From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
Team USA’s gold medal-winning team relay at the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games: (l-r) guide Sam Wood, Oksana Masters, Sydney Peterson, Jake Adicoff, and Dan Cnossen. Last month, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) transferred Para Nordic sport governance to the FIS. (Photo: Mark Reis / Team USA).
The International Ski Federation’s (FIS) annual Congress held at the end of May this year was an unusuallydramatic affair. Fights over media rights – whether to look at serializing the sport of Nordic skiing into something like Formula 1’s Drive to Survive – sent skiing’s international governing body into a metaphorically different part of the Netflix catalog, less Dive to Survive and more House of Cards, West Wing, or Newsroom. If only Aaron Sorkin could write in Swiss German or French.
It was as close to a watershed moment as there comes in the world of international sport governance. One moment, para nordic was viewed as a separate sport with separate governments, the next it was wholly integrated into the larger nordic skiing world.
That governmental change is one that came about as the result of two tides in the world of Paralympic sports.
One is overall growth; since the first winter Paralympic Games were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in 1976, the winter Paralympic movement has grown in participation and competitiveness at the Paralympic games, as well as developed a robust number of para programs in skiing at all levels of development. At Örnsköldsvik 1976, there were 198 athletes from 16 nations at the Para Winter Games. At the Beijing 2022 Games, there were 564 athletes from 46 nations. That’s a stark trajectory of Paralympic sport and its promise to allow every person, with any physical ability, pursue sport at its highest level.
Oksana Masters at the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games. Masters won 6 medals in Beijing, including 3 gold medals (2 in individual Biathlon events, 1 as part of USA’s relay team). Between summer and winter Paralympic games, Masters total medal count is 17. (Photo: Mark Reis / Team USA).
The parallel tide to this has been growth in complexity and size of the organization that up until now has governed all sports involved in the para sport, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). With that, especially over the past decade, has come complex but necessary debates about resource disparities between para and non-para disciplines, and over whether the IPC should have a bigger governmental presence over the sports it oversees than the comparatively less centralized and more hands-off International Olympic Committee (IOC) that oversees the broader Olympic movement. Last December, those debates culminated in a call for the IPC to adopt a revised constitution. Akey provision called for the decentralization of sport governance for 10 sports – including alpine skiing, biathlon, and nordic skiing – to their respective international federations. With alpine skiing, biathlon, and nordic skiing included in this provision, there was a clear imperative directed to both FIS and the International Biathlon Union (IBU) to take up both the issue of adopting the IPC’s proposal to transfer governance, and to further build the two federation’s partnerships so that they included governance of para nordic and para biathlon.
The timeline for moving out the 10 sports from the IPC to their respective federations targeted a deadline to achieve the goal by the close of the next Paralympic/Olympic cycle – by the 2026 Milan-Cortina games. By acting in 2022, FIS and IBU took action to achieve that goal some four years earlier than was set, indicating that the move was one that was in the works since, or possibly prior to, the IPC’s decision in May.
U.S. Paralympics nordic skiing director Eileen Carey said in an email to Fasterskier that the move to transfer para nordic to FIS did, “happen faster than I anticipated.” However, Carey points out that this only reaffirms the growth and opportunity that FIS sees in para nordic, “I have been involved with para sports since 2010 and there’s been a shift from being perceived as a burden to manage or not worth the effort to people recognizing the value and importance of para sports. When [ski programs] have incorporated para-athletes into their programming, they have seen an increase in participation, fan base, donors, and sponsors. Para sports are compelling, and more people and organizations are recognizing that as visibility increases.”
US Para Nordic Director Eileen Carey embraces Oksana Masters during the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympic games. (Photo: Mark Reis / Team USA).
On the benefits of FIS taking over the governance of para nordic, Carey says she is, “hopeful about the potential implications of this transition as it relates to the professionalism in our events, athlete promotion and support.” Incorporating para nordic into the FIS World Cup, Continental Cup, and domestic schedules will start to make the final integrative step for para nordic, as Carey puts it, that “we are one sport.”
FIS looks to North America, and finds a path cut by Para
There’s also a unique set of implications that FIS taking on para nordic might have for the growth of nordic skiing in North America. Historically, para nordic and para biathlon have had a much larger presence on the North American continent than the FIS’ non-para counterpart. While the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships have only ever been held twice in North America –in Rumford, Maine in 1950 and Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1995 – the IPC Para Nordic Ski World Championships have more regularly visited the continent, including to Jackson, Wyoming in 1990,Fort Kent, Maine in 2005,Cable, Wisconsin in 2015, Prince George, British Columbia in 2019. This year’s Para World Cup finals will be at Soldier Hollow, Utah in March as well. Beyond that, North American venues have had aregular presence on the IPC Para World Cup in a way that they simply have not on the FIS World Cup schedule.
An integrated para and non-para World Cup has already taken place in partnership between FIS and IPC inDresden, Germnay in January 2020, which will serve as a model as FIS goes forward into what Carey says, “[will be] a season with a lot of learnings.” As FIS does look to integrate para nordic into that FIS World Cup schedule, it’s almost a certainty that they will be leveraging the experience of organizers who have developed and hosted IPC events in the past.
Which leads to an interesting proposition for us in North America. The draft schedule for the 2023-2024 FIS World Cup released this spring includes a joint Minneapolis/Cable World Cup to coincide with the American Birkiebeiner’s 50th anniversary (to read more on the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation’s plans, readour interview with Executive Director Ben Popp). As previously noted, Cable has already hosted IPC World Cups and IPC Para Nordic Ski World Championships in the past decade, meaning that FIS will look to a proven organizing group to make their return to the North American continent a success. That model of partnering with organizers with para nordic event experience could be a beacon as FIS looks to return to the North American continent in 2023 and be key in making North America the site of more World Cups in the future.
USA’s Dan Cnossen skis past the old Telemark Lodge in Cable, Wisconsin during a 2013 IPC Para Nordic World Cup. With the FIS looking to return the Nordic World Cup to North America, organizers who gained experience hosting top-level racing through the IPC will be looked to for valuable insights on making events successful in North America. (Photo: James Netz).
Growth for Para Nordic in the United States and beyond
U.S. Para Nordic paving the way for the sport would fit with historical developments as well. Carey points out that “In the U.S., we are ahead of the curve in integrating para athletes into clubs and teams and events…Our U.S. Ski & Snowboard and biathlon clubs are the development incubators for para nordic just as they are for the U.S. Ski Team. From theBill Koch Festival to our National Championships, [these] are the same races sit skiers, one-armed skiers, and visually impaired skiers are doing to develop the sport.” That integration and investment has led to a program that regularly wins Paralympic medals and World Championships. Athletes likeOksana Masters,Dan Cnossen,Kendall Gretsch, andJake Adicoff have made the U.S. a dominant and world-leading para program, charting a path for U.S. skiing success on a broader scale and reorienting nordic skiing’s examples to what is going on in the U.S. Carey says that the most important hope is that the FIS umbrella will help further “highlight, support, and develop” these athletes, and upcoming athletes like them, as they continue to inspire and send the message that the sport of skiing is for everyone, regardless of their physical abilities.
Team USA’s Jake Adicoff competes at the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games. Adicoff was part of Team USA’s gold medal winning mixed Team Relay team. (Photo: Mark Reis / Team USA).
While the intricacies of sport governance can be boring – Carey also noted that the FIS system simply makes things like event insurance and athlete licensing less of a barrier to entry for para skiers – they also underscore important cultural shifts in the world of nordic skiing. One that sees more skiers, from more backgrounds, introduced to a sport where the quiet freedom that moving through a big, big world is one of the more sublime feelings available on Earth. To travel to another part of that metaphorical Netflix category, the political thriller will hopefully in time lead to the carefree beauty of viewing one of those BBC nature documentaries, probably Frozen Planet, for more of us everywhere.
Dan Cnossen competes at the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games. Cnossen won 2 gold medals at the 2022 games, and has won 7 Paralympic medals between two games in 2022 and 2018. (Photo: Mark Reis / Team USA).
A look at what’s ahead for the Birkebeiner, and its former home at the Telemark Lodge.
When I reached out to American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF) Executive Director Ben Popp before Christmas to set-up an interview discussing the Birkie’s plans for the now-defunct Telemark Lodge property, he was already putting plans into action. An interview would have to wait until after the holidays, because that weekend ,the Birkie was hosting a SuperTour race which would serve as a test event for its start-line venue in a bid, along with the Loppet Foundation in Minneapolis, to host an FIS World Cup in 2024.
Bringing a World Cup to Cable, Wisconsin is ambitious, but then again, when Popp is involved with the Birkie, energy and momentum are not the barriers. It’s not a question of “if”, but “how big” the end project will be. Since starting with the Birkie in 2013, he has overseen the expansion of what was already America’s largest race into a year-round docket of endurance programs.
For Popp, that expansion has been done with a forward-looking vision that is deeply rooted in his own history. A son of Wisconsin’s Northwoods, he witnessed first-hand the outsized dreams of Birkie founder Tony Wise, who at the opening of the Telemark Lodge in 1971 invited US Olympic Gold Medalist in Alpine Skiing Billy Kidd, and found his reaction to be simply, “[Telemark] is the only place where the Lodge is bigger than the ski hill!”
Ben Popp, Executive Director of the ABSF. (Photo: ABSF)
For the original Telemark, that turned out to be both an intrepid mantra, and its ultimate failing. Which leads me back to why I initially reached out to Popp – discussing the Birkie’s purchase of the now-closed Lodge and its demolition last year, and the new plans to build a dedicated Nordic Center on the former site.
Our conversation, though, turned into something much more akin to sharing a round of Leinie’s at Seeley’s famous Sawmill Saloon. Which is to say, Wisconsin skier to Wisconsin skier, cheesehead to cheesehead, Ben to Ben, we covered a lot of ground. The result is a conversation that covers the idiosyncrasies of a very specific place in the skiing landscape – Wisconsin – but by doing so gestures towards contemporaneous issues in the development of our sport in the US from a multitude of perspectives, all wrapped up into one professional – Ben Popp.
The excerpts below touch on, among other things: how the Birkie views plans for new infrastructure as supporting their mission; how skiing organizations are planning a sustainable future for the sport; and how Wisconsin skiing can develop the next generation of elite skiers from its ranks.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
FasterSkier (Ben Theyerl): The Birkie Foundation (the Birkie) now owns the former site of the Telemark Lodge, can you bring us up to speed on what’s happened since you bought the old Lodge last year, and what the plans are for the future there?
Ben Popp (BP): In February 2021, we closed on the property. As part of that agreement, we had to commit to raising the money to remove the building. That turned out to be a challenge, because generally people don’t like to give money to tear things down – that’s not very exciting.
To make up the costs, we decided to sell 250-acres on the far-western edge of the Telemark Property that didn’t have any trails on it, and to try and conserve it into perpetuity. Landmark Conservancy bought that property; it’s now the Telemark Forest Preserve.
That brings us to now. The building is down. We just applied for a $7.5 million dollar grant with the federal government to build a Nordic Center (details here) which will be LEED Platinum certified. We’re also working on a huge solar-array with Dairyland Cooperative, which would help us offset [the carbon emissions] from our snow-making operation [at the Birkie start venue and Telemark].
That’s the the nuts-and-bolts that got us to where we are now, which is the idea that Telemark is vital to: one, the economic activity of this region, and two, for the Birkie to carry out our mission of having amazing experiences while getting people outside, we need a medium, and this is the place for it.
(Photo: Telemark Education Foundation)
FS: As a follow-up, what’s the timeline looking like for the Nordic Center?
BP: The timeline is tricky. We’ll hear back on the grant in June, which with the current construction market would make breaking-ground this year very hard. We have said though, that now is the time to start planning, so that’s what we are doing.
What we’ve already started implementing is additional snowmaking, so that we could successfully host the Super Tour in December (2021). What’s interesting about that is we’ve still only invested $400,000 into it, which, yes, is a lot of money, but in the world of snowmaking is nothing. [For example,]Battle Creek (in the Twin Cities) is going to be about $5.6 million dollars. I give a lot of kudos to our crew for [what they were able to do for the SuperTour], having 3.75 kilometers of trail open before December 10th, but the reality is that was such a heavy lift, and we’re going to have to invest another $1 million into our snowmaking system to make it sustainable and reliable.
FS:The Birkie has a lot of other projects outside of Telemark. How do you see Telemark intersecting with those?
BP: That’s one of the highest priorities for us. If we look at our mission: one, putting on great events; two, being stewards of the [Birkie] trail; and three, providing opportunities for people to be active outside. Getting Telemark ready for events is critical to part one and three. You could argue that this isn’t directly related to how you improve the Birkie Trail, [part 2 of our mission]. But by way of getting more people involved, it gives us the capacity to put resources into the Trail.
FS: There also seems to be more of a faith in the Birkie Foundation to get Telemark right than past attempts at reviving the property. How have you built trust in the local community and gotten them involved in what the Birkie is doing?
BP: I think there’s two parts to it.
One, doing what you say we are going to do. [In the past,] people saying “we’re going to rebuild Telemark!” and then never having it happen just made it worse and worse. For us, starting back in 2013-14 when we said we’re going to raise $750,000 and buy an area for a new Birkie start line and build a bridge over highway 63 at OO, we got reactions of “no way, no way” and then…we did it! I think little steps like that start to prove to the community that you’re worthy of trust.
Two, it’s being really involved in the community and being open to other nonprofits. That allows us to openly invest in the community. We donate over $50,000 to the [Hayward] schools and their initiatives. Instead of us looking at simply how we leverage the assets around the community, we look at how we can partner with them so it’s good for both parties. That example is very local in Cable/Hayward, but we also help with initiatives around Wisconsin/Minnesota that need help get projects off the ground.
Like as an example I was just brainstorming with Claire Wilson (Executive Director of the Loppet Foundation in Minneapolis, MN) – how cool would it be to do some kind of exchange program where we’re going to send kids from the Northwoods to go down and experience living in Minneapolis and skiing at Theodore Wirth, and vice versa, they send kids up here and we can house them at Telemark and they get to spend a week in the woods [and make them say] “wait, where’s the stoplights?!” Those would be opportunities that would be awesome.
The remnants of the Telemark Lodge lobby in winter 2022. The Birkie has started grooming trails on the Telemark Property from the adjoining Birkie startline just a half-kilometer away. (Photo: ABSF)
FS: You’ve also startedTeam Birkie (a pro-racing development team that launched this summer) that’s already had success getting skiers to the World Cup.
BP: Yeah, we want to bring in the elite athletes to train [in Cable], that’s whatTony Wise (Telemark, and Birkiebeiner founder) used to do. I mean the U.S. Ski Team – Marty Hall and Bill Koch – they were here! They designed our trails! We need to figure out how we get our elite athletes, our role models, to stay in the Midwest and train so that they can inspire our kids here. The next Jessie Diggins can, but shouldn’t have to go out and live elsewhere, which is how it currently stands with Midwestern skiers. But they can’t spend time here if we don’t have roller-ski loops, snowmaking, and the things that they need to get better at their profession.
[Your dad] (Ted Theyerl, former Wisconsin Nordic Ski League President) has a great way of putting it. Trying to teach skiing without reliable snow is like trying to teach basketball if the gym is there only once every other week.
Team Birkie’s Zak Ketterson takes command through the heats to win the classic sprint during last December’s Gitchi Gami Games – the Birkie’s SuperTour event. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation.)
FS: That part is something I look at with a lot of potential based on my experience at Telemark. I intersected with the brief period [around 2010] when CXC (Central Cross Country Skiing) was trying to use Telemark Lodge as a training center. I remember going into what used to be the nightclub at the Lodge, which they were using as our dining hall, and sitting down and Jessie Diggins was at the table, and it made us juniors go “Holy crap!” That’s so inspiring.
BP: You’re right that’s inspiring!
FS: In a similar way, I wanted to get your personal perspective on what Telemark has meant to you, and the community in the Northwoods, and how that drives your plans and the Birkie Foundation’s plans?
BP: I mean I grew up in northern Wisconsin and I remember as a kid going over to Telemark and being like, “Woah, where am I? This is incredible!” Telemark was just an incredible economic and cultural driver.
I think personally my motivation is that this project is going to create a ton of opportunity, and essentially extend the reach of the Birkie Foundation and what we do. I often use a statistic when we are out on the road. If you draw a circle 50 miles around Cable/Hayward, 90% of our revenue comes from outside of that circle. But we spend over 80% of our revenue within that 50-mile Hayward/Cable circle. The bigger the Birkie gets then, the more gets spent here in our community.
FS: And now, to me, the additions of the Super Tour and the World Cup build on that spirit of Tony Wise saying we can dream big, and we can do it in Cable, Wisconsin. I was wondering if you find inspiration in that spirit? What is your “wish list” as an Executive Director for the next 10 years for the Birkie Foundation?
BP: Tony is an inspiration, no doubt about it. TheWorld Cup is a great example. Is hosting in 2024 going to be a ton of work? It is going to be a ton of work. But to do it as a part of the 50th anniversary of the Birke, bringing it full circle to Tony having the first World Cup here back in1978, and his creation of the Worldloppet, well it will: one, shine a light on the sport that we love; and two, on the Midwest, where many times even from a ski standpoint people think you just fly over it.
Then we go, “How do we get to doing it?” Well, we’ll take it step-by-step.
Tony was really vested in making sure Telemark and the Birkie benefitted his community and had a primary focus on getting people outside and being active. While [Telemark] isn’t going to be a lodge with 200 rooms, it is going to be cut from the same cloth of getting people outside, skiing in the Nordic community, and being connected to the world at-large.
That [last part] was especially important to Tony – he was a tank commander in World War II for goodness sakes, and learned to love Scandinavia and Austria along the way – so for us there must be that worldly component of the Birkiebeiner. Being a WorldLoppet and us trying to bring a World Cup here in 2024.
That gives us comfort knowing that where we’re going, well, with the historical vision Tony had, it’s one and the same.
Rosie Frankowki races the classic sprint qualifier in Cable, WI during the Gitchi Gami Games. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation.)
FS: Final question: The Birkie and you have been a leader in sustainability in the sport over the past couple of years, how do you see clubs, organizations, and the sports headed towards a more sustainable future? Especially the shift to going fluoro-free in waxing so it’s sustainable for the environment, but still equitable so that the best skiers are rising to the top?
BP: That’s a great question. For the Birkie, the sustainability piece is at the forefront for everything we’re doing. It’s tough because we balance the environmental, actual sustainability of the sport – skiers getting into skiing and staying in skiing – and the financial. If we go 100% and do everything possible on the environmental front, which would be the ideal, then we’re not going to be able to be financially sustainable and therefore the sport isn’t here in the Northwoods in 5 years. It’s about how you marry those three things in an optimal amount.
At the Birkie, we want to remain at the forefront for years to come.
FS: What’s your dream in that respect?
BP: My ultimate dream often comes when I think about the World Cup.
How amazing would that be to line up Jessie Diggins next to Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, next to your dad, my mom, a kid from Minneapolis who didn’t know what skiing was two years ago, a kid from the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation, and on and on.
I like to think that Klæbo may be just as inspired by a kid out on skis for her first time as I might be sitting at home watching him on the start-line. When we all get to sit at the same table, we all get to inspire each other, and that’s what I’m working towards at the end of the day.
The American Birkiebeiner takes off towards Mt. Telemark in 1978. (Photo: Telemark Education Foundation)
The start of Wave 2 of the 2018 American Birkebeiner 50 k skate race, which author Katie Miller was in. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)
The following was written by Katie Miller, a former University of New Hampshire (UNH) ski racer who recently completed her first American Birkebeiner and 50-kilometer ski marathon, after registering for the race last year. That race was canceled due to low snow, but Miller returned for this year’s edition on Feb. 24. She currently lives in southern N.H. where she does her best to “juggle a full-time job as a criminal defense investigator with the desire to get outside and ski all day everyday!”
***
The pull of the storied American Birkebeiner brought me to register for the 2017 race. I had heard nothing but positive reviews of the Birkie. I had not even experienced the race yet and I was bummed when it was cancelled in 2017. Fast forward to 2018, my excitement level was high and my expectations of the race were all over the place. This was the largest cross-country ski marathon in North America. This was my first 50K. This was the longest race I had ever done. I had trained as much as I could while working full time. I had skied as much as I could considering the January and February thaw we experienced in southern NH. I rolled my eyes while embracing the New England weather as I ran in 70-degree weather four days before the race. And as I stood in the start pen surrounded by thousands of other people all ready to conquer the 50K it dawned on me that this was F*&%ing awesome.
The view of the Main Street finish the day before the 2018 American Birkebeiner, as seen from the International Bridge. (Photo: Katie Miller)
Now rewind two days, getting to the race in Wisconsin made the finish line that much sweeter. Thursday morning set to travel with my parents, a.k.a. the best support crew, we left for the airport at 4 a.m. Our flight from Boston to LaGuardia went off smoothly and we landed in N.Y. with a three-hour layover ahead of us. Plenty of time to relax, have some food, and get back to the gate. With 45 minutes before our flight departed we got to the gate, sat down, and were informed our departure gate had been changed to a different terminal, forcing us to go in and out of security, again. We got through security for the second time smoothly, apart from a few expletives from my mom as she had to throw out another bottle of water and off we went on our second flight. We landed in Minneapolis at 5 p.m., picked up our bags, got our rental car, and were on our way, seemingly without hitch! After a quick dinner stop at LOLO American Kitchen (yum!) in Stillwater, Minnesota, we started the drive to Cable … in a snowstorm.
Two-and-half hours later, driving on slow, snow-covered roads in a rental car lacking the proper tires for these slippery roads, the car starts to lose power. Fifteen miles outside of Hayward, on the highway, with NOTHING in sight, a rare car passing us every few minutes. We putter along for another 5 miles as I am on the phone with the rental car’s emergency roadside assistance, a lovely woman who is struggling to figure out where we are to send a tow truck. It is 10:30 p.m. and stress levels are high in our failing rental car. We pull to the side of the road, five miles from Hayward. A few minutes later we attempt to continue driving. The power seems to have returned to the car, we can drive over 20 mph now. I feel slightly relieved, but we still have 40 miles to our cabin in Cable. Thankfully, we make it to our cabin, safe and exhausted at 11:30 p.m. I get to sleep after 12 a.m., which would be 1 a.m. in the time zone we started our travel in a long 21 hours ago. Not an ideal travel day.
Pre-race powder ski on Birkie Ridge. (Photo: Katie Miller)
Friday morning, with one day to go before the race, I wake up ready to put the long travel day behind me and get out for a ski. With six inches of new powdery snow and a questionable car, that was not going to be as easy as I planned. Luckily the car made it through the rest of weekend without a problem. I headed to Birkie Ridge for a deep powdery ski on the ungroomed trail. My ski was a mix of skating, double poling, and single sticking trying not to tire myself out in the deep snow. There were a few other skiers as I started and by the end the trail was full of people getting out and getting ready for the next days races.
Every skier I passed smiled or said hi, some asked questions about the trail (not that I knew the answers), but everyone seemed happy to just be there for the race. I skied as easy as I could in the deep snow, just happy to be skiing, anxious for the next day. I had no idea what to expect with the size of the race and the distance. It was exciting but nerve wracking. Post-ski, my parents and I had lunch at the Brickhouse Café in Cable. A friendly, delicious café with breakfast, lunch, baked goods, and coffee, I highly recommend it! With our confidence in the rental car cautiously optimistic we made our way south to the expo (and possibly my dad’s favorite part of the weekend: free stuff! When the Clif wonders why their energy gels disappeared so quickly midafternoon, I know why….). I picked up my bib, explored the expo, bought some Birkie gear, and got my new Birkie gear bag.
With each event moving closer to race time, the stress of travel and the excitement of the race was taking over. The moment we got to downtown Hayward and I climbed the stairs up the Birke bridge and looked down main street towards the finish a huge smile took over my face. I could not wait to be at the top of the bridge tomorrow during the race. Fast-forward to Saturday morning, I had checked, double checked and triple checked my backpack and gear, making sure I had everything I needed. The quality of the organization of the race and entire weekend is better than any event I have ever been to. From busing to the start, volunteers with information everywhere you look, feed stations full of volunteers handing out much needed fuel, to having a place to change after the race, it was simple and stress free. The best kind of race environment for racers and spectators alike.
Author Katie Miller finishing her first American Birkebeiner 50 k ski marathon on Feb. 24 in Hayward, Wisconsin. (Photo: Marathonfoto)
Now back to the race, standing in the start pen, the excitement palpable as thousands of skiers wait to start their race journey that day. The starts guns go off, I wait for the people in front of me to move forward and off I go. The beginning kilometers of the race was a slow accordion of movement down the trail. Doubling poling being more effective, and safer for my poles, than trying spread out and skate. As the kilometers started to tick by, the crowd thinned, and the trek to Hayward was on! Three hours of skiing has never gone by so quickly. I smiled and laughed out of pure bliss the entire 50K. I laughed as I tried to open my GUs during the race without dropping them. I laughed (and tried not to fall) going around the sharp rutted corners lined with snowmobilers, the rowdy crowd cheering and waiting for people to fall. I laughed when my water bottle froze after 20K. I laughed as my quads cramped up climbing “bitch hill”. Why? Because there was a priest with a megaphone telling jokes on the hill followed by two nuns cheering.
I marveled at the beautiful skiing and the other racers that surrounded me as I skied. The feeling of cresting the top of the bridge, like Rocky at the top of the Philadelphia steps, was an indescribable feeling, one of pure joy. Looking down main street towards the finish, the street lined with cheering people, was a feeling that was worth all 50K. I skied up those last 200 meters feeling like I could take on the world. It was the most amazing, captivating race I have ever done. I’ve caught Birkie fever (caution: highly contagious) and I don’t think I’m ever going to shake it.
The love of skiing, the hard work of the Birkie organizers and amazing volunteers (and a big party…) brings all these people together and that is a special thing.
I was smiling the entire 50K and I’m still smiling a week later. I think I can speak for everyone waiting for next year’s race when I say…can we do it tomorrow?
***
Miller, 29, finished 15th in her age group (25-29) in 3:01:44.1 hours.
Wave 2 of the 2018 American Birkebeiner on course. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)
The scene at 2017 BirkieFest on Feb. 25 at the American Birkibeiner trailhead near Cable, Wis. The iconic race was canceled this year due to a lack of snow and a casual ski on a 5 k loop and festival at the trailhead was held in its place. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)
The following firsthand account was written by FasterSkier intern Ian Tovell, who attended this year’s American Birkebeiner in February, which was canceled due to lack of snow. Instead, the 2017 BirkieFest was held on Feb. 25 at the new Birkie trailhead and start area near Cable, Wis., with an estimated 10,000 people coming out for a casual ski on a 5-kilometer loop, on-snow demos, live music, food and a beer garden. Photos from Ian, FasterSkier contributor Vince Rosetta, and the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation.
***
The 2017 American Birkebeiner will be a race that no one will ever forget. It will be remembered for a tremendous amount of effort from Ben Popp and his hard-working staff. Even though there was no race, it was a great event with 10,000 of likeminded friends and a lot of great food, live music, and the ability to check out the latest-and-greatest gear.
I was very excited to race in my third Birkie after missing the race in 2016. Heading into Birkie week, I was obviously worried, like most racers were, as the weather did not look like it was going to corporate. With high optimism, I left Boston to head to Hayward, Wis., with my two travel companions in hopes the race would still happen.
On Friday we headed to the OO trailhead to see if we could get some skiing in. As we were headed to the trail, we got the news the race was going to be canceled and turned into a non-competitive ski in Cable at the start. After traveling all that way, that wasn’t going to stop us from getting in some skiing.
However, my friend forgot his boots that day. Knowing the skiing was not going to be that great, I offered to run the trail so he could ski. We were able to do about 10 k worth of skiing on icy and grassy trails, but it was great just to be out on the Birkie Trail. We were not the only ones that had the same idea as we saw a bunch of other hopeful skiers getting some kilometers in as well.
On Saturday, we headed to Cable to join some 10,000 skiers that wanted to check out the 5 k loop and get some more skiing in. All things considered, the loop was in great shape. As the day went on and more people joined in, the trail became crowded to the point that it was difficult to ski with much speed.
The famous 39K Club Shot Ski trailside at 2017 BirkieFest near Cable, Wis. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)
The highlight of the course was at 4.8 k, where the 39K Club was there with its shot ski, making sure that the Birkie spirit was alive and well and getting everyone excited just to be at BirkieFest.
After a quick two-lap ski we were off to the food tent to get the famous on-course cookies and chicken-noodle soup. We were fortunate to test out some fat bikes at the demo, which was a ton of fun because we were able to ride them on the Fat Bike Birkie race trail. After listening to some live music, collecting our fair share of free ski ties and other goodies, we headed back to our hotel to start planning our trip for Birkie 2018.
Though my 2017 Birkie experience was not the one I was hoping for, just being on the Birkie trail with 10,000 other people felt like any other Birkie. The atmosphere and camaraderie at this race is unmatched in my experience, and being a part of it is truly special. This year was such a great time even without skiing that I know that it will be the most memorable Birkie of my career. I am looking forward to returning to Cable and Hayward in 2018.
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Editor’s note: 2018 Birkie registration opened May 1. The 2017 event marked the second official cancellation in the Birkie’s 44-year history. An article in the Birch Scroll 2017 spring edition (page 15) confirmed that 2017 race fees will not be refunded and presented numbers to explain why. The total cost of organizing the 2017 Birkie Week amounted to more than $854,000 dollars. Read the article here.
Dressed for success at 2017 BirkieFest. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)
A young skier at 2017 BirkieFest. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)
Fat biking at the 2017 BirkieFest. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)
Family time at 2017 BirkieFest. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)
Skiers on the 5 k loop at 2017 BirkieFest on Feb. 25 near Cable, Wis. (Photo: Ian Tovell)
The “39 k” shot-ski station at 2017 BirkieFest near Cable, WIs. (Photo: Ian Tovell)
The scene at the 2017 BirkieFest on Feb. 25 at the Birkie trailhead near Cable, Wis. (Photo: Vince Rosetta)
The scene at the 2017 BirkieFest on Feb. 25 at the Birkie trailhead near Cable, Wis. (Photo: Vince Rosetta)
The scene at the 2017 BirkieFest on Feb. 25 at the Birkie trailhead near Cable, Wis. (Photo: Vince Rosetta)
Hayward, WI (February 25, 2017) – The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation’s BirkieFest 2017 brought over 10,000 skiers and spectators to the American Birkebeiner Trailhead and new start area near Cable, WI. Skiers from around the world and across the country took to the Birkie Trail for a quick ski on the 5K loop painstakingly saved and crafted by the Birkie Trail Crew for the event.
The American Birkebeiner is North America’s largest cross-country ski race which normally runs from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin, finishing on the snow-covered Main Street of Hayward. However, after days of unseasonable weather, rain, and snow storms that missed the Hayward and Cable areas, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation was regretfully forced to cancel the 44th Annual Slumberland American Birkebeiner, Kortelopet, and Prince Haakon cross-country ski races.
“Of course, we were really disappointed that we weren’t able to host a ski race, but if there is a silver lining, BirkieFest is certainly it. Over 10,000 skiers and their family and friends enjoyed the day skiing, eating, listening to great music and having a great time in the north woods,” said Ben Popp, American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Executive Director. “I’m really proud of our Birkie team, the Nordic community, and the Cable, Seeley, and Hayward communities – it was certainly an all hands on deck effort! We consider this the first day of training for Birkie 2018!”
Skiers spent the day skiing a 5K loop on the Birkie Trail crafted from snow caches stored in the woods along the trail system. Festival goers enjoyed live music, a beer garden serving Birkie Brew-Ski crafted by Lucette Brewing Company, Birkie Brats by Louis Finer Meats, Norwegian waffles, shopping in the Birkie Store, on-snow ski and fat bike demos, biathlon demos, and more. Skiers and spectators were bused to the brand new American Birkebeiner Trailhead for the day of Nordic fun.
“This past week was a great learning experience, it taught us things that will make us even more successful in the future,” said Chris Campbell, Birkie Trail Manager. “We learned so much about snow management. We’ve never needed a snow cache on the north end of the trail and we used every snowflake we could muster for our 5K course today. It was certainly worth it.”
The 45th Annual Slumberland American Birkebeiner week of events is slated for February 22-25, 2018 with registration opening on May 1, 2018. The ABSF is hosting the Fat Bike Birkie, the world’s largest fat bike race on March 11, 2017 at the American Birkebeiner Trailhead near Cable, WI. “The Cable area was pleased to play a part in helping to host the BirkieFest today. Skiers were really happy with all the hard work that the Birkie staff and countless volunteers put into make this event possible,” said James Bolen, Executive Director, Cable Area Chamber of Commerce.
The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation received a $12,450 JEM Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. From left to right: Regional Tourism Specialist Julie Fox with Ben Popp, ABSF Executive Director, and Nancy Knutson, ABSF Director Marketing/Communication)
HAYWARD, Wis. (Feb. 9, 2017) – The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation is racing into the new year with a marketing campaign aimed at promoting its Kortelopet (Korte) cross-country ski race and the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle. With help from a $12,450 Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation looks to increase participation in the 29 kilometer race slated for Feb. 23, 2018. This year’s will take place on Friday, Feb. 24.
“This project clearly demonstrates that funding tourism marketing initiatives produces a sound return on investment for the local economy,” Governor Walker said. “Tourism is part of Wisconsin’s economic foundation and its continued growth is a priority for my administration because of the nearly 191,000 jobs it supports, the tax revenues it generates and the positive image it projects for the State.”
The Korte is known as a half-marathon distance cross-country ski race. Traditionally held the same day as the world-famous full marathon Birkebeiner (Birkie), the Korte will now take place the day before the Birkie in order to provide Korte skiers with a unique race experience and to allow for the potential of doubling race participation from 3,000 to 6,000 over the next 7 to 8 years. Event organizers hope that moving the Korte to its own day will increase the number of participants by 10 percent each year. This year’s Korte event is expected to attract more than 10,000 participants and spectators to the Hayward area, generating an estimated $1.6 million in visitor spending.
In 2016, the American Birkebeiner and Kortelopet races drew skiers from 46 states and 22 countries. The Kortelopet race provides yet another medium to speak to skiers, both domestically and internationally, about northwestern Wisconsin and the skiing opportunities available on the Birkie Trail. The American Birkebeiner Trail system was recently voted the No.1 cross-country ski destination in the United States by USA Today/10Best.
“The American Birkebeiner is North America’s most prestigious cross country ski race, and each year Wisconsin’s Northwoods welcomes thousands of skiers and spectators from around the world,” said Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett. “We’re thrilled to support the expansion of the Korte event so more athletes can participate and ultimately grow the overall economic impact of the Birkie weekend.”
In 2015, the tourism economy in Wisconsin totaled $19.3 billion, a more than four percent increase from 2014. Since 2010, tourism activity in the state added 18,717 jobs to the economy, an 11% increase in travel and hospitality employment opportunities for Wisconsin residents. Visitors generated $1.5 billion in state and local revenue. Wisconsin taxpayers would need to pay $640 per household in order to maintain current government services. Total business sales in Sawyer County reached more than $113.7 million in 2015, supporting 971 jobs and $9.9 million in state and local taxes.
“We are incredibly pleased to have been selected as a recipient of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism JEM Grant and the opportunity it affords us to grow the Kortelopet race. The grant provides us with the means to promote the race itself, helps us to encourage a healthy, active lifestyle, all the while increasing tourism in northwestern Wisconsin,” said Ben Popp, Executive Director, American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. “We are grateful for the opportunity and excited to get started.”
In fiscal 2016, the Department funded 57 JEM projects, awarding a total of more than $1.1 million. Visitor expenditures driven by the marketing from these projects will exceed $31 million. JEM grant funds are available to non-profit organizations for the promotion of Wisconsin tourism events and destinations. The state can fund up to 75 percent of a project’s first-year advertising and marketing costs, and provide support for second- and third-year projects with decreasing amounts for funding until projects become self-sustaining. For information on the JEM Program and application materials, visit http://industry.travelwisconsin.com.
The mission of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism is to market the State as the Midwest’s premier travel destination for fun by executing industry-leading marketing programs and establishing strategic partnerships. The Department plays a significant role in generating greater economic impact and jobs for Wisconsin. The portal for traveler information can be found at: www.travelwisconsin.com.
A look at the new permanent start and American Birkebeiner Trailhead during construction this summer in Cable, Wis. (Photo: ABSF)
It has been an exciting 2016 for the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF). After a successful completion of the Phase 1 fundraising program in 2015, the ABSF secured a land purchase that will give North America’s largest ski race, known as the Birkie, a permanent start area for events.
The Phase 1 campaign also supported the construction of a warming shelter at the new start, which is open year-round, several aid-station buildings along the trail, which can be used throughout the year, and also the construction of brand-new Birkie offices and the Tony Wise Museum in Hayward, Wis.
Just like in previous years, the ABSF has been busy in the offseason, making improvements to the American Birkebeiner (including the 50-kilometer skate and 55 k classic marathons, set for Feb. 25, 2017) and its trail system.
In mid-December, FasterSkier checked in with Ben Popp, ABSF executive director, on the phone to discuss some of these changes and what future Birkie participants can expect.
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FasterSkier:First off, congratulations on the new start-line purchase and trailhead. That seemed to be a goal the Birkie had for years. Can you tell us why that was such an important piece of the Phase 1 fundraising campaign?
The Derksen Family Trailhead Warming Shelter at the new American Birkebeiner Trailhead. (Photo: ABSF)
Ben Popp: We are really excited for this new trailhead. We recently had the first event there, a youth biathlon camp and it was great to see the potential this new trailhead will bring. I skied up from Boedecker and when I got to the new trailhead, I had a warm place to change, people were hanging out, there were nice new bathrooms for people to use. Upstairs, the kids were meeting and getting lessons before they headed out to the trail.
You finally see that when you have facilities like this it brings in other people as well as the skiers. There was a woman inside reading a book while her husband was out skiing longer. It’s that whole concept that I am excited to see at the start line. It is something that can be used for events other than the Birkie. It is going to be the start for a JNQ [Junior National qualifier] meet, the Wisconsin state championship and the newly announced race that the Hayward high school nordic team is putting on this winter.
Phase 1 fundraising raised $715,000 dollars from more than 1,400 donors. They will all get to reap the benefits and be able to enjoy a first-class facility and help build the nordic community.
During the week between Christmas and New Years, we will have the big building heated and have concessions inside to support the 300-400 high school kids who are up here to ski. Before they huddled up into buses and hung around Double OO. Now they will have a warm building to hang around at, wax skis and get something to eat.
FS:Now that Phase 1 is complete, what does Phase 2 entail? How is the fundraising coming along?
BP: It has been a very busy fundraising season for us. The Birkie staff has been all over promoting the Foundation and the new development phases. The feverish pace has picked up for sure. We’ve been out a lot, as far as Traverse City and everything in between. It is important to work with USSA [the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association], The Loppet, and Endurance United to strengthen the nordic-ski message in this area. People expect us the be a leader in this movement because we are looked on to be the innovators and spokesperson for this community. The community is small but extremely passionate, and we as a group need to capitalize on this if we want the sport to grow. Our message is to support us, but in doing so you are supporting the community and the whole nordic industry. Having spokespeople like Kikkan [Randall and Jessie [Diggins] out there winning and supporting the USSA, it is, in turn, helping us grow.
Phase 1 was the land purchase and trailhead. With that accomplished, we moved into Phase 2 and that focuses on improving the trail. The question always comes up about snowmaking and we finally have an opportunity to pursue this with power and water at the new start line.
We are starting to explore the possibility of storing snow during the summer like they do in Canada and in Europe. Some of our staff just got back from Europe where they met with a bunch of people from the FIS [International Ski Federation] and World Cup venues to talk about this very topic.
Between the skiers and the bike riders, we estimate that there are over 100,000 people using the trail all year long. That leads to a lot of erosion concerns and Phase 2 addresses these concerns. If we can improve the way the trail drains and stop erosion we could easily ski on just two inches of snow.
The Timber Trail warming shelter on the Birkie Trail. (Photo: ABSF)
Another part of Phase 2 is the aid stations. Every aid station is now going to have heated buildings with water that are open year-round. The idea is that it’s a building that is open to the public year-round for water and shelter. For the 30 events that use the trail, they will provide a place to store race-day equipment and everything that gets used for the events.
Other parts to Phase 2 include extending the classic trail south of Double OO. It’s not a full second trail but there are some places we can separate the skate and classic trail past Double OO.
Other items include putting an underpass under [Route] 77 for skiers and bikers. We are working in conjunction with the Wisconsin DOT and using some grant money to find a way to not to have to block that road during our race and other races that use that intersection.
We are also working on replacing some of our older pieces of equipment. Our oldest PistenBully is 17 years old, so with upwards of 100 k of trail, these machines really take a beating.
We are looking to get wider PistenBullys to accommodate the width of the course better. Right now it takes us three passes to groom the trail. Wider PistenBullys will reduce that to only two passes. Fewer passes mean faster and more importantly, better grooming.
We want to wrap up Phase 2 around December 2017. The fundraising goal for Phase 2 is right around $1.6 million dollars which is twice as high as Phase 1 was. We raised about 35 percent now and are close to $600,000 raised to this point. We are getting there and are excited about the response.
FS:Recently the Birkie Trail got two very prestigious awards, being named the best cross-country ski trail in the U.S. as voted by USA TODAY’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice travel award contest and, in conjunction with the Hayward Lakes Visitors and Convention Bureau, earned a 2016 Champions of Economic Impact award. What do these two awards mean to the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation, the towns of Hayward and Cable, and also for the trail itself?
BP: We have the trail but also the community support to host the nordic community. The town’s “all-in” mentality of letting the Birkie Foundation take care of the trail, we (the community or Hayward and Cable) will take care of the people who are here to ski and make sure they have a great time outside of skiing. That was a huge part of us getting these two awards. The future is very exciting for us and the community. Being so close to the Twin Cities and their enormous nordic community makes us very lucky because we can be the destination that some of these other great cities and resorts have become. The area has turn into a four-season, all-year-round destination spot.
In terms of what the Birkie means to the cities of Cable and Hayward financially was shown in a recent 2013 University of Wisconsin economic study that estimated the silent sports lifestyle in Hayward and Cable brings in close to $22 million dollars to the community. That is a huge number for a town of 3,000 people. That includes visitors coming up to ski, bike, ride ATVs, hunting, and fishing, etc. It also includes people renting hotel rooms and buying second homes here. That goes back to my point of the towns embracing this lifestyle because bars and restaurants realize that there are other things people want to do up here once they are done skiing.
All the construction in Phase 1 and Phase 2 has been from local contractors in the Cable/Hayward area. Again, building that sense of community that helped us get these awards.
FS: How did the decision to separate the 29 k Kortelopet race from the Birkie come about? Was it due to logistical problems and too much traffic, or something else?
BP: Obviously, the biggest change is moving the Korte, America’s second largest ski race, to Friday. We started thinking about doing this about two years ago. The question is why? We knew two years ago that this race wasn’t the race experience we wanted to give participants. They missed out on the opportunity to see the crowds that lined Main Street and cross the finish line there. Starting at the airfield [jn Cable] and ending close to there just wasn’t the event experience we wanted. The current setup worked but didn’t give the experience we were proud of. People told us time and time again that they wanted to be a part of the atmosphere at Main Street, and not just be an afterthought of the Birkie.
The biggest factor that prompted the move other that the atmosphere was demographics. The majority of the Korte participants are women and 40 percent are under the age of 23. Basically, its kids and women and those are two demographics that are vital to us and ones that we needed to get excited about the race. The concept was that if we can give these two groups and event experience that was as good as or better than the Birkie and then get them to get more kids and women involved in the events then it is a huge win for us. We were willing to take on the risk, extra costs and manpower to accomplish this because we felt it was important to get these two demographics excited about skiing.
FS:With the Korte starting at OO, what changes did you have to make to that area to be able to hold that many racers at once, compared to previous years where the field was pretty thin by the time they got to OO?
BP: We did a lot of work at Double OO for the new Korte start and for the Birkie. We will eventually have a new building there as a result of Phase 2, which will really help support or races as well as the mountain bike races in the summer.
Since the Korte start is almost as big as the Birkie start we did a lot of work widening parts of the trail that leads from the start to “Picnic Table Hill”. The start line for the Korte will be on the south side of Double OO. If you skied from the current Double OO cabin and went left down the hill to that flat area, you will be right at the new start line. We widened that area by two acres and also added a walking path for spectators. They will walk from the building over the bump and through the nostalgic arches which is pretty cool because that part of the trail won’t be used for the Birkie anymore. (Basically, once you cross Double OO, Birkie racers in previous years went right up the hill, in 2017, we will cross the street and turn left.) Everyone will funnel through the new Korte start on Saturday since all the aid stations and infrastructure will be there from Friday’s race.
We reworked that corner so it isn’t off-camber anymore and also worked on the descending hill into the Korte start area. Once the skiers cross the road both races will join at that point. in past years, the classic race didn’t join the skate race until Picnic Table Hill. Now they join once everyone crosses Double OO. The course is now 70-feet wide as it goes up the hill to the top of Picnic Table Hill.
We also worked on the righthand turn from the Picnic Table Hill descent. That has always been a nasty hill so now it just flows straight instead of turning to the right. That should help with the flow of the race and support the large group of Korte skiers that will be coming down that hill.
After all these course changes, the Birkie is just a bit shy of 51 k. Last year the race was a bit longer because of the added 2 k section at Fish Hatchery. This year, we are taking that section out for the skate race so it puts the skate race close to 50.5 k and the classic race is just shy of 55 k, sitting at 54.6 k.
In the future, the classic race might get a bit shorter as we continue to work that trail south of Gravel Pit. There are a few places that we can put in a new classic trail as we go south but for now, the distances are staying very close to the advertised 50 k and 55 k distances.
FS:What changes are being made to the expo and race weekend this year in order to support the racers who are entered in the Korte race?
BP: Basically, everything is staying the same. The whole event weekend ends up just being four hours longer. The events on Thursday are just starting a little bit earlier. In the past, we started all the events around noon. This year we are starting at 8 a.m. Overall, the events are spread out a little more.
We are turning downtown into a big festival over the race weekend. We are going to have live bands, food vendors and family events to help improve the excitement of the race and to support the spectators there waiting for their loved ones to finish.
The expo will stay the same for this year. Feedback from most of the vendors we talked to said that the current setup is the extent of what they can handle in terms of manpower, product and race-weekend support. It will be interesting to see. After the race, we will ask for feedback and change things up and adjust things that happened or didn’t work. For now, we just ask everyone to go into it like they normally would and let us know your thoughts and feeling after the race.
One of the Birkie’s new kilometer markers on the classic trail. (Photo: ABSF)
FS:On a recent trail run, I noticed the new trail markers. What was the 15 k mark is now 37 k to Hayward mark?
BP: All the signage on the trail has been redone this year. It now counts down to Hayward instead of counting up just like the race. Also, every sign is unique because they are now directional. The staff at Apple Awards designed the signs to tell you how may kilometers to Hayward, Firetower, Boedecker, Double OO etc. The classic trail signs will be blue and the skate trail signs will be red. It gets interesting when the two courses meet at Double OO because the race distance will be different. This just reflects the extra length for the classic race.
FS:After last year’s warm weather and the warm lake conditions, have you considered reworking the finish to avoid the lake?
BP: Downtown is critical for the race. We have to get into Hayward to finish the race. We have looked at a few worst-case scenarios if Lake Hayward is deemed unskiable. The alternative routes we looked at involving a few different turnoffs onto the snowmobile/ATV trail then go around the backside of New Moon into town.
If we have snow to work with and the lake ice isn’t safe, then it is possible because we will have snow to move around and can activate the other backup plans we have talked about. If it is a warm year with no snow and no ice, then it becomes a little more challenging.
Telemark Resort (Photo: Tom Held)
FS:Visitors and guests to the old Telemark Resort will remember the hall of fame wall covered with past Birkie winners. Now with the opening of the new Tony Wise Museum of the American Birkebeiner, the hall of fame has an official home. What did it mean to the history of the race to get the hall of fame and museum established in a permanent location?
BP: The museum provides the tradition and inspiration that the Birkie is all about. Having Kikkan here last year and Jessie being a Birkie Ambassador this year is great. They provide the inspiration and role models for kids and adults.
The Birkie is all about tradition. With Telemark closing, we were going to lose a lot of that tradition with the Hall of Fame and other aspects of the race potential being lost forever. We were approached by an extremely qualified woman lives in Cable and worked for the Smithsonian and she wanted to take on the museum project. She helped raise the money to build the museum and to relocate the Birkie offices all under one roof.
The museum far surpassed all expectations we had for it. Having so much history and tradition in one building is incredible. We have a lot of hands-on interactive displays, personal stories, and history of Tony Wise and his family. The is so much potential for the museum to grow in the future. We still have a storage room of archived pieces that was donated to us by the Lewis family from Telemark that we haven’t even begun to look at yet. It will be fun to see how the museum evolves in the future.
It is great to see how many people have come from states that have never heard of the Birkie, who might be in town for vacation or visiting family, and see their reaction as the walk around the museum experiencing the Birkie history for the first time.
The Birkie trail as seen this past weekend between Cable and Hayward, Wis. The entire trail is covered, with less than a five-inch base, according to a groomer on Saturday, Dec. 31. (Photo: Vince Rosetta)
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Author’s note: The Birkie Foundation has been working hard to give fans, spectators and racers the best experience possible for this years race weekend. If you are interested in supporting the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation all the information can be found on its website.
Wednesday was an off day at 2016 Junior Nationals, but it wasn’t originally scheduled to be. Warm temperatures and melting snow in the stadium and on the trails at Telemark in Cable, Wis., forced organizers to postpone the races one day and shift the formats to a freestyle individual start on Thursday, freestyle sprint on Friday, and freestyle relay on Saturday. (Photo: Hailey Swirbul)
The good news: “We’ll have a race tomorrow,” Chief of Competition Gary Larson said Wednesday of the Junior National Championships currently taking place at the Telemark Trail System in Cable, Wis. Due to exceedingly warm temperatures on Tuesday reaching into the 60’s, the 5-kilometer and 1.3-kilometer race courses have been jeopardized.
“It was impossible to realize how much this weather did to the snow. This is very unusual for Wisconsin,” Larson said. “The snow was good up until Saturday.”
On Monday, the racers and coaches representing regions from across the U.S. began to notice the deteriorating conditions as they fought through spring-like ski trails during the 5/10 k classic individual start races. The following day, a small section of the course was opened only to coaches to test classic kick for the following classic sprint, while all athletes were redirected to sections of the American Birkebeiner trail to ski for the day. Eventually, the organizing committee decided to change and postpone the planned events for the rest of the Junior Nationals.
Junior Nationals volunteers work on draining water from the stadium at Telemark in Cable, Wis. Hundreds of volunteers made the event possible, and even in adverse conditions, “Our problem is we don’t have enough shovels,” Chief of Competition Gary Larson said Wednesday. (Photo: Hailey Swirbul)
“We ended up changing the schedule a lot,” Larson said. “We just can’t get [classic] tracks in, so the sprint is going to be skate on Friday. We still at this time don’t know whether or not we are going to be able to do heats, or if it is just going to be a prologue.”
Instead of the original classic sprint, freestyle distance mass start, and freestyle relay set for the week, athletes are preparing for a freestyle individual distance race, freestyle sprint and a freestyle relay.
“At first I was pretty upset, but then I realized the course changes were made for the best,” Rocky Mountain athlete Nolan Herzog said. “It is kind of a roll-with-the-punches scenario right now, because we don’t really know what is going to happen.”
He hopes that there will be adequate snow for the three scheduled remaining races.
According to Larson, the prolonged above-freezing temperatures in Cable have created the issues with the course. The lack of snow on the trails is not the problem, it is the water that pools at low points on the trail and softens the snow due to lack of drainage.
Larson, for the most part, has received supportive responses from parents, coaches, and athletes about this unexpected turn of weather.
“I’m glad that the organizing committee is as committed as they are to trying to deliver a good quality race,” Intermountain coach Rick Kapala said. “I think that if they can put the big climb in, the A-climb, we are going to have a really, really good athletic test.”
The organizing committee and Larson are striving to maintain as much of the original 5 k loop as possible to ensure that athletes are met with a fair and challenging series of races thanks to hundreds of volunteers.
“Our problem is we don’t have enough shovels,” Larson noted. As chief of this event, he said he has received “unbelievable” response from service people, coaches and parents eager to help distribute snow throughout the manmade and natural snow course.
A puddle in the center of the stadium, where the 2016 Junior Nationals races both start and finish, as seen Wednesday at the Telemark Trails in Cable, Wis. (Photo: Hailey Swirbul)
“They have been exceedingly understanding, and out here helping. It takes that kind of effort and that kind of understanding to make it work,” Larson said.
Reflecting on the preparation for such unpredictable conditions, Larson acknowledges that the one thing that may have helped prevent this would have been to put “thicker snow on the trail that we can access with the snowmaking.” Despite the fact that the 5 k course at Telemark was the first ever World Cup course, requiring reliable snowmaking, the pipes used for snowmaking are damaged except for a small loop. The Telemark Trail System has not utilized the snowmaking tools since November.
“The future of our cross-country ski sport is going to be tough. Make snow and place the snow early, as insurance,” Larson suggests to future hosts of events like Junior Nationals.
Back to the good news: there will be a race tomorrow. New England coach Rob Bradlee acknowledges that he is “impressed how everybody is dealing with very, very difficult conditions that are way outside our control. I’m admiring everyone’s spirit, both the organizers’ and the participants.”
Despite the sporadic drizzles of rain in Cable, Bradlee is feeling what most are; the anticipation and excitement are high among athletes, coaches and organizers as the rest of the week unfolds.
Update: Wednesday’s course will be a 3.7 k loop involving two laps for 5 k, three laps for 10 k, and four laps for 15 k. Temperatures were expected to drop below freezing on Wednesday night and organizers planned to salt the course. Regardless, they have still ruled out classic races.
Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg/U.S. Ski Team) en route to winning the Boulder Mountain Tour in Sun Valley, Idaho, earlier this month. (Photo: Toko)
After winning World Championships bronze in 2015 and, after years of racing, a U.S. Ski Team nomination come spring, Caitlin Gregg nonetheless found herself out of sorts when the World Cup kicked off in November.
“Basically since the first weekend on the World Cup I just felt off,” Gregg said in an interview on Wednesday. “I couldn’t really figure out what it was. I had some races where there were good moments, but I just wasn’t able to put it together and I didn’t feel like myself. I felt like something needed to be reset.”
There were good moments: the classic leg of a skiathlon in Lillehammer, or parts of races in the Tour de Ski. Competing in the grueling ten-day race series for the first time, Gregg hoped that as the races piled up she would feel better and better in comparison to the field.
But by the time the Tour was finished, and she crossed the line at the top of the Alpe Cermis in 42nd place overall out of 43 women’s finishers, Gregg was ready to do something differently.
Caitlin Gregg racing to 49th in the 10 k classic mass start at Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany. (Photo: Marcel Hilger)
“I made a tough decision – well, tough but not tough – to come back to the U.S.,” the Vermonter-turned-Minnesotan explained. “Tough in the sense that it’s always hard to leave opportunities for World Cup starts behind, but not so tough because I’m on the ‘B’ team and any extra day I’m over there, I’m paying for it.”
While the other American finishers from the Tour headed to Seiser Alm, a high-elevation training site in Tyrolian Italy, Gregg went home to North Minneapolis.
“I thought it would give me a good boost mentally and would give me the strength I needed for the next month of training,” Gregg said. “So I spent two weeks at home, and I worked at the Boys and Girls Club and skied with my Loppet Nordic Racing teammates and recharged, and then hit the ground running with my training.”
It seems to have worked.
“Since then, everything has been really good,” a relieved Gregg said. “My heart rates and lactates are back to normal and my energy feels great, so I’m pretty psyched.”
The Greggs traveled to Wisconsin, mecca of the American Birkebeiner, to support the Birkie Tour; Caitlin’s husband Brian won the Seely Hills Classic.
Then while Brian headed East for SuperTour racing, picking up three top-10’s in Lake Placid, N.Y., and Craftsbury, Vt., Caitlin Gregg stuck in the Midwest. She entered and won the Three Rivers Rennet in Bloomington, Minn., where she was fourth overall, and trained with her old friends.
Americans Jessie Diggins (l) and Caitlin Gregg (r) hold up their silver and bronze medals from the 10 k freestyle at the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden.
“I think I’m a unique athlete in the sense that so much of my career has been through community involvement,” she said. “Not just financial support – that for sure – but honestly, I’ve trained with more juniors and masters than I have with elite racers. Whether it’s early morning intervals or training in the dark, or doing a local citizens’ race, that’s where I get my energy.”
She also made a detour to race, and win, the Boulder Mountain Tour in Sun Valley, first training at elevation in Frisco, Colorado.
Gregg is hoping that energy will carry her to another Birkie win on Saturday, and then on to the Ski Tour Canada, the final period of World Cup racing for the season.
“This year is big because I’m tied with an [Austrian] guy named Manfred Nagel for the most Birkie wins,” Gregg explained. “I think if I win I will be the all-time winningest, which is pretty cool. So I’m going to keep trying to do that for the rest of my life – they’re going to have to pull me off the Birkie trail some day. I’m actually standing on the trail right now.”
Gregg won her third Birkie title in 2014, and missed the event the next year in preparation for World Champs – ultimately a successful move. But coming back to the race is clearly beyond exciting for one of its biggest cheerleaders.
“The Birkie is huge because of the community,” Gregg said. “We’ve spent years here in Hayward… I know some elite racers on the World Cup don’t quite get it. But I think it is an event that brings home why people get excited for us when we have international success on the World Cup. Skiers here are psyched to be on your same equipment, or to know what your latest modes of training are, or the heart rate variability stuff, or what your drink mix is for the Birkie. It really brings home the sense that there’s an awesome ski community here.”
Caitlin Gregg, winner of a particularly frigid 2014 Birkie. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Foundation)
In the end, Gregg plans for this to be one more season where the Birkie fits in well with her World Cup racing goals.
“It’s funny because the Birkie motto is Ski, Run, Bike, Live, and it really is part of my life,” she said. “Sometimes the Birkie is what elite racers do when they are done with their careers. I like that Brian and I have been able to integrate it into our international careers – and other athletes too, like Holly Brooks, Tad Elliott, and Matt Liebsch. It’s not just something that you do when you’re done racing.”
And after Saturday’s race, whatever the outcome, she will focus intensely on recovering and preparing for Canada.
“For the first time maybe in my career, I feel like my age comes into play as a benefit,” Gregg laughed. “I don’t think a 50 k takes as much out of me as someone who is in their early 20’s. Finally there’s a perk to being old and having a zillion hours underneath me!”
But seriously.
“My training leading up to this race has been good, and it’s going to be a fast year this year with the conditions,” she said of possible post-marathon fatigue.
So I think it’s not going to be a problem. I’ve talked to a lot of coaches and gotten some good insight into what to do afterwards for recovery.”
Sun stretches over the hills during a cross-country lesson at Crested Butte in Colorado. The nordic center there is hosting its annual Crested Butte Nordic Thanksgiving Camp from Thursday to Sunday. (Photo: Xavier Fane)
We’ve been hearing about West Yellowstone since, well, the U.S. Ski Team officially started its annual Fall Camp there in 1978. But surely, Montana’s southern tip can’t be the only place to get on snow this time of year…
That’s why we provided a guide to Thanksgiving on-snow camp venues in the U.S. and Canada (we realize this week isn’t Thanksgiving in Canada, but we’re sticking to areas that offer skiing around this week in late November for all intents and purposes). If we’re missing an early season camp, we apologize — it’s a big continent — but let us know so we can feature that camp in next year’s guide.
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What:Yellowstone Ski Festival
Where: West Yellowstone, Montana
Each year, the Rendezvous Ski Trails see hundreds of skiers each day during the Yellowstone Ski Festival on Thanksgiving week in West Yellowstone, Mont.
When: Tuesday, Nov. 24, to Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015
How many years running? 20+
Target audience: Masters and beginners (clinics available for both), as well as elite racers
Endurance United team members get ready for a day of skiing during a morning run in West Yellowstone, Mont., at this year’s 2015 Yellowstone Ski Festival. (Photo: Gabby Naranja)
Anticipated participation: An estimated 4,000-5,000 skiers throughout the week. “It varies from year to year depending on the snow conditions and the snow level,” West Yellowstone Ski Education Foundation Program Director Moira Dow explained. “Because we’ve gotten snow early this year and good snow, we have been able to get the word out. Like right now the trails are packed. We will probably have a lot of people coming for longer periods of time.”
Advance reservation required? Racers must preregister. Trails are open to public; trail pass required.
Grooming report: Essentially everything is open. “It’s full-coverage skiing on good skis with full tracks,” Dow said. More details | Webcam
Green Mountain Valley School nordic skiers meet up during a ski on the Rendezvous Ski Trails this week in West Yellowstone, Mont. (Photo: Gabby Naranja)
What makes this camp unique? “The number of trails and the quality of snow that we have. We’re one of the few places in the country that does have consistent, early, good snow. In addition to that, we have a lot of industry participation. And we have great evening programs for people. We have not just skiing, we have the full package for everybody and anyone, from the beginner skier who wants to get out on the snow for the first time, to the SuperTour elite athlete who can train at high altitude, and good snow in the early part of the season.”
Special events:
U.S. Ski Team Development Coach Bryan Fish and the former vice president of Fischer Skis U.S. nordic division, Peter Ashley, will be featured speakers
Freebies: “Everything at the indoor expo at night is free. Anybody who has a trail pass can get into the outdoor demo area for free. In addition, on Wednesday and Friday night we have ‘après-ski’… [with] complimentary adult beverages and junior beverages, sledding, some music, and fun stuff like that. Just a little bit more of a party atmosphere after the sun goes down and before the expo opens.”
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What:Crested Butte Nordic Thanksgiving Camp
Where: Crested Butte, Colorado
The Crested Butte Nordic Thanksgiving Camp, now in its 14th year, is a fundraiser for Crested Butte Nordic, a nonprofit dedicated to getting people on the local trails. (Photo: Xavier Fane)
Skiing at Crested Butte Nordic in Colorado. (Photo: Xavier Fane)
How many years running? 14 as an official organized camp: “Crested Butte has really good and reliable early season snow so the Nordic Center decided we should try to get folks to come here and get some instruction from our great instructors,” said Drew Holbrook, marketing director for Crested Butte Nordic and the Grand Traverse ski race. “We also have a wonderful venue for early season nordic skiing and we’ve been fortunate enough to have been on-snow every year.”
Target audience: All ages and abilities, “from never-evers to master blasters looking to improve their technique,” Holbrook said. “If parents are skiing along with children, kids ski free. All kids 17 and younger get free passes and rentals. And, actually, all season long we do that — people 17 and younger ski free. At the Thanksgiving Camp we also do free kids clinics. So if a parent is taking a clinic, then they can have their kids taken care of all day.
Anticipated participation: Several hundred skiers on the trails throughout the long weekend. For clinics, projecting 75-80 participants.
Advance reservation required? Pre-registration recommended for clinics.Nordic Center trail passes available any time. Skiing at Lily Lake, a 10 k early season trail system four miles up Kebler Pass Road, is free.
Trail pass rates: $18/day, skiers 17 & younger ski free. $130 for a 10-punch transferable pass.
Grooming report: With about a foot of snow at the venue in town, “it’s looking like in-town skiing for the camp,” Holbrook said. As of Tuesday, Ruthie’s Run (5-kilometer loop at the nordic center and up on the bench) and Lily Lake (six miles west of town up on the pass) were groomed. “We’ll have over 10 kilometers of high quality skiing available,” Holbrook added. More details
Here’s a deal: Kids 17 and under enjoy free rentals, passes and clinics at the Crested Butte Nordic Thanksgiving Camp. (Photo: Xavier Fane)
What makes this camp unique? “As a non-profit, our mission is to get people out on the trails skiing. We are not making a ton of money off it,” Holbrook said.
“We just want people to come here and use our trails and make it affordable. A lot of people come back year after year and work with the same instructor. They get to know each other and get to know the other people that come into camp. So it’s definitely got this small feel to it, it’s kind of personalized.”
Special events:
For the first time, a race (on Sunday): 5/10 k freestyle + kids’ race with new homologated course on Ruthie’s Run. “It’s engineered, seeded, and mowed,” Holbrook said. “Due to the engineering, we are able to groom the race course with a lot less snow than we used to need. That enables us to count on having this race and count on have a good race venue close to town.”
Winter Kick-Off Party (Saturday night): Fundraiser for Crested Butte Nordic, tickets $30/adult,$10/children.
Wax clinic, nutritional talk and Nov. 25 is opening day at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, with free skiing all day.
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What: CXC Thanksgiving Nordic Festival
Where: Telemark Trails in Cable, Wisconsin
After three nights of blowing snow, CXC Thanksgiving Nordic Festival organizers were ready to groom the Telemark Trails in Cable, Wis., on Nov. 22. (Photo: Facebook)
When: Wednesday, Nov. 25, to Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015
How many years running? First year. “Our goal for the festival is to show the template to other communities, what it takes to make snow … to provide a business and operations template to other places around the Midwest so they can do these festivals in late November and then have a reliable loop for the winter,” CXC Executive and Athletic Director Yuriy Gusev explained.
A 1 k loop was made and groomed for the first-annual CXC Thanksgiving Nordic Festival in Cable, Wis. (Photo: Facebook)
Target audience: All skiers; open to the public
Anticipated participation: Based on the camp’s Facebook page, at least 75 plan on attending, and Gusev estimated that paired with a local turnout would amount to 200-300 skiers. “We don’t want to make it a big deal … just to show the community this is an opportunity to ski,” he said.
Advance reservation required? Yes, for clinics (instructed by Gusev on Friday, Saturday and Sunday).Trails open to public.
Trail pass rates: $50 season passes, good for the festival and the whole winter. Trail passes can be purchased at www.cxcskiing.org/skipass, Telemark condominium office and Cable Area Chamber of Commerce Office.
Grooming report: Skiing on a 1 k loop at Telemark started on Sunday: “Usually there’s no natural snow this time of year, so our plan was to make snow,” Gusev said. “It just didn’t get cold like it normally does.” Once temperatures finally cooled late last week, the snowmaking crew was able to work on blowing and laying out a 1-kilometer manmade loop, some of which will be used for the 2016 Junior Nationals sprint course. More details
What makes this camp unique? “Anytime you have early snow, you stand out. I think it can be a key component to have this … to provide a reliable base for the rest of the winter, especially for youth programs where the snow is critical and also for entry-level participants. We’ve seen already with the couple snowmaking areas in the Twin Cities how much impact these have on the ski industry and local ski shops. They’ve been able to actually do relatively well in snowless winters.”
Special events: Fischer Demo
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What: Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic Ski Camp
Where: Granby, Colorado
A November day at Snow Mountain Ranch, which opened for skiing earlier this month and remains open with 50 k groomed with a set track. (Courtesy photo)
How many years running? First time in recent years
Target audience: Beginner skiers to seasoned racers
Advance reservation required? Yes.
November skiing at Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. For the first time this year, a five-day camp was held for masters. It ended on Tuesday. (Courtesy photo)
Participation: Capped at 24. “Smaller is better from both a coaching and athlete viewpoint,” Snow Mountain Ranch’s Nordic Center Director Bill Pierce explained. In its first year with little marketing, the five-day camp attracted four athletes.
“It was really small, but it was great,” Pierce said. “It’s so early that people don’t expect there to be snow [when] it’s 60 degrees in Boulder. … We just want to put another option out there; a lot of skiers want to be on snow in early November and Denver is really easy to get to.”
Trail pass rates: $350 for the camp, includes all coaching sessions and day passes
Grooming report: 50 kilometers groomed and track-set. Snow Mountain Ranch started grooming Nov. 4 and opened for skiing on the 14th. According to Pierce, they have anywhere from a 4-5 inch base to 10 inches in some places. It was snowing there on Thanksgiving, with four inches of snow expected to fall today. More info | Webcam
What makes this camp unique? “This is the earliest masters camp in North America on-snow as a pre-Thanksgiving camp,” Pierce explained.
The idea was to run a masters camp similar to an elite or junior camp, with two-a-day sessions combining workouts and technique — all at 9,000 feet above sea level. The focus was on transitioning from dryland training to snow skiing, with an emphasis on technique and slow volume at high altitude.
With a small but mighty coaching staff (two of which are USSA certified), Pierce said the ability to work with athletes helps them set, understand and achieve skiing goals.
“We all speak the same language,” he said of the coaches. “You can go to a lot of places, and a lot of places you feel like you’re getting a lesson. There’s a difference between a lesson and coaching.”
“[This camp is] just another opportunity in the country to go skiing all day,” he added.
When: 2 1/2-day weekend and 5-day midweek camps (schedule):
A gaggle of skiers at a junior camp head out on the trails at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre on Nov. 14 in Vernon, British Columbia. Roughly 800 skiers took to the trails that day. Each winter, Sovereign Lake hosts a series of weekend and weekday camps, called SuperCamp. (Photo: Gerry Furseth)
Camp #1:Nov. 20-22
Camp #2: Nov. 23-27
Camp #3: Nov. 27-29 (with Pro-camp option)
Camp #4: Nov. 30-Dec. 4
Camp #5: Dec. 4-6
Camp #6: Jan. 15-17
Camp #7: Feb. 19-21
How many years running? 26 (The SuperCamp program started in 1989)
Target audience: All ages and skill levels from beginner to elite racer.
Advance reservation required? Yes.
Anticipated participation: Typically around 225 to 250 participants, hoping for 260 this year.
“In its heyday in the early ’90s [SuperCamp attracted] upwards of 400,” Sovereign Lake Nordic Center General Manager Troy Hudson explained. “We want to get back to those numbers by offering some great new initiatives like focussed Masters Pro camps for racers and more options such as the biathlon camps which are proving to be very popular.”
Trail pass rates: Dual area trail passes included in camp fee, ranges from $339 to $925 Canadian dollars per person (depending on length of camp, and half or full days). Pricing
VR40 blue-wax skiing on Nov. 16 at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in Vernon, B.C. (Photo: Ryan Olson)
Grooming report: Sovereign Lake has 40 kilometers groomed and Silver Star has an additional 40 k open. More details (and webcam)
What makes this camp unique? “I’m often asked, what is Supercamp?” SuperCamp coordinator Shane Landreville wrote in an e-newsletter. “That’s a great question and because Supercamp offers so much more than a traditional ski lesson, it’s a difficult concept to explain and it’s difficult for people to wrap their heads around it. Quite simply, Supercamp is a Nordic experience.”
SuperCamp attracts top-level coaches, as many come from across Canada to get early snow before they start their season at home. Each camp includes lectures and lessons on waxing, how to build a training plan, and sports nutrition, as well as access to the national altitude training centre gym, and best of all, 105 kilometers of trails between Sovereign Lake and Silver Star — many of which are used for World Cup, NorAm, and World Master events.
With half- and full-day options, the camp is at an altitude of 1,600 metres (5,250 feet). Many of the accommodation options are on the nordic trails. You can ski or walk to restaurants and bars in the evening.
Biathlon camps are either five days long or a single afternoon, and a new Pro camp is more racing focused.
The Silver Star alpine area opened earlier this week, as did the separate Fat Bike trail system.
Special events:
Keynote speakers, a sports nutrition lecture, and wax clinics
Stretching classes, body pre-activation sessions, and for 5-day campers, two 30-minute massages. “Skiing for a solid 2 days or 5 days is tough, it really is, so taking care of your bodies is important,” Landreville wrote. “For our 5 day camps, you can also take part in the excursion to the spa and pools at Sparkling Hill Resort.”
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Also: Canada’s Early Season XC Venues
What: Frozen Thunder
Where: Canmore, Alberta
Fresh snow at the Canmore Nordic Centre: A n Olympic Legacy Venue now a regular host of Canadian based World Cups. (Photo: Pavlina Sudrich)
How much snow: Boreal Glide, a 2.5 k manmade loop, is open for both freestyle and classic. Course map | Weather
Good to know:
According to according to Julie Moffet, the regional operations coordinator at Forêt Montmorency, la Forêt is the only place in North America with cross-country skiing as early as Oct. 30 all the way to Easter in April.
No races or special events are scheduled, simply skiing and snowshoeing for all.
To reserve a room on the trails (with two single beds and a shared bathroom), with access to a cafeteria, two lounges with a fireplace, game room, auditorium, and wax room, visit http://www.foretmontmorency.ca/en/lodging/
Holly Brooks winning the 2012 American Birkebeiner, four-tenths of a second ahead of Caitlin Gregg (l), for her first Birkie title. (Photo: Darlene Prois/ABSF)
Each year, leading up to the third week in February upward of 11,000 people get sick. It isn’t a sickness that would cause a widespread panic, but rather one thousands of Midwesterners actually looked forward to each year, and it’s called Birkie fever.
The 42nd running of the American Birkebeiner takes place Saturday, starting in Cable, Wis., and ending some 30 miles (or 50-plus kilometers) south in Hayward, Wis. The race filled up in November, with all 10,500 allotted entries accounted for before the first of the year. In total, 10,517 skiers from 18 countries were registered for the three Saturday races, almost 7,000 of them are entered in the 51 k skate race. That’s a big change from 1973, the first time the Birkie was held. Back then, there were 34 men and one woman as race participants.
The race course has gone through several changes since 1973, from the direction skiers raced to the length of the race. This year’s race has a few changes that will add a some interesting twists. For one, the race is longer. The classic race is now 55 k and the skate race now 51 k. The extra distance was due to a relocation of the final aid station and the extension of the finish line, pushing it farther down Main Street.
The International Bridge was a fixture in the Birkie before. (Photo: ABSF)
The biggest change that has garnered some of the most attention is the new bridge the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF) finished assembling on Wednesday over Highway 63, a kilometer from the finish.
The International Bridge adds no length to the race, but it does add a 17-vertical-foot hill before the finish. Previously, once skiers were five kilometers from the finish, it was a flat ski to Main Street. The new manmade hill adds a 10-percent climb to legs that already have some 50 kilometers of climbs in them.
This isn’t the first time the International Bridge has been a fixture on the Birke course. In the late ’70s and early ’80s when the race finished at the Telemark Resort in Cable, the bridge was the last hill skiers needed to climb before they finished. The temporary bridge is 100-feet long and spans 30 feet over the highway.
The bridge was needed to eliminate the traffic congestion problems the race brought during the weekend. Funding for the ramp and other changes is a part of phase one of the ABSF’s multiple-year fundraising program.
The past two years, the Birkie has been a part of the FIS Marathon Cup, a season-long international competition that crowns a winner with the highest points after a series of races of 42 k or farther. This means it attracts some of the world’s best long-distance racers and this year’s women’s field is a reflection of that. In the elite wave, the top four women in the FIS Marathon Cup are entered: Tatjana Mannima of Estonia, American Holly Brooks, Aurelie Dabudyk of France, and Antonella Confortola of Italy. Confortola finished second in last year’s Birkie.
Brooks was leading the FIS Marathon Cup, but skipped last week’s stop at the Tartu Marathon in Estonia to head to Hayward to prepare for the Birkie.
“I’m really excited for this year’s Birkie,” Brooks wrote in an online message this week. “It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been here and it’s great to be back — both at the Birkie and on ‘home soil!’
“I’ve been bouncing from country to country racing marathons and I decided last fall that I would spend two weeks here in Hayward,” she explained. “I have great friends that I’m staying with and it feels fabulous to be in a house [rather than a hotel].”
The new podium awaits for the winner of this year’s race. (Photo: ABSF)
Coming into the race, Brooks ranks second in the overall FIS Marathon Cup standings, just seven points behind Mannima. Brooks won the Birkie in 2012 and knows the course well.
“I‘ve seen the whole thing start to finish… both at distance pace and race pace. That’s more than I can say for some of the courses I’ve raced this winter!” Brooks wrote. “Not sure how much of a true advantage it gives me but it puts my mind at ease a bit. I know where people including myself have made moves.”
Two year ago at the Birkie, Mannima lost a photo finish and placed second to three-time Birkie champion Caitlin Gregg, who is currently in Sweden representing the U.S. at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun. American Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) finished third in 2013 and seventh last year, and could prove to be a threat in this year’s elite race.
In an email on Wednesday, Patterson wrote that she was looking forward to skiing part of the Birkie trail on Thursday, refreshing her memory “of some of its notable features, and seeing the new bridge and finish line if possible.
“My preparations have been going well — mostly I’ve been focused on recovering after recent Craftsbury Supertours, building up my energy, and actually keeping my training skis pretty short and easy,” she explained. “At this point in the season I have to trust the endurance and fitness I’ve built up during the past year, and mostly just stay sharp and excited for the race, which I most certainly am!”
In terms of her goals and expectations for Saturday’s race, Patterson felt anything was possible.
“The past two years of racing the Birkie have taught me that it’s a race in which you have to test your limits but where you never quite know what will happen, where you must always be thinking quickly and ready to react throughout all 50+k,” she wrote. “I believe that I’m in very good shape, so my goals are to trust my fitness, ski with confidence and enjoyment of the sport… and to make it onto the podium!”
“I’ve seen the whole thing start to finish … I know where people including myself have made moves.” — Holly Brooks on her Birkie advantage
The men’s field is also competitive. Most of the FIS Marathon leaders didn’t race last weekend’s Tartu Marathon to fly to the U.S. to prepare for the Birkie. Overall FIS Marathon Cup leader Petr Novak of the Czech Republic is racing along with France’s Benoît Chauvet,who sits in second place, only 85 points behind Novak. Second-and-third place finishers from last year’s Birkie, Simone Paredi and Sergio Bonaldi of Italy, are also listed to start. Bonaldi won the Birkie in 2013.
Tad Elliott (119) racing in the men’s 30 k classic mass start at U.S. Cross Country Championships in January in Houghton, Mich. (Photo: Christopher Schmidt)
For the U.S., Birkie winners Tad Elliott (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Elite) and Matt Liebsch (XC United/Team Strong Heart) will be racing, along with 2014 U.S. Olympian Brian Gregg. Elliott won in 2012 and Liebsch took first in 2009.
This trio has had a pretty intense history in the Birkie. When Elliott won in 2012, Liebsch placed second and Gregg took third. The difference between first and third was only 14.8 seconds.
In a phone interview, Liebsch mentioned how team tactics played a part in previous Birkies, but that would not be the case this year.
“In the past, you would have these teams come over with five or six guys and it would essentially be like a cycle race,” Liebsch said. “The fast sprinters would just sit in the back while his teammates did all the work up front setting the pace and sending guys off the front to disrupt the flow of the race. This year is a little different because there aren’t the multiple-person teams.”
Liebsch added that the style of racing here is different than at European marathons.
The 2011 American Birkebeiner men’s podium (from left to right): with France’s Benoit Chauvet in second, Norway’s Tore Martin Gundersen in first and Russia’s Andrey Tyuterev in third. (Photo: Andy Caniff/Swix Sport USA)
“In Europe, the pace is extremely fast due to the fact that teams have ten or eleven guys,” he said. “Here in the United States, the pace is slower and many of the Europeans don’t like that pace so they would send guys off the front if the pace got to slow.
“Most of the European guys are here to get FIS points to improve their standings for the overall FIS Marathon Cup title,” he added.
Chauvet is currently second in the overall FIS Marathon Cup and has the biggest team entered in the Birkie with four total teammates, while the overall leader, Novak will race solo.
“The strategy for most of the European guys will be to stay up front, in the top eight, get points and then head back to Europe,” Liebsch said. “This could really help out the fast American guys like Tad, Brian, me and Lex [Treinen] because the pace won’t be crazy fast like most European races can be.”
In an email, Treinen predicted that U.S. guys would have a good showing: “Matt looks like he’s in good shape and he and [Brian] Gregg would love to take home a Midwest victory here,” he wrote. ” … I have been training specifically for the Birkebeiner for at least two weeks and I even did some intervals recently, so I feel like I am in better shape than ever before.”
Elliott has spent some time in the Midwest and won last month’s Seeley Classic race that was held on the Birkie course.
“I am excited to race the Birkie,” Elliott wrote in an email. “It will be three years since I last raced here! I am looking forward to a great event. I have had some health issues again sneak in this last month, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. My twin brother is also my wax tech coming with me from Colorado. Hoping [he] can keep me in the race this year!”
The biggest factor going in the weekend is the weather. There was a concern of a lack of snow but over the last few weeks the area has gotten enough snow to make the course set up nicely for the race. The wind and cold temperatures are an immediate concern. On Tuesday, organizers canceled Thursday’s elite sprints because of the predicted well-below-zero temperatures at the scheduled start time. Early predictions show Saturday morning’s temperatures to be around 4-degrees Fahrenheit.
Andy Soule and his hardware from 2015 IPC World Championships: five medals with three silvers and two bronze. (Photo: James Netz)
Andy Soule took one look at the skate course at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships — with technical downhills and a massive uphill — and thought, I could do that. The 35-year-old Army veteran previewed it the day before the final race in Cable, Wis., and found it to be “fairly difficult by our standards,” he said in a phone interview last week.
Difficult in the sense that he’s a sit skier who relies entirely on his upper body and core strength, double poling everything from flats to steep hills. The course was designed for standing athletes — with two freestyle legs in the mixed relay, but the U.S. only had one man that could skate.
“We wanted to enter a relay at World Champs, but we only had one standing athlete available to us, Omar Bermejo, who had been battling sickness during these events so running him twice on a super cold day did not seem like the best idea,” U.S. Paralympics High Performance Director John Farra explained in an email. “So we floated it by Andy and he did not hesitate to say yes! … This is the first time a sitting athlete has done the standing course in the relay, so that was fun as countries came up to me to be sure we had not made a mistake.”
It wasn’t against the rules, as Soule pointed out: “There is no rule that says you have to have a sit skier or a stand skier on either one; factors are just supposed to take care of those.” So as the second leg of the U.S. mixed relay on Feb. 1, he headed out after teammate Oksana Masters tagged him in fourth of seven teams.
Farra’s Take on the “Sit-Ski Heavy” U.S. Team:
“It’s a good thing… we have been able to attract sitting athletes from other sports and they are having success, which is getting attention from other sitting athletes,” U.S. Paralympics High Performance Director and Coach John Farra wrote in an email. “We have proven that we can be a good sport for summer sport athletes looking for cross training and a new challenge and tough competition.”On the other side we are very much interested in increasing the [numbers] of standing and visually impaired athletes who can develop into strong international racers. Those who are finding success are finding it best to join up with a USSA Club program so they can be training & racing with other standing (able bodied) skiers as much as possible.”
“Our team is very sit-ski heavy right now, and while we didn’t really go into the relay with an expectation of a high place or anything, they decided to go ahead and field me on the standup course,” Soule said from his home in Pearland, Texas. “I told my coaches I believed it was entirely doable … it’s probably not any sort of a competitive advantage for sure, but it was an interesting experience, and it went pretty well.”
Soule came through the exchange in seventh, just seven seconds behind Germany’s Tino Uhlig, a standing skier who uses one pole, in sixth. With sit-skier Tatyana McFadden and Bermejo, a single-arm amputee, racing the third and fourth legs, respectively, the Americans placed seventh, 45.4 seconds out of sixth.
From the outset, the mixed relay was the team’s weakest event of the week, one in which they did not field a team at last World Championships. However, more symbolically, it capped their historic showing in Cable, where Soule racked up five medals — unprecedented for a U.S. cross-country skier at World Championships — and competed in all seven events, including the relay.
He was glad he did it.
“It have me a really good gauge of where we are in terms of what relative speeds look like for sit skiers versus standup athletes,” Soule said. “On the largest climb of that race, I was passed by one of the best standup skiers in the world in our sport, Nils-Erik Ulset, of Norway. I think it was an interesting event for a lot of people to see exactly what is possible for a sit skier, too.”
Andy Soule navigates a turn during one of his six individual races at 2015 IPC World Championships in late January in Cable, Wis. Soule medaled in five of those events. (Photo: James Netz)
And he held his own on the descents. “I definitely didn’t lose any time on downhills,” Soule added.
“Andy left Cable as a bit of a Legend,” Farra wrote. “5 medals and climbing & descending Telemark Hill successfully!”
In his eighth year on the U.S. Paralympics Nordic team, it was not only Soule’s most successful World Championships, it was perhaps the highlight of his career after winning bronze in biathlon at the 2010 Paralympics.
“This is a pretty high highlight,” Soule said. “After the second podium, I just started feeling like that wasn’t a fluke. This isn’t just a one-time thing, I’m really up here with the top of the field. I can compete with these guys. I can come out and compete on a level with the top guys every day. It was a confidence builder as well when you have that feeling.”
“After the second podium, I just started feeling like that wasn’t a fluke … I can come out and compete on a level with the top guys every day.” — Andy Soule, who earned three silver medals and two bronze at the 2015 IPC World Championships in Cable, Wis., unprecedented for an American
That feeling translated into three silver medals in two of three biathlon events and the cross-country 10-kilometer race at the 2015 championships, and two bronze in the cross-country 15 k and 1 k sprint (where Soule charged up from fourth with 40 meters to go to take third). On Monday, the IPC named Soule its January athlete of the month across all sports.
Prior to this season, he had a Paralympic bronze from 2010 and placed fourth twice during last winter’s 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
“I wanted to break through that last little barrier for sure,” Soule said of his tendency toward wooden medals. “Between being almost on the podium and being a solid, consistent at least podium-potential finisher … that’s kind of been the source of all the little tweaks and changes we’ve been working with over the past year.”
2015 U.S. Paralympics Nordic World Championships Team in Cable, Wis. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
Asked specifically about those changes, U.S. High Performance coach Eileen Carey explained, “To talk about what any one individual athlete has done to improve is to talk about the whole team,” she wrote in an email.
Everyone on the team is analytical and thoughtful when it comes to what they need to work on and how to achieve those changes, she added. “They have created a really cool team environment focused on improving as individuals and as a team.”
For Soule, it was about relaxing his technique at race pace.
“He has always skied well at level 2, but speed had previously introduced a lot of wasted, inefficient movements into his technique, especially on flat terrain,” Carey wrote. “His ski speed and relaxed technique have always been there, it was just a matter if translating them to a race pace.”
In September, they started with rollerski sessions on the treadmill with live video so Soule could see the changes he was making as he tried them out.
“Once we had the cues we knew worked for him, we brought it to snow this fall,” Carey explained. “It has been an evolution and I am sure it will continue to evolve. We did a lot of video analysis during and after the first World Cup in Finland in December and spent the pre-World Champs camp honing in on some of the patterns we saw from that. He and his teammates have driven the process and we have worked to find the process and communication style that works best with each athlete.”
Andy Soule working on technique during a treadmill session on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.
As a result, Soule came out of the World Cup opener in Vuokatti, Finland, with two fourth-place finishes in the cross-country 10 k and biathlon sprint. While they weren’t podiums, he could feel a difference.
“What I used to be doing was concentrated more on high tempo,” he said. “My emphasis on training recently has been to focus on flat sections of the course, what standup, able-bodied skiers would be considering a V2-technique section, lengthening out the pole stroke.”
He continued to work on his technique at U.S. nationals in early January and at the team’s pre-World Championships training camp after that. He also switched to shorter poles this season.
“I think everything just builds off what you’ve been working on in the past,” he explained. “You keep watching video of yourself, keep looking at races and identify what did work and then what little things we can maybe experiment with to get a little more speed.”
Soule approached the biggest races of the season in Cable hoping to see improvement first, then results.
“I wasn’t really worried going in what specific places I was aiming for — you can never really control that because you can never control how good everyone else is going to be,” he said. “But I wanted to see a personal improvement in what I would be able to accomplish as compared to how I’ve been performing in the past year.”
As for which medals meant the most to him, he said his bronze in the cross-country 15 k was something he’d remember.
Andy Soule’s stack of medals from 2015 IPC World Championships in Cable, Wis., where he earned three silver and two bronze between two biathlon and three cross-country races. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
“It meant a lot to get the medals in the cross-country races just because that long-distance race, the first cross-country race of the week, was actually my first-ever podium in a cross-country race,” he said. “And it also boosts my confidence going into a biathlon event. It used to be, in order to have a shot at the podium in biathlon, I had to outshoot the top competitors. They had to miss shots in order for me to have a shot at the podium. Now I have that confidence that I can ski right with them. If neither of us misses anything, between me and the top competitors, I’m still in it.”
Now third overall in the IPC World Cup standings with two major stops remaining (this weekend in Asahikawa, Japan and at World Cup Finals from March 16-22 in Surnadal, Norway), Soule said he mostly wanted to put together a “solid string of really great performances” for the rest of the season. Beyond that, he has his sights set on the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“I’m right at that age and I’m right at the point in my career where I’m in the prime of real top-performance potential,” he said. “I feel really great about what I have going forward and that I’ll be able to build on it and still improve on it.”
In most every interview in Cable, Soule tossed around the word: “team.” He reiterated that he couldn’t have done it without his teammates and turned the focus toward their many successes at this year’s World Championships as well, including five Americans making the sit-ski sprint finals (three men and two women), and Masters tallying silver and bronze in the cross-country 5 k and cross-country sprint, respectively.
“It just feels really good to have great teammates,” Soule said. “You’re always cheering for each other and everyone wants to see everyone else succeed, so it makes practice more fun when we’re all there and it makes racing more exciting. A good team component is really important to what we have going right now.”
“Lots of good things were going in Cable beyond the medals,” Farra added.
Masters currently ranks first in the World Cup in cross-country. Stay tuned for her interview.
From left to right: Dan Cnossen, Omar Bermejo and Oksana Masters are three members of the U.S. team who will be competing at the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wis., with races starting on Saturday. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics)
Note: This article has been updated to include the most recent information on the 2015 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships according to an IPC Nordic Skiing press release.
This past fall, FasterSkier spoke with Yuriy Gusev, head of the Cable 2015 organizing committee and executive director of Central Cross Country (CXC), about the ongoing preparations to host the upcoming International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wis. It seemed like a long ways off at the time, and now it’s here: being held for the third time in the U.S., for the first time in a decade.
With Cable and the Telemark primed for the event, which includes 135 athletes from 15 countries from Jan. 23-Feb. 1, we had an opportunity to check in with U.S. Paralympics Nordic High Performance Coach Eileen Carey to see how the U.S. team was preparing. The U.S. roster was announced Jan. 9 and includes nine returners (out of 16) from last year’s Paralympics team at the Sochi Winter Games. All but one of them are sit skiers; Omar Bermejo is the lone standing athlete.
U.S. 2015 IPC Nordic World Championships Team:
Men
– Omar Bermejo (Marine Corps/Grand Rapids, Mich.)
– Lt. Cmdr. Dan Cnossen (Navy/Topeka, Kan.)
– Sean Halsted (Air Force/Rathdrum, Wash.)
– Augusto Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.)
– Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minn.)
– Bryan Price (Army/Belton, Mo.)
– Andy Soule (Army/Pearland, Texas)
Women
– Oksana Masters (Louisville, Ky.)
– Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Md.)
The two members of the women’s team found repeated success in Sochi, with Oksana Masters and Tatyana McFadden taking home three combined medals.
Masters became the first female U.S. cross-country skier to win a Paralympic medal in 20 years at the Games, initially earning silver in the 12-kilometer sitting event. She also won bronze in the 5 k cross-country. This season, Masters racked up three medals at the World Cup opener in Finland, winning gold in the 1 k cross-country sprint, and silver in the biathlon 6 k as well as the 5 k cross-country.
In Sochi, McFadden notched silver in the women’s 1 k cross-country sprint, and in the time since, she has continued her domination of the road-marathon circuit. After the ski season ended, McFadden won four world-caliber marathons in Boston, London, Chicago and New York City. It was the second-straight year that McFadden achieved the marathon grand slam in wheelchair racing.
U.S. Paralympics Nordic skier Oksana Masters (r) talks to coach Eileen Carey before her first time on a treadmill on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Masters and McFadden missed U.S. nationals because of injury and ilnees, respectively.
“Earlier in the season, Masters had a minor back injury and McFadden had the flu and were forced to miss the last World Cup event and the US Nationals,” Carey explained. “Both are back healthy and will be in the field in Cable.”
On the men’s side, Andy Soule leads a strong men’s team heading into World Championships. A veteran sit skier, Soule is a bronze Paralympic medalist from the 2010 Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he shot an unprecedented perfect 50-for-50 in all three biathlon races. In Sochi, Soule finished in the top five in every event he competed in and placed fourth twice (in the 7.5 k biathlon and 15 k biathlon).
He split the number of U.S. sit-ski titles won at this year’s nationals with teammate Lt. Dan Cnossen (both men won two races at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah). Cnossen won the men’s sitting short and sprint cross-country races, while he finished as the runner-up to Soule in the long distance cross-country and biathlon sprint races.
Eileen Carey: We had a strong opening to our season at the December World Cup races in Finland with a small group of athletes. We followed that with a great U.S. Nationals that brought together our top athletes with developing skiers and biathletes. Those two events showed both the high performance capacity and development focus of our program, both of which are critical to our long-term success.
FS:What is the atmosphere of the team leading to these World Championships on U.S. soil?
EC: Our athletes are becoming students of skiing and biathlon and driving the process of what and how they want to learn. This has created a great atmosphere for our whole program and has energized both athletes and staff. We are excited to take that energy to an event like World Champs, especially being at home. The Cable organizing committee has always been so welcoming and excited to have us and that gives us a great boost as a team.
FS: What are your goals and expectations for this years team?
EC: Our team philosophy is based on the concept that athletes are their own best coaches. Their training and racing has been focused on the idea that there are no “right” ways to do anything. As a result, this season they have gotten really creative and analytical about figuring out what works for them and exploring many different solutions. Our intentions are that bi-products of this exploration are improvements in skill, self-awareness as an athlete, and eventually performance. Our goals and expectations as a program are that our athletes will keep pushing those boundaries and continuing to think of different and perhaps better ways to train and race. Through this continual evolution, I think great performances will follow.
FS: What are your thoughts on this years course? How does this course compare to 2013?
EC: The courses in Cable will be a combination of courses we have skied there in the past, and some new features that will improve the experience for the athletes. We have spent some workouts focused on some of the terrain and technical features we will see there, so I think everyone is excited to be on the snow in Cable and test out what we have been working on.
FS: What events will the team participate in?
EC: We will have athletes competing each race day, with most competing in a combination of biathlon and cross-country races. Eight of our 9 athletes are sit skiers. Omar Bermejo is our only standing skier to make the team and this will be the first time this season that we will all be together, so we are looking forward to being a full team.
“We have a great team of athletes who have taken a very professional approach to training and building upon last season, ”Carey said in a U.S. Paralympics press release. “We are thrilled to get another chance to test out some of our training and racing strategies, ultimately focused on improving in each race. Having the opportunity to do that on home snow is a great bonus for us.”
The opening ceremony will kick off Friday, Jan. 23 and the championships run through Feb. 1.
All seven days of the championships, which includes 38 events between cross-country and biathlon, will be streamed live at Cable2015.com and USParalympics.org from Jan. 24 to Feb. 1.
Saturday, Jan. 24
Biathlon Sprint – Penalty Loop
Sitting: Men 7.5km (3 x 2.5 km) / Women 6.0 km (3 x 2.0 km)
Standing: Men 7.5km (3 x 2.5 km) / Women 6.0 km (3 x 2.0 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 7.5km (3 x 2.5 km) / Women 6.0 km (3 x 2.0 km)
Sunday, Jan. 25
Cross Country Long – Free
Sitting: Men 15 km (5 x 3.0 km) / Women 12 km (4 x 3.0 km)
Standing: Men 20 km (5 x 4.0 km) / Women 15 km (5 x 3.0 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 20 km (5 x 4.0 km) / Women 15 km (5 x 3.0 km)
Tuesday, Jan. 27
Biathlon Middle Distance – Penalty Loop
Sitting: Men 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km) / Women 10 km (5 x 2.0 km)
Standing: Men 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km) / Women 10 km (5 x 2.0 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km) / Women 10 km (5 x 2.0 km)
Wednesday, Jan. 28
Cross Country Sprint – Classic
Sitting: Men/Women 0.8 km
Standing: Men/Women 1.2 km
Visually Impaired: Men/Women 1.2 km
Friday, Jan. 30
Biathlon Individual Distance
Sitting: Men 15 km (5 x 3.0 km) / Women 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km)
Standing: Men 15 km (5 x 3.0 km) / Women 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 15 km (5 x 3.0 km) / Women 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km)
Saturday, Jan. 31
Cross Country Relay – CL/Free/CL/Free
Open: 10 km (4 x 2.5 km)
Mixed: 10 km (4 x 2.5 km)
Sunday, Feb. 1
Cross Country Middle Distance – Classic
Sitting: Men 10 km (4 x 2.5 km) / Women 5 km (2 x 2.5 km)
Standing: Men 10 km (4 x 2.5 km) / Women 5 km (2 x 2.5 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 10 km (4 x 2.5 km) / Women 5 km (2 x 2.5 km)
For updates throughout IPC World Championships, follow FasterSkier’s Para Nordic blog.
Volunteers get ready to test snowmaking equipment at Telemark trails in mid-September in Cable, Wis. The IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships will be held there Jan. 22-Feb. 1, 2015. (Photo: CXC Skiing/Facebook)
Northern Wisconsin, home of the Lumberjack World Championships and largest ski marathon in North America (a.k.a. the Birkie), is about to play host to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Championships in January 2015.
For the first time in 10 years, IPC World Championships is returning to the U.S. since its last visit in 2005 in Fort Kent, Maine. And it’s coming to Cable, a town with fewer than 900 residents but with a history steeped in skiing since before 1947, when Tony Wise founded Telemark Resort.
The championships are expected to attract 150 of the world’s most competitive para-nordic athletes from 20 nations slightly less than a year after the Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
Central Cross Country (CXC) is heading up the organizing efforts, working with Telemark’s owners to revamp the trails used for the 2012 and 2013 IPC World Cups — two events that drew international attention to Cable.
“One of the coaches, I can’t remember what country, said we should host world championships because both those world cups were organized so well,” Yuriy Gusev, CXC’s executive director and the Cable 2015 organizing committee chairman, recalled in a phone interview.
Cable’s World Cup organizers first entertained the idea of hosting World Championships in 2012, then, after their second World Cup in 2013, they submitted an official bid that year.
When it comes to arranging an event of this caliber — with eight days of races between the opening ceremony on Jan. 22 and closing ceremony Feb. 1 — Gusev said it’ll be completely different from putting on a SuperTour or national championships.
For instance, in many domestic ski races, fewer than 100 athletes typically participate. While there will be slightly more at IPC World Championships, the level of competition will be significantly higher than even a World Cup, which often attracts development skiers. And teams that don’t usually fly across the pond for non-World Championships events, like Hungary and South Korea, will be in Wisconsin as well.
With more top-level skiers on course, Gusev said perfecting details — from appropriate hill grades for varying abilities, to the biathlon range — has been critical.
“It’s a lot more details than anyone would ever imagine,” he said.
One example: the hill that returns skiers back up to the stadium. As U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program director John Farra explained, it was so steep for sit skiers to ascend, especially those with little to no use of their core muscles, it wasn’t legal. And while it was used in the two previous Cable World Cups, something had to be done before World Championships.
With help from former CXC head coach Bill Pierce, Gusev led the task of taking some chunks out of the hillside, as well as widening, flattening and cleaning up edges alongside the Telemark trails. That includes a homologated 5-kilometer competition loop and 2 1/2 k sit-ski loops.
This past spring, Farra and his co-coach, Eileen Carey, an experienced technical delegate, visited Cable to check on the progress and pre-empt some of the questions they knew the IPC would ask during its site visit in June.
“I’m glad we did it, and I think [Gusev’s] organizers appreciated it,” Farra said. “His new stadium is going to work, and he’s doing some pretty significant trail work … Now [the hill] is an appropriate return to the stadium. He’s done some nice improvements.”
The Hytte Recreation Center at Telemark Trails is going through makeover to be ready for the 2015 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships and other events this winter. (Photo: CXC/Facebook)
The stadium has been moved slightly to a higher point and is near one of the oldest buildings on the Telemark property, the three- to four-thousand-square-foot Hytte Recreation Center, which Telemark’s owners agreed to let CXC renovate.
According to Gusev, CXC updated and repainted it as an events/activity center. The owners also granted them use of the Telemark trail system.
The lodge itself remains closed, but as Gusev pointed out, “most of the venues anywhere don’t have lodging facilities at the start line.” Rather, Lakewoods Resort a 10-minute drive away will be the official accommodation and site of the closing ceremony.
“It’s not that easy to find a venue with a trail system and a biathlon range,” Gusev explained. “[We had] two world cups there and all the teams really enjoyed the trails and the layout.”
The opening ceremony will be held in downtown Cable in an open area between the grocery store and chamber of commerce.
In terms of spectators, Gusev said it was difficult to predict how many people would come watch the week-and-a-half championships. Regardless, he said his seven-person organizing committee was working hard to generate as much interest as possible in the months leading up to it.
He’s currently trying to lock down corporate sponsors to provide cash flow for hosting the event. The plan was to initially work with donation partners, then use the assistance of the IPC to attract international sponsors.
A few months ago, the organizing committee secured a grant from the state department of tourism as well as support from Bayfield County.
Depending on how fundraising goes, Cable 2015 could cost anywhere from an estimated $500,000 to $750,000 dollars, Gusev explained. While details and budgets will have to be finalized by November, he’s confident they’ll get there.
“If you look at the Paralympic Games in Sochi, twenty-five countries broadcasted and two billion watched it,” he said. “For the state [of Wisconsin] and the sponsors, it’s a pretty big event to be involved in and the media exposure will be huge.”
T.V. coverage will be a combination of small-scale broadcast and live streaming on the event website. Initially, Gusev said they considered a wide-reaching broadcast platform, but found the cost to be around $500,000 for a weekend of coverage. Alternatively, the live stream, which can be accessed anywhere online, will cost the organizers about $75,000, with equipment as the main expense, specifically a satellite truck.
At the same time, that option creates more work.
“If you have half a million and you have someone come in from New York to come do it, you don’t have to worry about it…,” Gusev said. “It’s actually more complex [to do the live stream].”
And in terms of snow, that’s partly why Cable got World Championships.
“In 2013, there was no snow anywhere and the little snow there was got melted by three inches of rain the day before the first official training day,” he said of the IPC World Cup that year. “All the races were on artificial snow so nobody could believe we pulled it off.”
Part of Gusev’s master plan is putting Telemark on the map as a venue that can hold consistently successful, big events. In 2016, Junior Nationals will be held on the same homologated trails in Cable.
“The standing course is [a] legitimate, hard, Sochi-like course to throw at the athletes,” Farra said. “[And Telemark has] similarly challenging courses for sit skiers.”
(Photo: CXC/Facebook)
The Hytte Recreation Center at Telemark Trails is going through makeover to be ready for the 2015 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships and other events this winter. (Photo: CXC/Facebook)
(Photo: CXC/Facebook)
(Photo: CXC/Facebook)
(Photo: CXC/Facebook)
(Photo: CXC/Facebook)
CXC volunteers cleared the sit-ski finish of several loads of rocks and boulders with Avant Tecno USA on Sept. 30 before the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in January. Next task: seeding it and putting down mats. The same trail will be used this winter for the Midwest Junior National Qualifier, Wisconsin High School State Meet and 2016 Junior National Championships. (Photo: CXC/Facebook)
Clearing the Telemark trails for IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in January 2015.
Oksana Masters (r) during a rollerski in Edebäck, Sweden, near the Torsby ski tunnel, where three U.S. Paralympic Nordic skiers trained with two coaches for a week in September. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic/Facebook)
The second day of the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, Oksana Masters — a bronze-medal rower from Louisville, Ky. — broke the ice and a 20-year barrier for the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program.
Three medals left U.S. Paralympics High-Performance Director John Farra a lot to be excited about, especially after the team took home one medal from the Paralympics four years earlier in Vancouver, British Columbia. He wasn’t at the helm then, when Andy Soule won bronze and six athletes represented the U.S. at the 2010 Paralympics.
But less than three years after he started with the program in the summer of 2011, Farra helped it more than double in size. The U.S. brought 16 nordic-and-biathlon skiers to Sochi and grew from five full-time athletes in 2011 to six national-team members (including Masters as its first A-teamer) and nine development-team athletes.
Tatyana McFadden while training in July for U.S. nationals in her summer sport, wheelchair racing, of which she’s a three-time Paralympic and 10-time World Championship gold medalist in track and field. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic/Facebook)
Out of the 16 in Russia, two of them won three medals, yes, but Farra also likes to point out all of their fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishes as well.
“[Those are] maybe a better sign of the health of our program,” he said on the phone from his office in Park City, Utah, last week. “I was prepared for the possibility that we might win [no medals]. I wasn’t worried, but I will say there was some sense of relief, but more importantly, it was just fun.”
Take Soule, for instance, who finished in the top five of all but one of his six races in Sochi. A biathlete as well as a cross-country sit-skier, the team veteran shot perfectly at the Games — hitting all his targets in three races.
Those kinds of performances, paired with a few medals (which Farra says they “stole”), better define the strength of their program, he said. And when his bosses in the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) Paralympics division decided on his team’s budget for this 2014/2015 season, Farra believed they took that into consideration.
“Our numbers went up in terms of participants and our performance,” he said, adding that they also increased the size of their full-time staff. “I think we’re in a really good place. … I didn’t get what I requested in terms of my high-performance request, but we’re getting enough to do the job, for sure. We’re getting really supported by the USOC, and we’re earning the support that we get because we’re running a really high-level program.”
U.S. Paralympics oversees five winter sports: nordic, alpine, snowboarding, sled hockey and wheelchair curling. Every four years, Farra explained that it’s essential for U.S. Paralympics’ summer sports (like cycling, swimming, and track and field) to cut back and support them in the months leading up to the Winter Games. They do so with the understanding that now, two years before the Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the winter sports will do the same.
“We’re spending less this year and appropriately so based on that design,” Farra said. “I think that’s fine.”
He pointed out that more than half of the available medals at the Winter Paralympics come from cross-country or biathlon events.
“[U.S. Paralympics] needs nordic to be successful,” he said. “Is it pressure? You bet it’s pressure because it doesn’t happen without us, but that’s the whole idea.”
Last year, his program was allowed to overspend to a certain degree, Farra explained, and the budget he has to work with this season — while down from last season — is still higher than it was three years ago.
“There were some elite strategies that I identified to my boss that I felt were really important going into Sochi and my boss allowed me to do what I needed to do,” he said.
That included their Fast Skis program in collaboration with U.S. Biathlon.
“I honestly feel that we had the fastest skis in Sochi of any team in the Paralympics because of that partnership, because we shared information,” Farra said. “We bought into that process and for two years we tested it. That’s the piece that we have and we’re going to keep that going, but now, what else can we do?”
“[U.S. Paralympics] needs nordic to be successful. Is it pressure? You bet it’s pressure because it doesn’t happen without us, but that’s the whole idea.” — John Farra, U.S. Paralympics Nordic high-performance director and coach
Standing in the hallway of the Olympic Training Center during a camp two weeks ago in Lake Placid, N.Y., Farra pointed to a five-year-old, steel-frame sit ski. That need to be three pounds lighter by switching to carbon fiber, and so did the frames of every sit skier on his team, he said. To dial in that equipment perfectly before the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, they’ll likely have to test several versions years before. So they need to start now.
“Medals are good, but they’re not critical; I think they’re going to be more critical in Pyeongchang,” Farra said of building on his team’s established success.
He told his bosses this was going to be a process. “[I said], ‘I don’t want to get fired if we don’t win medals in Sochi,” he reflected with a laugh. “They said, no, no, we understand.”
Rethinking staff structure
While in Russia, Farra spent some time like he did when he started the job three years ago, asking questions and gathering ideas. He got talking to USA Bobsled and Skeleton and was inspired by the federation’s creativity when it came to reviewing staff. Each year, they surveyed their athletes and employees to get an honest sense of how everyone felt about the team, its structure and staffing, etc., and looked at the results collectively to make changes.
U.S. Paralympics Nordic director and coach John Farra (l) briefs Oksana Masters before her first-ever time on a treadmill at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y. See the video and read more here.
He jotted the idea down at the breakfast table one morning in Sochi and vowed to try it in the spring. Then he wondered, did his team need a clearly defined director, head coach, assistants and/or development coaches? Or were there other ways to go about assigning responsibilities?
When he met with the USOC at the end of the season, he asked how other teams under its umbrella structured their respective teams from a staffing perspective.
“I was really shocked at how many sports did it in a unique way, and it validated my instincts that there’s not just one design,” Farra said.
In the spring, he went back to USA Bobsled’s idea and created a staff review using SurveyMonkey, a free-online polling tool. He encouraged his athletes and coworkers to participate, not withholding any criticism nor fearing repercussions for sharing their thoughts. He’d be the only one reading the results, and he invited criticism of himself as well.
“It really drew out some interesting responses where we found some flashes of our brilliance, but we have some flaws in our design,” Farra said.
The good news was the results were in line with what he had already been thinking.
Before this spring, Farra was the U.S. Paralympics Nordic’s lone full-timer. Three development coaches, Eileen Carey, BethAnn Chamberlain and Rob Rosser, worked with the team as U.S. Biathlon employees. Head coach James Upham worked as an independent contractor.
Farra said he sat down with that core crew this spring and shared the overall takeaways from the survey. Mostly he asked if they were willing to be part of a collaborative and different-looking staff structure: with a director/coach, who splits his time between administrative and instructive duties, plus several multifaceted coaches, who work with developing as well as elite athletes.
“While we need to win medals, we’re more of a development organization,” he said. “We’re still not there in terms of having all kinds of high-performance athletes that we need to care for. … Everybody needs to be a development coach, including a director.”
He challenged his own job, asking whether the team’s dollars were being wisely spent on a director who mostly sits at a desk. That wasn’t smart, he reasoned, so he needed to get more involved with day-to-day coaching, building sit skis and helping athletes learn to navigate corners. He would do so with Carey, also a high-performance coach, and Chamberlain and Rosser, all of which are now full-time team employees. But they no longer needed a head coach.
Upham had been a head coach for a long time, Farra pointed out, and if he had wanted to stay, the program would have had to consider if they could afford his pay scale. Salaries and budgets aside, Farra explained that it was more about a coaching style he had to sell his staff, and those that were interested stuck around. Upham left to become an assistant coach at Bates College.
“It was not a relaxing spring, but I think in the end the people that signed up for being a part of this collaborative coaching style are 100-percent onboard,” Farra said. “… Collaboratively we’re all responsible for our overall success. I’m psyched for James that he found something that’s going to work for him and I think he’d say the same for us.
“There was really no drama,” he added. “… I definitely can’t afford to hire lots of full-time coaches, but it wasn’t about money, it was more about being able to take the blinders off and sort of say, OK, can we do this in a different way?”
U.S. Paralympics Nordic held its annual weeklong training camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., earlier this month. Eleven athletes attended, plus five coaches and three to four support staff. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic/Facebook)
Throughout the last several months, Chamberlain, now in her second season with the team, and Rosser have been primarily working with developing athletes — both biathletes and cross-country skiers. While Farra and Carey are mostly responsible for the high-performance athletes (a.k.a. national-team members), the four coaches trade off when it comes to training camps based on their geographic proximity to those venues.
“It makes no sense to fly BethAnn and Rob to Utah to work with a couple newbies,” Farra said, considering he lives there.
At the same time, he needed to skip the October national-team camp in Oberhof, Germany, to take care of paperwork and meetings. Carey and Rosser will fly overseas with the team, while Chamberlain works on military and non-military recruiting stateside. The team includes several part-time contractors, including physiologist Jason Kask — brought on to help lead the training-plan process for the next Olympic cycle.
“We have regular meetings and go over the hundreds of responsibilities that exist with developing a high-performance and a development program,” Farra explained. “You get one chance every four years to build something that’s going to be successful.”
IPC World Champs in Cable
This winter, the world-famous host of the American Birkebeiner and back-to-back International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cups: Cable, Wis., will host the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships from Jan. 22-Feb. 1.
That’s an exciting prospect for U.S. as the home team, with Farra largely crediting its success in the last three years to being able to bring numerous developing athletes to the Cable World Cups in 2012 and 2013.
At the last World Championships in 2013, the U.S. had four athletes and three coaches in Solleftea, Sweden.
“It was just so cost prohibitive,” Farra explained. “Every time you bring more athletes you need to bring a lot more staff. We expect [Cable] to be a decent size team, similar to what we saw in Sochi and hopefully some new faces so it’s a really good opportunity.”
The qualifying standards are still more selective than a World Cup, which will keep the team size around 16 or so, plus a couple guides, he predicted. It’s also cheaper than traveling overseas, but “not an inexpensive proposition,” he explained, when you consider the cost of food and lodging, plus participation fees.
But would having more athletes compete boost their chances?
“I’m not worried about medals,” Farra said. “I feel the support from the USOC and U.S. Paralympics. I don’t feel that we need to cash in a bunch of medals in Cable to get support for Pyeongchang. That would be icing on the cake but … we’re not worried about that, we’re worried about doing a great job.”
The newly appointed CXC Team Head Coach Andy Keller (r) works on strength with postgrad Scott Harrison outside a barn near Cable, Wis. (Photo: CXC Skiing/Facebook)
Three years ago, Andy Keller was a college kid looking for an internship toward his exercise-science degree at Michigan Tech. He knew a girl, who knew Jason Cork, and he used the connection to land an apprenticeship at the Central Cross Country (CXC) Ski Association in Cable, Wis.
At the time, Cork was heading up the CXC Team, which executive director Yuriy Gusev established in 2006 to support promising skiers striving for top national and international performances. Keller, who grew up just outside Minneapolis in Chanhassen, Minn., became Cork’s intern assistant.
Andy Keller started as an intern, then an assistant, and finally a junior coach before being promoted to CXC Team head coach this month, following the departure of Bill Pierce. (Photo: CXCnewsfeed.wordpress.com)
Months later, before Keller began his senior year, Gusev offered him a job.
“I said, ‘I kind of want a degree so I’ll talk to you in a little less than a year,’ ” Keller reflected on the phone last week.
He skied for four seasons at Michigan and graduated in 2012, then asking Gusev if there was still a spot for him. There was, though Keller’s job title and responsibilities changed three times before he officially got started, he said.
First, he was hired as sport-development manager, tasked with connecting CXC to youth clubs and high-school programs in the Midwest. Then, CXC’s assistant coach Gus Kaeding left to head the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) elite team in Vermont. Cook needed an assistant, and CXC’s board decided Keller would be it.
“Then there was a little bit of [difference] with coaching styles and athletes on the team, so Bill [Pierce] got brought on to work alongside Igor [and] I took more of a dedicated role to the junior program,” Keller said of last season. “This year started off the same way … I was focused more on the junior program.”
For the next several months, Badamshin oversaw the program and Pierce worked as the elite head coach. In late January, Badamshin died unexpectedly of a heart attack while skiing the Birkie trail between Cable and Hayward, Wis. He was 47, and his passing left CXC and the surrounding community stunned.
“A guy that works his ass off and is willing to do anything for his program … his passion truly lied with working with athletes,” Keller reflected. “[I] was just trying to carry on his legacy — inspiring kids to ski and getting them excited to be out there. If there’s one thing he was good at, it was definitely that, and also carrying on his work ethic. The guy wouldn’t complain. He’d be out there skiing 50 k and waxing…
“There was definitely big shoes to fill when he passed away,” CXC Team’s new head coach continued. “As I’ve come through, I’ve been working under a ton of coaches; my philosophy is I can always learn something. When I was interning under Jason and Gus that was what I loved to do — learning and listen.”
“There was definitely big shoes to fill when [Badamshin] passed away. … As I’ve come through, I’ve been working under a ton of coaches; my philosophy is I can always learn something.” — Andy Keller, CXC Team Head Coach as of September 2014
Keller Becomes Head Coach
That’s right, Keller, in his third season as a CXC coach, was recently promoted to head of its elite team following Pierce’s decision to accept a job in Colorado (he’s becoming nordic director of the Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA near Winter Park this fall) earlier this month.
But “elite” is a term Gusev and several other U.S. nordic directors like to stay away from: it’s about development and helping athletes reach their higher-competition goals. The CXC Team became Team Vertical Limit in 2009 as part of a sponsorship deal, and a year later it had 18 athletes, including a couple Olympians (Garrott Kuzzy and Caitlin Compton — now Caitlin Gregg).
The New: 2014/2015 CXC Team
CXC Team:
Cory Ellertson
Bjorn Batdorf
Bill Bowler
Chris Pappathopoulos
Hilary Patzer
Andrew Brown
Scott Johanik
Natalia Naryshkina (lives in Russia, plans to compete in western SuperTours and U.S. nationals)
Postgrads: (living in Cable this fall/winter)
Scott Harrison
Sam Boardman
College Summer Residency Group:
Nichole Bathe (University of Alaska Fairbanks)
Nicolette Reker (now at Winona State University, competing for CXC Team)
Tom Bye (Postgrad last year, now at Michigan Tech)
Thomas Kendrick (Michigan Tech)
Will Frielinghaus (St. Lawrence University)
Seth Mares (Gogebic Community College, plans to transfer to Michigan Tech)
International Training Partner:
Leandro Lutz (living in Cable this fall, plans to travel to Europe for international races in an attempt to qualify for World Championships; may stay in Cable and race U.S. circuit)
The CXC Team currently has eight members, most of which will be focused on top-10 results in Midwest marathons to attract sponsors. In addition, Keller is overseeing two postgrads, about 10 juniors and an international guest skier.
“All the coaches agreed, the team needs to get back to the roots of developing athletes,” Gusev explained on the phone. “You would have never called our team the CXC Elite Team, it just came later when this word became very popular.
“We always see our team as a development tool for that higher step,” he added. “We don’t see this team as full of stars, but we want to have a team open to athletes of that level. If it can help them great … It’s just like having a child: at some point you need to let them go and see if they can stand on their feet.”
Considering that, Gusev is encouraged by the direction his program is headed, especially with a homegrown coach at the helm.
“It’s exciting to see somebody who went through the original pipeline and became a coach,” he said. “And that’s a goal from the time he applied from an internship.”
Still, the last few weeks — and months — have been busy at CXC, to say the least. Following Badamshin’s passing, Gusev said the organization interviewed a couple people to hire in his absence, but ultimately, Pierce and Keller stepped up and said they could handled the added responsibilities without another coach.
“It was probably more emotional for some of us, but you just move on,” Gusev said. “The programs needed to move on as well and … we had to adjust right away.”
It didn’t take long for everyone to get back “in the groove,” he added. Pierce continued to serve as head coach and Keller as his assistant and junior coach.
Last Friday, Keller drove 300 miles southeast to Madison to test about 10 juniors at a weekend camp at CXC’s administrative headquarters. The group meets about once a month in various places, holding camps with other Midwest clubs, like Loppet Nordic Racing (LNR), May through December, Keller said.
He also helps host monthly CXC master’s camps, and while he’s not scheduled for every single one, he led a recent camp under Pierce’s guidance earlier this month.
“I made Andy run over half the sessions, and I watched him and helped him a little bit,” Pierce said. Then he told him and the rest of CXC about his decision to leave.
“I saw it coming,” Keller reflected. “Bill did talk to me as he found out more about the new position he was taking.”
In Cable, where Keller lives in a condo on the Telemark property, he spent the summer working with six athletes in CXC’s new college summer residency program, which Pierce initiated.
“That overlapped with what you would call our team now, more of a marathon team,” Keller said of his previous and current responsibilities, coaching juniors and now seniors as well. “The athletes that we’ll have competing on the SuperTour is relatively small.”
Those skiers include two postgrads from LNR — Scott Harrison and Sam Boardman — who plan to live and train full time in Cable this fall and winter. Their main races include western SuperTours, U.S. nationals, and the Midwest Junior National qualifiers .
“We don’t see this team as full of stars, but we want to have a team open to athletes of that level. … It’s just like having a child: at some point you need to let them go and see if they can stand on their feet.” — CXC Executive Director Yuriy Gusev
With an overall emphasis on regional competitions, CXC is looking to assemble the best skiers in the Midwest.
The Old: What happened to last season’s CXC Team?
Not returning: Karl Nygren, Eric Wolcott, Dmitriy Ozerski (was flying back-and-forth from Russia for races)
With a single returner from last year’s CXC Team (college skier Tom Bye), Keller explained what happened:
“When Igor [Badamshin] took over there was little bit of communication issues … a little bit of discontent,” he said. Athletes like Karl Nygren, who might have had as many as five coaching changes in seven years, ultimately decided to leave the program.
“If there’s anything the program needs is some stability,” Keller said.
“As the coach now, I’d love to build the program back up to how it was when I interned,” he said, referencing past CXC standouts like Jessie Diggins, Caitlin Gregg, Brian Gregg, and Jennie Bender. “…That was the year they won the NNF Cup so that’s the level I’d like to bring it back to.”
One of Gusev’s priorities is hiring another coach focused on sport development to further connect CXC with grassroots organizations and schools throughout the central U.S. Looking at the big picture, it’s about promoting the sport and coaching development. In the long run, CXC is hoping that will translate into athlete retention.
“Regardless whether the athletes come to us directly or not … it’s a matter of whether we have consistent, easy to follow progressions, like soccer does or swimming does,” Gusev said of two sports he considers domestic successes in the U.S. “[Those sports outline the] steps to high school, college and beyond, which doesn’t exist really in cross-country skiing. We have all the pieces in place, and we can communicate that to parents.”
For Keller, his goal is to help grow the base and competitive nature of skiers in the Midwest, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
“It’s where I grew up,” he said. “[We’re] trying to make the Midwest more of a ski powerhouse, and that’s definitely happening. We’re developing athletes, but we’re having a hard time getting them to stay around.”
He counted eight skiers in elite programs outside their region, including Jessie Diggins (SMST2), Anne Hart (SMST2), Ben Saxton (SMST2), Gordon Vermeer (Craftsbury Green Racing Project), and Rosie Frankowski (Alaska Pacific University).
“It seems like everybody wants to go somewhere else and I’ve got to figure out why,” Keller said. “I think the level of support CXC gives is among the best … It’s just we’re not in the mountains and we don’t have a glacier to [train on]…
“The Midwest might not be the most sexy training site as a Sun Valley or something like that,” he continued. “… [But] it’s not that we’re not producing the athletes.”
“It seems like everybody wants to go somewhere else and I’ve got to figure out why. I think the level of support CXC gives is among the best … It’s just we’re not in the mountains and we don’t have a glacier to [train on]…” — Keller
In terms of coaching styles, Keller said he gained a lot from working with Cork, Kaeding, Pierce, and Badamshin.
Coach Igor Badamshin having some fun on a few patches of snow. Photo is titled “Snowflakes, ice cream and Igor,” by former CXC Team elite coach Bill Pierce. Badamshin was the CXC program head coach until his unexpected death in January 2014. (Photo: cxcnewsfeed.wordpress.com)
“I’d hope I’d be maybe as analytical [as Cork],” he said. “I’m hoping I can be half as enthusiastic and motivating as Igor … I try to pull from all those guys and find out what works for myself and what doesn’t fit my personality. I would say I’m relatively soft-spoken and sometimes it’s a little bit harder for me to put myself out there. I hope I’ve gotten better at that.”
When it comes to managing athletes, Pierce will continue to write training plans for those that started with him at the beginning of the season, including Cory Ellertson, Chris Pappathopoulos, Andrew Brown, and Scott Johanik.
Keller said he’ll take on those that joined the team more recently and will be in Cable the next several months: the two postgrads and guest skier Leandro Lutz from Brazil, who plans to travel to Europe to try to qualify for 2015 World Championships.
As for coaching and waxing for 18 or so skiers throughout the season, Keller said that working alongside other Midwest clubs at races, especially at main events like U.S. nationals, should help. And not all the athletes will compete at the same events, given their varied focuses — from marathons to junior-qualifying races.
At the same time, Keller said he’s looking forward to having an assistant or some kind of helper in the future. Gusev said the new hire would largely help with junior camps.
In the last month since Pierce’s decision, he said he’d been working with Keller on the transition and will continue to offer assistance beyond his final day at the end of September.
CXC Team’s fall/winter crew during a recent workout in Cable, with postgrads Scott Harrison and Sam Boardman, and guest skier Leandro Lutz from Brazil, who will be joining the team for the next couple months. (Photo: CXC Skiing/Facebook)
“I’ve basically given [Keller] my daily responsibilities,” Pierce said earlier this month. That included even the little stuff, like “teaching him how to smooth out a trail and pick rocks and seeds.”
“There’s definitely a lot to catch up on as far as ski selection and things like that,” Keller observed. “Working with Rossignol, getting in contact with those guys, getting up to speed with things Bill might’ve taken care of as far as a team aspect and getting [ready] to compete.”
He’s also tasked with attracting sponsors through top results in Midwest marathons.
“We’ll do fine with that,” he said of his mostly marathon-focused team. “Our postgrads have goals of trying to make World Juniors … definitely a big one is qualifying for Junior Nationals and trying to make top-20 [there]. The goals for the marathon team is being on the podium or top 10 … that should be no problem.”
He’d also like to bring the CXC Team back to an “elite, elite” team, he said, by recruiting recent graduates.
CXC Para Nordic Team member Steve Baskis training with U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program in the ski tunnel in Torsby, Sweden, earlier this month. (Photo: CXC Skiing/Facebook)
According to Gusev and CXC’s mission statement, the 2,000-member organization has four straightforward goals: to build its base, promote the sport, achieve competitive success, and create partnerships through collaborations. The way he sees it, member athletes are part of that as well.
“[The CXC Team] athletes are in a community to be motivation to adult athletes at clinics, to be role models and whatever else comes with it,” Gusev said. “With competitive excellence, we hope to get them to the level [of someone like Garrott Kuzzy or Tad Elliott, who made the U.S. Ski Team]. We hope the athletes that come through our program will eventually contribute to international success…”
Emerging Adaptive Team
CXC is also focused on building its adaptive program under coach Andrew Poffenberger, another Minnesota native who skied as a junior and studied health fitness at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.
Augusto “Goose” Perez (sit-skier, cancer survivor, 2014 Paralympian)
John Oman (standing athlete, 2014 Paralympian)
“Emerging Talent” Program:
“People who have tried nordic skiing on several occasions and show promise, interest in competition, and commitment to the sport,” Poffenberger wrote. “This is an area where I am looking to grow in the next few months as people turn their attention from fall sports to winter.”
Junior Para Development: Focused on youth development and coaches interested in instructing adaptive skiers in high schools. “Our annual coaches clinic and certification will include a few sessions on adaptive nordic skiing for those interested this year,” he wrote.
This year, the CXC Para Team has expanded to include five elite athletes, four of which went to the 2014 Sochi Paralympics: Aaron Pike, Travis Dodson, Augusto “Goose” Perez, and John Oman. Its fifth member, Steve Baskis, a blind athlete and veteran, recently joined the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team at an on-snow camp in Sweden.
Poffenberger also works with three “emerging talent” adaptive skiers — those “who have tried nordic skiing on several occasions and show promise, interest in competition, and commitment to the sport,” he explained in an email.
In addition, he coaches about four or five junior-development skiers, athletes that “can sit ski for 10 to 15 k in a session,” Gusev said. “Andrew’s done an amazing job with them.”
“Ideally we would like to mirror the development structure of able-bodied skiing,” Poffenberger explained. “Possibly the most important component of that structure is youth development. If we expect to be competitive at the highest level, we need to start developing young athletes.”
Among their efforts: CXC has submitted a proposal to include adaptive nordic at the Wisconsin state meet.
“We are also seeking out coaches who are willing and able to coach adaptive nordic skiing at the high school level,” he added.
Last week, Poffenberger attended a conference with The United States Association of Blind Athletes at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
“I love working with these athletes because they have perspective of the entire picture, and don’t let small things stand in their way,” he said, now in his second season with the team.
“I hope we can keep having more and more individuals like [Poffenberger and Keller] that get involved with a sport as a profession,” Gusev said. “They understand the way athletes move from one stage to another stage and it’s easier for them to communicate with athletes at the younger level what expectations are. That’s really the goal.”
CXC elite-team head coach Bill Pierce recently accepted a position as nordic director of Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA of the Rockies in Granby, Colo. (Photo: CXC/Facebook)
Almost a decade ago, Bill Pierce and Yuriy Gusev took a walk in the Cable/Hayward area of northern Wisconsin, where Gusev, the director of Central Cross Country (CXC) since 2005, decided to root the CXC Team and Junior Program (and later an adaptive program and CXC Academy).
Pierce, who built custom homes at the time through his own company, Pierce & Associates Design/Build, Inc, wanted to show Gusev a thousand-acre parcel — a potential site for a big idea.
A competitive cross-country skier and runner up until the mid-80s, when he studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Pierce moved to Hayward and found part-time work in 1997, grooming the Birkie trail on a need-basis with one broken-down snowcat.
“When I went to Hayward, my first job to get paid skiing was [as head coach] at Hayward High School,” Pierce said Thursday on the phone. “That was enough money for one month over five to make a living off of so I did other things.”
It wasn’t long before he was chairman of the American Birkebeiner Board of Directors and landed his first full-time coaching job in 2007. He built his home in Seeley and dreamt of more for Hayward: a charter school and training center for nordic skiers — and not just any nordic center: a multi-use events center.
“If you want to be mainstream and survive as a business, you can’t just be nordic,” Pierce reflected.
In his development near the Birkie’s “00” halfway point, ski trails touch every lot. Yet without Telemark Resort open, the area remains without a nordic center.
Thinking back to his idea, he imagined opening the events center to non-skiing attractions: music festivals, beer-and-wine tastings, bike shows, and more. Unless its developers were subsidized, they would have to — selling trail passes four or five months a year wasn’t going to pay the bills, he said. But with the offseason revenue, they could fund their dream of a true nordic-training center.
To this day, Gusev has kept that same goal in sight and taken steps, such as researching the potential of Telemark Lodge, to make it a reality. It’s been on Pierce’s mind for the last two decades, and he said the 1,000-acre parcel remains on the market.
“It’s a soft market and soft economy … [and] we’re looking at another piece of land south of here,” he said. “There’s opportunities.”
An estimated 60 athletes and coaches attended the 2014 CXC/Loppet Nordic Racing/F.A.S.T. dryland camp in Ironwood, Mich., earlier this summer. Here, athletes were caught in action during a bounding workout. (Photo: Bill Pierce/Facebook)
But Pierce, CXC’s elite head coach since May 2013, couldn’t wait on that. In the last few years, he applied for other jobs, including with the American Birkebeiner — which Gusev knew about as a board member — and as executive director at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah.
One position near Winter Park in Granby, Colo., stuck. Pierce accepted the Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA’s offer to come on as its first full-time nordic director this fall, and he sat down with Gusev to tell him about it three weeks ago.
“I knew that sooner or later Bill will leave and we were somewhat planning on it,” Gusev wrote in an email. “We have discussions with other staff about possible options if that would happen. We also had plans to add additional staff this fall even before Bill notified us about his leaving.
“It is definitely a loss for CXC and the Midwest Nordic community but Bill is following his passion and I’m glad he found something that he is very excited to be involved in,” he added. “We all at CXC wish Bill the best in his new venture.”
“It was a hard choice,” Pierce explained. “I’d come back in a second to work for [CXC]. It was a lot of factors, some of them were personal…”
In post on CXC’s Facebook page on Thursday, Pierce announced his departure and move to Colorado on Oct. 1.
“… Life is extremely short and we really won’t ever know what the next day will bring,” he wrote. “In the past year, I have seen a lot of loss and it has been a difficult one. I lost my Mom, two very close friends and colleagues in John Hugus and Igor Badamshin, and I lost my marriage. It is time for a change.”
CXC’s former high-performance advisor and CXC Team coach, Badamshin died of an apparent heart attack while skiing on the Birkie trail in January. He was 47.
Hugus, who founded the Knicker Nordic Ski Club in Wausau, Wis. — of which Badamshin was also head coach — and served as secretary of the Central Wisconsin Skiing Association, died last October at 57 after batting multiple myeloma for 17 years.
“With Igor’s death and coaches leaving to do different things, I’m leaving because I feel like I can do something more for developing the sport, to help people enjoy it and enjoy winter,” Pierce said on the phone.
His first job with CXC came in 2007, when Gusev hired him as a full-time head coach of CXC’s Junior Development Team. He worked there until 2010 and went on to co-found F.A.S.T. Performance Training with his wife Kathy, spending the next three seasons working to establish a high-performance mecca in Hayward.
It wasn’t for naught. Athletes like Ben Saxton, now on the U.S. Ski Team’s D-team, came up through F.A.S.T., and Nichole Bathe, a University of Alaska-Fairbanks sophomore and CXC training partner, have already achieved top national results.
Gusev had brought International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cups to Cable, and in the last year, landed the 2015 IPC World Championships and 2016 U.S. Junior National Championships. But Pierce said the next step — creating a permanent nordic or training facility — required teamwork.
“Any project of that size takes a group of people and collaboration,” he said. “Everyone wants to be a part of that growth. I think people need to realize more that we need to work together to do that.
“No matter how small, you are just doing the right thing. If you’ve got four or five kids, just coach ’em. … You’ve just got to stick at it year after year and just be consistent what you do. It’s a long, long process.” — Bill Pierce, F.A.S.T. Performance Training founder and CXC elite-team head coach, who recently took a job as Snow Mountain YMCA’s nordic director
“You think of Hayward as a destination,” he added. “You get a few hundred people every weekend.”
Upon a recent visit to Winter Park, he estimated 1,000 people in the area on a weekday.
“That’s a destination,” he observed. “I call it an adventure park or activity park. They’ve done a good job of becoming a true destination.”
While he said Hayward’s not quite there yet, “they’re different animals,” he explained. Snow Mountain’s YMCA of the Rockies has been around for more than 100 years. “The Birkie trail has been groomed for twenty years,” he pointed out.
Birkie racers on the Birkie Trail (Photo: ABSF/Kelly Randolph)
Since then, the American Birkebeiner has grown its fleet to three PistenBullies and roughly four snowmobiles under Pierce. Formerly the Birkie’s head groomer, who oversaw 88 k of trails and 14 pieces of equipment, he retired from grooming last year to return to full-time coaching.
“I love sitting on the groomer at night; it’s a blast,” he said. “[But] I don’t have to sit on it every night for eight hours.”
As for that job: “I felt like I did what I wanted to do and it was time to leave and do something else,” he explained.
Leaving the Midwest, where he was born in southern Wisconsin, went to school in Milwaukee, and spent 14 years in Minneapolis, was about timing as well.
“I’ve always moved around — I haven’t been home in three years,” he explained. “That was actually one of the considerations: when you’re on the domestic circuit, you’re on the road from October to March. … To me, it wasn’t a sacrifice, it’s just hard.”
He began researching other opportunities to educate himself. When he discovered the opening at Snow Mountain, the idea of expanding an existing nordic area with 100 kilometers of trails, adding to mountain-bike terrain and cultivating the fat-bike craze there was too good to pass up.
“Of all the jobs I’ve looked at, this is an accumulation of all the duties in one,” Pierce said. “I kind of look at it as three phases: running the center, overseeing the coaching, and overseeing the trails. It’s a year-round job.”
And while it will be a transition — from elite coaching to building a nordic culture from the ground up — he said he’s ready.
“The relationships that have been formed with many people, colleagues, and athletes cannot be matched or replaced,” he wrote on Facebook. “I loved all aspects of the position but most of all I really enjoyed coaching the Master skiers. They truly are trying to find enjoyment and re-creation in this sport and it was so rewarding to see progression and enjoyment from these athletes and people!
“The hard part is leaving the relationships,” Pierce explained on the phone. “I won’t forget them, I just wont see them as much as I did now.”
At a CXC masters camp late last month, he had CXC Development Coach Andrew Keller run more than half of the sessions. Keller will fill in as elite coach during the transition this fall, Gusev confirmed.
“Of all the years that I’ve coached masters, this was the best,” Pierce said, adding that they have another masters camp next week. “Being a coach … is being able to look at someone and tell them how to change, and … the level of professional and social relationships that you build…
“You’ve just got to be consistent and keep doing it,” he said of his passion and advice to other coaches. “No matter how small, you are just doing the right thing. If you’ve got four or five kids, just coach ’em. … You’ve just got to stick at it year after year and just be consistent what you do. It’s a long, long process.”
In October, he’ll start all over again in Colorado, assessing what is needed there. Unsure of what the future holds, he’s excited by the challenges and possibilities.
HAYWARD, Wis.(Oct. 23, 2013) – The first meeting between the new owners of the Telemark property in Cable, WI, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF), and other Hayward/Cable area events and parties took place on Tuesday, October 22, at the Cable Area Chamber of Commerce. The Telemark property had been purchased just one week earlier on October 15 for $926,000 by Newco, LLC, a privately held company based in Colorado. Ben Popp, Executive Director of the ABSF, represented the Birkie at the meeting. He reports that the ABSF has been assured by the new owners that the American Birkebeiner, which uses portions of the Telemark property to hold its February ski events, is welcome to proceed as usual for 2014.
“This was a very positive meeting and an open, wonderful conversation with some really good people. While several interests were represented, we especially want Birkie skiers to know that we have the full support of the new owners to proceed with all of our 2014 events on the Telemark property as planned,” said Popp.
The big question for American Birkebeiner skiers related to Telemark has always been how the ongoing and ultimate ownership status of Telemark will affect the Birkie. (The most recent in a string of Telemark Lodge closings took place in March 2013, followed by foreclosure proceedings in April.) Also involved are the ABSF’s Kortelopet and Prince Haakon events, which share the Birkie start and use portions of the ski trail and a finish area that are on Telemark property as well. Along with a verbal agreement for 2014, there was discussion between the ABSF and the new owners about the possibility of the ABSF purchasing a portion of the Telemark property used for the start, to secure that long-term.
The owners stated that they do not have plans to reopen Telemark Lodge. There were proposals from other members of the group to potentially lease the space, but there was nothing conclusive determined at the meeting. For Birkie skiers, the main take-away is that all Birkebeiner events and festivities—at the race start and finish—will go on as usual due to the enthusiastic support and go-ahead from the new owners.
Others who attended this first meeting with the new Telemark owners were James Bolen, Executive Director of the Cable Area Chamber of Commerce; Gary Crandall, Race Director of the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival; Yuriy Gusev, Executive and Athletic Director of the Cross Country Ski Association (CXC); and Ron Bergin, Executive Director of the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA).
This year’s CXC Coaches Conference will be focused on USSA Level 100 Coaches Certification and practical experience that a coach at any level can simply integrate into their training program. Coaches will be able to complete full certification during the weekend and receive certification license and a patch.
Location
Cable Community Center / County Highway M / Cable, WI 54821 / Map
Registration Fee
$195.00 – Certification and Conference
$245.00 – Certification and Conference with Meals
$75.00 – Conference Only (without USSA Level 100 Certification)
$125.00 – Conference with Meals (without USSA Level 100 Certification)
What is Included?
– 2013/14 CXC Coaches Membership
– 2013/14 USSA Coaches Membership
– USSA Level 100 Cross Country Coaches Education Manual
– Training Plan Template
– Athletic Training Modules
– Technique Video Files
Please register by Wednesday, October 16 in order to receive certification materials on time. Unsure if you’re attending until the last minute? You can register on site. Late registrations are not guaranteed conference swag and certification materials.
Friday, October 18
2:00pm – Check-In
3:00pm – Developing Successful Training Plan
4:30pm – Athletic Training for Cross Country Skiing
6:00pm – Dinner
7:00pm – USSA Fast Tracks Course (required for certification)
Saturday, October 19
7:00am – Breakfast
8:30am – Level 100 Principles of Training
10:30am – Level 100 Test (required for certification)
11:30 – Lunch
12:00pm – How to Implement Effective Technique Video Review and Analysis
1:30pm – Level 100 Technique Clinic (required for certification)
6:00pm – Dinner
6:30pm – Round Table Discussions (Training, Strength, Technique, Recovery/Injury Prevention)
Sunday, October 20
7:00am – Breakfast
8:00am – First Aid and CPR Course and Test (required for certification)
11:30 – Lunch
If you have a question, concern or opinion you would like to share, please let us know.
Karl Nygren (l) and Dmitriy Ozerskiy working Level 3 skate intervals during one of three CXC elite camps this summer near Hayward, Wis. (Photo: Bill Pierce)
Note: This is the 11th preview in our U.S. elite-team series, the “The 12.” We asked coaches to tell us what’s new and whom to look out for this season, and we’ll publish the final U.S. preview as well as Canadian training-centre profiles in the coming weeks.
Team: CXC Team
Coaches: Bill Pierce (elite head coach), Yuriy Gusev (executive and athletic director), Igor Badamshin (high-performance advisor, CXC Team head coach), Andrew Keller (development coach), Andrew Poffenberger (sports manager).
Roster: Karl Nygren, Eric Wolcott, Tom Bye, Dmitriy Ozerski; Corrine Malcolm
Eric Wolcott, Scott Johanik and Andrew Nadler during Level 3 running/ski walking intervals at a CXC Team camp earlier this summer near Hayward, Wis. (Photo: Bill Pierce)
Who’s new: Bye, who raced for Eden Prairie High School and is taking a post-grad year before skiing for the University of Utah, according to Pierce.
Ozerski, a Russian, joins the team as a marathon skier and trained with CXC for nearly 2 1/2 months this summer in Cable and Hayward, Wis. He’s back in Russia now, but Pierce says he’ll return for the opening SuperTour races in November in West Yellowstone, Mont.
Previously on the US Biathlon national team, Malcolm had to do some soul searching this spring when she was not renominated. She moved back to her college town of Bozeman, Mont., to finish her degree at Montana State University. Upon visiting her hometown of Hayward for the CXC Regional Elite Group (REG) camp earlier this summer, Malcolm signed on with CXC, but will continue to train in Bozeman.
Who’s missing: Jennie Bender (now with the Bridger Ski Foundation in Bozeman), Brian and Caitlin Gregg ( joined the Methow Olympic Development team in Washington while continuing to live and train in the Twin Cities), Nichole Bathe (University of Alaska Fairbanks freshman), Adam Martin (Northern Michigan University freshman), Doug Debold, who “went on with life,” according to Pierce.
Top results last season: In a phone interview, Pierce said the team’s in a rebuilding year and moving on after some less-than-stellar results in 2012/2013. Nygren, 26, went from second on the overall U.S. SuperTour standings in 2011/2012 to 19th last season, logging his best results in sprint qualifiers at the SuperTours in Minneapolis and Madison, Wis.
A CXC junior development coach from 2007 to 2010 who went on to lead his own F.A.S.T. Performance Training team, Pierce became CXC’s elite coach in May and started off by meeting with his athletes, including returners Nygren and Wolcottt.
“A lot of them are in flux and weren’t satisfied where they were, Karl especially,” Pierce said. “He has the gifts and the talents to do that, and we’ve already been making big steps in the first three months of training.”
Wolcott, 26, “felt fatigued and not recovered from his workouts,” Pierce explained. “We’re in a rebuilding year with him, too.” He was sixth in the freestyle sprint qualifier at U.S. nationals in January in Midway, Utah, and went on to tie Nygren (and Ozerskiy) for second in the freestyle sprint qualifier in Madison.
Coach’s comment: Coming into the CXC picture in May, Pierce said he didn’t have a chance to recruit, but that’s already on his radar. This season, he said each of his athletes have set realistic goals — not necessarily Olympics-oriented — because there are so many other races and objectives to focus on throughout the winter.
“We’re looking at the top SuperTour spot,” he said. “Our goal is to get athletes to the top of the SuperTour, to get them to the World Cup, to get them to the OPA Cup, and as times goes on we hope [the unit] steps up.”
According to Pierce, “Corrine was about to give up on biathlete and I didn’t think she should do that yet. … She’s got to put in some training and we’ll see what happens when she does some cross-country racing.” He asked her to compete at the North American Biathlon Rollerski Championships (which doubled as US Biathlon overseas camp trials) last month, “just so she stays engaged in biathlon,” he said. After two days of racing in Jericho, Vt., she ended up 14th.
This week, Nygren will join the U.S. Ski Team (USST) and National Training Group (NTG) in Lake Placid, N.Y., then meet CXC in Park City, Utah, for the beginning of another USST camp in late September. CXC will then travel north as a unit to Canmore, Alberta, for some on-snow training in October on Frozen Thunder.
As for the transition, Pierce said he’s impressed with guys like Nygren, who have stuck with the team through several coaching changes in the last few years.
“They’re resilient and they’re patient,” Pierce said. “Karl’s first year was [USST Development Coach Bryan] Fish’s last year and my last year at CXC. He’s seen four coaches in six years. Good or bad people have left for different reasons.
“I look at Karl and I see what he’s got to tweak,” he added. “Physically he’s one of the biggest and strongest there is, but why isn’t he the fastest and why did he decline last year? I think at first, [the athletes] were skeptical to listen to me because they’ve heard this before and results have ebbed and flowed, but I think they’re willing to give it a chance.”
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![During the construction of the new permanent start and American Birkebeiner Trailhead in Cable, Wis. (Photo: ABSF)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/12/cap-camp.jpg")
![The Derksen Family Trailhead Warming Shelter at the new American Birkebeiner Trailhead. (Photo: ABSF)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/12/IMG_6318.jpg")
![The Timber Trail warming shelter. (Photo: ABSF)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/12/2016-12-09-09.24.48.jpg")
![One of the Birkie's new kilometer markers on the classic trail. (Photo: ABSF)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/12/2016-12-09-10.03.41.jpg")
![Telemark Resort (Photo: Tom Held)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/11/28007154_telemark-tour-jan-16-2011-outside-view-two-copy.jpg")
![The Birkie trail as seen this past weekend between Cable and Hayward, Wis. (Photo: Vince Rosetta)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/image.jpg")
![Wednesday was an off day at 2016 Junior Nationals, but it wasn't originally scheduled to be. Warm temperatures and melting snow in the stadium and on the trails at Telemark in Cable, Wis., forced organizers to postpone the races one day and shift the formats to a freestyle individual start on Thursday, freestyle sprint on Friday, and freestyle relay on Saturday. (Photo: Hailey Swirbul)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/IMG_1154.jpg")
![Junior Nationals volunteers work on draining water from the stadium at Telemark in Cable, Wis. Hundreds of volunteers made the event possible, and even in adverse conditions, "Our problem is we don’t have enough shovels," Chief of Competition Gary Larson said Wednesday. (Photo: Hailey Swirbul)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/IMG_1157.jpg")
![A puddle in the center of the stadium, where the 2016 Junior Nationals races both start and finish, as seen Wednesday at the Telemark Trails in Cable, Wis. (Photo: Hailey Swirbul)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/IMG_1155.jpg")
![Caitlin Gregg en route to winning the Boulder Mountain Tour in Sun Valley, Idaho, earlier this month.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/16050c1f-1bdb-4265-a2fd-76c56c2ba2dd.jpg")
![Caitlin Gregg racing to 49th in the 10 k classic mass start at Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany. (Photo: Marcel Hilger)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/K7t34oW4STS4eGfzGNxXMAC0yAIk1Zk0i67TQo-cOek-e1452126322695.jpg")
![Americans Jessie Diggins (l) and Caitlin Gregg (r) hold up their silver and bronze medals from the 10 k freestyle at the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/Jessie_and_Calitlin_Podium.jpg")
![Caitlin Gregg, winner of a particularly frigid 2014 Birkie. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Foundation)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/02/Gregg-Victory.png")
![Sun stretches over the hills during a cross-country lesson at Crested Butte in Colorado. The nordic center there is hosting its annual Crested Butte Nordic Thanksgiving Camp from Thursday to Sunday. (Photo: Xavier Fane)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/CB-Nordic-4-e1447710079470.jpg")
![Hundreds of skiers took to the Rendezvous Ski Trails on Tuesday in West Yellowstone, Mont.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/11/IMG_0369.jpg")
![Athletes get ready for a day of skiing during a morning run in West Yellowstone, Mont., at this year's 2015 Yellowstone Ski Festival. (Photo: Gabby Naranja)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/IMG_0138.jpg")
![Green Mountain Valley School nordic skiers meet up during a ski on the Rendezvous Ski Trails this week in West Yellowstone, Mont. (Photo: Gabby Naranja)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/IMG_0165.jpg")
![The Thanksgiving Camp is a fundraiser for Crested Butte Nordic; a non-profit dedicated to getting people on the local trails. (Photo Xavier Fane)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/CB-Nordic-3.jpg")
![Skiing at Crested Butte Nordic in Colorado. (Photo: Xavier Fane)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/CB-Nordic1.jpg")
![Here's a deal: Kids 17 and under enjoy free rentals, passes, and clinics. (Photo Xavier Fane)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/CB-Nordic-5.jpg")
![After three nights of blowing snow, CXC Thanksgiving Nordic Festival organizers were ready to groom the Telemark trails in Cable, Wis., on Nov. 22. (Photo: Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/12278774_1031395940236479_7949141002265399855_n.jpg")
![A 1 k loop was made and groomed for the first-annual CXC Thanksgiving Nordic Festival in Cable, Wis. (Photo: Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/12274223_1032411313468275_2726795297016171275_n.jpg")
![A November day at Snow Mountain Ranch, which opened for skiing earlier this month and remains open with 50 k groomed with a set track. (Courtesy photo)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/Nordic-Center.jpg")
![November skiing at Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. For the first time this year, a five-day camp was held for masters. (Courtesy photo)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/NordicSki.jpg")
![A Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre board member checks out the trails on Nov. 21. (Photo: Gerry Furseth)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/IMG_0463.jpg")
![A gaggle of skiers at a junior camp head out on the trails at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre on Nov. 14 in Vernon, British Columbia. Each winter, Sovereign Lake hosts a series of weekend and weekday camps, called SuperCamp. (Photo: Gerry Furseth)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/IMG_0448-e1448552216419.jpg")
![VR40 blue-wax skiing on Nov. 16 at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in Vernon, B.C. (Photo: Gerry Furseth)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/11/20151116_101327.jpg")
![Holly Brooks winning the 2012 American Birkebeiner, four-tenths of a second ahead of Caitlin Gregg (l), for her first Birkie title. (Photo: Darlene Prois/American Birkebeiner) http://fasterskier.com/article/brooks-outsprints-gregg-for-birkie-victory/](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/10/AB2012_Darlene_Prois_44210-.jpg")
![The new International Bridge before the finish of the American Birkebeiner in Hayward, Wis. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/Screen-Shot-2015-02-19-at-1.48.59-AM.png")
![SSCV's Tad Elliott (119) and Craftsbury's Andrew Dougherty (131) Men's 30 k classic mass start at U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich. (Photo: Christopher Schmidt)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/01/16237507135_6a51b5bc93_b.jpg")
![The 2011 American Birkebeiner men's podium (from left to right): with France's Benoit Chauvet in second, Norway's Tore Martin Gundersen in first and Russia's Andrey Tyuterev in third. (Photo: Andy Caniff/Swix Sport USA)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/02/Berki11Photos2011_-15.jpg")
![Andy Soule and his hardware from 2015 IPC World Championships: five medals with three silvers and two bronze. (Photo: James Netz)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/c-James-Netz-0397.jpg")
![Andy Soule navigates a turn during one of his six individual races at 2015 IPC World Championships in late January in Cable, Wis. Soule medaled in five of those events. (Photo: James Netz)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/James-Netz-1526.jpg")
![2015 U.S. Paralympics Nordic World Championships Team in Cable, Wis. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/WCH-TEam-2015.jpg")
![Andy Soule working on technique during a treadmill session on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/IMG_8188.jpg")
![Andy Soule's stack of medals from 2015 IPC World Championships in Cable, Wis., where he earned three silver and two bronze between three biathlon and two cross-country races. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/10671367_609524119181280_529342833264707080_n.jpg")
![(L-R) Dan Cnossen, Omar Bermejo and Oksana Masters are three members of the U.S. team who will be competing at the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wisconsin. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/01/14Nordicteam_800x375.jpg")
![U.S. Paralympics Nordic skier Oksana Masters (r} talks to coach Eileen Carey before her first time on a treadmill on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/IMG_8198.jpg")
![Lt. Dan Cnossen negotiates the final turn on the course 100 meters from the finish en route to his sprint-final victory at 2015 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/01/Dan.jpg")
![Testing snowmaking equipment at Telemark trails in mid-September. (Photo: CXC/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/10/Testing-snowmaking-equipment-at-Telemark-trails.-Everything-runs-well-just-needed-basic-maintenance.-All-we-need-is-few-cold-nights-in-November-to-start-a-ski-season.jpg")
![The Hytte Recreation Center at Telemark Trails is going through makeover to be ready for the 2015 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships and other events this winter. (Photo: CXC/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/10/The-Hytte-Recreation-Center-at-Telemark-Trails-is-going-through-makeover-to-be-ready-for-the-2015-IPC-Nordic-Skiing-World-Championships-and-many-other-events-this-winter.jpg")
![Oksana Masters training in Edebäck, Sweden, near the Torsby ski tunnel, where three U.S. Paralympic Nordic skiers trained with two coaches for a week in September. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic/Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/USParalympicsNordic/photos/pcb.535129713287388/535129139954112/?type=1&theater](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/10636348_535129139954112_3011401364584733651_o.jpg")
![Tatyana McFadden while training in July for U.S. nationals in her summer sport, wheelchair racing, of which she's a three-time Paralympic and 10-time World Championship gold medalist in track and field. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic/Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/ParalympianTatyanaMcFadden/photos/pcb.597862103645740/597861653645785/?type=1&theater](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/10389018_597861653645785_243737952202347289_n.jpg")
![U.S. Paralympics Nordic director and coach John Farra (l) briefs Oksana Masters before her first-ever time on a treadmill at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/IMG_8216.jpg")
![U.S. Paralympics Nordic held its annual weeklong training camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., earlier this month. Eleven athletes attended, plus five coaches and three to four support staff. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic/Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/USParalympicsNordic/photos/pcb.539270726206620/539269649540061/?type=1&theater](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/1271227_539269649540061_7627019688496041442_o.jpg")
![The newly appointed CXC Team Head Coach Andy Keller (r) works on strength with an athlete outside a barn near Cable, Wis. (Photo: CXC/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/10626496_792941470748595_5695463824068904897_n.jpg")
![Andy Keller started as an intern, then an assistant, and finally a junior coach before being promoted to CXC Team head coach this month, following the departure of Bill Pierce. (Photo: CXCnewsfeed.wordpress.com) https://cxcnewsfeed.wordpress.com/category/training-camps/junior-skiers/](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/andy-keller-coach.jpg")
![Igor Badamshin: photo is titled "Snowflakes, ice cream, and Igor," by former CXC Team elite coach Bill Pierce. Badamshin was the CXC program head coach until his unexpected death in January 2014. (Photo: cxcnewsfeed.wordpress.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/Igor-Badamshin.jpg")
![CXC Team's fall/winter crew working out in Cable, with postgrads Scott Harrison and Sam Boardman, and guest skier Leandro Lutz from Brazil, who will be joining the team for the next couple months. (Photo: CXC/Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/cxcskiing/photos/a.108988649143884.5167.107878629254886/793777080665034/?type=1&theater](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/The-fallwinter-crew-is-finally-all-in-town-and-ready-to-go.-Post-grads-Scott-Harrison-and-Sam-Boardman-are-joined-by-guest-skier-Leandro-Lutz-from-Brazil-for-the-next-couple-months..jpg")
![CXC Para Nordic Team member Steve Baskis training with U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program in the ski tunnel in Torsby, Sweden, earlier this month. (Photo: CXC Skiing/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/10636113_533083770158649_7326128887038534300_n.jpg")
![CXC elite-team head coach Bill Pierce recently accepted a position as nordic director of Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA of the Rockies in Granby, Colo. (Photo: CXC/Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/notes/cxc-skiing/thank-you/809964002358509?fref=nf](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/bill-pierce.jpg")
![An estimated 60 athletes and coaches attended the 2014 CXC/Loppet Nordic Racing/F.A.S.T. dryland camp in Ironwood, Mich., earlier this summer. Here, athletes were caught in action during a bounding workout. (Photo: Bill Pierce/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/10547555_675680555853477_8006636712235266386_n.jpg")
![Jesse guides Shawn through the 50km Birkie Trail. Photo: Kelly Randolph](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/Jesse-guides-Shawn.jpg")
![Despite concerns over the new Telemark owners' plans for their property, the 2014 Birkie will start and finish as usual. (Photo: ABSF/Darlene Prois)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/10/absf.jpg")
![CXC Coaches Conference](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/09/IMG_2373.jpg")
![CXC coaches conference](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/09/coaches-conference.jpg")
![Karl Nygren (l) and Dmitriy Ozerskiy working Level 3 skate intervals during a CXC elite camp earlier this summer. (Photo: Bill Pierce)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/09/DSC04102.jpg")
![Eric Wolcott, Scott Johanik and Andrew Nadler during Level 3 running/ski walking intervals at a CXC Team camp earlier this summer near Hayward, Wis. (Photo: Bill Pierce)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/09/DSC04641.jpg")