May 13, 2013 (Tabernash, CO) – Here’s one of our 2014 product vids that was missed during our coverage of the SIA 2013 Demo at Devils Thumb in Tabernash, Colorado where SkiTrax caught up with Atomic’s Isaac Wilson who introduces the newly released Boa Race Skate boot for 2013/ 2014 – the only skate boot on the market using the Boa system.

April 12, 2013 (Truckee, CA) – Kris Freeman powered away from his competitors at the end of the men’s 50km CL Distance National Championhips, besting teammate Andy Newell, to win the coveted 2013 U.S. title in Lake Tahoe following the USSA SuperTour Finals. In this video, Martha Bellisle recaps the race with some great action footage and catches up with Freeman, Newell, and third place, Norway’s Einar Ulsund, for their comments on the race – full report and results HERE.

April 11, 2013 (Truckee, CA) – Liz Stephen won a landslide victory in the women’s 30km CL event, besting teammmate and World Cup Sprint Champion Kikkan Randall, to earn herself the title at 2013 U.S. Distance National Championships in Lake Tahoe following the USSA SuperTour Finals. In this video, Martha Bellisle recaps the race and catches up with Stephen and Randall for their thoughts on how it all unfolded – full report and results HERE.

April 01, 2013 (Whistler, B.C.) – SkiTrax was on site at the 2013 Haywood Ski Nationals held March 23-30 at the Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan Valley to catch all of the action. Get the scoop about the competitions straight from racers Brent McMurtry, Heidi Widmer, and Zina Kocher, as well as some exciting footage from the finish of the Men’s 50km Free and the start of the Juvenile Girl’s 7.5km Free.

March 21, 2013 (Norway) – Alex Harvey and Kikkan Randall were recent guests on Norwegian late night talk show Senkveld (Late Night) with Thomas & Harald. Check out their great interview on YouTube (in English)!

March 07, 2013 (Devil’s Thumb Ranch, CO) – Karhu is back in the U.S. after a few years of absence from the market. The brand, which is best known for its line of ski touring equipment, has a huge range of gear for the 2013/14 season, including cross-country skis and boots. The company has now partnered with Craft, known for endurance sport clothing, and is now introducing a new line of eyewear to complete the comprehensive Nordic and back country ski touring equipment line-up.

March 06, 2013 (Sweden) – Check out this video of participants crashing hard as they hit an icy patch of track during this year’s 90km classic Vasaloppet marathon ski race in Sweden between the towns of Salen and Mora. This year’s edition saw 15,000 registrants. Watch the video HERE.

February 27, 2013 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Check out this video interview courtesy of CCC with Canada’s Ivan Babikov after he narrowly missed out on the podium in the men’s 15km individual start free race at the 2013 FIS Nordic World Championships in Val di Fiemme today. His performance marked the best-ever result by a Canadian male in the 15 kilometre individual start skate-ski race at the Nordic World Ski Championships

February 08, 2013 (Sun Valley, ID) – Watch this highlight video courtesy of John Plummer and SV Resort, and check out some great photos by Nils Ribi from the Boulder Mountain Tour, the renowned 32km freestyle race and one of America’s longest running and most respected cross-country ski events. The video includes interviews with women’s winner Lauren Fritz (APU) and men’s champ Sylvan Ellefson (Vail Ski and Snowboard Club), as well as race action.

Results and more HERE.

February 07, 2013 – Check out this amazing video as Suzy “Chapstick” Chaffee pulls some fantastic moves on skis. Chaffee is a former Olympic alpine ski racer, ballet skier, model, and actress. She won three world titles in freestyle ski ballet in the early 1970’s. Her nickname “Chapstick” stems from her stint as a spokesperson for ChapStick lip balm in the 70s. Chaffee is also a Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame Inductee.

February 06, 2013 (Devil’s Thumb Ranch, CO) – SkiTrax caught up with Salomon’s Isaac Wilson at the SIA Show Demo at Devil’s Thumb Ranch in Colorado. Wilson introduced the brand’s new S-Lab ski and boot line being launched for 2013/2014…stay tuned for more video coverage from DTR.

January 31, 2013 (Salt Lake City, UT) – Check out our Part 2 videos direct from the show floor at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market held Jan. 23-26 in Salt Lake City where the winter sports industry from around the globe gathered to display and sample the hottest winter gear for the upcoming 2013/2014 season. We caught up with Svein Pedersen of Swix showed off the new Triac pole, Pierre Perron of Louis Garneau highlighted the company’s newly redesigned nordic clothing collection and Thule’s Adam Donahue showed us the new Sonic Alpine box featuring the line’s lowest profile design.

January 25, 2013 – Check out this great YouTube video of Swix USA waxing guru Zach Caldwell’s young son, Gunnar, teaching the basics of kick waxing.

January 10, 2013 (Soldier Hollow, UT) – Check out this great video with athlete interviews and exciting race footage from the final day of competition by Willy Graves at the 2013 U.S. National XC Championships held in Soldier Hollow, Jan. 2-8 – plus more great photos courtesy of Ian Harvey from TOKO.

January 07, 2013 (Soldier Hollow, UT) – APU’s Sadie Bjornsen (USA) and Stratton Mountain’s Sophie Caldwell (USA) were 1st and 3rd, respectively, at the U.S. National Championship’s 20 km CL women’s race. Both women are headed next to the World Cup in the Czech Republic. Each spoke about their race, competing with each other and working the course together, and expectations at the Liberec World Cup. Bjornsen also talks about competing with her brother while growing up.

Torin Koos (USA) won his first US National Title in a distance race, his second US title of the week and eighth National gold. Koos spoke about the 30km CL race at Soldier Hollow, his history of athletics at the University of Utah, his friends from school, his first World Cup, and the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics as part of his affection for Utah. Koos also sees the sport of Nordic ski racing maturing in North America.

January 03, 2013 (Solider Hollow, UT) – Check out these interviews with newly crowned U.S. XC CL Ski Sprint Champions Jennie Bender and Torin Koos. It was a spectacular finish for Bender in the women’s Classic Sprints, especially after coming off a summer of both mono and Lyme’s disease. Bender talks about acclimating to the altitude, returning to ski at Soldier Hollow, recovering from her double illness, and is looking forward to testing herself in the distance races. In the men’s competition, Koos qualified third and then led most of his heats to take the victory. Hear his thoughts on racing at Soldier Hollow and his excitement for the rest of the 2013 U.S. National Championships.

For the report, results and photos click HERE.

December 27, 2012 – Check out this great video featuring highlights from the inaugural FIS Quebec City World Cup sprints held earlier this month in the old city right by the Parliament buildings. The video was compiled by Zacharie Turgeon – it’s a must-watch!

December 13, 2012 (Canmore, AB) – Check out the latest edition of  FIS’s Inside the Fence – the Canmore preview. Follow the USA’s Sadie Bjornsen for a lap around the women’s 3.3km classic course, and watch interviews with Vibeke Skofterud, Kristen Stoermer Steira, Devon Kershaw and Justin Wadsworth.

December 12, 2012 (Quebec City, QC) – SkiTrax caught up with a few North American behind-the-scenes players at the inaugural FIS Quebec City Sprint World Cup this past weekend to get the inside scoop on how the event played out for their respective teams.

Interviews include US XC Team Head Coach Chris Grover, CCC Men’s Coach Justin Wadsworth, APU Head Coach Erik Flora, and an elated US XC Team Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb. Plus, the legendary Peter Graves speaks with CCC Director of Events Dave Dyer and CCC Director of Business Development Matt Jeffries.

Chris Grover

Justin Wadsworth

Eric Flora

December 10, 2012 (Sovereign Lake, B.C.) – Check out this video interview with the winning brother and sister duo of Graham and Emily Nishikawa after they took individual victories in the 10/15k free races at the Haywood Nor Am/Teck BC Cup at Sovereign Lake near Vernon, B.C. Also, check out interviews with Brittany Webster and Sweden’s Jens Eriksson

November 29, 2012 (Kuusamo, Finland) – Check out the second episode of the new FIS series, Inside the Fence, hosted by Jeff Ellis. This edition features pre-race interviews with Norwegian sprinters Oystein Pettersen, Erik Brandsdal, and Paal Golberg. Find out what they have to say leading up to their big race in Kuusamo.

November 28, 2012 (Kuusamo, Finland) – Check out the first edition of FIS’s Inside the Fence, which includes a preview video of this weekend’s FIS World Cup XC race course in Kuusamo, Finland with USA’s Kikkan Randall.

November 20, 2012 (Muonio, Finland) – Check out this raw footage of the 10km Men’s Classic FIS event in Muonio, Finland on Saturday and see the USST’s men’s in action, along with top Euro contenders courtesy of US coach Bryan Fish.

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 19, 2012 (Aspen, CO) – Recently, Noah Hoffman of the US Men’s XC Ski Team, was a featured guest on The Local’s Show, an Aspen, Colorado local TV talk show hosted by Erik Skarvan. Watch yesterday’s program online and learn more about this rising cross country ski star HERE.

May 14, 2012 (Denver, CO) – The 2012 SIA Snow Show, launching all that’s new for 2013, was held in Denver, CO earlier this year and SkiTrax caught up with many exhibiting companies to find out about their latest product offerings from the top end on down, including some fun stuff, for next season. Part 2 of our series of interviews offers a look at what’s new from from Rossignol, Atomic, Toko, and more from Swix – plus we stop in at the Madshus Aquavit Party…

April 27, 2012 (Denver, CO) – The 2012 SIA Snow Show, launching all that’s new for 2013, was held in Denver, CO earlier this year and SkiTrax caught up with many exhibiting companies to find out about their latest product offerings from the top end on down, including some fun stuff, for next season. In Part 1 of our series of interviews here’s a look at what’s new from from Fischer, Alpina, and Swix…

March 23, 2012 (Park City, UT) – Ten-year-old Zia Terry is a star on YouTube simply because she showed the world her courage by soaring off a 40-meter ski jump. On Thursday, she got to meet some of her biggest fans – five members of the No. 1-ranked U.S. Women’s Ski Jumping Team.

The team and coaches surprised Zia at Utah Olympic Park where they named her an “Honorary Junior Team Member” and gave her a Women’s Ski Jumping USA certificate, team jacket, signed competition bib, Ready To Fly DVD, and signed posters.

“This is so cool. I love this. I love ski jumping,” said Zia after meeting the team.

Zia’s headcam video showing herself gaining the courage and determination to ski jump the 40-meter hill for the first time went viral on YouTube and has garnered 1.3 million views. Many have commented on the video and didn’t believe that girls could ski jump. Zia proved them wrong, and she now has the backing of the best women ski jumpers in the world.

“We just want to thank Zia for bringing worldwide attention to girls who ski jump,” said Jessica Jerome, an eight-time national champion and the ninth-ranked ski jumper in the world. “She has inspired us and obviously her video has touched so many people around the world.”

Zia told the crowd and media at Thursday’s event that she loves flight and especially ski jumping “because you can fly in the air without an engine.” The Park City fourth-grader also has aspirations to be an Olympian some day as either a ski jumper or ski racer – to which 2009 World Champion Lindsey Van said, “Ski jumping! That’s your sport.”

After a 10-year battle, women will finally be allowed to ski jump beginning in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Ski jumping had been the only discipline in the Winter Games that did not have an event for women. The ski jumpers’ story is told in the recently released feature film documentary, “Ready To Fly.”

Zia also got a little advice from 17-year-old Sarah Hendrickson, who just finished the World Cup season by capturing the overall title and bringing home the coveted crystal globe. “Keep working on ski jumping – it’s awesome. I was 13 years old when I tried the 90-meter jump. You can do it too – you’re just three years away,” Hendrickson said.

The presentation ended with a group hug with Zia in the middle surrounded by her mentors – and new “teammates”.

The Visa Women’s Ski Jumping team includes No. 1-ranked Sarah Hendrickson, 2009 World Champion Lindsey Van, 8-time U.S. National Champion Jessica Jerome, Abby Hughes, Alissa Johnson, Nita Englund, Nina Lussi and Emilee Anderson. The team coaches are Alan Alborn and Paolo Bernardi.

Watch Zia’s YouTube Video:

Watch CNN’s Jeanne Moos’ story on Zia’s video and Lindsey Van HERE.

February 21, 2012 (Madison, WI) – Last weekend, CXC hosted the USSA SuperTour in Madison, WI, as part of the Madison Winter Festival. Saturday saw some of the top U.S. skiers contest a Classic Sprint competition, while Sunday was all about the USSA SuperTour Free Sprints. Natalia Naryshkina (CXC) and Jari Joutsen cleaned up in the women’s and men’s classic competition, while Sunday saw Jennie Bender (CXC) and Philip Furrer take top honours in the freestyle sprints on a 1km course under sunny skies.

Qualifications

Video streaming by Ustream

Finals

Video streaming by Ustream

Results

Saturday
Qualifier results HERE.
Women’s Classic heat results HERE.
Men’s Classic heat results HERE.

Sunday
Qualifier results HERE.
Heat results HERE.
Final results HERE.

More photos HERE.

February 06, 2012 (Sun Valley, ID) – The Boulder Mountain Tour (BMT), one of America’s longest running and most respected cross-country ski races, took place this past weekend in Sun Valley, Idaho, drawing a field of over 900 racers from across the country.

Clear skies allowed for a morning low of -12F, leaving cold sharp snow on the track. The BMT traversed the spectacular Boulder Mountains for 32km of breathtaking beauty and world-class competition. Thanks to race founder, the late Rob Kiesel, the BMT enjoys a stellar reputation that includes some of the finest skiing to be found anywhere on the planet combined with warm hospitality and first rate race organization. This year’s edition of the event was dedicated to Kiesel, who passed away last October.

Matthew Liebsch (Team Strongheart/Team Birkie) was the victor in a tight men’s competition completing the course in a time of 1:13:34.7, while Lars Flora (APU) won the two-up sprint for second against Nils Koons by a mere four-tenths of a second. Flora’s finishing time was 1:13:47.1.

Rebecca Dussault won the overall women’s race with a blistering time of 1:18:13.8 in an exciting sprint to sort out the podium order. Morgan Arritola was less than a second back for silver, with Chelsea Holmes right behind for bronze.

Full results HERE.

January 19, 2012 (Davos, Switzerland) – Check out this great highlight video from the 2011 Red Bull NordiX competition in Davos last April. Harvey, along with other stars of the cross country ski world, compete on a roller-coaster sprint course in which the races are typically won and lost on the downhills rather then the uphills. Every race is filled with action and surprises!

Watch the video HERE.

January 06, 2012 (Rumford, Maine) – Famed sports reporter and commentator Peter Graves was on site in Rumford, Maine at the US XC Ski Championships and spoke with women’s 10km FR individual start winner Jessie Diggins (USST-CXC) after her race. Sport insiders have spoken often over the last year about the near limitless potential of  the 19-year-old. Graves also caught up with 15km FR men’s winner Tad Elliott, Caitlin Gregg (formerly Compton), and Sylvan Ellefson.

Interview with Jessie Diggins

Interview with Tad Elliott

Interview with Caitlin Gregg

Interview with Sylan Ellefson

November 14, 2011 (Sweden) – Check out this great video profile of Canada’s Devon Kershaw, which was broadcast recently by Sweden’s SVT network. An SVT crew visited Kershaw in Canmore prior to his departure for the start of the World Cup season. In the 10-minute segment Kershaw talks about his life and background as a cross-country ski racer, his team sprint victory in Oslo last year with Alex Harvey, the importance of his guitar-playing to cope with the stress of elite competition, and living in Canmore, including tips on how to deal with the bears! Also listen for the funny background commentary by Chandra Crawford!

http://youtu.be/UNGZ5HO1ZlI

August 24, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – Since Beckie Scott’s breakthrough win at the 2002 Winter Olympics, North American sprinters have enjoyed growing success on the international cross-country race circuit. SPRINT to WIN, produced in 2008, features commentary from some of the most accomplished sprinters including Beckie Scott, Sara Renner and Chandra Crawford. Insight on the evolution of sprint racing is also provided from sprinting greats Kikkan Randall, Bjorn Lind, Emil Joensson and Devon Kershaw.

Purchase Sprint to Win HERE.

June 14, 2011 – The U.S. Ski Team women are inviting women’s cross country ski teams and summer training groups throughout North America to participate in a video challenge. Rally your team, training group, or summer training camp and send in a video of your summer training experience by July 15, 2011!

Goals:
– Bring together all women ski training in North America for one project
– Emphasize the importance of group training sessions
– Celebrate and generate awareness of the number of women training in North America
– Take a step back to remember what is fun about skiing for you and your team

Video Requirements:
– 3 minutes in length
– Include a brief introduction to the team or training group
– Video should show your group training together
– Humor and hardcore training are encouraged!
– The color pink is recommended

U.S. Ski Team’s Entry:

To submit your video: Upload it to www.youtube.com and title your video “U.S. Ski Team Women’s Video challenge – (team/group name)”, and send the link and a brief description of your training group to xcwomenrock@gmail.com. Keep your link “unlisted” until July 15th. All videos must be submitted by July 15th. The online video festival will begin on July 20th. All videos will be featured on the USSA Nordic Facebook channel.

Prizes will be awarded.

April 14, 2011 (Quebec City, QC) – Canmore, Alberta’s Devon Kershaw was announced Tellement Sport’s Male Athlete of the Year after the Canadian XC ski star logged a breakthrough season in which he won his first ever World Cup event during the FIS Tour de Ski. Kershaw was among a strong line-up of Canadian male athletes, including team mate and 2011 U23 Sprint World Champ, Alex Harvey. Click HERE to view the video (in French).

April 12, 2011 (Chelsea, QC) – Check out this video of exciting race action with spills and thrills from the 1st Annual Nordix Fortune Cup Cross Country Ski Cross and Super Sprint, presented by XCZone, Madshus, and Natural Fitness Lab at Camp Fortune on Saturday.

March 23, 2011 – Check out these video highlights of one of the greatest moments in Canadian XC ski racing history – Pierre Harvey’s first World Cup win in 1987 in Falun, Sweden. Harvey’s amazing feat is even more significant as we fast-forward to the present where his son, Alex, and his Canadian teammates, have continued Pierre’s legacy, enjoying a break-out season, winning multiple medals on the FIS World Cup and World Championships circuit.

March 22, 2011 – Check out this video by Andrew Casey (Aurora Nordic) from the NL Provincial Championships in Labrador City, featuring Marty Whalen, Luke and Noah Taylor, Emma Holmes, Allie Crowley, Natalie Chambers-Hughes (Aurora Nordic), Peter Boland from Corner Brook (Blow Me Down Ski Club) and Andrew Casey. A few other skiers make cameos throughout the video from Menihek Nordic. Everyone really enjoyed themselves at the races and all look forward to going back to Lab. City and the trails at Menihek Nordic to race, train and hit up Koch’s Delight once again. Good times and fun all around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RpoZZqMIBo

February 23, 2011 (Hayward, WI) – Watch the only live webcast of the 2011 American Birkebeiner on Saturday, February 26, 9:00am – 12:00pm. Livestream.com will be streaming the elite men’s and women’s finish, classic and skate waves finish, recaps of other American Birkebeiner events, and various interviews throughout the weekend. Watch the events live and catch up-to-date commentary with your host Dennis Kruse. If you can’t catch the Birkie outdoors, grab a blanket and cozy up to your computer or watch later at www.birkievideo.com.

January 04, 2011 (Rumford, ME) – SkiTrax caught up with USSA Nordic Director John Farra at the 2011 US XC Nationals in Rumford, ME. Farra expressed enthusiasm about Sunday’s successful sprint races and also commented on the decision to move the classic 10/15km distance races, originally scheduled for Tuesday (Jan. 4), to Wednesday (Jan. 5) in order to prepare the courses for the rest of the competitions. Rumford experienced very warm weather just prior to the Nationals creating very challenging snow conditions but as the temperatures have now dropped course workers will attempt to make, move, and find more of the white stuff in order to present world-class courses for the remaining US XC National races on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

December 16, 2010 (Sovereign Lake, BC) – Check out these great video highlights from last weekend’s NorAm Teck women’s 10k skate race at Sovereign Lake, which was won by Holly Brooks (APU). Caitlin Compton (CXC) and Brooke Gosling finished second and third, respectively.

December 15, 2010 (Sovereign Lake, BC ) – Check out this great video featuring highlights from last weekend’s Teck Sprint races at the Haywood NorAm season opener at Sovereign Lake courtesy of Graham Longford from Team Harwood. The video includes the Men’s A/B finals and the Women’s A final won by Drew Goldsack (CAN) and Perianne Jones (CAN), respectively.

Sovereign Lake NorAm Highlights – Men’s A/B and Women’s A Finals