January 21, 2013 (Lake Placid, NY) – The New Hampshire Wildcats registered a monumental team victory in the women’s 15k freestyle race at Mt. Van Hoevenbeurg on the first day of the St. Lawrence Carnival. Anya Bean, Annika Taylor, and Elizabeth Izzo swept positions 2-4 to produce the best Nordic result for their school in recent history. Vermont holds the team lead by 97 points over Dartmouth heading into the second day of competition, but the first day of racing produced some surprise results across the board.

New Hampshire’s head Nordic coach Cory Schwartz remarked, “Our women’s team is very deep this year. For this weekend we were missing one of our top women—as was Dartmouth and Middlebury—so we know each weekend there will be a fight among the teams. I am very proud of how the team performed, as I think this might one of the best finishes during my tenure.”

Anja Gruber, the Vermont Catamount who regularly placed as the fourth team skier last season, finally got her day—albeit a cold one—in the spotlight. Both Gruber and teammate Scott Patterson, whose 2012 season was plagued by injury and illness, took home the Nordic wins for the Cats despite subzero morning temperatures.

“I think in the end the cold didn’t matter that much because it was the same for everyone, and the conditions and the course were really great,” said Gruber. “We’ve trained really well all year, so all you can do is warm up well and dress warm enough and ski your best.”

Nordic powerhouse Dartmouth College rounded out the men’s 20k freestyle podium with Silas Talbot and Scott Lacy placing second and third, respectively.

In alpine giant slalom action, Vermont swept the women’s podium following the lead of Kate Ryley. Kristina Riis-Johannessen was second and Elli Terwiel, fresh off a 17th-place finish in the Flachau World Cup slalom, finished third. The first non-Cat in the points was the ever-familiar defending NCAA champion Rebecca Nadler of Harvard University.

David Donaldson of Middlebury College continued his giant slalom winning streak, besting Vermont’s Jonathan Nordbotten, a regular on the World Cup circuit, by over a second. Donaldson’s Panther teammate, Andrew McNealus finished third.

Team scores at the completion of Day 1 of the St. Lawrence Carnival:
1. UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT – 508.0
2. DARTMOUTH COLLEGE – 411.0
3. UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE – 364.0
4. MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE – 353.0
5. BATES COLLEGE – 269.0
6. COLBY COLLEGE – 228.5
7. ST LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY – 219.5
8. WILLIAMS COLLEGE – 200.0
9. HARVARD UNIVERSITY – 174.0
10. BOWDOIN COLLEGE – 123.0
11. UNIVERSITE’ LAVAL – 93.0
12. ST MICHAELS COLLEGE – 92.0
13. PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY – 82.0
14. BOSTON COLLEGE – 48.0
15. COLBY SAWYER COLLEGE – 42.0
16. UNIVERSITY OF ME -PRESQUE ISLE – 39.0

January 07, 2013 – US Biathlete Tim Burke celebrated his first World Cup podium this season in Pokljuka, Slovenia, with a third-place finish in the men’s 15km mass start – his first podium since his incredible 2009-10 campaign when he scored three podiums and became the first American to wear the World Cup leader’s bib.

Just prior to the start of the second half of the E.ON World Cup Biathlon season in Oberhof, Germany this past weekend, SkiTrax touched base with American Tim Burke to get his thoughts on the initial World Cups, what he was up to over the holiday break, his thoughts on his recent WCup podium, and what he expects for the upcoming World Championships.

How satisfied are you with your performance for the 1st third of the season? Has your skiing been what you expected, and how well you’ve been shooting?
Tim Burke: I was very pleased with my results from the first world cup period, especially considering that I did not feel 100% for most of the period. I expected to feel better on the skis during the first period but after struggling a bit with my health at the start of the season, I was forced to more or less race into shape. The biggest difference with my results during the first world cups was that I was much more consistent on the shooting range. This was something that I have worked very hard on and I hope to continue this for the remainder of the season.

You podiumed in the 15km mass start WCup race in Pokljuka, Slovenia reminiscent of your 2009/10 season. How did it feel and how important is it for your confidence going forward ?
TB: I think the most important thing about my podium in Pokljuka was what it did for my shooting confidence.  I never had any doubt that my skiing was strong enough to get back to the podium over the last few seasons but I struggled a lot on the shooting range.  Coming through under pressure like in Pokljuka is absolutely the best shooting training that I could have.  I hope to carry this confidence through the rest of the season.

What have you been up to since round three in Pokljuka, Slovenia?
TB: I went back to Lake Placid for the holidays. This was my last chance to go home before the end of the season, so it was important for me to see my family and friends and also to get a little mental break. Unfortunately, the snow was not so good at home so I had to spend a lot of time roller skiing on the treadmill. Of course this gets a little boring but I was able to get in some good training.

What are your expectations heading into the World Championships in Nove Mesto, CZE from Feb. 7-17?
TB: I am very excited about the Nove Mesto World Champs. I feel that this course suits me well and I will put a big focus  on these Championships even if that means training through some of the other World Cups.

Good luck in the rest of your season.
TB: Thanks.

October 31, 2012 (Park City, UT) – U.S.A. ski jumping National Team member Mike Glasder (Cary, IL) has suffered a work-related injury, which will put the well-known jumper on the USASJ injuried list for an unknown period of time. Glasder, who recently came off from the annual Flaming Leaves event in Lake Placid with a strong third place and has enjoyed a strong summer of good results, was injured, when in his own words… “I was towing things back to a burn pile at work with a quad and the front tire hit some softer dirt which stopped the quad and sent me flying.” Glasder told the USASJ News Bureau he suffered a broken collarbone, which is now in four pieces.

Today Glasder told us of his current medical plans… “I had the options of surgery and letting my collarbone heal on it’s own, and after talking with Dr. Andy Chen (Alpine Clinic) and my doctor at home, I’ve decided to get a plate surgically installed so that my recovery time will be twice as fast. My doctor that will be performing the surgery said that the recovery should take about six weeks, but in my own mind I only see it taking about four weeks before I will get back on snow.”

The well-known Glasder, who has his eye on an Olympic berth for Sochi 2014 said that he is forward looking and expects things to go well. “I figure a little bit after Thanksgiving I will be able to put my skis on and get some good training in. I’m not the least bit worried about losing a step because jumping was going pretty well this Fall and I had some good training jumps at Norge before my injury as well as having really good ideas and mental images in my head at the moment.”

You’ve got to admired his comeback thoughts when he added…”This is just a small delay in my training and having to take a short break now will definitely make me even more excited about the coming Winter season.” Glasder is expected to be operated on Wednesday.

Also on the USASJ rehab list is Andover, NH jumper Nick Fairall, who continues to receive treatment at the Alpine Clinic in Franconia, NH, an official sponsor of the USASJ.

April 26, 2012 (New York, NY) – Vancouver Olympic Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists will be at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park on Wednesday, May 9th, for an evening of entertainment hosted by MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan to benefit the Next Generation of NYSEF athletes, including U.S. Olympians and Sochi 2014 hopefuls.

The gala fundraiser, hosted by the New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF), will offer attendees the rare opportunity to meet Olympic medalists and National Team members including Nordic Combined Gold and Silver Medalist Billy Demong, Super G Bronze Medalist Andrew Weibrecht and three-time World Cup winner Manuel Osborne-Paradis. U.S. Ski Jumpers Nick Alexander and Jay Rand, and top U.S. Biathletes Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey and Annelies Cook will also be in attendance.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and will feature cocktails, a buffet, and a live auction with items that range from a week vacation in a private villa on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, to a day of skiing with Olympic Bronze Medalist Andrew Weibrecht. General admission tickets for the event are $250. Net proceeds from ticket sales and the auction will be donated to the Endowment Fund and NYSEF scholarship and general funds.

In partnership with NYSEF, the Next Generation gala event is sponsored by CBRE, the Black Rock Foundation, Northwood School, the Paine Family, the Hospital for Special Surgery and in part by Whiteface Mountain, the Mirror Lake Inn, gloProfessional, and Harrow Sports, Eastern Collective, the Lake Placid Crown Plaza, Grenier Des Alps, and the Meltzer Group.

Tickets may be purchased online HERE or at the door. For more information, contact Jonathan Weibrecht at jonathan.weibrecht@stern.nyu.edu or click HERE.

April 12, 2012 (New York, NY) – On April 4, Kikkan Randall, her mother, Deborah, and brother, Tanner, hit up NYC with Randall’s FIS Crystal Globe in tow. Their reason for schlepping the globe in its big silver case to the Big Apple? Photo ops! TeamUSA.org was on hand to snap some great pics of the Crystal Globe, Randall, her family, and US XC Team member Liz Stephen in Times Square. Check out the fabulous photos HERE.

January 20, 2012 (Lake Placid, NY) – Following a long illness, Vern Lamb passed away on Jan. 1, 2012 with his family at his side at his home in Lake Placid, N.Y. For many Nordic skiers of a certain era Lamb was “Mr. Lake Placid.” He gave, by his many works, a voice and a face to Lake Placid that many won’t soon forget. He was one of the driving forces in bringing the 1980 Olympic Winter Games to Lake Placid, but also gave so much of himself to junior programs and the youth who wanted to give Nordic skiing a try. He always spoke with a voice of encouragement.

He helped build Lake Placid into what it is today, a thriving centre for athletic development and opportunity. In the late 1960’s and ’70’s, I skied and raced in Lake Placid often, and he was always there running races and events, and I shared a berth on the 1970 Eastern Nordic Team with his son Joe. Lamb and his wife, Winnie, devoted much time to the development of Nordic sports, and their efforts were felt around the nation – and the world. Together they always made you feel welcome. It was always special to race in Lake Placid, with the lore of the 1932 Games so much a part of the community. For many skiers it always felt like the big-time to go there.

In a wonderful tribute in nearby Plattsburgh, N.Y.’s Press-Republican newspaper, Jim McKenna, the longtime president of the Lake Placid Convention and Visitors Bureau, said it right: “He is one of the last in a generation of winter sport icons. Throughout the 1950’s, the ’60’s and most of the ’70’s, business leaders in that generation went around the world on their own dime and became officials of winter sports and learned everything they could about international competition. They were the ones who made the Olympics happen here in 1980.”

Lamb was an International Ski Federation judge for ski jumping and also a member of Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) Board of Directors. He also owned the well-known Lamb Lumber in Lake Placid, and retired in 1991. In later life, he devoted himself to photography, taking superb photographs.

Lamb was honoured for his lifetime work in ski sport by being named to the US Ski and Snowboarding Hall of Fame, and he was also inducted to Lake Placid’s Hall of Fame.

Many will remember Lamb with his Bavarian hat and pipe at the jumps and his wonderful sense of humour, for there was always a twinkle in his eye. His many friends who hold his memory dear will forever miss him, for he inspired a generation and promoted winter sports, especially Nordic sports, with great skill around the world.

He fought hard to bring the 1980 Games to Lake Placid, and in doing so, defied the odds and made global history.

Longtime friend Marty Hall recently paid tribute to Lamb, saying, “I came to Placid numerous times wearing many different hats – skier, coach of U.S. and Canadian teams, clinician, organizer with USSA in the 1960s and with the USST and USEASA, and then again in the late ’70s and early ’80s with USSA. Vern was the boss, the energy and the meeter/greeter, but in such an accommodating way – always seeing the big picture – a man who made things happen, a real builder of Nordic skiing in the U.S. and internationally. I always wondered how he did it all and kept the smile on his face.”

Lamb is survived by his wife, Winnie, sons Tracy, Tom and Joe and daughter Carol, along with nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. His legacy is huge, and so was his heart. He will be missed.

November 02, 2011 – The 8th Annual Kingston Roller Ski Races are scheduled for Sunday, November 20, 2011 at the Miller Middle School in Lake Katrine, NY. Over the years, this has become the largest roller ski race in the northeast

They’ll have a prize table loaded with product from the sponsors worth around $8,000 this year – the largest ever. Organizer is working with High Peaks Cyclery from Lake Placid once again to bring their “store on wheels” to Kingston for the day with great team pricing on anything your skiers could need for the upcoming season. Additionally, they will be picking up skis for stone grinding at the race.

Link to flyer HERE.

Food will be available complementary as will massages from the Hudson Valley School of Massage Therapy.

For additional information, contact me at dgmalia@earthlink.net and/or check out our blog at www.kingstonnordic.blogspot.com. We post info on a weekly basis.

September 07, 2011 (Lake Placid, NY) – Join us for a NENSA L1 and USSA L100 Techique clinic to gain some new ideas for improving ski skills! This week starts the annual fall USST training camp in Lake Placid, NY. As is tradition now, NENSA will have a group of Elite team athletes participating alongside the U.S. ski team members and coaches. There will also be a technique clinic held in conjunction with the camp for coaches and athletes interested in improving their skiing and coaching skills.

Clinic will take place Sunday September 11th from 2- 4 PM. Meet at the Olympic Training Center on Old Military Road at 1:45 PM to sign in. Bring equipment for both classic and skate rollerskiing (helmet is mandatory) and running shoes. Bryan Fish (USST) and Janice Sibilia (NENSA) will instruct. This clinic will satisfy the technique requirement for USSA’s L100 coaches certification and NENSA’s L1 module for NENSA certification. (Anyone interested in working towards NENSA’s full L1 certification can plan on an additional 30 minutes following the technique clinic, for a basic physiology/training discussion.) To sign up please contact Janice Sibilia at janice@nensa.net. There is no charge for this clinic however, sign up is recommended so that we can have an idea how many people will participate!

June 15, 2011 (Lake Placid, NY) – Check out details about the Summer Programs going on in Lake Placid! Lots of fun opportunities! It’s that time of the year again! The small hills are buffed and ready to rock for some summer ski jumping. If you got hooked on jumping last winter, or just want to test your ski skills on the artificial surface, then Lake Placid is where you’ll want to be!

NYSEF (The New York Ski Educational Foundation) is offering some great summer training. We’re holding weekly training from 3-5pm on Saturdays on our K18 meter hill, in addition to three fun focused 3-day Grasshopper Camps, which totally rock. You’ll get ski jumping instruction from great coaches, play Frisbee and soccer, take part in scavenger hunts, try out rollerskiing, and hang out with the USA Ski Jumping National Team!

Link to PDF with full information about camps and training HERE!

January 14, 2011 (Lake Placid, NY) – It was a busy day at the Mackenzie Interval Ski Jumping Complex with over 400 skiers competing in three events, headlined by the third stop of USSA SuperTour series. Both fields raced around a challenging 2-kilometer loop with a consistent 1-kilometer climb from the base of the Olympic ski jumps almost to the take-off. The men completed five laps for 10km classic style racing and the women contested three loops for 6km. The weather wasn’t too much of a factor for this classic race, with overcast skies, calm wind, and temperatures in the mid-teens

The SuperTour points leaders in both fields – Alaska’s Lars Flora and Holly Brooks – both won their races maintaining APU’s dominance on the trails. Flora finished 11 seconds ahead of US Ski Team member, Noah Hoffman from Aspen, Colorado, his teammate for the World Championships in Oslo, Norway this coming February. Rounding out the men’s podium was Scott Patterson, a University of Vermont skier, who claimed the SLU Carnival college division victory as the race was hosted by St. Lawrence University.

Brooks led an APU podium sweep in the women’s race as her teammate Kate Fitzgerald claimed 2nd and Morgan Smyth grabbed third. Brooks is another top level skier that will be racing at Worlds in Olso. Just off the podium for the women was Caitlin Patterson, skiing for UVM, who matched her brother’s win in the college race of the season. Both Patterson’s will be racing for the USA in Oteppa, Estonia at the end of January – Scott in Junior Worlds and Caitlin in U23 Worlds.

It was a great day for skiers of all experience levels to compete with some of the best athletes in the country. College racers were  on course with the top open athletes from the SuperTour rankings, and juniors and masters skiers competing in the Harry Eldridge Memorial race also got to rub shoulders with the nation’s best. Despite all the abuse, the tracks stayed strong throughout the event.

Full women’s results HERE.
Full men’s results HERE.

January 14, 2011 (Lake Placid, NY) – Lars Flora (APU) won the Men’s 10km classic race on Friday as Lake Placid SuperTour got underway, with a venue change as athletes competed at the Olympic Jumping Complex on a 2km loop with Noah Hoffman (Aspen/USST) gliding into second place 11s behind Flora, and Scott Patterson (UVM) in third at 20s back. Skies were overcast with great snow conditions and no snowfall or wind – final results HERE.

Unofficial (brief)

Men’s 10km Classic
1. Lars Flora (APU) 26.13
2. Noah Hoffman (Aspen/USST) 0:11
3. Scott Patterson (UVM) 0:20
4. Sam Tarling (Dartmouth)
5. Franz Bernstein (UVM)