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Tag: World Para Nordic Skiing NorAm

  • Bridger Ski Foundation to Host Para Nordic Skiing NorAm and Nationals

    Bridger Ski Foundation to Host Para Nordic Skiing NorAm and Nationals

    BOZEMAN, MT – For the second year, Bozeman will be the site of the World Para Nordic Skiing NorAm & U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing Sit Ski Nationals. Sit skiers from across the country as well as locally will compete for World Para Nordic Skiing international racing points, for national titles, and the field will include several athletes favored to medal at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

    The Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) will host two days of racing on Saturday and Sunday for the athletes right in town on the Sunset Hills trails, based out of Lindley Center. In addition, Crosscut Mountain Sports Center will host a biathlon race for the athletes on Friday.

    Spectators are encouraged, and the athletes and coaches will also present a Sit Ski Demonstration for the public at noon on Saturday at Lindley Center.

    Friday, January 5 at Crosscut

    3:00 p.m. Biathlon sprint

    Saturday, January 6 at Sunset Hills (Lindley Center)

    10:00 a.m. Sprint Qualifications, followed by semis and finals

    12:00 p.m. Sit Ski Demonstration & Clinic, open to the public.

    Sunday, January 7 at Sunset Hills (Lindley Center)

    10:00 a.m. Mid Distance Races

    The Road to the 2018 Games

    Bozeman is now the primary winter training facilities for the Paralympic Nordic Skiing program. Athletes from the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Ski Team, including World Champion Oksana Masters and 2010 Games medalist Andy Soule, have been living and training in Bozeman again this winter. Other “local” athletes include Aaron Pike, a member of the 2016 Rio Summer Games Team in wheelchair racing, and Kendal Gretsch, World Champion in triathlon who recently made the switch to Nordic skiing.

    The National Team athletes will depart Bozeman for a World Cup competition in Oberried, Germany, on January 16 and then return to spend the majority of February training in Bozeman in preparation for the 2018 Games, which begin on March 9 in PyeongChang, South Korea.

    A huge thanks to Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply for stepping up to be BSF’s local title sponsor of the Para Nordic Skiing NorAm event.

    The event is sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). As a World Para Nordic Skiing NorAm event, athletes from any nation are invited to participate, and those with an international competition license can score important IPC points, which can be used to qualify for the Paralympic Winter Games.

    Bridger Ski Foundation is a nonprofit ski club offering educational and competitive programs in Nordic, Freestyle, Freeskiing, and Alpine skiing. They also groom an incredible network of Community Nordic Trails in Bozeman. www.bridgerskifoundation.org 

  • South Korean Para Team Takes Spring Training to Casper

    South Korean Para Team Takes Spring Training to Casper

    South Korea’s Eui Hyun Sin swept both biathlon races at U.S. Paralympics nationals earlier this month and placed third in the cross-country sprint and short-distance races in Casper, Wyo. The South Korean Para-Nordic team is training in Casper until May 9. (Photo: Pearson Photography)

    Winter closed with a bang at Casper Mountain Biathlon Club (CMBC) in Casper, Wyo., as the nordic center hosted World Para Nordic Skiing NorAm & U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing Biathlon Nationals with four races in three days earlier this month.

    “Although the event was small, the competition was quality,” CMBC Managing Director Cathy Rosser wrote in an email.

    On March 31, the day before the first event, athletes trained as a foot of snow fell on an already deep base. Biathlon races took place April 1 and 2, with middle-distance biathlon races on Saturday, 12.5 kilometers for men and 10 k for women, and four shooting stages for each. Men raced on a 2.5 k loop; the women skied a 2 k loop on trails designed by John Morton. The weather warmed to 36 degrees, making for a firm track.

    On Sunday morning, biathletes raced a sprint, 7.5 k for men and 6 k for women, on the courses noted above. That afternoon, 1.2 k cross-country sprint qualifiers and finals were held. Fog descended during the sprint A-final, giving athletes just about 100 meters of visibility.

    On Monday, the three-day series wrapped up with short-distance classic races.

    Oksana Masters of the U.S. and South Korea’s Eui Hyun Sin dominated the biathlon events. On both days, American Andy Soule finished second by narrow margins, according to a CMBC press release. Canada’s Derek Zaplotinsky won the men’s sprint qualifier and final, and on the final day, Soule won the short-distance sitting cross-country race, as did Masters in the women’s sitting division.

    The South Korean Para-Nordic coaching staff at the Casper Mountain Biathlon Club earlier this month in Casper, Wyo, including (from left to right) trainer Ki Won Yoo, cross-country coach Jong In Choi, team manager Joo Yeon Han, and head coach Kaspar Wirz. (Courtesy photo)

    The South Korean team planned to continue training in Casper through May 9. According to coach Kaspar Wirz, the team’s primary goals are to “work on technique and [accumulate] snow kilometers,” he explained on the phone. “This is more than just doing the races.”

    Canada’s head para-nordic coach from 1996 to 2010, Wirz took the opportunity to coach the Korean Para-Nordic team in the months leading up to the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. When he started coaching the Korean team in January, he checked out CMBC. His athletes had never trained at high altitude, Wirz explained, and he chose Casper because of its elevation (above 5,000 feet) and reputation for promising spring conditions.

    “We could have gone to Finland to put some kilometers in but decided to come here and I’m very happy.”

    Coming off the IPC World Cup Finals in Sapporo, Japan, the team returned home for a few days before traveling to Wyoming.

    South Korean Paralympic skiers Ki Won Yoo and Sang Hyun Kwon having some fun after a morning training session in Casper, Wyo., with coach Kaspar Wirz (left). (Courtesy photo)

    “The conditions are excellent,” Wirz said. “The adjustment to the altitude and jet lag are not a big deal. I’m happy I made the move to come here.”

    The training camp caps a successful season for the Korean team, which competed at all five stops on the IPC World Cup circuit. “We went to all the World Cups, we had people on the podium, but if the Russians come back, the deck would be re-shuffled a little bit,” he said, referring to the indefinite suspension of Russian Paralympic athletes from IPC-sanctioned competitions.

    Six weeks makes for a long training camp, but Wirz said his athletes were up for it. The team’s original plan had been to train in Wyoming for two weeks, go home for a break and fly back to Bend, Ore. But that would have meant two additional 13-hour travel days and recovery from jet lag.

    Asked about funding for the overseas camp, Wirz said that in January he met with the secretary general of the Korean National Ski Federation for the Disabled, who was incredibly supportive.

    “So far I don’t have a budget. I just have to request to go somewhere, and they say yes or no,” Wirz explained. “So far, we haven’t had any budget restrictions. There were no questions asked because they want to perform at their home Olympics.”

    Results:

    Day 1: Middle-distance biathlon

    Day 2: Biathlon sprint | XC sprint qualifier | XC sprint final

    Day 3: Short-distance XC