recipient of the Order of B.C., the Order of Canada, the Olympic Order, and the Paralympic Order. He is chairman of Own the Podium, and is on the Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. board. This spring, he became the “executive chair” of the Vancouver Whitecaps. He has received honorary degrees from two BC universities (UBC and UNBC) and a technical school (BCIT), from the University of Calgary, and the B.C. Justice Institute.

Read the Georgia Straight story HERE.

September 27, 2012 (Acton, MN) – A reporter and cameraman from Sweden’s national TV network visited Acton, Minnesota this week in order to film and interview U.S. cross country skiing sensation Jessie Diggins. At 21, Diggins has shot to the top of the world’s elite female skiers, winning World Cup silver in a freestyle team sprint event last season with Kikkan Randall and picked up an individual top five in a 10km race along with other notable performances. While Diggins is popular in Nordic ski circles at home, she’s less well-known as an athlete in the USA at large, but Sweden has taken notice of the young blonde phenom on xc skis.

Read the full article about Diggins’s international media visit on TwinCities.com HERE.

September 23, 2012 – The defending overall World Cup winner and triple FIS Tour de Ski champion Dario Cologna is in midst of his preparations for the next season. FIS Newsflash had the chance to interview the Swiss cross-country ace prior to the Swiss Ski Nordic Weekend held in Andermatt (SUI) last weekend.

How has your summer been so far? Are you satisfied with your training?
DC: I had a very good summer. After the season I spent two weeks at the seaside. I enjoyed the warmth, the sun and travelled a little bit around. During the summer I could carry out the complete training as planned since I did not have any health problems. It’s difficult to say how good my shape is, but I think I’m on a good way.

Next winter the FIS Tour de Ski is coming to Switzerland for the first time – right to your home valley. How do you feel about that?
DC: I’m really looking forward to the Tour de Ski stage in my hometown. It will definitely be very special to be competing in front of the house in which my parents live. Competing in my home country is always perfect and at home it will be even better. I do not feel more pressure just because the stage takes place in Val Müstair. It is a nice feeling to have the race where all your friends and fans meet and cheer along the course.

Next winter there are two highlights: the FIS Tour de Ski and the Nordic World Ski Championships. What will be the keys to success in both events?
DC: I will compete both in the Tour and in the World Championships this season. I’m convinced that it is possible to be in great shape for both events. In order to ensure this, I will not do all of the World Cup competitions because it is important to have some training periods before big events to work on your shape.

What are your training plans for the autumn?
DC: We will go to Prad in South Tyrol at the end of September. In October, the plan is to train in Val Senales (ITA) before we travel to the North for the final preparation phase prior to the start of the World Cup. I will start my season in Gällivare (SWE) and then take part in the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo (FIN). I am going to sit out the World Cup competitions in Canada to prepare in the best way for the Tour. After the Tour I will see how my further plans will look like.

September 18, 2012 (Lake Placid, NY) – I  make the annual fall trip to Lake Placid to see friends and attend the “THE HILL CLIMB” every year and this falls trip was this past weekend, Sept 15-16. The race itself gets shifted around date wise, but that doesn’t mean if you go earlier, like this year, that the weather will be any better.

Saturday turned out to be a brute of a day – cold, misting and also raining with the usual winds associated with a mountain this big. Wind blasts that were so hard they made you stand still at the top. This race course provides the skiers with the hardest roller ski race in North America (with an average of an 8% grade) right from the get-go…2,266 ft of vertical gain – NO FLAT sections – NO REST until you cross the finish line, after 5 miles of grinding!

My friend, Chris Beattie, and I ski walked to about the halfway point as we like to see the race in progress and by that point the race results are pretty much in place, especially in the women’s race this year. The race favorite, Liz Stephen, had at least a 2-minute lead at our station and it was very evident that she was flying.

The road was wet, which means the race times should be slower then previous years (2-3 minutes in my mind) but Stephen looked totally in control and was trouncing the field. No stress on her face, breathing under control. I can tell you there are a lot of male skiers that had a new experience as Liz would have been 14th in the men’s race and there were quite a few good men who were “girled” – I’m sure it has been a while since it last happened to them.

The outcome, a new course record by Liz. I’m sure that result would not have been on anyone’s mind or talked about in any conversation before, during and or after the race.

A thought I’ve had, is that if this is the Liz Stephen, that’ll be stepping on the start line in Europe and performing like she did Saturday, she is going to be one tough cookie to ski with or beat. Her window of expectations will certainly be changing. I’m looking for a stronger, faster more competitive Liz Stephen this winter.

The men’s race became a tactical endeavour, with a group of 10-12 skiers when they went by me, with Tad Elliott pulling a sneaky break away and taking home the win.

See full results here.

PS. I saw a lot of back-end skiers, both guys and girls, younger in age, that need to get their strength programs in order. A race this tough certainly demonstrates upper body deficiency as evidenced by the adjustments in technique, that indicate you are a weakling. An easy one to see – but you can still save your season – the weight room is in order ASAP !

Flue Shot Time – I raise this issue every year – in the US it is at any pharmacy and in Canada it is free – just go see your personal doctor. Don’t let your season get away from you now by passing up the shot. Don’t wait!!!

Stars Start to Flee – The following quote is from an interview with Dario Cologna, the Swiss overall 3-time WC winner, just released by FIS XC.

Q: There are many World Cup competitions next winter. We will visit Canada again and then go for the Olympic test events in Russia. Have you made your plans already?

D.C.: I will start my season in Gällivare and then take part in the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo. I am going to sit out the World Cup competitions in Canada to prepare in the best way for the Tour. After the Tour I will see how my further plans will look like.

Expect to read a lot more of these defections as the fall proceeds. What makes this a likelihood is the scheduling of three races in Kuusamo, Nov. 30 to Dec. 2nd, and then racing five days later in Quebec City on Dec. 7-8. Then you fly even further west to Calgary for the races in Canmore, a 3-race schedule and then back to Europe. Not going to happen for a flock of the top skiers, especially with a 9-hr jet lag west to east staring them in face when returning to Europe.

There will be many countries represented by their B skiers, which makes it all the better for the North American skiers when it comes to collecting WC points and prize money. These Canadian races have the potential to be some of the weakest ever when it comes to an international field.

Talk to you soon.

Marty Hall
Misterxc@aol.com

September 18, 2012 (Ottawa, Ontario) – In celebration of the third annual Sports Day in Canada, True Sport challenged its members to make a difference in their communities by taking the True Sport Community Give-Back Challenge.  True Sport members stepped up to the plate and sent in inspiring and heartwarming submissions from across the country.

The True Sport Community Give-Back Challenge Selection Committee – Kyle Shewfelt, 2004 Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics; Scott Russell, CBC Sports; Kelly Murumets, ParticipACTION; and Karri Dawson, True Sport – has narrowed the entries to six finalists who it believes have truly demonstrated how the power of sport can make a difference in community. The selection criteria included community impact, ability to motivate others to get involved, True Sport values and principles, innovation and creativity, and ability to connect and work with others to make a greater difference.

We are now asking the public to vote for their favourite Give-Back story. The story that receives the most votes will receive an award of $5,000,while the two stories with the next highest number of votes will receive $3,000 and $2,000 to help them live True Sport in their community. Winners will be announced during the Sports Day broadcast on CBC Sports on September 29, 2012.

The finalists are:

– “Unbreakable Father’s Day 5K Walk/ Run” – submitted by CameronHelps, Toronto, ON
– “The Community Cup” – submitted by the Catholic Centre for Immigrants, Ottawa, ON
– “Art Hawkins Great Canadian Ultimate Game” – submitted by Ultimate Canada, Victoria, BC
– “True Sport 4 School Box” – submitted by West Ottawa Soccer Club, Kanata, ON
– “OFSAA Nordic Ski Championships Huntsville 2012” – submitted by Huntsville High School, Huntsville, ON
– “Fast and Female – Sports Day in Canada for Women” – submitted by , Canmore, AB

Voting begins on September 19, 2012 at 10a.m. (EST). Visit News Comments (0)

September 13, 2012 (New Zealand) – Here’s what you need to know about beards. A) They can be pretty nasty (especially when partaking in winter endurance activities – goobers tend to get lodged in there). B) They are itchy – even past the itchy stage. C) They are ideal habitat for stray food and well, in my case – D) They look both ridiculous and just straight up bad (although I look straight up bad a vast majority of the time, so let’s just say “they don’t help me look better.”).

A few days ago, I recently returned from our yearly pilgrimage to New Zealand. If you feel like you’ve read those words in my blog before – you probably have. Every summer we trek down there to enjoy the Southern Alps winter, hanging out at the premier southern hemisphere cross country center – the Snow Farm –  and bust our asses for roughly three weeks of specific ski training.

New Zealand is a camp I always seem to look forward to and as a lover of skiing, to be able to ski every summer is just so amazing. The change in environment always blows me away: one day you’re swimming in the Bow river, training without a shirt on (sorry for those of you that had to witness that on the roads/trails around town – my excuse – it was such a nice hot/summer!) and next thing you know in only 32 hours of sitting squished like a 1930s contortionist attempting to weasel their way out of a 50cmX50cm box – you’re there. Hopefully you made it there with all your bags, only a slight headache, a hefty dash of jet lag, a pinch of constipation and only minor back problems. The thing is – and jokes aside – it’s worth it. I can’t really explain it. I know it’s a long way to travel, I know I left behind one of the best summer’s Canmore’s ever had – but that feeling I get when I strap on those skis for the first time up there in the Pisa Range, look to Harvey, Lenny and Babs – tell another offside joke, blink multiple times in hopes that’s all it’ll take to erase the epic travel fatigue out of my eyes and start to skiing together under some gorgeous Alpenglow bathing the Southern Alps all while yelling and whooping in celebration of total psychedness – I mean, it’s pretty sweet. Ok, it’s bananas.

Aside from the above mentioned itchy/dirty face (the result of a “beard-off” I had going with one of our strength trainers – Jeff. I outlasted him. Booya. But who actually wins? I guess that’s philosophical…) this year’s edition down South was a winner. While the snow cover was a bit thin by Southern Alp standards – I found it to be ideal training conditions for what we actually race in – mainly klister/rub ski classic skiing and softer skate conditions. Yep – like every training camp – we trained hard – most days around 4 hours. We enjoyed great skiing, tough interval sessions, great running down in Wanaka (love that town!) and banged out some solid strength sessions as well.

It was strange that we were just 4 of us – but after Maui when we did our first “man-camp” I guess it was a little less weird. I can say that it didn’t take us long this go around to descend quickly into “interesting” meal-time conversations, topics, vocab, and scenarios and you wouldn’t want your grandmother hanging around us that’s for sure. Yet through all the hard training, tired legs, Settlers of Catan games played (our “2012 Monopoly” board game of choice) and days on the road – I feel so grateful and enjoy being on the road with great friends as we all strive to do the best job we can and working well together. That’s what I call “winning (Sheen may have a different definition…).”

Now – I’m back in Canmore and will be home for just two weeks. Training is back to standard stuff – a couple strengths, a couple intensity sessions and about 20hrs a week until it’s back on the road – to Park City, UT for our autumn altitude camp.

It’s a rough travel home again (read: long) and the jetlag coming East is vicious (going West to New Zealand actually is no big deal), so I’ve enjoyed some hours in the middle of the night wide awake reading, playing (don’t worry – still very poorly) guitar, and just lying there thinking. For sure that’s the one draw back – the distance you travel for winter. It’s especially hard coming home when you’re tired from the camp and jetlagged to boot – yet through all that, I still think it’s the best place on Earth to ski in the summer. With over 30km of perfectly groomed trails everyday at an elevation of 1550m? Sure, 7.5hrs into your flight smelling the stench of that large man “sitting/flowing into your seat” beside you while you try to meditate away the fact there are 7 crying babies surrounding you while you try and sleep in the middle of the middle during that short 15hr flight from Sydney – Vancouver – you may question it but I’m telling you:  It’s worth the jet lag, it’s worth everything. New Zealand’s winter is beautiful. Watching that sun go down over the mountains, so far from home – wow, I’m so grateful that I found such a beautiful sport – I mean the simplicity and single focusedness (I know that’s not a real word) – it’s both peaceful and beautiful. Unlike my hairy/disgusting face, weird shaped/short legged body and long “hippie” hair.

Devon.

Blog Epilogue
Ok, while this won’t actually “…bring closure to the work” – if you can call this shoddily written blog post “work” – I am going to share with you a quick story about this past Sunday which was one of the best days in the last 12 months.

It’s been a busy smorgasbord of sleepless jetlag nights and the first weekend of NFL football these last 4 days since I returned from NZ, yet on Sunday I finally got out climbing on Yamnuska.  Thanks to our friend/bad ass mountain guide Rob Owens Phil (Widmer) and I headed up a Rockies classic. The original plan was for us to finally climb our favorite mountain in the Canadian Rockies – Mt. Assinaboine – but it’s short summer climbing season ended with an early storm that smacked the mountain only days before I returned from New Zealand (next year boys!) – which was a bit of a bummer. The main thing is we did get out for an adventure – even if it was a scaled back one.

Some background: when Phil and I were roommates (along with “the big guy” Chris Jeffries – we all made 120B Rundle Dr our home for over four years) back in the day there were summers when we’d get out rock climbing a decent amount. There was more than one day (ok, WAY more…) when we’d finish our afternoon training, make a quick/ghetto “to go” dinner (of sorts), grab our climbing gear and crag until it got dark. We didn’t progress much, had very little grace on the rock but just really, really dug it. It’s a passion we both shared and still share – and as we got older we went from 30+ sessions to a dismal 1-2 days climbing a summer over the past couple years. Apparently training twice a day and climbing 3-4 hours in the evenings gets you pretty tired and luckily it took us a few fun-filled years to figure that out – and when I’m climbing with him like I was on Sunday – I wish I didn’t.

It’s about to get hippie. There’s just something soulful about being up there on any wall. And that’s coming from a total hack. I can’t imagine what amazing climbers like Rob feel like when they are working on a gnarly project. This is no secret – it’s been a rough year. I know the results were sweet, but I don’t know – it’s been rough with a lot of change going on – and I think that why Sunday meant so much to me. That feeling you get with all that air under your feet, the peacefulness/quiet and insane beauty surrounding you – it’s pretty spectacular. I love the feeling of total insignificance I get while climbing.

All my “1^st world problems” fall away and you get into this mental space – kind of like when you’re having a great race: you focus on nothing – and everything at the same time. It’s just so simple. Your thoughts are on the moves you need to make to solve the wall, watching/belaying your partner or just hanging there/sitting on a ledge looking at just how beautiful our world is – despite what’s going on in your life or the world at large. Like I said, it’s hard to describe – but it’s awesome.

Listen – Phil and I suck at climbing now – and I’m embarrassed to admit I even had some “sewing machine” legs a few moves into pitch #1 – which was rated WAY easier than I used to lead climb – but I soon found that rhythm again and time flew by so quickly. It all ended too fast – but a beauty day was had and sometimes you just need something like that you know? Get out there and do something you absolutely love and lose yourself in the process – it’s almost therapeutic. Like I said, it’s hard to explain. Doesn’t matter what you do – whether you are an athlete, businessman, doctor – whatever. Every once and awhile it’s just so liberating to do something like that – lose yourself in a passion.

Thanks to Rob – he’s an amazingly gifted athlete and ridiculously good mountain guide. Seriously – if you want your own mountain adventure – flip him an email and get out there and challenge yourself! rob.owens@onwardup.com

And now see below for way too many climbing shots (I suck at narrowing down shots, haha).

 

September 07, 2012 (Oberhof, Germany) – US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee is training in Germany with the USBA national A team. Starting in Ruhpolding the team checked out some World Cup venues with the Euros and is now in Oberhof taking advantage of the indoor ski hall… check out her blog with photos HERE.

September 05, 2012 (New Zealand) – Check out the latest from the Canadian XC Ski team now training at the Snow Farm in NZ along with the US XC Ski Team including top Euros like Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)…

August 24, 2012 – I wrote this article for NNF, the National Nordic Foundation regarding our training camp in Sweden. NNF funded a large aspect of the trip, therefore making it possible for me to attend. I’m super thankful to them and to everyone that has donated to the organization!

I’ll leave this article text heavy and picture shy since I’ve already shared most of the best pics in my previous blog. Or, there are some awesome ones posted on the NNF Facebook and/or USSA Nordic. You should LIKE both of these pages if you haven’t already done so.

Two weeks of brown cheese, tunnel skiing, fish paste, and Scandinavian countryside have come to an end. I think that all parties, Americans, Swedes (and our lone Canadian) alike would agree that our joint training camp was a great success. When I initially heard about the trip I had decided to stay home and save my money for winter competitions. But, when NNF and other donations stepped in to fund the camp I jumped on board and boy, I am sure glad I did!

August 22, 2012 (Hinterzarten, Germany) – Pete Frenette (Saranac Lake, NY) placed a strong 12th place in Sunday’s final stop of the FIS Summer Grand Prix in this Black Forest village, and is clearly gaining confidence with each passing competition, all against a world-class field.

The tournament was won by German Andreas Wank with a pair of jumps of 100.5 and 104.5 meters, in his first Grand Prix win ever.

Frenette–a 2010 U.S.A. Olympian in Vancouver, said that he has long had a good feeling about the jumps here, saying…”I have had some good jumps in the past at Hinterzarten, so I was confident going into the competition. I was able to make the second round and then had a great second jump and was able to move up quite a bit. I am very satisfied with this result.” Frenette’s jumps were at 95.0 and a stunning 104.0 meters, which moved him way up in the standings. With his superb second jump the NYSEF jumper beat such legends as Anders Bardal, Simon Ammann and Michael Hayboeck. Canadian Mac Boyd-Clowes placed 19th with jumps of 96.0 and 93.5 meters.

Second place went to the winner of the competition in Courchevel, France a week ago, 18-year-old Reruhi Shimizu of Japan, who jumped with distances of 101.5 and 105.5 meters on the famed Alderschanze, while third place went to Lukas Hlava (CR). Fourth went to Norwegian Tom Hilde and fifth to Yuta Watase (JPN).

Frenette–who along with Anders Johnson and coach Clint Jones, who will travel from Zurich home this Monday morning, told the USASJ News Bureau that he still had some technical things he needs to work on…”I have been struggling with my technique a little at the beginning of the trip in Courchevel and had to work quickly to try to get back into form and it’s coming.”

The next FIS Summer Grand Prix will be in Hakuba, Japan, the U.S.A. team will not be competing there.

August 21, 2012 (Canmore, AB) – Yes. The above title is not a typo – although for those familiar with my travel schedule/addiction/reality these last… well… years? Decade? It may seem like you’ve read that incorrectly. It’s been fantastic here, and since returning from our last training camp on Maui which ended in early July I’ve been spending most of my time in paradise and lucky enough (hey – I’m biased!) my home – the Bow Valley.

After ten months of constant movement and having the frightening ability to be able to describe in depth every scratch, stain and broken clip on my duffel bag, staying put in one place for an extended period of time has been a nice change. While I liken life on the road as comfortable and enjoyable as what I’d imagine a grizzly bear’s contentment level after coming across a loaded and ripe raspberry patch devoid of people and/or other bears, I must admit it’s nice to stay in one place for more than five nights in a row.

After so much change and stress over the last months it was pretty apparent I needed some time to stay put and (attempt) to put it bluntly, “get my sh#% together” to quote the advice of someone. The change – as most changes are – was a bit tough, but now going on six weeks in Canmore it’s been lovely to settle back into the community, time with great friends (who I see too infrequently) and my new place to live in town.

It’s been comfortable – yes, but don’t stress – not “too” comfortable. I most certainly have not let my foot of the proverbial gas pedal and training has continued to be going very well in the midst of the changes. After the momentum we gained during the Maui camp – Ivan and I have been working super well together under the watchful eye of Justin [Wadworth]. It’s a different set up with the men and women training separately this year which is a big change, but things with the men’s team seem to be going splendid.

As well as training, I had mentioned it’s been nice to see and hang out with friends (some of which don’t ski race) and I’ve really enjoyed that too. I’m not going to lie, I appear to be allergic to eating dinner alone – which means a lot of great conversations, meals and evenings spent with friends and training with some non-World Cup team members – who are some of my best friends – has been sweet too. No question the friend/social scene is what I miss most about living out of a duffel bag, and that becomes pretty apparent after a few great dinners with the crew.

Ok – I may have fibbed slightly. Aside from hanging out in Canmore, I did enjoy some days in Invermere enjoying what the Columbia valley had to offer, and recently I returned from a short trip to Ontario to visit family, spend a day checking in on Lenny at his family’s cottage (thanks Valjas family for a wonderful (yet too short) time!), see some old friends and execute the 4^th annual “Sudbury Share the Road” event – which was a resounding success this year.

If you aren’t familiar with “Share the Road” I encourage you to check out our website HERE and see what we’re all about.

This year’s event in my hometown of Sudbury saw record numbers and I would like to thank my dad, Chris Gore, STR’s CEO Eleanor [McMahon], all the volunteers, police officers, and Sudbury’s Mayor (Marianne Matichuk) for their tireless work, and support in attempting and working for positive change in the city. While Sudbury still has a long way to go to make it a “bicycle friendly” community, to see almost 300 passionate people riding together was both exhilarating and moving.

This last week in Canmore has flown by and change is in the air again – the Bow River is coming down (which means better fishing, yeah buddy!), the days are getting shorter and my duffel bag is calling to me, begging me to jam it full of gear again. The reality is that on Sunday (Aug. 19) I’m off for our annual training camp down in New Zealand. It’ll be great to be back on skis under those majestic Southern Alps with the boys working hard for the looming season.

Ok, while I’m trying my best to make these updates shorter so more people other than my mother and Jamie Coatsworth will actually read them, I feel like I must speak quickly to how inspiring the 2012 Olympics were. Like most of us sports fans, I love watching the Olympics and the London 2012 Games did not disappoint. Let’s just say the withdrawal I went through the first few days post-Olympics was dramatic and my mornings were infinitely less exciting and required infinitely more coffee to get psyched up.

Some highlights for me off the top of my head were watching the 10,000m with Nish (the last bunch of laps standing and shouting at the television); Rudisha’s monumental display in the 800m as he front-ran to both a World Record and an Olympic title; Bolt’s antics (ok, ok, and victories); Wiggins winning the time trial; Tara Whitten and team winning a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit; all the distance/middle distance track events and the sadness I felt for both Paula Findlay and Simon [Winfield] in the triathlon (a tough reminder that sport is both beautiful and utterly gut-wrenchingly painful/sad at others) – just to name a few (there were WAY more, but again – trying SO hard to keep it semi-brief!) really moved me. I think though my fav’ of the entire Olympics was that 10,000m. To see Farah and Rupp out-kick the Bekele brothers from Ethiopia almost moved me to tears.

I’m going to try something fun too these days with some quick hits of the summer.

Best run: Actually, Iceline trail in Yoho Nat. Park yesterday with Nish and Matty. It was boss.

Favorite meal: Ok, this is too hard. It’s a tie between brunch-zilla that a whack load of friends and I made after Peri and Joel’s wedding on the morning of July 22^nd (you remember y’all! – and I can’t get into it all right here – it’s too extensive) and a classic home-made dinner consisting of:

– Grilled Halibut (with a cilantro, fresh chili, toasted pine nuts finely chopped, lime zest, soy sauce, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt, pepper type rub)
– Brocollini grilled (with EV Olive oil, salt pepper) – finished with fresh lemon and grated parmesan
– Sautéed garden Swiss Chard (again – EV olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh lime)
– Brown rice (gotta be calrose though!)
–  Salad consisting of arugula, feta cheese, peeled roasted red peppers, apple, cherry tomatoes, avocado and toasted pine nuts and whatever dressing you fancy (for me it seems like it’s always a homemade balsamic vinaigrette)
– And dessert of well… anything amazing with fresh seasonal fruit and something tasty like yogurt, Haagen Daz…

Great albums pumping in the truck & at home (in no particular order): Three things here: 1) These are “new” (to me, ok – some are from the spring – but that counts as “new” haha) albums I’ve been listening to and love for the past 5-6 weeks while I was back in Canmore 2) I’m also just loving CBC radio 3 – bordering on addicted, so check it out if you want to listen to fantastic Canadian awesomeness 3) I’m an “album guy” so that’s what I put. There’s been some amazing new songs I’ve been loving too (the new Stars track (Theory of relativity), Metric’s new track (Speed of collapse) Hey Ocean’s “change” etc…), but I won’t get into that now.

– Bahamas: Barchords
– Alabama Shakes: Boys and Girls
– Father John Misty: Fear Fun
– Hurray for the Riff Raff: Look Out Mama
– M. Ward: A wasteland compilation
– Of Monsters and Men: My head is an animal
– Radical Face: Family tree
– Kishi Bashi: 151A
– The Lumineers

Just to name a few (newish) Albums I’ve been loving of late to accompany all the Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Wilco, Beck, Neil Young, Michael Franti, etc… that’s in constant rotation.

Holla’ and thanks for reading. Enjoy the photos as well. Next update will be from winter down in the NZ.

Kersh.

August 19, 2012 – Nordic Group International has posted a wonderful video that was shown at John Frado’s Last Hurrah celebration on July 30. John had more than 30 years of experience in recreation planning, with special expertise in multi-use trail and facility design and construction.

As a recreation planner for Northeast Utilities, he designed and operated the award-winning trail system and environmental education center at Northfield Mountain, Massachusetts. Since joining Nordic Group International in 1985, he had been involved with more than 120 trail, resort, and park projects in the U.S. and Canada. His work at Great Glen Trails in New Hampshire won international acclaim for a state-of-the-art trail lodge and trail system.

John was a Founder and Director Emeritus of Cross Country Ski Areas Association and was instrumental in developing the National Ski Patrol’s Nordic Division.

Thank you Hilary for creating the video. John would’ve loved it!

Watch the video HERE.

August 13, 2012 (Salt Lake City, UT)  –  The National Nordic Foundation has received a significant contribution from a group of Coloradans, after the sale of a $2.65 Million home in Aspen, Colorado.

The listing broker, Craig Ward, of Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s International Realty made a contribution of $10,000 after the successful closing.  Then one of the Sellers, Ruthie Brown, made a matching contribution of $10,000.  Then the five siblings of Ms. Brown made a further contribution of $1,000 each.  Finally the listing office owners of Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s International Realty pitched in another $2,000….making a total contribution of $27,000.

“We wanted to make a significant boost to the fundraising of the National Nordic Foundation for 2012”, remarked Realtor Ward.  “We have a tremendous local ski club and nordic trails, so it makes sense to also support a national foundation that supports kids in this sport”.

The mission of the National Nordic Foundation (NNF) is to provide funding for the development pipeline of the US Nordic and Nordic Combined Ski Teams.  The NNF accomplishes this development goal through our “Pillar Projects”, which are vital training camps and competition trips that serve the next generation of athletes that will represent the Unites States on the world stage.  Last winter, NNF-funded athletes achieved top 3 (Podium) results at World Cup, U/23 & Jr. World Championships and Europa Cup Championship events.

“This donation represents not only a solid boost to our funding needs for the 2012-2013 season”, remarked David Knoop, Executive Director of the NNF, “but it could certainly be a template for other real estate sales across the country, especially in winter resorts where Nordic skiing is strong.  If other individual brokers and their firms collaborate with Buyers and Sellers, their collective contributions can have substantial impact on our programs.”

Nordic skiing is a lifelong sport promoting healthy lifestyles and vibrant communities. For more information on the National Nordic Foundation please visit on-line HERE or write us at NationalNordicFoundation@gmail.com

August 08, 2012 (Oberhof, Germany) – The US XC Men’s Ski Team are hard at work in Germany skiing at the DKB Skisport Halle in Oberhof and strength training in the gym. But as Eric Packer said, “It sucks not having any intensity to do in the tunnel to break the workout up.” Meanwhile check out Tad “Retro” Elliott dressed up old school with knickers and long socks for the workout… more on the team at the Hoff’s new site HERE.