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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.

Tag: Utah

  • Balancing Books, Labs, and Laps: Inside Newly Named U.S. Ski Team Member Lucas Wilmot’s Routine

    Balancing Books, Labs, and Laps: Inside Newly Named U.S. Ski Team Member Lucas Wilmot’s Routine

    When Lucas Wilmot sits down after morning intervals, there’s no long nap or lazy lunch ahead. “This fall, it’s kind of all back-to-back—training in the morning, then eating, then class, then trying to eat and train again, and then do homework,” he says. “It’s tight.”

    That understatement is classic Wilmot: composed, analytical, quietly focused. At just 19, the Jackson, Wyoming-raised skier is already juggling NCAA racing for the University of Utah, kinesiology labs that might soon shift toward biology, and a new badge of honor—fresh membership on the U.S. Ski Team.

    Lucas Wilmot was keeping it fun from the very beginning. (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

    From Jackson to Utah: A Small-Town Start

    Wilmot’s story starts, like so many in American skiing, with a local club, a hand-me-down pair of skis, and a family that encouraged movement. “I kind of started with my parents—they just put me in skiing in elementary school,” he recalls. “Back then, it was all about hanging out with friends and not really racing.”

    That changed in middle school, when the sport shifted from pastime to passion. “It took a turn where I started to take training more seriously and be more race-focused,” he says. “I remember looking forward to the trips, doing well in races, and having the older guys on the team as idols. Seeing how big and fast they were—I always thought that was really cool.”

    His sister, two years older, was both chauffeur and role model. “She was skiing too—she’s still skiing now at Bates,” he adds. “I started summer training with the older crew in Jackson when I was one of the youngest guys. My sister could drive. I couldn’t. So I’d just spend my time training with the older guys.”

    The big breakthrough came as a sophomore. “Minneapolis Junior Nationals was another big turning point,” Wilmot says. “I had three top tens there, and I never expected anything like that. That was when I realized, if I actually put in the time and effort, I can see results that impress even myself.”

    Lucas Wilmot (#230 – far right) starting to get serious about his skiing racing at a Junior National Qualifier as a U14. (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

    “Welcome to the U.S. Ski Team”

    If Minneapolis was the first turning point, Soldier Hollow was the second. “I got third in the classic 10K at Senior Nationals,“ Wilmot recalls. “That was kind of a big whoa moment—a big jump up. Will (Wicherski), my coach from Jackson, came up to me and said, ‘Do you know where you are?‘ I said no, and he said, ‘You’re in third.‘ I was just kind of shocked and caught by surprise.”

    That race qualified him for Junior Worlds, where another top result changed everything. “They released the requirements—it was a Junior Worlds Top 10,“ he says. “When I had the ninth place in Schilpario, Italy, in the skate 10K, I kind of knew I’d made the team. Right after the race, Brian Fish walked by and said, ‘Welcome to the U.S. Ski Team.’“

    Wilmot laughs at the memory. “It was at the wax cabin or something. I kind of knew that day. My parents and sister were there, so it was nice to tell them in person,“ he says. “But I didn’t want to be loud about it. I told my parents, like, this isn’t official, but it’s looking like I might be nominated.”

    Now, being able to put on the U.S. suit still feels surreal. “I definitely feel pretty lucky,“ he says. “It’s a lot of people’s dream to do that, and it was one of mine. I feel super lucky, and it’s an honor. When I have the U.S. suit on, maybe I’ll go reach out to someone I’ve never met before—they’re all kind of like teammates to me.”

    Lucas Wilmot (UU), Murphy Kimball (UAA) and Tabor Greenberg (UVM) this past spring at the USST’s annual Bend camp. (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

    Structured but Flexible

    Last season Wilmot logged around 500 hours of training; this year he’s targeting about 600. But he’s adamant that numbers aren’t everything.

    “I’m definitely not the number grinder. I just try to keep it fun—never do too much, always quality. It’s kind of my mindset: always having quality in the time you’re training. Make sure it’s worth your time to be there.”

    He recalls finishing a long over-distance session in Park City camp and realizing more minutes would add nothing.

    “I was thinking I could do another 30 minutes, but I’d just be walking. It’s not really how much is that gonna do for me? If it’s not quality, if I’m not putting all my effort in, then I’m not getting the most out of it.”

    That approach—precision over volume—mirrors his team’s philosophy. “Pierre (the Utah coach) kind of switched it to more professional training,“ he explains. “Every training has a specific outcome goal to it… You’re not just doing it to do it. There’s a reason why, and it’s all part of a broader plan and structured schedule.”

    A Day Measured in Minutes

    In Utah’s mountain light, mornings start early—Wilmot trains, refuels, and hustles to class. “I like to think ahead and plan out as much as I can,“ he says. “School is my priority, and how can I get it done efficiently so I can rest well. I try to go to bed as early as I can and know that training in the morning is kind of also a priority.”

    The key, he’s learned, is organization—a skill honed on long travel days in high-school racing.

    “Being on trips for skiing taught me that if I get it done ahead of time—get all my schoolwork done or just know that when I have spare time, I should try to get ahead or catch up on school—that’s what I think about all the time.”

    Even with 600 training hours, he squeezes recovery in where he can. “It’s a hard balance between having training in the morning as a priority or staying ahead on work,“ he admits. “But I think I learned well… just to plan ahead.”

    Wilmot during the 7.5-kilometer classic interval start last spring at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Cross-Country Junior National Championships in Soldier Hollow, Utah. With a time of 23:12.4 second, Wilmot won his first Junior National title in his fourth appearance. (Photo: Drew Palmer Leger/Courtesy Photo)

    Fueling the Machine

    This semester, recovery and nutrition have become new focal points.

    “This fall I was kind of struggling with recovery after the morning session and my class schedule,“ he says. “So one of the things I’m trying to do more of is focus on nutrition right after—that’ll allow me to make it through the long school day and then also recover well. That’ll help me get energy for the training and races.”

    Breakfast sets the tone: “Usually a banana, an everything bagel with butter, and maybe a little bit of yogurt… kind of got a little something of everything. It’s pretty yummy.”

    The science-minded athlete is applying classroom theory to real life. His kinesiology background gives him a deeper understanding of performance—how recovery, fueling, and training stress interconnect. “I’m keeping on the science track,“ he says. “Right now I’m doing kinesiology, but maybe switching to biology or another science-related thing. Not sure yet.”

    Keeping It Fun

    For Wilmot, joy isn’t optional—it’s essential. “I just love hanging out with all the buddies, training with friends. Definitely makes it go by a lot faster,“ he says. “It’s pretty fun just to crack jokes a lot and mess around, too… You don’t always have to be serious at training.”

    That balance between intensity and levity keeps burnout at bay. Whether it’s running mountain ridgelines or laughing through rollerski sessions, he believes camaraderie fuels consistency. “Sometimes there are places not to focus,“ he laughs, “and just have a good time.”

    Fun with friends is Lucas Wilmot’s core principle. (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

    The Process of Progress

    Beyond coursework and results sheets, Wilmot’s compass points toward steady growth. “I’d hope to make the NCAA team for the University of Utah this year,“ he says. “That’s going to be pretty challenging… but I hope to have more stabilized results and less fluctuation.”

    He defines progress through small, controllable actions:

    “In skiing, just being as efficient as I can. If I’m in a race and I feel uncomfortable, I try to find where I’m comfortable and not make myself too jittery. Being comfortable in your own way during a race—knowing how to race your races—is important for me.”

    When he talks about the future, Wilmot’s tone shifts slightly—equal parts excitement and realism. “Within the next four-year span, there’s a good chance the progress track may take me to that level,“ he says, thinking ahead to the Milano-Cortina Olympics. “If I stick with it, that would be an insane experience and something very special.”

    Wilmot skiing with Murphy Kimball (UAA/Alaska Winter Stars) on Eagle Glacier this past summer during the US Alaska camp. (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

    A Learner at Heart

    Among the national-team veterans, Wilmot sees himself as a student first. “I kind of see myself as a little follower,“ he admits with a grin. “Everyone’s just a little more experienced than I am. I feel like I don’t have much, so I think of myself as a learner and a listener—someone who tries to take everything I can from them.”

    But even the learner can lift a team. “I love being the guy that gets someone to smile,“ he adds. “And make them laugh. I love doing that.”

    That mix of humility and humor is why teammates have quickly embraced him. He’s not loud, but he’s steady—the kind of athlete who brings calm to chaos, whether it’s a high-stakes interval session or a late-night study grind.

    Looking Ahead

    Wilmot’s path has never been about a single breakthrough; it’s about accumulation—hours, credits, lessons. “I kind of never saw myself being where I would be right now,“ he reflects. “It goes back to the open-doors thing—I was just following what was happening, putting in the work, and seeing what opportunities it led me to.”

    That approach—disciplined but flexible—may be his greatest strength. Between lecture halls and ski trails, he’s learning to find balance. And every dawn run, every late-night homework session, is another quiet step toward the next start line.

    “It’s a good, hard balance,“ he says, smiling. “But that’s kind of what I signed up for.”

     

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  • Klæbo was dogged by a leg injury. Then he met a Utah physical therapist with NBA cred.

    Klæbo was dogged by a leg injury. Then he met a Utah physical therapist with NBA cred.

    Utah physical therapist Megan Rowlands Stowe treats Norwegian Olympic gold medalist Johannes Høsflot Klæbo during Klæbo’s recent training camp in Park City. (Nathaniel Herz/FasterSkier)

    PARK CITY, UTAH — Megan Rowlands Stowe was mostly retired from her career as a physical therapist when Johannes Høsflot Klæbo came to her Utah home for dinner last year.

    Klæbo, 26, is from Norway — where, as a seven-time Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing, he’s a superstar. But for weeks, he’d been training in Utah, where a lingering hamstring injury was bothering him when he arrived at Stowe’s house.

    Stowe, 57, has her own history in elite sports — namely, as a longtime physical therapist for the star athletes of the Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA franchise. And as an avid cross-country skier herself, she knew Klæbo had been working out in Utah. She had already offered, through friends, to help with his injury.

    Klæbo and his father, Haakon, who is also his manager, had declined Stowe’s offer; Johannes had just started a new treatment program in Norway. “We heard she has been working in the NBA, and I was like, ‘Fine, good for you,’” Johannes said. “A lot of people wanted to help at that time.”

    [Read more: That guy rollerskiing around Utah by himself? Yeah: it’s 5x Olympic champ Johannes Klæbo]

    But over salmon at Stowe’s house, the injury came up in conversation, and before Klæbo left, he showed her his MRI. Then, he and Stowe went downstairs for a quick exam.

    Stowe’s home in the city of Midway has equipment she uses in her work: a hot tub, a cold plunge pool and a full treatment room with workout equipment. And the after-dinner treatment session quickly wore away Klæbo’s skepticism.

    “I was like, ‘Holy shit,’” Klæbo said. “I felt like, this is what I’ve missed in my career.’”

    Since then, Stowe has become a key member of Klæbo’s tiny team, taking multiple trips to Europe to support him.

    “I call them my Norwegian family, and Johannes my little brother,” Stowe said.

    Klæbo’s first session with Stowe came at the very end of his Utah training camp last year. He went back to see her the next day, but then had to return to Norway.

    Stowe treats Klæbo during his training camp. (Nathaniel Herz/FasterSkier)

    Soon afterward, Stowe found herself invited to Europe — to Livigno, Italy, for another Klæbo altitude camp, and then to the first races of the winter, in Norway. Beforehand, Norwegian coaches had said Klæbo’s injury might force him to skip those season-opening events; instead, he won them both, then won his first four World Cup races of the year.

    While Klæbo’s injury had shown up in his hamstring, Stowe said she helped determine that a tight ankle was a big contributor to the problem, along with imbalances between the muscles in his chest and back.

    At the end of the season, Klæbo spent another week and a half in Utah, where Stowe treated him for six or seven hours daily.

    Klæbo would have a morning physical therapy session, then Stowe and his father would spend some time outside while Johannes slept. Then, they’d return for another session, and Klæbo would eat dinner and go to bed.

    “That was, like, 10 days of a lot of pain,” he said.

    The work with Stowe is one of the things that’s drawn Klæbo back to Utah multiple times — including for another altitude camp last month, where the two did a joint interview and treatment session.

    The thing that distinguishes Stowe from the other physical therapists that Klæbo has worked with, he said, is her commitment to hands-on treatment, known as manual therapy.

    Stowe does soft tissue work on Klæbo’s leg. (Nathaniel Herz/FasterSkier)

    That was clear during the 90-minute treatment session, where Stowe’s sole focus was the front side of Klæbo’s left leg: hands-on soft tissue work, and dry needling, a technique to release muscle tension. She would treat the other leg after dinner together, along with Haakon and Pernille Døsvik, Johannes’ girlfriend.

    “Most physiotherapists that are going through school now, they learn to work with patients for 30 minutes to an hour,” Klæbo said. Stowe, he added, “works way deeper, and she works longer, on every kind of area.”

    Such lengthy treatments are very unusual, according to Brooke Lewis, an Alaska-based physical therapist who’s worked with members of the American cross-country ski team. But they could still be helpful given Klæbo’s long hours of training, and the likelihood his injury built up over a long period of time, she said.

    “If he’s noticing that big of a difference, it’s hard to refute,” Lewis said. “If they’ve got a good thing going, they’ve got a good thing going.”

    [Listen to the Devon Kershaw Show: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo has a lot to say. We listened.]

    Stowe said she can sustain the physical demands of her work because she’s built up stamina in three decades as a physical therapist, and also because she’s been a rock climber.

    Stowe actually started her physical therapy practice in the back of a Wisconsin climbing gym. She connected with the Bucks basketball team in her first week, when a surgeon she knew asked if she could evaluate a player: Glenn Robinson, the now-retired NBA all-star known as the “Big Dog.”

    “And then, as I was working with him, Ray Allen” — now an NBA Hall of Fame member — “asked if I would look at him,” Stowe said.

    Stowe poses for a photo with Andrew Bogut, the 7-foot-tall former player for the Milwaukee Bucks. (Courtesy Megan Rowlands Stowe)

    After a year of treating players outside of games, the team’s trainer told Stowe to show up at the Bucks’ first pre-season matchup.

    “I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, I’ve never covered games before. That’s not part of the deal,’” she said. “They were like, ‘no, no — we fired our physical therapist. You’re our physical therapist.’”

    Stowe worked for the Bucks for 17 years; Bud Selig, the former commissioner of Major League Baseball, was also a longtime client. But Stowe was never a big basketball or baseball fan — she was more interested in endurance sports, like adventure racing. She also got into cross-country skiing in her late 20s, and has raced the American Birkebeiner nine times.

    After selling her physical therapy practice, Stowe moved to Utah in 2020 and spent much of her time playing outside before she got involved in the local cross-country skiing community. That community ultimately connected her with the Klæbos.

    Her work with the Norwegian superstar — for which, she said, she’s paid “very well” — has been an honor, but also just fun, she added.

    “To be introduced to the best endurance athlete in the world was kind of icing on the cake, when I thought I was done with my career,” she said.

    In Europe, the Klæbos have supplied her with gear so that she can go skiing while Johannes trains; she’ll also tape videos and observe some of his harder workouts. They talk about strength workouts, nutrition and other elements of his training program.

    She and Johannes have developed an easy working relationship, each of them said. Their hours of conversations have improved his English, but Stowe also understands that sometimes, he’s too tired or grouchy to talk.

    “I can sense it,” she said. “I just leave him alone.”

    This screengrab shows a Norwegian newspaper story about Megan Rowlands Stowe’s work with Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.

    Their work together has put Stowe on the pages of Norwegian tabloids, with photographers sometimes taking her by surprise. Norway’s fervor for skiing, she said, was simultaneously shocking while also evoking the hype that surrounds her favorite American football team, the Green Bay Packers.

    How long will the partnership last? Klæbo said it’s “all up to Megan.”

    Stowe said she feels a kinship with the Klæbos, and expects to return to Europe three times this winter to work with them.

    “It’s easy,” she said. “It’s not a stressful situation.”

  • Several RMISA Schools Currently Without an Active Nordic Coach

    Several RMISA Schools Currently Without an Active Nordic Coach

    Matthew Perry Johnson, shown here in an earlier position with Alaska Winter Stars, began working as the new head coach for the Montana State University Ski Team in August 2015. (Photo: Montana State University)

    Multiple schools in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association are experiencing flux with their nordic coaching staff going into the 2020/2021 ski season, according to representatives from each school. The schools in question are the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Utah, and Montana State University, all of which have well-established nordic programs that placed highly at last year’s NCAA Championships. Neither Anchorage nor Montana State currently has anyone filling this position. Utah has two nordic coaches on staff, but they are both subject to furloughs of unknown length due to budget shortfalls.

    University of Alaska Anchorage, or UAA, has multiple problems for the future: The Board of Regents is meeting today and tomorrow to vote on a proposal from the chancellor and athletic director to cut both the men’s and women’s ski teams after this academic year. But it appears to have a more immediate problem for the present: The school does not officially have anyone currently coaching the nordic team.

    The current roster page for the UAA ski team lists Marine Dusser Bjornsen as the assistant nordic coach, and Adam Verrier as the volunteer assistant coach. But Verrier is just that – while an enthusiastic volunteer assistant, he is not employed by UAA directly. And Dusser Bjornsen is no longer listed in the online directory for UAA employees, which does list both Head Ski Coach Sparky Anderson and Assistant Alpine Ski Coach Anna Berecz.

    Marine Dusser was named RMISA Nordic Coach of the Year in her first year leading the UAA Seawolves. (Photo: Adam Verrier)

    Trond Flagstad was announced as the new UAA head nordic coach in May 2019, and was set to “begin his duties on August 18th,” 2019. What appears to be his official UAA bio page is still available online (albeit at a site not hosted by UAA). Nonetheless, Flagstad does not seem to have publicly coached at UAA during the 2019/2020 ski season or academic year. He is not listed as a current UAA employee in the online directory.

    “Our nordic ski position is currently vacant and we are working through the hiring process,” a UAA media relations representative wrote to FasterSkier on Thursday.

    There is no ski coaching position currently listed on the UAA jobs site.

    At the University of Utah, meanwhile, Athletic Director Mark Harlan announced last week that the school would furlough every employee in its athletic department, for periods ranging from 1 to 8 weeks. The news was widely reported by, among others, the Deseret News, Sports Illustrated, and local TV station KUTV.

    In a September 5 tweet, Harlan wrote, “All staff and coaches will furlough a minimum of 1 week to a maximum of 8 weeks.Head coaches, myself and cabinet will furlough for 2 weeks. We are fully operational as we stagger the schedule through Jan 1.  Sharing this sacrifice as a team allows us to emerge stronger than ever.”

    Following the decision of the Pac-12 conference to postpone all fall sports – in particular, the main revenue sport of football – Harlan told the Deseret News in August that the decision could lead to the school losing $50 to $60 million in income against an annual budget of $91 million.

    “Everyone in the athletic department is furloughed anywhere from 1-8 weeks,” wrote Utah media relations representative Joseph Feldman to FasterSkier on Thursday. “The priority on when those furloughs are happening is to make sure the student-athletes are still operating as normally as they can and still have all of the resources they need. The rest of the department will be fully functional as the furloughs are staggered until January 1.”

    Utah media relations representative Paul Kirk did not directly answer specific questions about when Director of Skiing Fredrik Landstedt and Head Nordic Coach Miles Havlick will be or have been furloughed, or for how long the two men will be or have been furloughed. Kirk wrote to FasterSkier on Saturday, “We are unable to share specifics about when any staff member or coach is on furlough, but when an individual is on furlough his or her email out of office reply may reflect that.”

    It appears from Harlan’s tweet and Feldman’s statement that both Landstedt and Havlick have been or will be furloughed for some period of between 1 to 8 weeks, at some point between last week and January 1, 2021. If either or both of them is treated as a “head coach” under Harlan’s standards, then his furlough is or will be for 2 weeks.

    On Sunday, through a spokesman, Landstedt stated, “The ski coaches are staggering their furloughs during the fall, and one or more coaches will be working at all times during this period. The University of Utah Ski team has been practicing with coaches present since the second week of school.”

    Counting alpine coaches and student assistant coaches, Utah has a healthy six coaches currently listed on its roster. 400 miles to the north, however, Montana State University only has two people listed as ski coaching staff: Kevin Francis, the head alpine coach, and Emily Danza, assistant alpine coach. (The “staff” section for the women’s skiing roster looks the same.)

    Screenshot of MSU coaching staff page as of Sept. 9, 2020.

    But earlier this summer (on June 22, the last date the ski roster page was archived by the Wayback Machine), the staff section looked like this:

    Screenshot of MSU coaching staff page, as archived at the Internet Archive: Wayback Machine on June 22, 2020.

    That’s Matthew Johnson and Sawyer Kesselheim, both recently associated with the MSU nordic team but no longer there.

    The Montana State athletic department confirmed in a Thursday email to FasterSkier that both men had moved on: “We received a letter of resignation from Matt Johnson last week. Montana State is currently working with its HR Department to search for a new head coach. Sawyer Kesselheim was not planning on returning this season.”

    There is no ski coaching position currently listed on the MSU jobs site.

    As of Thursday morning, Johnson was still listed as the head nordic coach in the MSU online directory:

    Screenshot of MSU faculty and staff directory on Sept. 10, 2020.

    He also still lists his current job as MSU head nordic coach on Facebook and LinkedIn.

    Attempts to contact Johnson on Wednesday and Thursday for comment were not immediately successful.

    Montana State placed seventh at this year’s NCAA Championships. UAA was sixth, and Utah was first. Of the six RMISA schools that scored points in the nordic race at this year’s NCAA Championships – UAA, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Colorado, Denver, MSU, and Utah – fully half of them are without an active nordic ski coach at this point in the season. It further appears that Denver (second at this year’s NCAAs), which last season employed Rogan Brown as an assistant nordic coach, only has head nordic coach Toni Roponen at present, with no assistant coach for the nordic team.

    This story has been updated with additional information about the timing and nature of furloughs at the University of Utah.

  • Men Go to SoHo, U.S. Women in the Methow (Camp Photo Galleries)

    Men Go to SoHo, U.S. Women in the Methow (Camp Photo Galleries)

    The U.S. Ski Team women’s team at work during a 10-day camp in the Methow Valley. (Photo: Matt Whitcomb/U.S. Ski Team)

    (Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Canadian coach Ivan Babikov on his team’s recent camp in Park City, Utah.)

    Two days after Andy Newell and Erika Flowers tied the knot in Bozeman, Mont., seven members of the men’s U.S. Ski Team and eight U.S. women’s team members jumped into an intensity training block at their respective dryland camps in Park City, Utah, and the Methow Valley in northern Washington.

    The 10-day camps were scheduled simultaneously from June 26-July 5 to accommodate the wedding. Newell is a longtime U.S. Ski Team (USST) member and teammates with Flowers on the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team out of Stratton, Vt. Because several national-team members ventured to Bozeman (Flowers’s hometown) to watch them say “I do,” the USST coaches decided to reduce travel and keep their squads together out west.

    “We wanted to capture the men in the Intermountain West immediately following Andy Newell’s wedding in Bozeman, and therefore reduce the overall travel load for athletes who were already coming to the West from the East or Alaska,” head coach Chris Grover explained in an email.

    The men based themselves in Midway, Utah, about 1,500 feet lower in elevation than Park City and 1,000 feet lower than Deer Valley, where they typically reside for summer and fall camps. Grover explained that this was by design, “because of the shorter duration of the camp (i.e. too short to create a meaningful stay at altitude), the focus on specific intensity workouts, and the benefits of quicker recovery at lower altitude,” he wrote.

    Staying closer to the Soldier Hollow training venue was also ideal for the men’s team’s “PyeongChang-specific workouts”, Grover explained, including sessions focused on the freestyle team sprint, classic sprint and 4 x 10-kilometer relay, which will be contested at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

    Newell, Simi Hamilton, Erik Bjornsen, Scott Patterson, Paddy Caldwell, Ian Torchia, and Ben Saxton attended and worked with coaches Jason Cork, Pat O’Brien, Grover, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard Strength and Conditioning Coach Tschana Schiller.

    “The men did a great job of bringing heightened focus and effort to these key intensity workouts and we are grateful to the staff at Soldier Hollow for preparing the track for us,” Grover wrote. “Overall, it was a very productive camp and I think sent the men into the main summer preparation period with important areas to work on, a good gauge of fitness, and a further understanding of what skills need to be developed for the WC [World Cup] season and for PyeongChang.”

    (Article continues below)

    ***

    Meanwhile, the U.S. women tried a new camp in the Methow Valley, home of current national-team members Sadie and Erik Bjornsen. The athletes themselves dubbed it the “CAGS Camp“, which U.S. women’s coach Matt Whitcomb explained stood for “a secret and mildly inappropriate team acronym that pokes fun at girls being girls. Sophie had hats made for the camp that she handed out at the airport when everyone arrived.”

    All kidding aside, the goal of the camp was to be small and intensity focused, “with eight days of training and hard intervals every other day,” Whitcomb wrote in an email. “It’s an unusual setup for our team as we usually run joint camps with the men, but both enjoyed the simplicity of having such small training groups.

    “We chose the Methow in part because it is where Sadie and Erik Bjornsen grew up, but also because we could get close to sea-level to maximize our hard efforts,” he added. “Another draw was that Pete Dickenson, one of our team physical therapists, was able to provide great treatment all week. Winthrop PT & Fitness sponsored our strength sessions, which meant we didn’t have to drive very far to get strong.”

    Like Grover, Whitcomb used the word “ideal” to describe the Methow as a training site, yet emphasized that the community that hosted them was “even more incredible.”

    “A local couple gave us their two cabins in a location as beautiful as we’ve seen anywhere in the world,” he wrote. “The chance to meet Olympians Laura McCabe (’94, ’98) and Leslie Hall (’88, ’92, ’94) was an important experience for the team. We owe them special thanks not for just guiding us to their favorite training spots, but for helping pave the early path for elite women’s skiing.”

    The women’s team, which included Sadie Bjornsen, Rosie Brennan, Sophie Caldwell, Jessie Diggins, Katharine Ogden, Kikkan Randall, Ida Sargent, and Liz Stephen, spent one afternoon working with with the Methow Valley Nordic Team, which McCabe and Hall both coach.

    “We invited a handful of their top athletes to join our bounding and ski walking sessions, and were encouraged by their technique and fitness, but also their love for the sport,” Whitcomb wrote. “They are doing a good job up there. I don’t know what the future holds for us regarding camp locations, but the Methow Valley will be considered as a great option moving forward.  Thanks to so many people for making it happen.”

    Women’s team staff included Whitcomb, Tim Baucom and physical therapist Pete Dickenson.

    (Article continues below)

    ***

    Cross Country Canada also recently finished up a two-week camp in Park City (June 26-July 11) with its entire men’s World Cup team — Alex Harvey, Len Valjas, Devon Kershaw, Jess Cockney, Knute Johnsgaard, and Graeme Killick — and U25 national-team member Julien Locke. Co-World Cup coaches Ivan Babikov and Louis Bouchard accompanied the team for the duration, and Joel Jaques joined for the first week.

    While Park City has become an annual staple for the Canadian team, Babikov explained that this was their first time there in the summer, as opposed to the fall.

    “We love the area and training there. … It was pretty hot but we managed,” he wrote. “The main goal was a big training volume/hours at the altitude. We were planing on doing a time trial at the SoHo but it got closed for those dates so we ended up doing intensity down in Salt Lake instead.
    It was a great camp for all the guys, everyone feels good and no injuries on the team.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BWF7eG6HLJo/?taken-by=coach_babs_

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BWP_Wi_nYV3/?taken-by=coach_babs_

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BWdDCu1nObo/?taken-by=coach_babs_

  • 17 Questions for 2017: Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt

    17 Questions for 2017: Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt

    Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt and Stuart Harden outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia, this fall. (Courtesy photo)
    Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (r) and Stuart Harden outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia, this fall. (Courtesy photo)

    Welcome to “17 Questions for 2017”, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season.

    ***

    Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt ended last season on a high note: Canada’s 2015 World Championships team member won the sprint qualifier and placed second in the final at Canadian National Championships. The 24-year-old member of Cross Country Canada’s U25 Team had to take a pause this summer, however, after suffering a stress fracture in her foot.

    “I first felt pain in my feet three years ago, and was diagnosed with sesamoiditis (which is just a fancy word for inflammation of the sesamoid bone),” Bouffard-Nesbitt explained in an email. “I was told at the time and again over the three years that followed that the only thing I could do about it was try and manage the pain and avoid things that really hurt it, so I stopped running. It kept getting worse until last winter when at times I couldn’t put any weight on it.

    “Then I sought the help of a specialist who told me I had stress reactions,” she continued. “The stress reactions are what made my healing time so long. According to X-rays, the bone is completely healed from the stress fracture in my right sesamoid, but I’m still dealing with pain. I’ve been told that what I have to watch out for is acheyness post-skiing. If I can limit that, then I won’t be further damaging my foot. It’s  dry much up and down, but I’m really trying to keep the acheing to a minimum. And I’m just skiing through any pain or soreness I have when skiing.”

    Bouffard-Nesbitt returned to rollerskiing this fall and has already raced in Canmore, finishing second in both the Frozen Thunder skate sprint qualifier and the Alberta Cup 6.3 k interval-start classic race.

    1. Biggest change in your life in the last five or so months since the ski season ended?

    The disbanding of the Bad Panda Love Shack, BPLS, i.e. losing two of my roomies to Saskatchewan and Halifax, and then having to move houses.

    2. Biggest change in your training?

    Bouffard-Nesbitt on her first rollerski of the year, when the leaves on the aspens were already turning gold. (Courtesy photo)
    Bouffard-Nesbitt on her first rollerski of the year, when the leaves on the aspens were already turning gold. (Courtesy photo)

    I was on crutches this summer and it really affected my training. I didn’t do any weight bearing training for 3 months (just swimming, spinning, and upper body strength.) It’s maybe the longest I’ve ever gone without being on snow (end of March until October) or doing anything ski specific for that matter.

    3. Major areas of improvement you’ve seen so far?

    Upper body strength! There are always gains to be made in times of adversity and positives to come out of otherwise crappy situations. I’ve always wanted to get stronger, and the swimming really helped towards achieving my summer goal of getting “jacked” shoulders.

    4. Whom you’ve been working closest with this offseason (coaches or training partners)?

    Because of my injury I hardly spent any time around my team. I would definitely say I worked closest with my support team who played an important role in my healing — my strength coach Shelley, massage therapists Jodi and Scott, my osteo Shayne and my physio Sarah. I’m really grateful for how much they helped me through the summer.

    5. Best trip in the last five months (and why)?

    I recently came back from spending a week in Halifax visiting my boyfriend at The University of King’s College! It was the best. We watched a Halifax Mooseheads game (You just can’t stop the Moose!).

    6. Favorite cross-training?

    Running/ hiking up mountains, for sure.

    7. Favorite non-athletic activity or pastime this summer?

    Brainstorming sessions and talking big ideas with the big boss, Peter [Collins, CEO at Buff Canada/Green Extreme Outdoor]. We’ve had lots of meetings discussing things like the biggest problems we think our country is facing in terms of consumerism and sustainability. All centred around preserving the environment. All of these sessions also had the goal of coming up with some new business ideas that woulc hopefully provide some solutions to the problems.

    8. Song that was your jam this summer?

    "We raced the first two laps pretty hard. I was happy with it … But then my legs were just so burned. I wish I could have fought harder at the end, but my legs just wouldn’t let me. ... Every day I get to keep starting a race in the Tour is a privilege, and I am excited to go to Canmore." - Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt in the Ski Tour Canada
    Canada’s Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (52) racing at the Ski Tour Canada last March.

    September by Earth Wind and Fire. It was actually the first song I danced to after I finally got rid of my crutches (which was right at the end of August). It was fitting, and I love that song so much. It was one of the best solo kitchen boogie down’s ever.

    9. All-time favorite race moment?

    There are a few that share the top spot, but I’ll go with – the utter chaos that was the first 3 km of the Montreal Ski Tour Canada mass start race. The combination of the snow conditions, the crashes and pile ups and the downhills…I was just dodging people left and right, having the time of my life. I live for that!

    10. First thing you pack in your bag when you leave for Europe?

    My race day essentials, starting with my race suit.

    11. Venue/event you’re most excited to visit this season?

    My race schedule is not set in stone, so I’m not totally sure where I’ll be heading. For starters, I’m looking forward to racing in Soldier Hollow – also know as the venue where Canadian LEGEND Beckie Scott won Canada’s first ever xc Olympic medal. I should probably ask her for some tips before I leave.

    12. Who will win the World Cup title this year?

    "I spent a day at the Viking canoe/kayak club near my hometown, where I used to coach kids as a summer job." (Courtesy photo)
    “I spent a day at the Viking canoe/kayak club near my hometown, where I used to coach kids as a summer job.” (Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt courtesy photo)

    No one can know such things. I’d love to see some North Americans in the top spots in both the men’s and women’s competitions. If you want to know which Norwegian I’m rooting for (other than Marit), it’s Heidi Weng. I’d very much like to be friends with her.

    13. Biggest sacrifice you feel you’ve made choosing this career path?

    Everyday I’m grateful that I am living every ski bum’s dream.

    14. If you could change one thing about your sport, what would it be?

    I would raise the minimum permissible race temperature from -20C to -15C to better protect athletes’ lungs from unnecessary damage. And, to add to what’s already been said by many fellow racers, I would place a really strong moral compass in every athlete to keep them from doping or cheating.

    15. What did you have for breakfast this morning?

    Oatmeal, red fife (shout out to Vigilante Rising) and a smoothie.

    16. In 5 years, I’ll be ____?

    At the top of my game. People will be speculating if I’ll retire as the greatest, most famous, most winningest female skier that Morin-Heights, QC has ever produced.

    17. In 50 years, I’ll be ____?

    In search of snow, probably back to wearing therapeutic shoes again because my feet will be so achey for so many reasons.

    Canadian Olivia Bouffard-Nesbit of the Alberta World Cup Academy races to a ninth place finish during the women's 20 k freestyle mass start at 2016 U.S. National Championships in Houghton, Michigan. (Photo: Christopher Schmidt)
    Canadian Olivia Bouffard-Nesbit of the Alberta World Cup Academy races to a ninth-place finish during the women’s 20 k freestyle mass start at 2016 U.S. National Championships in Houghton, Michigan. (Photo: Christopher Schmidt)
  • 17 Questions for 2017: Julia Kern

    17 Questions for 2017: Julia Kern

    Julia Kern biking up New Hampshire's Kancamagus Highway at a recent training camp. (Courtesy photo)
    Julia Kern biking up New Hampshire’s Kancamagus Highway at a recent training camp. (Courtesy photo)

    Welcome to “17 Questions for 2017″, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season. 

    ***

    19-year-old Julia Kern had quite a diverse year last season, her first on the U.S. Ski Team: a SuperTour podium, a trip to World Juniors, two individual podiums in the junior races at OPA Cup finals in Italy, and two podiums in the junior races at U.S. National Championships (long and short distance).

    Having joined the Stratton Mountain School SMST2 Elite Team this year as well as enrolling at Dartmouth College, Kern has made some changes and is looking forward to another big year.

    1. Biggest change in your life in the last five or so months since the ski season ended?

    My biggest change in the past 5 months has been starting college at Dartmouth. The day after the season ended, I headed straight to Dartmouth to start my first term in the spring and I am currently half way through my second term this fall.

    2. Biggest change in your training?

    I have finally been able to train without modifying my plan due to injuries and illness so I would say my biggest change is that I am back to a normal training plan! Wahoo!

    3. Major areas of improvement you’ve seen so far?

    I think there isn’t one specific area where I have seen improvement over the past few months, but actually in every area. I feel like I have generally improved in all areas.

    4. Whom you’ve been working closest with this offseason (coaches or training partners)?

    Julia Kern happily healthy and rollerskiing. (Courtesy photo)
    Julia Kern happily healthy and rollerskiing. (Courtesy photo)

    Since I have joined the SMS Elite team this year, Pat O’Brien became my coach so I have been working closely with him in conjunction with Cami at Dartmouth. In the spring and fall, I have been trained with Dartmouth Ski Team and in the summer I trained with the SMS Elite team. It is fun to mix up training partners!

    5. Best trip in the last five months (and why)?

    I have only traveled once in the past five months. I went to Park City, UT for a training camp to kick off the summer and it was one of the most effective camps I have been to. I always love coming back to Park City because it is starting to feel like another home to me and the area is just so incredible!

    6. Favorite cross-training?

    This is a hard one! I really enjoy playing basketball in my free time, but if we are considering cross cross training to be a little more ski specific, I would have to say swimming.

    7. Favorite non-athletic activity or pastime this summer?

    Camping and hanging out on the beach may be considered an athletic activity with my family, but I was always enjoy my family’s annual vacation camping on Cape Cod every summer.

    8. Song that was your jam this summer?

    I would say my go-to jam this summer was “Good Day” by Nappy Roots. Definitely not a new song, but it is a good way to start a good day!

    9. All time favorite race moment?

    American Julia Kern (SMS/USST) racing to a career-best 16th in the 2016 Junior World Championships freestyle sprint in Rasnov, Romania. (Photo: Pete Leonard)
    American Julia Kern (SMS/USST) racing to a career-best 16th in the 2016 Junior World Championships freestyle sprint in Rasnov, Romania. (Photo: Pete Leonard)

    My all time favorite race moment was definitely this past winter during my last race at OPA Cup finals. It was a pursuit start and the girl who started in front of me and behind and I all caught up to one another and skied most of the race together. My tactics worked out really well and I finally nailed the “shake and bake” tactic right in the end to beat out the two girls I was racing head to head with.

    10. First thing you pack in your bag when you leave for Europe?

    Underwear…but that is a given essential. I pack my camera because I love taking photos and videos on the road, capturing the different cultures and landscapes around.

    11. Venue/event you’re most excited to visit this season?

    I am most excited for Soldier Hollow! I think it will be an incredible opportunity to have our qualification for World Juniors at the same venue and on the same race courses as World Juniors.

    12. Who will win the World Cup title this year?

    For the men, Petter Northug. For women, Marit Bjoergen.

    13. Biggest sacrifice you feel you’ve made choosing this career path?

    The biggest sacrifice I think so far has been giving up on a normal social life. I have found it is hard to maintain a close friend group outside of the ski community when I hardly stay in the same place longer than a month at a time. I am very fortunate to have my closest friends be in the skiing community though, and probably for a good reason!

    14. If you could change one thing about your sport, what would it be?

    I wish we had some world cups in the U.S. Having World Juniors in Utah this year is going to be really incredible and I wish that people in the U.S. got more exposure to what cross country skiing is and make it easier for athletes’ families come and watch.

    15. What did you have for breakfast this morning?

    I had two slices of fresh sourdough dough bread with avocado, topped with one over-easy egg on each. Yumm 🙂

    16. In 5 years, I’ll be ____?

    I will hopefully be racing on the World Cup circuit.

    17. In 50 years, I’ll be ____?

    I’ll be like my grandmother; active, happy, and a life filled with wonderful grandchildren.

  • 17 Questions for 2017: Devon Kershaw

    17 Questions for 2017: Devon Kershaw

    "Fishing this evening here in Utah!" Devon Kershaw wrote in an email last week. "Just catch and release - always. Lenny [Valjas] is allergic to fish 😂" (Courtesy photo)
    “Fishing this evening here in Utah!” Devon Kershaw wrote in an email last week. “Just catch and release – always. Lenny [Valjas] is allergic to fish 😂” (Courtesy photo)
    Welcome to “17 Questions for 2017″, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season. 

    ***

    2011 World Champion Devon Kershaw may have been spending more time in Europe than in his native Canada this year, but he told FasterSkier in a podcast in August that he’s all in for Team Canada through the 2018 Olympics. As he adjusts to the prospect of becoming a dad in the next year, Kershaw has been training with Norwegians and Swedes around Oslo, where he is based with his wife.

    He tackled FasterSkier’s “17 Questions for 2017” from Utah, where the Canadian ski team was having a training camp.

    1. Biggest change in your life in the last five or so months since the ski season ended?

    Part of the Canadian crew at Stelvio Pass in northern Italy, with Devon Kershaw (r), Alex Harvey (second from r), Graeme Killick (second from l) and wax technician, Nic. "Beauty first ski on the Stelvio with #squad Thanks to our new Italian-stallion tech Nic for joining and showing us how's it's done up here! #3400m," Kershaw captioned the photo on Instagram. (Photo: Devon Kershaw/Instagram)
    Part of the Canadian crew at Stelvio Pass in northern Italy, with Devon Kershaw (r), Alex Harvey (second from r), Graeme Killick (second from l) and wax technician, Nic. “Beauty first ski on the Stelvio with #squad Thanks to our new Italian-stallion tech Nic for joining and showing us how’s it’s done up here! #3400m,” Kershaw captioned the photo on Instagram. (Photo: Devon Kershaw/Instagram)

    Spending more time in Norway and finding out I’ll be a father for the first time this winter!

    2. Biggest change in your training?

    Getting back to a more volume based program.

    3. Major areas of improvement you’ve seen so far?

    For sure the double poling – I’ve focused on that quite a bit this year.

    4. Whom you’ve been working closest with this offseason (coaches or training partners)?

    Jess Kryski (our team’s physiologist) has been really important and I have trained some great sessions with some Norwegian skiers and Martin Johansson (who also lives in Oslo).

    5. Best trip in the last five months (and why)?

    A quick weekend in Copenhagen with Kristin. It rained a lot, but what a cool city!

    6. Favorite cross-training?

    Hmmmm. Backcountry skiing or climbing.

    7. Favorite non-athletic activity or pastime this summer?

    My usual favourite would be fly fishing – but the Norwegian rules are so complicated.

    8. Song that was your jam this summer?

    I am really liking the new Bon Iver album and Angel Olsen’s latest. I am never a “one song” kind of dude.

    9. All time favorite race moment?

    That's the moment: Kershaw and Harvey celebrate their World Championship gold medal in the team sprint in Oslo, 2011.
    That’s the moment: Kershaw and Harvey celebrate their World Championship gold medal in the team sprint in Oslo, 2011.

    Seeing Alex [Harvey] edge out Hattestad to take team sprint gold in Olso in 2011.

    10. First thing you pack in your bag when you leave for Europe?

    I absolutely hate packing… So the first thing I pack is usually shoes and boots – to create a good base at the bottom of my bag. But this is at an ungodly late hour after procrastinating as long as humanly possible.

    11. Venue/event you’re most excited to visit this season?

    The World Champs in Lahti will be a great event. After being sick AF with pneumonia and whooping cough in 2015 10 or so days prior to Falun which ended my season, I am really excited to race a championship again!

    12. Who will win the World Cup title this year?

    I can’t believe I am writing this, but after training with Martin (Sundby) over the last months I really can’t see anyone coming close. He’s a beast.

    13. Biggest sacrifice you feel you’ve made choosing this career path?

    Canada's Devon Kershaw during the men's 15k skate stage of the Ski Tour Canada in Canmore, Alberta. Kershaw finished the tour ranked 16th. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
    Canada’s Devon Kershaw during the men’s 15k skate stage of the Ski Tour Canada in Canmore, Alberta. Kershaw finished the tour ranked 16th. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

    Money and education. A Canadian skier is not what you pick if you want to be stable financially and my mom will be really excited to see me finish up a university degree when the spandex no longer fit.

    14. If you could change one thing about your sport, what would it be?

    Hmmm…. Having it be more simple for fans. The fact that our sport is the only one in the Olympic program that you cannot be a defending champion confuses folks. That and I guess finding some way to make it healthier for the wax techs. Thinking of what they breathe in week-in and week-out for something as frivolous as skiing fast around a little loop is a bit scary. The trucks help – but is it enough?

    15. What did you have for breakfast this morning?

    Oatmeal with fruit, brown sugar, a cappuccino and a cortado (I know…).

    16. In 5 years, I’ll be ____?

    Exhausted in school and probably have two kids. Hopefully I will be fully (or at least close) trilingual at that point.

    17. In 50 years, I’ll be ____?

    Probably dead, but if not then I hope to still have my wits about me to enjoy conversations and time with family. Still being able to be active – no matter what that looks like – would be a big goal in 50 years if I am still around.

  • Nordic Nation Podcast: Rebounding with Liz Stephen

    Nordic Nation Podcast: Rebounding with Liz Stephen

    'Nordic Nation' Fasterskier PodcastLiz Stephen has earned her stripes. For the last 11 years, the 29-year-old Vermont native has been part of the US Ski Team (USST). After veterans like Kikkan Randall, Stephen has become an anchor on the women’s team, which now carries with it expectations of top-20’s, top-10’s and podiums. At the age of 15, the Burke Mountain Academy alpine skier and runner switched to the skinny skis for good.

    With her high energy and drive, she became a force on the U.S. junior cross-country ski scene. What followed were a string of results commensurate with her high turnover. In both 2013 and 2014, she was the 15th-ranked distance skier on the World Cup. A year later, that ranking was more than halved — she concluded 2015 ranked seventh in the Distance World Cup.

    Liz Stephen (U.S. Ski Team) leads Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and the rest of the chase pack, including Kaitlynn Miller (r), during the women's 30 k classic mass start at U.S. Distance Nationals on Saturday in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
    Liz Stephen (U.S. Ski Team) leads Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and the rest of the chase pack during the women’s 30 k classic mass start at 2016 U.S. Distance Nationals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    Then, due to possible overtraining and some shaken confidence, Stephen’s results regressed to 28th on the distance list in 2016. Still good enough for an U.S. A-team nomination, but not what she expected.

    “It’s not as though you worked any less hard, generally that’s not the case, sometimes it’s the opposite,” Stephen said during the podcast interview. “You feel like you worked really hard and none of it is paying off. It’s like a two-sided sword. Your results are going down. And instead of being, ‘All right, I can do this,’ gaining confidence, it’s the opposite. Every time you are getting a result you’re not proud of, your confidence is sinking a little bit lower. And for every percent your confidence sinks, that’s at least a place on the World Cup, if not two.”

    In a world-championship year, Stephen is hoping to rebound individually and in support of her teammates on a medal-winning relay team. All that doesn’t seem so far fetched. Stephen skied the third leg in last season’s 4 x 5 k in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, in which the U.S. women skied to their historic-best second place in a World Cup relay.

    The U.S. women placed a historic second for their best-ever relay finish on Sunday at the World Cup 4 x 5 k in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. From left to right: Jessie Diggins, Sophie Caldwell, Sadie Bjornsen, and Liz Stephen. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
    The U.S. women placed a historic second for their best-ever relay finish at the 2016 World Cup 4 x 5 k in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. From left to right: Jessie Diggins, Sophie Caldwell, Sadie Bjornsen, and Liz Stephen. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

    Time for more high-turnover Stephen — click the play arrow below to listen to the podcast. (To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.)

    Have a podcast idea? Please email nordicnation@fasterskier.com.

  • 17 Questions for 2017: Christian Gow

    17 Questions for 2017: Christian Gow

    Christian Gow (right) and Biathlon Canada teammate Brendan Green out training this fall. (Courtesy photo)
    Christian Gow (right) and Biathlon Canada teammate Brendan Green out training this fall. (Courtesy photo)

    Welcome to “17 Questions for 2017″, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season. 

    ***

    Christian Gow started his first World Cup in 2015 and one year later was a World Championships bronze medalist with the Canadian men’s relay team. The Alberta biathlete, 23 years old, is looking to build in his next full season on the World Cup.

    1. Biggest change in your life in the last five or so months since the ski season ended?

    The biggest change in my life since the race season was the passing of my grandpa. He was always one of my biggest supporters and was always out volunteering at events. It was the biggest personal loss I have ever had.

    2. Biggest change in your training?

    Christian Gow (left) and Emma Lunder skiing at the Snow Farm during the Canadian national team's New Zealand training camp. (Courtesy photo)
    Christian Gow (left) and Emma Lunder skiing at the Snow Farm during the Canadian national team’s New Zealand training camp. (Courtesy photo)

    The biggest training change this year is that Matthias Ahrens is now my primary coach. It has been a good transition and I think we are both feeling positive approaching the season.

    3. Major areas of improvement you’ve seen so far?

    I have seen improvement in most areas so far this year, the biggest would probably be my physical fitness.

    4. Whom you’ve been working closest with this offseason (coaches or training partners)?

    I have been working primarily with Matthias for coaching. As for training partners, we are a small and close-knit team, so I would say that all 5 of us have been working together all year.

    5. Best trip in the last five months (and why)?  

    Best trip this year was our annual Park City training camp. I don’t know what it is exactly that I love so much about Park City, but year-in and out it is my favourite trip of the year.

    6. Favorite cross-training?  

    My favourite cross-training would have to be mountain biking.

    7. Favorite non-athletic activity or pastime this summer?  

    My favourite non-athletic activity this year would have to be either reading or gaming.

    8. Song that was your jam this summer?  

    Gold by Kiiara.

    9. All time favorite race moment? 

    The Canadian men's team (l-r) Christian Gow, Nathan Smith, Scott Gow, and Brendan Green celebrate bronze in the men's 4 x 7.5 k relay at 2016 World Championships in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: JoJo Baldus)
    The Canadian men’s team (l-r) Christian Gow, Nathan Smith, Scott Gow, and Brendan Green celebrate bronze in the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay at 2016 World Championships in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: JoJo Baldus)

    All time favourite race moment would definitely be the World Champs bronze medal from last year. It was by far the most surreal racing experience I have had.

    10. First thing you pack in your bag when you leave for Europe?  

    The first thing I pack for Europe is probably my foam-roller or my underwear.

    11. Venue/event you’re most excited to visit this season?

    I am really excited for this years World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. It is a great venue and will be really exciting to have the Championships there.

    12. Who will win the men’s and women’s World Cup titles this year?  

    Martin Fourcade and Marie Dorin Habert.

    13. Biggest sacrifice you feel you’ve made choosing this career path?

    The biggest sacrifice would probably be my schooling since it isn’t really possible to train effectively and take a meaningful number of courses.

    14. If you could change one thing about your sport, what would it be?

    I would make it so that doping didn’t exist and we could all participate on an even playing field.

    15. What did you have for breakfast this morning?  

    Tortilla egg wraps and a bowl of yogurt with granola.

    16. In 5 years, I’ll be ____?

    Going to University.

    17. In 50 years, I’ll be ____?  

    Old.

  • Taylor Fletcher’s Three Podiums Lift U.S. World Cup Quota to Five

    Taylor Fletcher’s Three Podiums Lift U.S. World Cup Quota to Five

    U.S. Nordic Combined's Taylor Fletcher (r) shouts as he edges Austria’s David Pommer at the finish of Sunday's 10 k Gundersen to win this Nordic Combined Continental Cup at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)
    U.S. Nordic Combined’s Taylor Fletcher (r) shouts as he edges Austria’s David Pommer at the finish of Sunday’s 10 k Gundersen to win this Nordic Combined Continental Cup at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)

    Jump, ski, repeat. That was the mantra in Park City and Midway, Utah, this weekend as some of the world’s best nordic-combined athletes converged for a series of three Continental Cup races. Continental Cups are a stepping stone for some athletes on their way to the World Cup; it’s also an opportunity for already accomplished World Cup skiers to maintain race fitness and keep their jumping dialed.

    All three of the competitions Friday, Dec. 11, through Sunday, Dec. 13, involved a normal-hill jump at Utah Olympic Park followed by a 10-kilometer ski race at Soldier Hollow.

    Day 1: Taylor Fletcher Third

    Austria's David Pommer leads teammate Bernhard Flaschberger the 10 k Gundersen start on Friday, Dec. 11, at the Nordic Combined Continental Cup at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. They went on to place first and second, respectively, and American Taylor Fletcher (not shown) finished third. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)
    Austria’s David Pommer leads teammate Bernhard Flaschberger the 10 k Gundersen start on Friday, Dec. 11, at the Nordic Combined Continental Cup at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. They went on to place first and second, respectively, and American Taylor Fletcher (not shown) finished third. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)

    With a break in the Nordic Combined World Cup schedule, many skiers from Europe were in Park City. That was evident from the results on Friday, Dec. 11.

    Austria’s David Pommer, who finished in 26:15, narrowly beat teammate Bernhard Flaschberger by 0.2 seconds at the line. The Austrians captured five of the top six places, with U.S. Nordic Combined skier Taylor Fletcher finishing third, 37 seconds after Pommer.

    Starting the day on the normal hill, Japanese high-school student Hisaki Nagamine, 18, recorded the longest jump of 97.5 meters. American Ben Berend leapt to fourth, while teammates Jasper Good ranked 10th and Ben Loomis jumped to 13th.

    Fletcher jumped 88.5 meters to rank 14th going into the 10 k. Pommer tied for the fifth-longest jump at 95.5 meters.

    Fletcher started the race a minute and 20 seconds back. At the race’s mid-point, Fletcher bridged up to Pommer and Flaschberger. At the finish line, the 25-year-old Fletcher held off Austria’s Franz-Josef Rehrl to take third place, with the third-fastest ski time. Nagamine did not finish the race.

    Overall the U.S. team had a solid day. Five Americans finished in the top 16 with six Americans in the top 30. Michael Ward, originally from Aspen, Colo., placed 10th (up from 25th in the jump with the seventh-fastest 10 k).

    Berend, 20, and Good, 19, both from Steamboat Springs, Colo., completed their best Continental Cup races to date in 12th and 13th, respectively. Seventeen-year-old Loomis, of Eau Claire, Wis., placed 16th.

    Final Results Day 1 | Jumping Results

    Day 2: Two-peat for Austria’s Pommer; 4 Americans in Top 10

    The result sheet tells the story: Pommer maintained his lead in the overall Continental Cup standings by 60 points over Taylor Fletcher by winning again. Pommer jumped to seventh then skied to first, winning the event in 24:20.1.

    But unlike Friday’s competition, with the Austrians clogging most of the top six, Fletcher took second just 0.1 seconds back from the win. Loomis captured a career-best fourth — missing the podium by four seconds. Italy’s Armin Bauer placed third (+46.1).

    Michael Ward (U.S. Nordic Combined) placed sixth, 10th and 12th in three Continental Cup competitions Dec. 11-13 in Park City, Utah. Here, he's pictured starting the 10 k race in 25th on Dec. 11 at Soldier Hollow. He went on to place 10th in that race. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)
    Michael Ward (U.S. Nordic Combined) placed sixth, 10th and 12th in three Continental Cup competitions Dec. 11-13 in Park City, Utah. Here, he’s pictured starting the 10 k race in 25th on Dec. 11 at Soldier Hollow. He went on to place 10th in that race. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)

    Ward finished the day in sixth with the third-fastest time, behind Fletcher with the fastest time of the day, and Berend placed eighth for a new career-best.

    The jump leader again was Nagamine. He set the longest jump at 96.5 meters. He was followed in second by Norway’s Audun Hokholt. Jumping highlights for the Americans were two-fold. Loomis jumped to third (96 meters) and Berend ranked fourth (94 meters), putting them in podium contention while starting the race 8 and 24 seconds after Nagamine, respectively.

    On the other hand, Fletcher jumped to 19th and Ward ranked 20th heading into the race. Fletcher needed to close a one-minute-and-40-second gap, while Ward started another 2 seconds later.

    “I decided I had to go for it. I wanted to ski easy the first lap or so and make up some time but not push the pace too much,” Fletcher said in a USSA press release. “I did that and was making up 16 seconds a lap, which is pretty good, but I just ran out of real estate. But I can’t be disappointed in that because I skied tactically almost a perfect race.”

    Pommer, confident after Friday’s victory, knew Fletcher could overcome almost any deficit.

    “I fought from the beginning by running a really good pace, but my coaches kept telling me Taylor was getting closer and closer,” Pommel said in the press release. “At the finish line, I was very lucky with my win — I’m glad it wasn’t one more meter. There was never any contact until the finish and I thought, ‘run, run.’ ”

    Nagamine finished 22nd (+2:40.8).

    Final results Day 2 | Jumping Results

    Day 3 Park City NoCo: Fletcher’s Moment

    Taylor Fletcher after placing second in the Dec. 12 Continental Cup in Midway, Utah, 0.1 second behind Austria's David Pommer. Fletcher came back the next day to beat Pommer by the same margin. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)
    Taylor Fletcher after placing second in the Dec. 12 Continental Cup in Midway, Utah, 0.1 second behind Austria’s David Pommer. Fletcher came back the next day to beat Pommer by the same margin. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)

    The third-and-final day of Continental Cup NoCo scene in Park City was a flip flop.

    Apparently Fletcher needed a challenge. He again began the day behind: on this day it was a 1:16 deficit to Pommer.

    Again, the athlete with the longest ride was Nagamine, jumping 96 meters. But Pommer, proving his all-around skills, ranked second in the jump and notably tied with Berend with a 94-meter jump. The two started the 10 k together, 14 seconds back from the Japanese leader. Fletcher’s distance from the front was the result of a middle-of-the-pack jump: he rode 86.5 meters to rank 17th. In addition to Berend, Loomis also started ahead of Fletcher after jumping to sixth (91.5 meters) and starting 30 seconds back.

    The cloudy conditions at Soldier Hollow kept the ski tracks firm and fast. Fletcher took advantage. (Remember, he had 1:16 to make up and catch Pommer). He pushed it from the start, ticking off one competitor after another. On the third of five laps, Fletcher had skied into second.

    By then, Pommer was off the front solo. With three kilometers remaining, the time back to Fletcher remained 25 seconds. That time gap, in that distance, became a grind-it-out time trial for Fletcher.

    And roughly 2.8 kilometers later, Fletcher could draft right behind Pommer. Rounding the tight 180-degree corner before the finish, the two skiers sprinted for the line.

    “It’s so tight in that final corner. It’s great snow but it’s also icy. Trying to keep that ski under you is difficult,” Fletcher recalled in a press release. “I chose that wide line to carry a little bit more speed knowing he was going to want the center and try to block me. I knew if I took that wider line I would have a lot more speed.”

    With the sprint on, Fletcher toed just ahead of Pommer, beating the Austrian by a tenth of a second in 23:37.3. Once again, Nagamine finished 22nd (+2:45.7).

    “I’m not known for my sprinting, but I put in a hell of a sprint and I’m proud of it,” Fletcher said after posting the fastest 10 k time en route to the victory.

    “Taylor was skiing so well, so fast, he deserved to win,” Pommer said in the press release. “Second place is more than good. Today there was no strategy, it was just running for survival. I just keep saying ‘push your limits, push your limits.’”

    This was the fourth-career Continental Cup victory for Fletcher. More importantly, Fletcher’s three podiums during the Park City Continental Cups have earned the U.S. a fifth quota spot on the World Cup.

    The U.S. had four skiers in the top 15 and six in the points. Berend placed sixth, and Ward finished 12th with the fourth-fastest ski time. Good raced up to 15th (from starting 20th) and Loomis finished 21st.

    Local 15-year-old junior, Stephen Schumann, of the Utah Olympic Park Sports Club, scored points in the top 30 in all three races — his first-ever Continental Cup events — placing 25th on Friday, 27th on Saturday and 26th on Sunday.

    The Nordic Combined World Cup resumes Dec. 19-20 in Ramsau, Austria, with two more normal hill/10 k competitions. Fletcher currently trails Pommer by 40 points in the overall Continental Cup standings.

    Final Results Day 3 | Jumping Results

    Overall Continental Cup Standings

  • Soldier Hollow Seeking Assistant Coach

    Soldier Hollow Seeking Assistant Coach

    Team Soldier Hollow

    Soldier Hollow is seeking an assistant coach for the upcoming fall/winter season. Team Soldier Hollow is a 150-skier club based out of the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic cross-country ski venue in Midway, Utah.  More information on our youth ski programs can be found at teamsoldierhollow.com

    Primary responsibilities include: assisting with all practices, effectively communicating with athletes, parents, and coaches, traveling to local and regional races, assisting with waxing and other race day duties, driving Soldier Hollow vehicles.

    Minimum Qualifications:

    • Experience cross-country ski racing and/or coaching
    • Current, or ability to obtain, USSA coach membership
    • 22 years of age or older
    • Ability to drive Soldier Hollow vehicles
    • Available to work weekends during the winter season

    The assistant coach position can be full or part time depending on qualifications and preference. Compensation is dependent upon experience.

    For more information or to apply for the position please email resume to Morgan Smyth at morgan.smyth@soldierhollow.com.

  • Utah to Host 2017 Junior/U23 World Championships (Updated)

    Utah to Host 2017 Junior/U23 World Championships (Updated)

    Torin Koos (BSF) out-lunges Ben Saxton (SMST2) for the win of the 1.5 k freestyle sprint at the U.S. Cross Country Championships. (Photo: Tom Scrimgeour)
    Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah serves as the cross country venue in the recently submitted bid for the 2017 Junior/U23 World Championships by USSA. With no competing bids, there is a high chance the Championships will come to the U.S. for the first time in its modern form. In this photo, Torin Koos (BSF) out-lunges Ben Saxton (SMST2) for the win of the 1.5 k freestyle sprint at the 2014 U.S. Cross Country Championships at Soldier Hollow. (Photo: Tom Scrimgeour)

    UPDATE: According to the International Ski Federation, Utah will officially host the 2017 FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships. See the pre-decison article from June 5 (below) to learn how the U.S. entered a bid after last hosting in 1986, and what the Championships will look like.

    If everything goes according to plan the world’s best junior and U23 nordic skiers will descend upon Park City, Utah in the winter of 2017. The United States Ski and Snowboard Association announced Tuesday that organizing body submitted a bid for the 2017 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships at this year’s International Ski Federation (FIS) Calendar Conference, which began June 3 and will continue until June 8. With no other bids, all that stands between the U.S. and the Championships is a stamp of approval from FIS.

    The last time the U.S. hosted a Nordic Junior World Championships was in 1986 at Lake Placid, N.Y. At the time, however, the event only consisted of ski jumping and nordic combined and did not include officially recognized cross country skiing races (although there were cross country races that were coordinated with the event), as is standard in Junior/U23 World Championships since 1991. The U.S. has also hosted the 2004 Cross Country Intercontinental U23 Championships at Soldier Hollow, but the U23 World Championships were not created until 2006, when they were hosted in conjunction with the Junior World Championships in Kranj, Slovenia.

    According to USSA Vice President of Events and IT Calum Clark, there’s a high chance the U.S. will host its first modern Junior/U23 World Championships in 2017. He explained the U.S. bid was the sole entry for the event, and that all that was left for USSA to gain hosting rights was the official go-ahead from FIS.

    “We met with the FIS leadership this afternoon any they were excited for [the Championships] to come back to America,” Clark said from the 2015 FIS Congress in Belgium Thursday. He explained that the only thing left was “a simple rubber stamp from the council.”

    If the U.S. is selected by FIS, the event will be held between the cross country courses at Soldier Hollow in Midway and the jumping complex at the Utah Olympic Park, in Park City.

    An American-hosted Championships has been a dream of U.S. Nordic Combined Coach Greg Poirier for many years, but it wasn’t until 2014 that he decided to jumpstart the project. “It was kind of my idea to bring these Championships to the U.S. I had been thinking about it for years and finally last year I decided to stop thinking about it and get something going,” Poirier said in a phone interview.

    He approached the cross country and nordic combined committees at the 2014 USSA congress and was encouraged to further explore a U.S. proposal. Poirier put together an ad hoc bid committee consisting of officials from Soldier Hollow and Utah Olympic Park, which then presented a proposal to the leadership of USSA, including President and CEO Tiger Shaw, in the fall of 2014. Once USSA was comfortable with the presented budget, it sent a written intent to host the Championships to FIS before the December 31 deadline.

    A view of Soldier Hollow's stadium from the highest point of the 5 k olympic course.
    A view of Soldier Hollow’s stadium from the highest point of the 5 k olympic course.

    According to Clark, USSA supported the proposal due to thorough planning and feasibility.  “So often with these World Championships, the excitement can overwhelm the practicality and you get this aftermath of realizing that this is going to be a whole lot of work that you’re not prepared for,” he explained. “In this case we had such a tremendous group of people with great experience on both sides of the nordic skiing jumping and cross country.”

    Clark said that the financial model of the Championships was within the means of USSA due to various groups who provided “semi-guarantees of strong financial support.”

    According to the Vice President, the most important factor of the bid was the athletic opportunity it provided to U.S. athletes. Over the years USSA has been exploring the possibility of bringing other high-profile international competitions stateside to further such opportunity, exampled by last year’s discussions of a cross country World Cup in New York City. Clark said that in the end, however, a Junior/U23 World Championships made more sense.

    “We went through the process of exploring an urban cross country World Cup and [the nordic leadership] came back to us and said, ‘no, if you’re doing anything Junior Worlds is what we’d like to have.’”

    If USSA receives the pending bid for the 2017 Championships there will be several focus areas that organizers will need to tackle. It will start with the creation of a new organizing committee, consisting of technical delegates from cross country, nordic combined and jumping. Once the committee is created they will work to build a plan regarding marketing, television or live streaming, transportation, and accommodation. Poirier hopes to create an athlete village in Midway, Utah — possibly at the Zermatt Resort — where all competitors, coaches, and staff will stay during the event.

    Organizers will also look into updating Soldier Hollow, the cross country and biathlon venue for the 2002 Olympic Games, to meet the Championships’ needs. Poirier said that a future organizing committee would explore using the original cross country stadium at the venue in addition to creating more challenging courses that feature increased climbing. According to the nordic combined coach, any changes in courses or stadium placement would use existing trails and facilities.

    “It’s already a great center,” Poirier said of Soldier Hollow. “We created this bid with the intent that we wouldn’t have to create a whole lot of dollars for infrastructure improvements. If we can get some and there’s a need then it would be a great opportunity for both the Olympic Park and Soldier Hollow. But if we can’t, we’re confident that we can move forward with the facilities the way they are now.”

    Although the 2014 Nordic Combined Olympic Trials featured the cross country portion of the event at the Utah Olympic Park, Poirier said that it made more sense for the cross country portion of the Championships’ nordic combined events to take place at Soldier Hollow because the venue was already in use by the other cross country races and due to its proximity to the athlete village in Midway.

    Those anxiously awaiting official confirmation of the bid will have to wait until Monday June 8, the last day of the the 2015 FIS Calendar Conference.

    In the meantime, the high likelihood that the U.S. bid will be approved is giving many in the nordic community a sense of excitement. “It gives me goosebumps to think about it and I have butterflies in my stomach,” Poirier said.

    “What I’m most psyched about is those kids that are in our pipeline who are going to be able to compete on our home turf,” he added. “Hopefully they are really going to shine and that will really be the impetus and catalyst for the spark that gives those young boys and girls motivation. That’s going to be the real gem, the real benefit to these games.”

    With just days before official confirmation, USSA officials, Poirier and other organizers aren’t about to relax.

    “The real work begins today,” Poirier said.

  • Rocky Mountain Racers Inspired and Challenged at Soldier Hollow

    Rocky Mountain Racers Inspired and Challenged at Soldier Hollow

    The Rocky Mountain Racers crew after a training session in Soldier Hollow in 2012. (Courtesy photo)
    The Rocky Mountain Racers crew after a training session in Soldier Hollow in 2012. (Courtesy photo)

    Maya MacIsaac-Jones, 19, of the Canadian National Junior Team and Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR) in Canmore, Alberta, submitted the following article about her RMR’s recent dryland camp in Park City, Utah, to info@fasterskier.com. Born and raised in Athabasca, Alberta, MacIsaac Jones lives in Canmore and is a student at Athabasca University. 

    ***

    From Sept. 27 to Oct. 11, one of Canada’s high-performance racing teams, Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR), headed down to Park City, Utah, for their two-week long high altitude training camp.

    RMR is comprised of just over 20 high-performance athletes in both cross-country and biathlon from all across Canada. Led by coaches John Jaques and Luke McGurk, the team’s athletes focused on both high volume and high intensity during their camp.

    RMR girls after a time trial at Soldier Hollow last month (from left to right): Andrea Dupont, Emma Camicioli, Maya MacIsaac-Jones, Ember Large, and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt. (Photo: Ember Large)
    RMR girls after a time trial at Soldier Hollow last month (from left to right): Andrea Dupont, Emma Camicioli, Maya MacIsaac-Jones, Ember Large, and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt. (Photo: Ember Large)

    Long 4-5 hour workouts were completed on the various mountain passes surrounding Park City and Salt Lake City while intensity sessions, time trials and shooting practices were reserved for the excellent facilities available at Soldier Hollow in Midway.

    Because of RMR’s cross-country/biathlon mix, Soldier Hollow was the perfect place for training sessions to occur; coaches were able to coordinate shooting practices for the biathletes with simultaneous rollerskiing sessions for the cross-country side of the team.

    Utilizing Soldier Hollow’s biathlon range, extensive set of rollerski tracks and advantageously close proximity to Park City, RMR held several intensity sessions and time trials at the former Olympic site. The hilly climbs the facility offered also gave the athletes an opportunity to have a dryland time trial with a course very similar to what they will face during the ski season.

    “It’s inspiring to train in the exact spot that I saw my Olympic heroes win medals at during the 2002 Olympics,” RMR athlete Andrew Brisbin stated. “[Soldier Hollow] is the most difficult and technical rollerski track that I’ve been on, meaning it most closely resembles a World-Cup caliber ski course through its lung and leg busting climbs and quick descents.”

    Stuart Harden, RMR athlete and one of Canada’s top junior biathletes, also enjoyed training at the former Olympic site: “Soldier Hollow was a great asset to have at our Park City training camp. For biathletes, having a range and full rollerski loop close by made the trip feasible. As far as rollerski tracks go, Soldier Hollow is considerably challenging. Some steep, sustained climbs coupled with the altitude can really make you hurt, and can definitely make training there worthwhile.”

    When not focusing on intensity sessions or shooting practices, the team explored the many other mountain roads available for rollerskiing in the area, including Mirror Lake pass, Wolfe pass, and Guardsman Pass. They concluded their camp with a 4-5 hour altitude run at 9000 feet on the trails above Park City.

    With their last camp of the season complete, RMR athletes are now in their final stages of preparing for the racing season and the upcoming [SuperTour and] NorAm races at West Yellowstone, Bozeman, Rossland, and Whistler.

    For any athletes or coaches interested in exploring Soldier Hollow as a future training possibility, please use the following contact information:

    Richard Hodges

    richard.hodges@soldierhollow.com

    801-558-5804

    — Maya MacIsaac-Jones, 

    RMR cross-country skier

    @_MayaMJ

  • Gallery: USST/NEG Park City Altitude Camp

    Gallery: USST/NEG Park City Altitude Camp

    Top nordic skiers from around the country converged on Park City, Utah in early October for the U.S. Ski Team (USST) and National Elite Group (NEG) altitude camps. While the NEG camp concluded Oct. 12, the USST is continuing to train in Utah until Frozen Thunder, a series of on-snow competitions in Canmore, Alberta that will take place later this month. Reports from Park City have been highly positive with the exception of few incidents including another broken elbow for the USST’s Sophie Caldwell and a sliced finger for SMST2’s Annie Hart. Check out USSA’s photos from the activity in Utah, below.

  • Team Soldier Hollow Seeks Devo Coach

    Team Soldier Hollow Seeks Devo Coach

    Team Soldier Hollow, located at the 2002 Olympic venue in Midway, UT, is looking for an enthusiastic and energetic coach to work with our Devo Team skiers (ages 10 to 13). Ideal candidates will have experience cross country ski racing and/or coaching and waxing. Current USSA Coaches License is required.

     Responsibilities include:

    *Planning and leading 3 fun practices a week

    *Developing technique of both new and experienced skiers

    *Helping kids wax skis for training and races

    *Support at local citizen & junior series races

    This position starts mid fall and requires 2 to 3 afternoons a week plus some weekend races. Additional opportunities to assist with Comp Team (ages 14 to 18) training and travel may exist.

    Team Soldier Hollow is a growing club with over 100 youth in our ski programs! For more information on Team Soldier Hollow visit www.teamsoldierhollow.com

    Compensation depends on experience.

    Please send a letter of interest and resume to morgan.smyth@soldierhollow.com

  • Pat Miller: Legendary Ski Coach, Legendary Friend

    Pat Miller: Legendary Ski Coach, Legendary Friend

    Fort Lewis College roomates, Pat Miller (r) and Peter Graves celebrate Miller's 21st birthday circa 1970. Miller died at age 64 after a brief illness on June 22. (Photo: Peter Graves)
    Fort Lewis College roommates, Pat Miller (r) and Peter Graves celebrate Graves’ 21st birthday on May 16, 1973, in Durango, Colo. Miller died at age 64 after a brief illness on June 22, 2013. (Photo: Peter Graves)

    Peter Graves’ words have taken him to national championships, World Championships and the Olympics. During a phone interview on Saturday, the famed public-address announcer, television sportscaster and current public relations director for U.S. Ski Jumping was at a loss for them.

    Graves was asked how he would remember his college roommate, Pat Miller, who passed away June 22 at the age of 64 after a brief illness.

    Pat Miller being inducted into the the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame in 2008, one of four halls he is a member of. (Photo: Kevin Sweeney)
    Former Utah coach and skiing director Pat Miller being inducted into the the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame in 2008, one of four halls he is a member of. (Photo: Kevin Sweeney)

    Over 23 years (1976-2000), Miller directed the University of Utah men’s and women’s nordic ski teams to eight combined national titles, plus an additional title for each gender before scoring was combined. He developed 251 All-Americans, 46 individual national champions and 10 Olympians.

    “I will remember him as one of the closest friends I ever had,” Graves said. “I will try, even though it’s hard right now, to remember him always with a smile. He represented to me the essence of a friend and the essence of a time filled with wonder and optimism.”

    Originally from Maine and living in Holladay, Utah, Miller was visiting his older brother, Jim, in Casper, Wyo., before he died. After his tenure as skiing director ended with a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules violation, Miller stayed in Utah. For the last decade, he worked in a variety of capacities at Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City.

    Miller was one in a group of skiers from western Maine who ventured to Durango, Colo., to attend Fort Lewis College, a small school with a thriving ski program at the time. Miller progressed from junior-national champion to college All-American in nordic combined, to national-team member and U.S. Olympic alternate.

    Graves, 61, from Vermont, also competed at Junior Nationals, but said his odds of making a career out of ski racing were slim. He and Miller shared an off-campus house during Graves’ senior year at Fort Lewis, while the Miller brothers trained in the area as members of the U.S. Nordic Combined Team.

    That spring, Graves turned 21. He didn’t mention it to Miller and expected the occasion to pass quietly. Miller left the house without telling Graves his destination. He returned at 5 p.m. with two steaks, a bouquet of flowers and a small cake.

    “To me that speaks volumes about the way Pat was,” Graves said. “A really strong, tough athlete with a heart of gold.”

    Pat Miller (r) and Kevin Sweeney, the former and current directors of skiing at the University of Utah, rest during mountain-bike trip in Utah. (Photo: Kevin Sweeney)
    Pat Miller (r) and Kevin Sweeney, the former and current directors of skiing at the University of Utah, rest during mountain-bike trip in Utah. (Photo: Kevin Sweeney)

    In 1999, the Miller-led Utes sat in second place heading into the final day of the NCAA Championships in Rumford, Maine, which neighbors Miller’s hometown of Mexico. The Utes were within striking distance of a national championship in Miller’s homecoming.

    Head coach Kevin Sweeney said he blew the wax and instead of a title, his team didn’t make the podium, falling to fourth place. Now Utah’s director of skiing, Sweeney said in a recent phone interview that he was “literally devastated.”

    “Pat was still totally understanding and trying to always see the positive of it,” Sweeney said. “I can’t think of a single second when I felt Pat was disappointed in me.”

    Sweeney and Miller shared an office for nearly 10 years. They won three national championships together. Miller hired Sweeney as an assistant coach in 1991 and promoted him after a year when former head coach Alan Watson left the program.

    “The performance expectations were extremely high,” Sweeney said. “But at the same time I think Pat just had such a calmness and a level-headedness that pervaded through his staff.”

    Sweeney’s response to the same question that choked up Graves came in three parts. He will remember Miller first as a legend in collegiate skiing. Second, as a “fun, heartwarming, accepting and caring individual.” And finally, he will recall the difficulty of losing him too soon.

  • U.S. Nationals Men’s Skate Sprint Video

    U.S. Nationals Men’s Skate Sprint Video

    The final day of the 2013 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championship proved to be one of the most exciting as racing continued with the skate sprints.  After the day of racing it was Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess who was strongest down the finish stretch to earn the top step on the podium and the national crown.

  • Bjornsen Keeps Calm in Skate Sprint, Saves Kick for Second Straight National Victory

    Bjornsen Keeps Calm in Skate Sprint, Saves Kick for Second Straight National Victory

    Sadie Bjornsen of APU/USST (r) edges Sophie Caldwell (SMST2) and CXC's Jennie Bender (c) in the 1.3 k freestyle sprint final at U.S. nationals on Tuesday in Soldier Hollow. Caldwell was second and Bender placed third.
    Sadie Bjornsen of APU/USST (front right) edges Stratton’s Sophie Caldwell (l) and CXC’s Jennie Bender (c) in the 1.3 k freestyle sprint final at U.S. nationals on Tuesday in Soldier Hollow. Caldwell was second and Bender placed third while Becca Rorabaugh (117) was fourth, Annie Hart (103) fifth and Caitlin Gregg (r) sixth.

    FasterSkier’s coverage of the 2013 U.S. Cross Country Championships is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic in Bennington, Vt.

    MIDWAY, Utah – The whole tactics and ‘let’s see if I can outsmart you’ game was pretty much out the window by the start of the women’s freestyle sprint final at U.S. Cross Country Championships on Tuesday.

    Or so it seemed.

    With every passing quarterfinal and semifinal, six competitors per heat shared the task of completing the 1.3-kilometer course the fastest and smartest way possible. Play your cards right – getting in any fighting position except first on the long downhill – and you could make the final. Do that in the final, and you should make the podium.

    Caitlin Gregg (CXC) leads from the start of the 1.3 k skate sprint final at U.S. nationals in Soldier Hollow. She ended up sixth behind Sadie Bjornsen (in black), who captured her second straight victory.
    Caitlin Gregg of CXC (l) leads the start of the 1.3 k skate sprint final at U.S. nationals in Soldier Hollow. She ended up sixth behind Sadie Bjornsen (in black), who captured her second straight victory.

    It was too easy, and Caitlin Gregg – one of the shorter ones in the bunch – knew it wouldn’t work for her. The 32-year-old Central Cross Country (CXC) skier had watched US Ski Team (USST) member Tad Elliott use his small stature to his advantage in the men’s final just before. He stormed out of the gate and tried to drop the field, building a gap by the first straightaway. But Gregg never saw the finish.

    Oh well, she thought. Might as well go for it, too.

    “Look at how much taller are these girls are than me,” Gregg said. “I’m a little [makes sound effects] meep, meep, meep. I had to go where my strengths were. I pretty much just hammered as hard as I could.”

    The rest of the women’s finalists simply followed her lead. The pace was much different than they were used to, but it was a welcome change to the typical jockeying game that came about later in the heats.

    Sadie Bjornsen, of Alaska Pacific University (APU) and the USST, didn’t stress.

    “Kudos to Caitlin for charging from the start,” Bjornsen said. “That’s a scary thing with this course. … I was afraid it was gonna be a cat-and-mouse again.”

    Instead, she followed Gregg and Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain School T2 Team) up the short, steep climb known as the horseshoe at Soldier Hollow, putting herself in third for the downhill.

    Meanwhile, Caldwell just ahead in second was getting nervous.

    “It’s just really stressful coming down the hill because positions could change so much and always felt very flustered,” said Caldwell, who placed third in the preceding classic sprint at nationals.

    “The position I came into the stadium wasn’t ideal,” she added. “It wasn’t terrible, but Jennie [Bender] and Sadie [Bjornsen] both flew by me in the draft on the downhill.”

    Rounding the corner into the stadium, it was all Caldwell could do to challenge Bjornsen to the line. The two lunged in a photo finish, and Bjornsen took the win for her second straight national title and first in a sprint. Caldwell was second, and Bender finished just behind in third.

    Women's freestyle sprint podium at 2013 U.S. nationals: 1. Sadie Bjornsen (APU/USST), 2. Sophie Caldwell (SMST2), 3. Jennie Bender (CXC)
    Women’s freestyle sprint podium at 2013 U.S. nationals: 1. Sadie Bjornsen (APU/USST), 2. Sophie Caldwell (SMST2), 3. Jennie Bender (CXC)

    “This time, I remembered to lunge at the finish,” Bjornsen said, after taking second to Bender in the classic sprint last week.

    Caldwell also lunged, but longed for a few extra meters to catch up.

    “I was pretty sure when I finished that Sadie had gotten the win,” Caldwell said. “I don’t know if I looked over or just felt that she was a little ahead.”

    For Caldwell, it was her best finish at nationals this year (following two third-place finishes) and tied her skate-sprint result from last year’s U.S. championships, where she was second to USST member Jessie Diggins.

    For Bjornsen, 23, two victories and two silvers in four races were as much as she could’ve asked for following an injury filled offseason.

    “For all of us who got a win this week, it’s a dream come true of course,” Bjornsen said. “But this wasn’t even in my hopes and plans two months ago before the season. Today was a real test of my fitness because I was exhausted, as was everybody … It’s just a good feeling to be able to finish a fourth race in a big week like that strong.”

    One step behind a repeat sprint victory, Bender (CXC) nearly made it into the mix for first or second after winning the classic sprint last week. After the finish, she couldn’t remember if she lunged or not, but was wishing she did.

    Regardless, she was excited about her national showing after a bout with mono and Lyme disease last summer.

    “The podium definitely gives me hope for the rest of the season,” Bender said. “I had no idea how today would go really.”

    Given the women’s course was identical to the classic sprint, she knew what was coming. For her, it was perfect.

    “It’s definitely a super-tactical course and you never really knew what was going to happen,” Bender said. “I had to go into it with that mindset that whatever happens, happens. Each race is different.”

    In the semifinal, she fell behind on the final climb and was nearly out of contention to advance. Making up time on the downhill, she slingshot back into position and won the heat. For the final, she worked her way up on the outside of the hill, scooting into fourth for the descent. There, she passed Caldwell and Becca Rorabaugh (APU), who ended up fourth.

    Caitlin Gregg (r) leads up the "horseshoe" climb in Tuesday's U.S. nationals skate sprint final at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Sophie Caldwell (second from r) hangs in second, Sadie Bjornsen sits in third, and Jennie Bender (l) makes her way up the outside.
    Caitlin Gregg (r) leads up the “horseshoe” climb in Tuesday’s U.S. nationals skate sprint final at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Sophie Caldwell (second from r) hangs in second, Sadie Bjornsen sits in third, and Jennie Bender (l) makes her way up the outside.

    “I was like, ‘OK, just stay in the pack, just stay there, just stay there … I’m lost again,’ ” Bender recalled thinking. “Coming down this hill I just got super low and made sure I pushed really hard off so that I could catch up and it worked. Each time I came flying around the outside and I was like, ‘Sweet! All right, let’s go for this!’ ”

    Following Rorabaugh in fourth, Annie Hart (Dartmouth College) also slipped by Gregg for fifth. Gregg ended up sixth, but remained satisfied with her effort. Earlier in the day, she had qualified in second just 0.63 seconds behind Caldwell, who won in 2:55.07.

    Gregg thought that was great considering she suffered a mild concussion a few days before when she hit her head on a beam.

    “I didn’t do the classic 20 k because I’ve been having a lot of concussions this year,” she said, referring to one suffered in the Engadin ski marathon in March. “[Monday] I felt better and today I felt fine. I’ve kind of learned the drill with how bad it is and how long it takes now [to recover]. It’s probably not great, the doctors say, but it’s kind of a low-risk sport.”

    Looking back, she’s not sure she would’ve changed her strategy for the final.

    “Every other heat I went out in the pack and I did that signature slingshot, but then I was like, ‘Gosh these girls are so good,’ ” Gregg said. “I just thought, ‘What if? I gotta just try it I guess. Why not?’ ”

    The third-fastest qualifier, Hart was regret-free after notching a career best at nationals. Two years ago, she was 17th in a classic sprint.

    “I’ve been having an OK week, nothing bad by any stretch of the imagination, but also nothing that was just like, ‘Yeah, that’s really what I wanted,’ ” Hart said. “And today was just so perfect. I could not have asked for a better day, just like, skis were great, course was great. I just stayed really relaxed, and it was just a blast.”

    After falling slightly behind on the last climb, Hart reunited with the group on the descent.

    “We were just all in this huge glomp coming around the turn and then it was just like, everyone’s yelling and you’re just zoned into the lane you want and someone’s in your lane,” she said. “But it was just so much fun. I would not have done, I don’t think, anything differently.”

    Rorabaugh was also thrilled with a nationals best of fourth after notching two sixth-place finishes earlier this week. Not feeling well to start the day, she considered calling it quits after qualifying in 17th.

    “I’ve been kind of sick the last couple races and I was like, ‘Man, this just isn’t smart. I’m not trying to make U23’s,’ ” Rorabaugh said. “This morning I was pretty sure I wasn’t racing, coughing stuff up, total mess and so then I was like, ‘I’ll try the prelim, see what happens.’ Debated after that for a long time and then I was like, ‘Whatever I’ll just ski, it’ll be fun,’ and it was!”

    In the heats, Rorabaugh stuck with a similar tactic: don’t lead.

    “It works out better to try to come from behind at the end with the big corner and the fast finish,” she said after advancing second in her quarterfinal and third in her semi.

    Rorabaugh took the inside lane to the finish, edging Hart on the outside behind Caldwell.

    “So now I’m fourth!” Rorabaugh said of breaking her streak. “Now of course I’m like, ‘Oh, I was so close to top three.’ ”

    — Audrey Mangan contributed reporting

    Qualifier results | Heat results

    U.S. nationals skate sprint women's final finish: post-lunge with Sadie Bjornsen (r) in first, Sophie Caldwell (l) in second and Jennie Bender (c) in third.
    U.S. nationals skate sprint women’s final finish: post-lunge with Sadie Bjornsen (r) in first, Sophie Caldwell (l) in second and Jennie Bender (c) in third.
  • U.S. Nationals Women’s 20 k Classic Mass Start Video

    U.S. Nationals Women’s 20 k Classic Mass Start Video

    MIDWAY, Utah – The 2013 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championship continued on the trails of Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah with the senior women’s 20 k classic mass start.  The lead pack was established early with just six women in contention for the national title throughout the majority of the race.  On the course’s final major climb, Hermode’s Hill, it was Sadie Bjornsen (USST/APU) who attacked, opening up a sizable gap by the time she entered the stadium.  Check out our footage of the action.

  • Bjornsen Gets What She Came For, Wins National Title in 20 k Classic Mass Start

    Bjornsen Gets What She Came For, Wins National Title in 20 k Classic Mass Start

    Alaska Pacific University and U.S. Ski Team member Sadie Bjornsen celebrates her first national title on Sunday in the 20 k classic mass start at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: Sarah Brunson/U.S. Ski Team)

    FasterSkier’s coverage of the 2013 US Cross Country Championships is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic in Bennington, Vt.

    MIDWAY, Utah – Just like the feeling one gets when cranking the handle on a jack-in-the-box, the women’s 20-kilometer classic mass start at the U.S. Cross Country Championships had the imminent feeling that any one of the six frontrunners was going to pop.

    But who would it be, when would they go, and how hard would they push?

    While Sunday’s main contenders are probably too young to understand the toy reference – all below the age of 25 – they probably shared a similar sense of anticipation.

    Skiing together for the duration of the four-lap race at Soldier Hollow and breaking away from more than 70 others on the first lap, each of the leaders periodically sized one another up while ticking off the loops and buying time before the final showdown.

    Somewhere along the fourth lap would most likely be the turning point, but who was going to put up the biggest challenge?

    Would it be Chelsea Holmes of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, the established climber, who led much of the race? What about Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain School T2 Team), who sat out the preceding 10 k freestyle race in preparation for this? Then there was Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project), a quiet but consistent threat, and of course the Alaska Pacific University (APU) women – Sadie Bjornsen, Rosie Brennan and Kate Fitzgerald – contenders for a podium in any race.

    Chelsea Holmes (SVSEF) leads a pack of six women up Hermod’s in the 20 k classic mass start at U.S. Cross Country Championships on Sunday at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Sadie Bjornsen of APU/USST (second from r) won and Holmes finished sixth.

    Spectators flocked to Hermod’s Hill, the infamous multi-tiered climb featured in the 2002 Winter Olympics. That’s where it had to happen on the final lap; someone was going to make a move.

    Bjornsen, also on the U.S. Ski Team, spared them the guesswork. She attacked on an earlier hill – the high point of the sprint course – before the long descent leading into Hermod’s for the last time. A runner-up in the two preceding races at the U.S. nationals, Bjornsen wasn’t going to let it happen again. She and the others had responded to Fitzgerald’s move earlier in the lap on one of the straightaways up top, and now it was her turn.

    “I was not gonna get second again today,” the 23-year-old Bjornsen said. “The mistakes I made before was I wasn’t fully committing to really going for it, and today when I surged there, I was telling myself in my head, ‘Sadie you gotta commit, you gotta go a hundred percent.’ ”

    She was especially trying to shake Caldwell directly behind her.

    “When I looked behind me and it was Sophie, I tried to surge on the top of the sprint hill just to lose her sprinting legs a little bit,” Bjornsen said. “When I was coming down the hill, I saw she was still with me so I just gunned it as hard as I could to the finish and that was that.”

    Bjornsen won by nearly 13 seconds in 1:05:39.2 for her second national title since dominating the 10 k classic at U.S. nationals two years ago. Fitzgerald was second (+12.9) after reigning in Caldwell on the last climb, tucking behind her on the backside descent and outsprinting her to the finish. Caldwell placed third (+14.1), Brennan took fourth (+20.4), Patterson was fifth (+24.8) and Holmes finished sixth (+36.5) in the front group.

    An early leader, Becca Rorabaugh (APU) came through in ninth after falling off the pace after the first lap. She finished about 35 seconds behind Rose Kemp of the University of Utah in seventh (+3:00.6) and Annie Pokorny of Middlebury College in eighth (+3:05.4).

    APU teammates Sadie Bjornsen (r) and Kate Fitzgerald congratulate each other after placing first and second, respectively, in Sunday’s 20 k classic mass start at U.S. nationals.

    However, the main stories of the day were APU’s Bjornsen and Fitzgerald, who both notched career bests. Bjornsen had never raced a 20 k before yet made a point to win it. Fitzgerald had achieved two bronzes at nationals, but coming off a shoulder injury this summer, she wanted to prove she could achieve more.

    Bjornsen said she had been looking forward to this race all week, seeing how classic was her favorite. Generally considered a sprinter, she wanted to erase that.

    “There’s a distance skier in all of us,” Bjornsen said. “No sprint specialists.”

    To succeed in her desire to win, she enlisted the motivation of her teammates overseas. Sunday morning, APU’s Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks finished 12th and 38th in the Tour de Ski. Another USST member, Liz Stephen posted the second-fastest time up the 9 k Alpe Cermis and landed 15th overall. Rookie Jessie Diggins (SMS/USST) pulled off 21st in the final standings.

    “I talked to all the girls over in Europe this morning and I was like, ‘You guys are so tough today, all I’m gonna think about today is you guys, and when I’m struggling, I’ll think about how you guys went seven days in a row,’ ” Bjornsen said. “I just kept thinking about that. There’s always more when you imagine that.”

    Thinking about her teammates racing up Italy’s grueling mountain made accelerating up Hermod’s for the last time slightly easier. Meanwhile, Caldwell couldn’t hold on. After attempting to stay with Bjornsen for the final kilometer after her attack, Caldwell lost ground on the major climb.

    “I had really good skis, good kick, so I was hoping people would hold the attack for as long as possible, like wait until the last hill,” Caldwell said. “[That] more or less happened, but I got pretty tired going over the top.”

    When Fitzgerald passed her at the bottom of the long downhill, Caldwell knew what was in store: “a double-pole showdown,” she said. Unfortunately, Caldwell was out of gas, but still happy with her first podium in a U.S. nationals distance race.

    Stratton Mountain’s Sophie Caldwell (l) chases Kate Fitzgerald (APU) into the finish of the 20 k classic mass start at U.S. nationals. Fitzgerald out-double-poled her for second, and Caldwell was third for career bests for both women.

    And despite contending with three APU women, which in many ways worked together, Caldwell wasn’t intimidated.

    “I’ve been on a team with Rosie before; I’ve been to World Juniors with Sadie before so we’re all sort of on the same team when it comes down to it,” Caldwell said. “I don’t think they’re plotting against me or anything. It’s fun to ski with friends.”

    Bjornsen said there was a bit of joking going on throughout the hour-long race.

    “The coaches kept asking, ‘Do you want GU or do you want gel?’ and I was, like, just saying the opposite of Chelsea every time,” she recalled. “And Fitz was tripping over herself and we were making jokes, and then at one point I could see Rosie was pissed off, she kept getting stuck [behind] people and she just takes off and I looked at my other teammates and was like, ‘Uh oh, here she goes.’

    “We all know each other’s strengths and we all know how to wreck each other if we wanted to, but we were all sort of working together,” she added. “If Rosie took off, I took off with her and it was the same with Fitz. It’s so fun to have a team, it’s just like another interval day.”

    Like most of the other top finishers, Fitzgerald described the race as fun, but said it was a little stressful at times.

    “It’s funny with these long races, there are times when you’re just like ‘Oh my gosh, I can barely hang on,’ ” she said. “And then sometimes you’re like, ‘Oh I feel good, all right, I’m just gonna go.’ You can never give up. You can’t count yourself out. It’s definitely cool and having so many teammates around, too, to remind you, like, OK, I can do this.”

    The second-place finish was about as good as gold for Fitzgerald, who separated her shoulder in a mountain-bike accident in June. She couldn’t do much of anything for a couple weeks, and according to APU head coach Erik Flora, she trained with one pole until October. Before that, Fitzgerald missed the second half of last season while sick with a virus.

    “I feel like it wasn’t a huge detriment, but I feel like I definitely have less upper-body strength this season,” Fitzgerald said of the shoulder injury. “I had a lot of help from my coaches to train around the injury kind-of-thing, so yeah, it was a bummer but I just tried my best to train as best as I could.”

    “To be able to be so strong today in the double poling, it’s tremendous,” Flora said of Fitzgerald. “We know she’s really strong and a good racer, but coming off an injury like that, it’s just great to see her back on form.”

    Flora had been among the excited spectators running up Hermod’s to get in good cheering position on the women’s last lap. With three of his athletes in the mix, he knew anything could happen.

    “The girls train in a group so much that they know how to ski in a pack,” he said. “You could see how relaxed they were, and they were just kind of floating around and they were making good moves.”

    As for Bjornsen’s victory, which mimicked that of her younger brother, Erik, who won Friday’s 15 k freestyle and was second in Sunday’s 30 k, Flora said both were exceptional.

    “When they first came to us, one of our goals was the distance races and now within a couple years they’re both medalists at nationals in distance racing,” he added. “So I would say that goal’s been met and they’re just getting stronger every day.”

    All living together in Anchorage, the Bjornsen siblings and Brennan resolved to become better skaters this summer, Sadie said. “We all proved it to ourselves,” she added.

    Brennan won Friday’s 10 k freestyle for her first national title and on Sunday, was slightly disappointed with fourth.

    “I wish that I had a little more to get on the podium, but I really can’t be upset with that; it was a good race,” Brennan said. “I actually wasn’t even sure I was gonna start so I’m glad I did.”

    Feeling like she was coming down with a cold, Brennan waited until this morning to make a call on whether to race. She decided to give it a go, but felt she might have been missing her top gear. Regardless, she found herself pushing the group early.

    “The pace was really relaxed for the first two laps and then on the third lap we turned it up a bit to kind of see where people were at,” Brennan said. “No one was really faltering at all. That’s when I realized that it was gonna be really a battle. I tried to go into relaxed mode without letting any moves go by. It got pretty tough at the end. Everyone was giving a little push at one point or another.”

    A two-time fifth place finisher at nationals this year, Patterson said she was simply impressed with the group and satisfied she could hang on.

    “The main thought that was coming to my mind when I was out there was, ‘This is one tenacious group of skiers,’ ” Patterson said. “No one was falling off. Everyone was kind of shuffling around, leading here and there and it was pretty intense. … I think I’ve got to be happy with how close I was to them at the finish and just overall.”

    For Holmes, who was fifth at U.S. Distance Nationals last year in the 30 k skate race, her sixth-place finish in the classic race was a personal best and an affirmation that she was headed in the right direction.

    Despite leading the group for much of the second and third laps, Holmes said she fell off the back on the flat section with one kilometer to go.

    “I just couldn’t stay on and it was a little bit gone,” she said.

    After starting out the season with three SuperTour podiums, including a skate sprint victory, in Bozeman and West Yellowstone, Mont., Holmes said she struggled to find her form.

    “Something went downhill somewhere,” she said. “You always want to feel good. I haven’t, so I said, today I’m just gonna go ski. … Those girls are super strong so stick with them, pull when I could and see where it went.

    “Honestly, I’m happier than I have been in a few weeks,” she added. “So that’s good.”

    — Audrey Mangan contributed reporting

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