January 30, 2013 (Toronto, ON) – We are excited to announce the 2012/13 SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup Contest standings after the events in La Clusaz, France, host of the latest round of the 2012/13 Viessmann XC FIS World Cup tour Jan. 19-20.

The contest saw team Little Matt take hold onto the lead for another round with 719 points, still only one point ahead of second place team Summerstars with 718. Team maksimy has moved into third with 699 points.

USA’s women’s relay team placed ninth in the 4x5km relay, which was won by the Norwegian squad – read more here.

Good luck to all contestants and 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.

For the Contest standings after La Clusaz, 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).

January 14, 2013 (Chaux-Neuve, France) – Brothers Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) paired up to finish seventh in a FIS Nordic Combined World Cup team sprint in Chaux-Neuve. The brothers jumped to 13th and slowly moved up through the pack for the top 10 finish. The World Cup now heads to Seefeld, Austria for a pair of events next weekend.

Germany’s Eric Frenzel and Tino Edelmann won the contest by 1.4 seconds over their closest rivals, Team Norway. The hometown favorite French team was third.

Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) and Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) were 13th.

QUOTES
Bryan Fletcher
Today was a fun day. Personally I was a little disappointed with my jumping today, however I was pumped with Taylor’s performance both on the jump hill and in the cross country. I have not felt that great in cross country throughout the weekend however today I was able to hang tough and keep us moving up throughout the second half of the race. I am really proud of Taylor and his performance lately. He is really starting to step it up and he is without a doubt one of the strongest guys on the cross country course day in and day out.

Personally it’s very fun to race with my brother and I hope to do it more often. This is the second time this season we have been a team together and both times I think we have surprised ourselves with what we are capable of even if we don’t have a perfect day.

Taylor Fletcher
It was a pretty decent day for both of us. I had a pretty solid jump and a pretty good race as well. Bryan had a great race and hung though when the speed was turned up. We moved up about as far as we really could! The top jumpers really showed themselves today which put some time between packs. Racing with Bryan is a lot of fun. We keep improving with each race and hope to get a podium before the end of the year.

Full results HERE.

August 15, 2012 (Courchevel, France) – Oh, what a night. The crowd loved it, the jumpers loved it, and it marks a great idea whose time has come. It was also a night that had heads turning from the collective results of the United States.

USA Ski Jumping teamed up Tuesday evening with members of the VISA USA Women’s Ski Jumping team to take an impressive fifth place in a historic first-ever mixed gender team event under the lights in this lovely French Alp community on the Hill Tremplin Le Praz (HS 96M) ski jump. It marked competition so close that the top three teams were separated by a scant 2.4 points. Everyone seemed delighted by tonight’s action and excitement.

A powerful Japan team consisting of Yuki Ito, Sara Takanashi, Noriaki Kasai and Yuta Watase took the win with 930.8 points. It’s interesting to note that Takanashi is but 15-years-old, while the smiling veteran Kasai is 40-years-old.

Germany was second with 928.9 winning the silver medal, while Austria was third with 928.4 points. Norway finished fourth jumping their number 2 and 3 ranked athletes, just nipping the USA squad. The USA scored points of 872.3 behind the jumping of Alissa Johnson, Jessica Jerome, Anders Johnson and Pete Frenette.

Jerome had outstanding jumps of 90.5 and 94.0 meters, while Alissa Johnson had jumps of 83.0 and 85.0 meters. Frenette had two rides of 79.5 and 83.5 meters, while Anders Johnson had 87.5 and 87.0 meters in his two competition rides. “This was a great experience for the USA”, said Coach Clint Jones, “Our guys performed ok, and while there is still room for improvement, we had some strong results. This was a test event to see how things would stack up, and with only average results from our guys, our USA squad was right in the mix. Both the men and the women had great fun and everyone seems happy with the new team event.”

USASJ Athletic Director Alan Johnson–whose son Anders and daughter Alissa both took part–told the USASJ News Bureau that he was thrilled saying…”If we can continue to focus on the technical tasks at hand, we will have some positive momentum from this—it also so gives us a long missing confidence boost. I’m doing back flips I’m so happy.”

Individual competition continues Wednesday (today) with more FIS Summer Grand Prix action and then will move to Hinterzarten, Germany for events August 17-19.

TEAM RESULTS
1. JPN 930.8
2. GER 928.9
3. AUT 928.4
4. NOR 889.4
5. USA 872.3
6. ITA
7. FRA
8. SUI
9. SLO
10. RUS

QUOTABLE…..Alissa Johnson: “Today was fantastic. It was such a blast for all the teams and something different from what we are normally used to. It’s nice to see the men and women integrating together in one team. For Anders and I, it was really special that we had the chance to compete together. Anders is my biggest fan so I always feel more confident when he is around.”

May 08, 2012 – Canadian XC ski sensation, Devon Kershaw, recently tweeted a photo of himself at the summit of the 1,912m Mont Ventoux of Tour de France cycling fame. It was not aboard a bicycle that he climbed to the top of the peak via its 21 switchbacks, but with rollerskis. Check out the cool image HERE.

February 28, 2012 – The Finnish Nordic Sports brand ONE WAY and the French Ski Federation (FFS) began their successful cooperation for the exclusive supply of textiles and footwear for the Nordic Ski Teams two years ago. The new designs and technical wear for the team have created a lot of attention for the French Nordic Teams.

Due to the successful and good cooperation, both parties agreed to extend the cooperation in a long term contract until 2018.

ONE WAY will enlarge their development in supporting the French Nordic Ski Team with the newest standard and innovations for racing apparel and footwear.

The French Nordic team is today one of the most successful ski nation with the leader in the IBU Biathlon WC Martin Fourcade, the leader in the Nordic Combined WC Lamy Chapuis and many other athletes in the top ten rankings for all Nordic disciplines.

The French national team with their athletes will be core program of the ONE WAY marketing program.

We are proud being partner of one of the most successful and exciting Nordic Ski Team in the World.

June 16, 2011 – Italy’s Simone Paredi and Guro Stroem Solli of Norway will try to defend their Roller Skiing World Cup titles from the 2010 season as the FIS Roller Skiing World Cup 2011 kicks off on 25th June in Bessans, France.

Paredi dominated last season’s series and collected 641 points. Runner-up Ragnar Bragvin Andresen of Norway lost to Paredi in the overall standings by only four points and will have a chance to pay back this year. Sweden’s Anders Svanebo occupied third place with 614 points.

On the ladies’ side Norway’s Guro Stroem Solli clearly dominated the World Cup standings last season with 774 points and edged out two Russians, Elena Rodina and Evgenia Kurochkina.

The FIS Roller Skiing World Cup 2011 will feature 15 races in four countries. After Bessans, France where a mass start and an uphill race will be carried out, the circuit will visit traditional places such as Bad Peterstal and Markleeberg in Germany. The two final events this summer will take place in Oroslavje, Croatia, on 17-18th September.

The main season highlight, however, will be the FIS Roller Skiing World Championships that will be held in Aure and Kristiansund in Norway from 9-13th August. The World Championships kick off on Tuesday, August 9 with 10 km classic uphill race for ladies and men. Following day, the roller skiing specialists will fight for titles in a 24 km mass start in free technique. On 12th August the Championship action will move to Kristiansund for relays in free technique. The final set of medals will be handed over on Saturday, 13th August for the 200 meter sprint.

May 12, 2011 – The start of May also signifies the start into the new season – summer preparations have now begun for most Cross-Country World Cup teams. For the coming season, some changes in the coaching structures have taken place. Below a summary of some that have come to the attention of the FIS so far:

In France, Christophe Deloche will be responsible for the men’s team in addition to being the head coach. As his assistant, Patrice Paquier will join the team and work as a conditioning coach. The newly introduced sprint team will be led by Matthieu Fort. Anael Huard will take over the role of the ladies’ coach while former world champion, newly-retired World Cup racer Vincent Vittoz will be responsible for the U-23 team.

In Norway, Åge Skinstad has been appointed Head of Cross-Country Skiing and will be responsible for the national team, recreational Cross-Country and marketing. Vidar Løfshus will move to Skinstad’s former position as head coach. After the retirement of Morten Aa Djupvik this spring, the position of the men’s coach is still open. Meanwhile Roar Hjelmeset (33) will become new coach for the female sprinters succeeding Jon Arne Schejtne who stepped down after last season. Roar is the younger brother of Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset who retired in 2005.

In Germany, the coaching structure for the national team stays the same with Jochen Behle in the lead. Bernd Raupach will be returning to Germany after a spell in Austria to lead the training base in Ruhpolding. Norwegian Guri Hetland has extended her contract as the Swiss head coach and World Cup distance team coach whilst her husband Tor Arne Hetland stepped down as the sprint coach for the Swiss team. Christian Flury, who was coach of the ladies’ team last season, has become new head of the National Cross-Country Performance Center in Davos and will coordinate the training base there.

In Canada, head coach Justin Wadsworth continues in his role as does Finnish head coach Magnar Dalen. The Swedish coaching trio, Joakim Abrahamsson, Rickard Grip and Arild Monsen, will work at least another year together. The Czech team remains in the hands of Miroslav Petrasek.

In several countries, negotiations are still underway and new appointments will be announced shortly. For the latest updates, visit www.fiscrosscountry.com