Last May, FasterSkier wrote about the retirement of University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) legendary ski coach Cory Schwartz, who had been with the University for 42 years. This summer, UNH named Shane MacDowell— the team’s former assistant coach— as Schwartz’s replacement. Following in the footsteps of a person whose career stretches back to the Reagan administration is a daunting task. Doing so at a university which has a dedicated and passionate alumni base is even more of a challenge. Shane MacDowell was generous enough to take time to speak with FasterSkier about taking on the challenge of following the career of a legend, and the difficulties involved in coaching a high profile ski program.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

FasterSkier: First off, congratulations are still in order. You’re still kind of in the early honeymoon phases?

Shane MacDowell: Thanks. Yeah, summer was kind of the perfect time for this to happen. So, it’s kind of easing into it before the chaos begins.

FasterSkier: Shane, where do you call home?

Shane MacDowell: The past three years my family and I’ve been back and forth between Lake Placid, NY and New Hampshire. But now we’re going to be living in Somersworth, New Hampshire.

FasterSkier: Let’s start with one of the harder questions right off the bat. You’re obviously following in the footsteps of Cory Schwartz, who was at UNH for over four decades, and that has to be a challenge— following in the footsteps of a person who has become pretty much an institution. So how are you approaching that aspect of it, if you’re even considering that aspect of it?

Shane MacDowell: Yes, I’m considering that aspect of it. I’m definitely trying to be my own person, and my own coach, with that thought, I feel as though I’ve had an incredible experience running up to this point. Right out of college I worked for Boulder Nordic Sport with Roger Knight and that set me up on the waxing side of things. From there I worked at Green Mountain Valley School and then at Northern Michigan University (NMU) which gave me some really unique perspectives on coaching and leading a program, especially with Northern Michigan under Sten Fjeldheim. I got to really see what a top tier program is like, and then obviously working with Cory (Schwartz). Like you said, he’s an institution, and I had the pleasure and ability to ski for him when I was in college and then to come back and to be able to work with him and see how things work on the other side from being an athlete. I think that helped. It really set me up to be in this position because at UNH it’s not just about being a coach. We do a significant amount of fundraising, and our alumni outreach and alumni engagement are a huge part, which is great. I think what makes the entire ski program unique is because all the alumni are so engaged with the current team and how the program is doing. They want to give back and they want to still be a part of the program. Following in Cory’s footsteps is my goal, and not disrupting the foundation that he has laid, but also adding my own layer to it or my own character to it by doing things just a little bit differently. I think if somebody would come into this program after everything Cory has done to make it what it is — saving it on several occasions—and then to change everything about it, would be making a massive mistake.

FasterSkier: Whenever there’s a coaching change in any collegiate sport program after a long term coach has left, there are inevitable comparisons which get made and you’re going to face that as well. Is that something you’re prepared for?

Shane MacDowell: I think I’m prepared for it, and I think it makes it a little bit easier in that transition because it’s not like I’m coming from the outside as a new hire. This will be my 4th year coaching with UNH. I wouldn’t say it’s as stark as like, a Division One football program coach coming in from a whole different program and those comparisons being made … I’ve been part of the program.

FasterSkier: So you think having been an assistant coach at UNH for the last three years, is going to make the transition easier for you?

Shane MacDowell:  I think that makes it a little bit easier. There’s obviously a lot more things that I need to take on, with being a program director as well, that it’s going to take me a little while to get up to speed on. Cory did an amazing job of that alumni outreach that I spoke of before. And, getting up to speed on that and keeping that engagement going is definitely going to be one of the biggest … I hesitate to say hurdles to overcome, but it’s a big step to add on to, trying to run the Nordic program and oversee Alpine as well. So yes, on some of it, it is going to make it easier to transition, but there’s definitely going to be challenges along the way as well.

FasterSkier: Let me follow up with that. Your official title is director of Skiing and Head Nordic coach, which is the same title that Cory had. That includes directing and supervising downhill as well. Do you feel that position holds or creates any tension between the downhill and cross- country programs, especially when you have the head coach whose background predominantly is cross country?

Shane MacDowell: I don’t think it creates tension. There are a couple of other programs around the country that do it the same way and in certain cases, the Alpine coach is the director of the Nordic program. When Cory was in the position, or when I’m in the position, it’s not like we’re telling the Alpine program what they can or can’t do or how they should be training or anything like that. We’re one team that is headed by the director of the program. We’re not looked at as Alpine and Nordic. So to have one person, whether it be the Alpine head coach, or the Nordic head coach be the lead on that, I think it’s beneficial. Because I think when you separate the two, we would start competing for fundraising dollars within our alumni base and this way, when it’s looked at as one program, we’re doing it all as one unit.

FasterSkier:  In your position, will you actually be involved in coaching the Alpine athletes at all or working with them in any capacity?

Shane MacDowell: Coaching No. I won’t be on the hill coaching them, going through gates, that’s what Brian Blank and Parker Costa are doing. Interacting, yes. I said we’re one team, so we certainly interact as a team. Our Alpine and Nordic are very close with one another. Sometimes we’ll have training sessions together for dry-land, usually like our more explosive workouts, doing plyometrics, or sometimes we’ll get a speedball game going. I’m not sure if you know what speedball is?

FasterSkier: I don’t.

Shane MacDowell: It’s kind of a combination of two hand touch football and soccer. But you know we have those engagements where we get the two teams together and it keeps the team close and reminds them that we are in this together. It’s not just one team or the other. So, in that regard, I hesitate to call it coaching, but definitely coordinating to get together and keep that initiative going that we are one team working towards the same goal.

FasterSkier: In your remarks at your introductory press conference, you mentioned the time you spent at NMU (Northern Michigan University) under Sten Fjeldheim— who I think it’s fair to say is another legendary coach. You’re in a unique position where you’ve worked under both of these legends. Can you expound a little bit on what coaching lessons you learned from Sten and maybe if you can make a comparison of Sten’s methods versus Cory’s?

Shane MacDowell: I strongly believe that when I went and worked with Sten at Northern Michigan, I very much went to school with him on training methods, and technique. Sten is a technician when it comes to all of that, and I had the opportunity to work with him, who I think was probably one of the most successful coaches that the U.S. has ever had— so many national champions and some pretty incredible teams. Let me go on with Cory before I kind of compare the two. With Cory I had the background of the training and being able to write plans and have confidence in it and evaluate technique when I came to UNH. But with Cory I think I learned— and this isn’t to say I wasn’t learning it under Sten either—I learned how to find my coaching style a little bit more, work on the coach-athlete interaction, a little bit more patient scenarios and how to approach certain situations. And then also the other aspect of the program too is with fundraising, and I keep coming back to that which for our program is just huge. They have two pretty distinctly different styles, but I think it’s by necessity of the program. With UNH, fundraising and alumni engagement is huge for us because it has to be. Fundraising and alumni engagement was present at Northern Michigan, but it wasn’t as much of a must, so you could certainly focus a lot more time on the training aspect of things.

FasterSkier: I think it might be fair to say that NMU might have a little higher name recognition when it comes to attracting international athletes? Is that something that played into how the coaches handled athletes or affected the coaching at all?

Shane MacDowell: It’s actually kind of funny because it surprised me when I was working for Sten that his first international athlete wasn’t until when I was actually skiing in school in 2005, 2006. Up until then, he had only had Americans. And even when I was working with him, we had a couple of foreign athletes, but I would say the majority of the team was all Americans. My first year there, we had the best men’s team in the country at the NCAAs and they’re all from the Midwest which is pretty unique. You can’t take anything away from Sten and Northern on how successful they were. But to compare the Northern program to the UNH program or any program that has an Alpine team as well is like comparing apples and oranges. Because when you have an Alpine team as well, all of a sudden, your scholarships get cut in half for both programs. You’re allowed to have X number of scholarships, but then that gets split between Alpine and Nordic. With Northern they’re allowed the same number of scholarships, but it’s only for Nordic, so the power of having that many more scholarships just on the Nordic side, might play into being able to entice that foreign talent a little bit more.

FasterSkier:  NMU has an Alpine program but it’s a separate entity, right?

Shane MacDowell: Yeah, it’s a club team, so they don’t even compete in the same league.

FasterSkier: Working with Sten, can you put your finger on one or two major takeaway coaching lessons that you learned from him?

Shane MacDowell: The biggest takeaway from him was writing a training plan; writing one that can help the athletes be successful and improve throughout their time on the team. He was just incredible at knowing what an athlete needed and prescribing the right training and holding them to it and making them accountable. So, I would say, a combination of knowing training, but then also having that ability to get the respect from the athletes because they know that you know what you’re talking about and holding them accountable to get that work in to reach their best potential. And then the second is probably his ability to analyze technique and really hone in on where an athlete’s deficiencies are and being able to relay that in a way that the athlete understands is probably another big take away.

FasterSkier: Moving back to something else that you were talking about earlier regarding the importance of alumni outreach. UNH’s Nordic fan base is different than it is at a lot of other schools—it’s more involved. The importance of fundraising is high on the list of things that you have to do. As the head coach having to be involved with the fundraising, the training of athletes, and the administration of the program … it’s a lot for one person. What’s your strategy for tackling all that, because it seems like it’s just so much?

Shane MacDowell: It’s not really just all on one person. For the Nordic program we just hired a new assistant coach to replace myself with Brandon Herhusky, who was the assistant at UVM the past few years. So, it’s not all just falling on me. As mentioned before, we’re working as one team so we’re not engaging just the Nordic program, we’re engaging all of our alumni. Having our Alpine staff there to assist with that and help our program to have even greater outreach is great because then all of that responsibility isn’t necessarily just falling on one person’s shoulders.

FasterSkier: When you were an assistant at UNH, were you able to kind of sit back and watch how Cory processed and worked with the alumni and alumni relationships and saw how he managed it?

Shane MacDowell: Yes, and I think that’s been one of the biggest advantages of stepping into this role. I’ve had that experience of being able to see how Cory engaged with the alumni not only through email and social media, but to try to have at least one alumni event a year. During the Carnival season this past year we had it at the Dartmouth Carnival. So, we had as many alumni that wanted to come and had sort of a little banquet style dinner with everybody, and they actually got to come and watch the races as well. So just having that sort of engagement with them, keeping alumni involved as much as possible and up to date with who’s on the team, what the team’s doing— their successes both on the ski trails and in the classroom goes a long way. Our alumni obviously look at the team and their time on the team as being very special and still want to be involved with that and give back in in any way that they can.

FasterSkier: You don’t see it as quite the same daunting task as an outsider does looking in terms of managing all these different aspects of the program. It seems that there is an infrastructure in place, with people, to help manage all that?

Shane MacDowell: There’s definitely the infrastructure in place and like I mentioned earlier, Cory did an amazing job of laying that foundation. I would be sorely mistaken, if I were to say I’m not going to screw this up a little bit at one point or another. There’s going to be growing pains for me because it is new, but there are those other aspects to the program that help you tackle all the tasks that we do have.

Please revisit FasterSkier for part II of our interview with Shane MacDowell.

It’s been 14 years since I became an Olympian, competing as a cross country skier in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Since then, it hasn’t been easy to get to the Olympics as a spectator. The Winter Games have been in Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing, while the summer games have been in Rio and Tokyo, with an interruption by the Covid pandemic. The Paris Games were finally an opportunity for me to attend my first Olympics as a spectator. My wife Catherine speaks fluent french and has spent lots of time in Paris, so she planned out an incredible long weekend for us, striking the perfect balance between Olympic events, Parts attractions and local flavors.

We caught the opening Ceremonies and many of the early competitions on TV, so we had a pretty good orientation and impression of the experience before arriving last Thursday night, August 1 for three days in Paris.

Public transportation was plastered with Olympic branding and volunteers to direct visitors. Our accommodation in Paris’ 9th arrondissement was located right on the cycling road race route with views up to the Sacré Coeur Basilica atop Montmartre – one of the highest points in Paris. We arrived in time for a late dinner – almost all restaurants in France have strict seating times and require reservations – and an evening storm poured rain just outside the restaurant’s open facade, bringing a welcome breeze on a hot night. Parisian steak frites, paired with a bottle of Bordeaux and a fresh side salad offered a quintessential start to the trip.

Most events start later in the day, so our aim on Friday was to discover Paris. What better place to kick things off than the Eiffel Tour? Adorned with the Olympic rings, I wanted to visit the iconic landmark on the Seine and site of the Opening Ceremonies, Beach Volleyball and finish of the triathlon and road races. I wrote my Master’s Thesis about “visitor flows” and the movements of tourists through cities. Not surprisingly, one of the first places tourists go when they arrive in a new city is the highest point. In Innsbruck, the destination I studied for my thesis, that’s the Nordkette mountain range overlooking the city below. In Paris, the highest point is the Eiffel Tower.

I was surprised that there was practically no line for the elevator to the top, so we hitched a ride and were rewarded with an Olympic panorama of Paris. The festive atmosphere of the beach volleyball match carried to the top of the Eiffel Tower. BMX racers practiced at the race track on the other side of the Seine. 3 x 3 basketball courts were surrounded by spectators. The iconic Grand Palais museum, with its vintage art deco style, hosted the fencing competitions. The Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame – all places I knew only from photos and textbooks – came to life amidst all the Olympic venues. I didn’t get to visit any of the famous sites during my first trip to Paris, but I’m already looking forward to my next trip when I can go inside. This trip, after all, was to celebrate the Olympic Games!

And that’s exactly how it felt: a celebration. I was a bit self-conscious before my first day in Paris, so I decided to leave my USA Olympic rings shirt at home, instead opting for an unbranded neutral green t-shirt. Once I was out in the city, I realized I was probably the only person without a national flag or Olympic rings of some sort. People’s clothes were an opportunity to open conversation, congratulating sport’s fans on the achievements of athletes from their country.

Some countries with large Olympic teams even have “houses” in Paris. The houses are more like embassies. The “Team USA House” was in the Palais Brongniart, an impressive building originally built in 1826 as home to one of the world’s first stock exchanges. The Team USA House is a gathering point for athletes, their families, sponsors and even US Olympians from previous Games. At the Vancouver Olympics, the cross country skiers stayed in Whistler, so I never visited the Team USA House. One of my highlights in Paris was visiting the Team USA House and the opportunity to connect with other Olympians and share the experience with my wife Catherine and best man, Dan. Dan and I ski raced both in high school and college together. Dan is in Paris for the Olympics in his role working for Airbnb.

A couple of the highlights in the Team USA House were catching up with 5x Bobsled Olympic medalist and 2022 USA flag bearer Elana Meyers Taylor, her husband and Olympian Nic Taylor and Olympian Lauren Gibbs. Elana won her first medal at the 2010 Games (I was at the awards ceremony!) and is still competing, currently training for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games. Wow!! I’m looking forward to cheering on Elana, Nic and Lauren when they compete at the Bobsled World Cup in Innsbruck this winter. Another highlight was meeting LaShawn Merritt, 3 x Gold Medalist in the 400m Sprint and 4x400m Relay. We connected on the focus and intention it takes to achieve big goals and the power of sleep. LaShawn currently runs Nike Speed Clinics for high school athletes and runs the LaShawn Merritt Foundation, dedicated to enhancing the well-being of youth in underserved communities.

We haven’t even made it to the competitions yet! Getting tickets was definitely not the easiest or most affordable part of the games, but spending Friday night under the lights of the Stade de France, France’s national stadium, was definitely worth the effort. All 80,000 seats were sold out and the crowd was waay into it. Fortunately, there was still enough flexibility to get up and move around, so we could catch different events from different vantage points. We met the families of a few different athletes competing and had fun cheering on their athletes. The US team dominated the 4 x 400m mixed relay qualification. The women’s 5000m qualification heats featured a master class in strategy, with team tactics, rabbits and sprint finishes all coming into play. Many of the decathlon events offered an opportunity to see a variety of field sports. The highlight of the evening was the men’s 10,000m final. The crowd had a wave going around the stadium at the same pace as the runners. Grant Fisher from the US brought home an historic bronze medal on the 10k which prompted lots of texts with past running teammates of mine watching the races from home in the US.

If I had one wish for my time in Paris at the Olympics, it’s that more friends and family could join me to experience the Games. One person would be my sister Martha, who is an NCAA DI Champion rower. We went to the Rowing finals on Saturday morning thinking of her. The women’s and men’s Eights and Single Sculls featured medal finals. Rowing had a fun atmosphere with a lot of freedom for fans to walk along most of the 2 km course.

The rowing medal ceremonies finished with enough time for us to get back to our neighborhood for the Men’s Road Race. We didn’t plan this part of the trip beforehand, but the course went right past our accommodation in Paris – twice! The crowd was already starting to line up behind the fencing when we arrived, so we staked out our spot next to a crew of Irish fans, in Paris to cheer on Ben Healy and Ryan Mullen. Surprisingly, the two Irish cyclists were having a great race and the Irish crew was ecstatic, sharing updates with us from the course. I really enjoy capturing photos from events like the Olympics. At the track and rowing events, most of my photos were capturing the crowd and atmosphere, but because the athletes were so far away, it was almost impossible to get any close-up action shots. That changed when I lined up next to catch the lead pack of the cyclists. One of the absolute highlights of the Games for me was capturing a close-up of Remco Evenepoel, en route to his Olympic Gold Medal, less than 5 km from the finish and right before his dramatic bike exchange after getting a flat tire. Looking at the photo, I think you can even see a little smirk on Evanepoel’s  face as the reality sinks in that he’ll likely win his second gold medal of the Paris Olympics. A big grin is definitely apparent on French rider Valentin Madouas, en route to a silver medal. What an exciting event.

Our trip wrapped up with more exploration in Paris. Restaurants and bars were packed and patrons overflowed onto the streets watching various events on the big screens. Cheers erupted in different places from different crowds and there was a genuine joie de vivre from everyone in Paris.

As I reflect on my long weekend in Paris, I am so glad that I took the time to attend the Olympics. After this experience, there’s no doubt that the Paris Olympics will go down as one of the best ever, especially with how Paris’ cultural sites were incorporated into the venues for the competitions and how well everything was organized. I am already looking forward to the Milan-Cortina Games and feel much more knowledgeable about the Olympic system as we develop Lumi’s trip to the 2026 Games.

If you’d like to attend a World Championship event, we still have a few spots available on Lumi’s trip to the 2025 Nordic World Championships in Trondheim, Norway and the Tour de Ski trip in Val di Fiemme, Italy. The World Championships in Trondheim, Johannes Klaebo’s hometown, will be an historic series of races. The Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme will be on the same trails as the Olympics in 2026. If the Paris Olympics have you inspired to take a trip to France, we still have a few spots available on Lumi’s France Jura trip. One of Lumi’s trip leaders in France is the mother of an Olympic Gold medalist with some incredible Olympic stories herself.

Our Olympic sale with $300/person savings for the 2025 World Cup and France trips ends this Sunday, August 11. Reach out soon for more information and to sign up!

Finnegan Bailey—a resident of Landgrove, Vermont, and team member of SMST2 and the University of Vermont—was selected this spring to become one of the newest members of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team at the staggering age of 18. So how’d he do it?

In the last twelve months, Finnegan (Fin) Bailey has received quite the accolades in the competitive nordic skiing scene. To name a few: he was named to the SMST2 club team, he won his first Super Tour race and he demolished the field at the 2024 Junior Nationals U20 sprints. So it’s no surprise that Fin was amongst the latest batch of rising athletes selected to the Stifel U.S. Ski Team. While technically it’s this last year’s performances that led to Bailey’s selection, his journey to the top level of American skiing is a lifetime in the making, and it’s been filled with highs, lows, and lessons.

Fin’s father Jack is an alpine ski coach, so his exposure to snow sports didn’t begin on nordic skis. He started skiing at the age of two—alpine, that is—before exploring the nordic world a year or two later. And he played other sports, too.

“I played both soccer and baseball quite competitively. I’ve played baseball since fourth grade, and I love it. I also played soccer all through my time at Stratton,” Bailey said. Through last spring, Fin was a competing tri-sport athlete, and “pretty happy that [he] wasn’t solely focused on Nordic…because (he) doesn’t think that’s the best way to do it.” During their respective seasons, Bailey said he was “a lot more focused” on those sports than he was on skiing.

Still, despite his diverse athletic experience it’s no secret that time on skis is a key ingredient to success, Bailey had plenty of it. But forget specific speed or endurance training: Bailey largely spent his time on skis having fun “jibbing.” What’s jibbing? It can essentially be defined as hitting makeshift jumps and rails and doing things on nordic skis that aren’t meant to be done on nordic skis. (Technically, there was one pair of nordic skis made with jibbing in mind — the discontinued Fischer Jibskates — but they were the exception rather than the rule.) 

Asked how his “jibbing career” impacted his success on skis, Bailey lit up. “That’s huge! That’s all I remember and it’s how I started,” he said. Fin skied for a ski club in the Bill Koch League (BKL) called West River up through the end of elementary school, and following every BKL race — which he’d typically have won — Fin could be found handling the more important business of building and hitting massive jumps, throwing impressive grabs, spins, and even backflips. He credits his ability to move on skis largely to his youthful jibbing career.

As he moved into the later years of elementary school, Fin, along with his group of friends dubbed “The Peru Crew” — Fin and his friends Wyatt Teaford, who skis for Bates College, and Chip Freeman, who skis for Williams College — began to take skiing and training more seriously under the tutelage of Vermont coaching legend Sverre Caldwell.

“The way he got me into nordic skiing was probably the best way I could have been introduced to it,” Bailey said. He credits Caldwell for guiding him from one step on his pathway to the next. Caldwell broadened his horizons from a passionate jibber into a more multi-dimensional skier who could have just as much fun in rollerski agility sessions that mixed “training” with the fun of jibbing. These sessions were also the first exposure that Bailey had to training alongside the Stratton teams. With Caldwell’s guidance, Bailey began climbing SMS’s ladder of programs, from winter-term all the way up to SMST2. Caldwell’s influence, he said, was huge.

“There was no forcing or anything like that. He truly guided me into the SMS team.”

When Bailey arrived at the Stratton Mountain School, he kept a wide array of athletic interests but gradually became more serious about a future in skiing. He began to focus on training year round, and with this shift in mentality, his goals shifted beyond an aerial career and towards making it, as he remembers, “as far as I can.” 

Fin describes himself as a “hugely competitive” person, among other things, so it is no surprise that he aspired to the next level. But he was also exposed to that level early on, thanks to his upbringing in the stomping grounds of some of the best American nordic skiers of all time. During his time at West River and during the coined “Sverre agility sessions,” he found himself surrounded by the likes of Simi Hamilton and Sophie Caldwell. More recently, during his time at SMS and later on SMST2, Fin has had the opportunity to train with Jesse Diggins, Ben Ogden, and Julia Kern, among other massive names in American skiing.

If they served as Bailey’s inspiration, it was largely subconscious. 

“I think I probably took it for granted,” he said. It would really only hit him when he’d take a step back and think, “Wow! I’m training behind Jessie or Ben.” But mostly it was just normal. Bailey does acknowledge that just being around professional skiers was massively influential in his development as a skier.

“Even if you aren’t thinking about it, you’re looking at what they do, watching their technique. Even if you aren’t trying to, it’s just that when you look up to somebody like [I do], it’s natural. So, I think that without even thinking about it, just being around them made me better, my technique a lot better, and me a lot more invested in the sport.”

As he gains a greater understanding of the influence that high-level skiers have had on him, Bailey understands his own impact more, too, and wants to emphasize to younger, aspiring athletes the value of using knowledgeable, experienced, and more established (while still cool) skiers like himself as a resource.

“I think that it’s just great to reach out to anybody. Jessie and Ben and Julia—they’re so easy to talk to and they love sharing their experience,” he said. “Everybody loves talking about themselves and what they know.” Still, he stressed that young athletes should trust their instincts, too. “Find what works for you, but you can base that off of what the more professional athletes do.”

Bailey also made sure to note that even pros still have lessons to learn when asked about his skiing idol. His answer was Dartmouth junior Jack Lange, a teammate of his this summer as well as at SMS for a few years prior. Lange is an incredible distance skier, and splits from a large spread of races will tell you that he tends to get faster and faster throughout races. Bailey, on the contrary, is best known for his sprinting ability, and he made note of a dynamic between them.

“He gains sprinting knowledge off of me, and I gain distance knowledge off of him.” 

Improving his distance skiing prowess is one of Fin’s big goals for the future, especially as he overcomes a strange set-back from over-lifting. Yes, over-lifting is a thing in nordic skiing. “Two years, five-plus days in the gym a week, and I was just way too big to move my body in a 10k or a distance race,” he said. “The gym has been like my safe space… and I’ve had to totally dial it back. I’m now at two times a week in the gym, just to translate that strength that I have now into using it in nordic skiing.” 

This, believe it or not, has been “super hard” for Bailey, but as much as he loves the gym, he also understands that “you eventually get to a point where you are building too much muscle, and you don’t necessarily need that for nordic skiing.”

 Staying consistent with an interview he gave at Junior Nationals a few years back, Fin also mentioned UNH incoming freshman David Shycon as one of his idols, noting that David is “such a happy kid” and “always himself.” “I love that about him,” Bailey said.

It’s clear that Fin has done a lot right. What’s the one thing he feels he’s done exceptionally well in developing as a skier? As it turns out, it has nothing to do with training or nutrition.

“I think I’ve had fun. I think that’s the biggest thing,” he said.

As Bailey heads off to the University of Vermont in the fall, he hopes that this next year skiing on the EISA circuit will mark another step in his competitive skiing progression. But he understands that there is more to life than just skiing. “Making the [US] Ski Team this year has been a pretty good step,” he said. “If I keep going, that’s great. If not, that’s also great.” He’s looking forward to everything else college has to offer; Bailey is going into the academic scene undecided but would love to get into some sort of study in sports physiology. And he has really enjoyed playing around with photography and media.

But come wintertime weekends it’ll be worth watching out for Bailey in the black, green, and yellow of UVM this Winter. Most of his competition might just be watching from behind.

The clearest correlation to running related injury appears to be training error, which is estimated to account for 60-70% of injuries. But less clear, as this paper digs into, is which variable is most at play: volume, duration, frequency, or intensity? In an attempt to quantify “training error” and provide some guidelines, we have what’s come to be known as the 10% rule. The basic premise here is that you shouldn’t increase your weekly running volume by more than 10% over the previous week. But the 1st rule about rules is that there are no rules. So, this is more guidance than gospel. 

What might be closer to a rule is that injuries happen when the load that’s placed on the body exceeds the body’s ability to tolerate that load. In this equation, we can modify load via training parameters like the variables that the article above attempted to dissect: weekly volume, duration of runs, frequency of runs, and intensity (speed and/or elevation gain and loss). We might further modify running load via surface (pavement vs dirt), footwear quality, and running form (more on that in a minute). On the other side of the equation, we can modify the body’s ability to tolerate load via exercise and preparation for the demands of running (much more on that in a few minutes).

Just like there is no perfect skiing technique, there is no perfect running form. However, in both sports we do have an optimal range, and when movement patterns fall outside of that range they become inefficient. Decreased efficiency equals both decreased performance and increased load, neither of which are desirable. Inconveniently (again), it’s very hard to define what proper running form looks like. It’s maybe easier to define what it doesn’t or shouldn’t look like. Even then, there are only a handful of moderate correlations between aberrant running form and injury. 

At the top of the list is overstriding, aka landing with your foot well out in front of your body’s center of mass. (This is not to be confused with heel striking—landing with initial foot contact through your heel as opposed to mid foot or forefoot. Heel striking isn’t necessarily overstriding though most overstriding does tend to be characterized by heel striking.) The primary issues with overstriding are an increase in peak/impact forces and a decrease in control of the knee, both of which are going to increase load on the body. Without diving too deep into the rabbit hole, the best way to correct an overstride is to increase the cadence or steps per minute—more steps at the same speed equals a shorter stride length. To train this, you need to be on a treadmill at a fixed speed (if you try to increase your cadence outside, you’ll likely just run faster) with your steps timed to the rhythm of a metronome. The target is to increase your steps per minute by 10%, which has been shown to effectively decrease loading rates.

Next up is a lack of pelvic control or what’s often called hip drop or femoral adduction. This occurs when the muscles of the stance leg are overwhelmed and unable to control the hip, and therefore the pelvis. As a result the pelvis drops on the opposite side, altering knee kinematics in the process, and frequently causing knee pain. We look to correct this through exercises targeting hip strength, coordination, and control as well and balance and stability in single leg stance. Conveniently (finally), this would be all of our ski-specific dryland exercises and drills. If you are a FasterSkier regular, then you’ve already seen numerous exercise suggestions here, here, here, here, and here, all of which are quite appropriate for running injury prevention.

That’s a great segue into the other side of the equation: the body’s ability to tolerate load. To paraphrase Geoff Burns, PhD from a recent Science of Sport podcast on running biomechanics, It’s not any one component—joint or muscle—that correlates with injury or performance, but how the system behaves as a whole. We must behave like pogo sticks. More force in equals more force out. But the body must be able to withstand these forces and be able to direct them appropriately. 

Essentially, Dr Burns is saying that running is an inherently high load activity and the body must be adequately prepared (strength, stability, mobility, etc) to handle these loads. Despite Instagram posts proclaiming Five Exercises Every Runner MUST Do! there is no magic exercise. I literally asked three different colleagues, all running injury specialists, What are your top three exercises for preventing running injuries? Inconveniently (here we go again), I got three different answers. 

Not to use that as a cop out, or get away without including pictures of my bald head and yellow-walled basement, here are MY top three exercises for runners (and skiers). These, plus all of your other strength training and pay-to-play maintenance exercises, should be in the mix two or three times a week. As with any exercise, the goal is to challenge or nudge the body in order to get the desired adaptations. This, as with all training, is a bit of a Goldilocks thing: too hot and the body is unhappy and let’s you know about it; too cold and nothing happens. Please be aware that these exercises (and the ones in my previous articles linked above) may not be your Goldilocks. If you are currently dealing with a running related injury (or any musculoskeletal pain), please visit your friendly, neighborhood physical therapist instead of searching for an internet cure.

Triple Extension

This is a classic running form drill to promote pushing through the hip, knee, and ankle. The shape–the ability to fully extend the hip and knee while going high on your toes–is arguably more applicable to sprinters than distance runners; however, it makes my list due to the work done by the calf muscles which are major players in running.

• Stand on one foot about 3 feet away from a wall. Hands are on the wall at about shoulder height. Imagine the wall is falling on you and you need to push it back upright. At the foot, your weight is biased toward the front of the foot so the heel is just high enough off the ground that you could slide a credit card under it.
• Still holding up the wall, drop down into a low squat with your opposite leg trailing behind. 
• With a quick push, stand as tall as you can. You should have equal weight from the inside to outside of the foot, and the knee and hip should be straight, but thinking about getting tall often accomplishes the task.
• If doing this exercise on one leg is too challenging, you can do it both legs together.
• Aim for 2-3 sets of 10x on each side. This is also a good running warm up.

Bulgarian Split Squats aka Trail Leg Lunges

These work the glutes and quads more than squats due to the staggered stance and place more load (and balance demand) on the front leg than traditional lunges. More bang for your buck! The version I’m showing uses a hip strategy/hip hinge/trunk lean to increase the work done by the glutes.

• Feet are staggered with the back foot on a step, box, chair, or bench. 
• To determine the placement of the front foot, sit on the front edge of the step, box, etc. Straighten the working leg out in front of you. Keeping the heel on the floor, stand up onto that leg. Then place the back leg on the step with the sole of the foot vs top of the foot.
• As you drop into the lunge, your hips should go straight down.
• Aim your fingers for the sides of your ankle. This will promote the forward trunk lean.
• The knee will move forward a bit but shouldn’t be going past your toes.
• Shoot for 2-3 sets of 10x. You can make it harder by adding weights or increasing the height of the furniture. It can be regressed by keeping your back foot on the ground.

Side Planks

Typically thought of as a core strength exercise, which it very much is, these also do a lot to  work gluteus medius, a major stabilizer at the hip (see the bit on pelvic drop above).

• Lying on your side, prop yourself up between the outside of your bottom foot and your elbow/forearm.
• Ankle, knee, hip, and shoulder are in a straight line, and your body should be vertical like a wall, not sagging or twisting to one side or the other.
• This is a timed hold. 30 seconds is a win. A minute is a gold medal but is getting boring and ready for some progressions (try it from your hand instead of elbow, add moving the top leg up and down, or twist like you’re reaching the top hand under your armpit). An easier version is to go from the knees instead of the feet (still keep your knee, hip and shoulder in line but bend at the knees so your feet are behind you).

FasterSkier: Your backstory is interesting. You’re a mechanical engineer and have a master’s in economics. You wrote your thesis about the price theory of ski lift ticket pricing. Can you summarize your thesis about ski lift pricing?

Andy Gerlach: My thesis analyzed why you still pay for a day of skiing rather than per ride. In a perfectly competitive industry, the economic models say you should be paying per ride. I argued the reason you pay for a one day lift ticket, is that they’re monopolistic. I showed that the skier who pays the most is a local, the person who pays the least is a tourist who has competition and can ski anywhere, so the areas package their lift tickets and give discounts to the far off skiers, so the locals pays the most. So, there is no competition at the local level. It’s more monopolistic the closer you are to the ski area. Lift area pricing is unique and only an economist would care about it.

FasterSkier: So, given your background, do you have conversations with cross-country ski trail operators about their pricing?

Andy Gerlach: No. But the one thing I’m hearing over and over is we want to be selling skiing, not groomed trails … trying to sell skiing as a lifestyle, maybe selling memberships instead of trail passes. Cross-country skiing is a complicated sport. It’s very scary to get into because of the amount of gear involved, from the consumer perspective. We don’t do enough to make it simple. We need to package it in a better manner so we’re selling the sport and the lifestyle rather than individual products.

FasterSkier: Does that argue for an all in one venue where you ski, buy equipment, and stay in one place?

Andy Gerlach: Areas like that are fabulous, but many of our skiers don’t need them. If you live in Minneapolis, you stay at your home, but they still need to be able to happen across cross-country ski equipment. We make it difficult for a person to get into the sport. In the 1970s there were sporting goods stores that sold cross-country ski equipment everywhere. You could buy ski equipment even at Dayton’s (a former department store). Now you have to know about the shops. Compare it to snowshoeing, which sells a limited proposition … you look at it (the snowshoe) and it says it will work for you and fit you. You can impulse buy snowshoeing. It’s difficult in America to impulse buy cross-country skiing.

FasterSkier: How do you get that to happen?

Andy Gerlach. My next goal is to simplify cross-country ski purchasing to find ways to make it more readily accessible to the masses.

FasterSkier: Do you have ideas on how to implement that?

Andy Gerlach: Yes, but I can’t go sharing them (laughing). Everyone asks if the sport is growing or shrinking? Covid helped grow the sport, it was a boom sport, and has now receded. This past winter was terrible because of the lack of snow. I’d like to find ways to make everything about selling the sport, rather than selling the equipment. We want to sell solutions. Remember those pocket guides?

FasterSkier: Yes, I still have them.

Andy Gerlach: I plan to relaunch those and am relaunching the Factory Team.

FasterSkier: What is the need to bring back the Factory team?

Andy Gerlach: Since we closed the Factory Team, most every Loppet in America has coincidentally shrunk in size, in the last 15 years, other than the Birkebeiner. I’m not saying that caused it. But bringing it back can help. I’m also bringing it back because too much in American ski racing has been about “how did you do; rather than how do you do?”  We want the Factory Team to be about “how do you do?” our athletes meeting other skiers, and about skiing rather than what place did you get.

FasterSkier: Personally, I’ve grown frustrated with the how did you do mentality, and the injury reports everyone seems to give you when you say hello?

Andy Gerlach: Of course they do! Because if all we can discuss is how did you do, then you have to make your explanations of why you didn’t do it. But if you can sell the sport for the joy of gliding across snow, and the winter landscape, then we’re selling the spirit that most of us are really in it for. I felt some of it at the Birkie this past year. People didn’t think there was going to be a Birkebeiner, and when there was one with barely any timing— everyone was so overjoyed— they were thankful to be able to ski with their buddies, get together, and have their goal they could still accomplish with even less pressure. They weren’t really being timed so they could just go ski it for their joy. Like skiing was way back when.

Annika Landis— who was our first athlete on the Factory Team relaunch— came on board with the proposition of racing with skiers instead of against skiers. We also want skiers to realize that there are great races and tours all over America. You can see this joy of cross-country skiing rather than this “how did you do?” Last year we relaunched the team with one skier, Annika Landis. This year there will be two, with Simon Zink joining her. It will be called EnjoyWinter-NTS Factory Team. The NTS is Nordic training solutions run by Andy Newell. His company is the co-title sponsor. NTS is the training technique expert. We hope to keep doubling the size, but you have to start by putting one foot in front of the other. Back in the day I had 14 athletes on the Factory Team. The goal of the athletes is allowing them to chase their athletic dreams but with the passion of skiing with skiers rather than against them.

FasterSkier: You see it as more than just a brand building mechanism, but more of a way to change the mindset of participants?

Andy Gerlach: It’s to be more engaged with the community of skiers, dealers, and clubs, and sharing expertise and passion. Racing gets the attention, but there are more people who don’t race than do race. Also, look at the Ski Classic racing in Europe, there are the top teams whose names you know, but there are like 60 teams! What I’d love to do, is to do American Ski Classics. The exciting thing isn’t the top team, but the 60^th, team like Sven’s Welding shop (I just made that up). They’re not trying to compete with the winners, they’re just people who love ski racing, and employees can join our team. Wouldn’t it be great if at the Birkie, or Tour of Anchorage, had five businesses where the owners love skiing, or want to market to skiers could say hey this is our business and we’re sponsoring this race team run by our employees?

FasterSkier: There’s a little bit of a chicken and the egg problem here though, right?

Andy Gerlach: Yes. One of my goals is to launch with a few marathons this coming winter and a few businesses; a way where a business can say we’re supporting our athletes and we’re going to start a team. Clubs are great for junior racing, but there should be ways where master skiers can feel enthused and training for a purpose. If you say you’re skiing the Birkie, you’re a hero at your local shop, at your work place for just doing the Birkie. People just say, “I’m skiing the Birkie, it’s like doing an Ironman— if you put the sticker on your car, you’re a hero. Skiing in America needs to have some accomplishment of doing a skiing adventure without having the pressure of how did you do? As soon as our Factory Team athletes start affecting the local Loppet community, then our competitors; they’ll start investing more again into their trade teams, and suddenly there will be a bit more energy and enthusiasm for Loppet racing. This ties in with a longer goal. How can you make cross-country skiing an impulse buy again, where someone could be in Costco and instead of grabbing a sled, they could instead again grab a pair of skis for themselves and their kids?

FasterSkier: If you can sell cross-country skiing equipment at Costco that would be amazing!

Andy Gerlach: That’s been a goal of mine for a long time. I’ve proposed it to every ski brand that I’ve worked with and there were always many reasons for why it can’t be done, rather than finding ways to do it. Our goal is to provide these simple solutions to selling skiing instead of selling skis. If we can do that, then larger merchants can sell skiing, rather the skis, we can make skiing more accessible.

FasterSkier: Isn’t some of that moving away from the model of very specific weight correlations for skis? If you’re selling at Costco, you need small, medium, and large sizes only, right?

Andy Gerlach: Yes, and we have that. You go to Europe and it’s much easier than it is here. Americans have been taught that every one kilogram on a ski matters, and in Europe they don’t. Skis are much more versatile than Americans are led to believe. For the majority of skiers, the fitting process isn’t as delicate as we’ve been told. We need to provide solutions that work at the basic level more, rather than what is necessary for a World Cup skier to make up two seconds in a 10-k. When it’s that complicated, you’re too scared to buy anything. We’re trying to get someone to walk into a store with their family during a big storm, and then you can go home and glide across snow in your backyard. We want them to think about skiing as a lifestyle rather than a piece of equipment.

FasterSkier: Anything else you want to talk about?

Andy Gerlach: If I read the tagline from the original Factory Team; I’m still using the same one today; “without ski equipment snow is something you shovel. With ski equipment snow is something you glide on. Wouldn’t you rather glide than shovel.”

FasterSkier: That’s a great tagline.

Andy Gerlach: For the skier we have the hard goods. But just selling equipment and not sharing the expertise and the joy doesn’t do much good. So, we have Ski Post, our email newsletter—which we’ve had for 30 years—that exists to share, and it’s not just about our new products, but how people are using the products. There’s a lot I want to accomplish, we are getting a little bit done, day by day, for the sport.

FasterSkier thanks Andy Gerlach for taking time to speak with us about EnjoyWinter and his goal to change the ski world.

Last month, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation sprang into registrants’ inboxes with a summer announcement: Ben Popp, Wisconsin native and ABSF Executive Director since 2013, had been elected President of the Worldloppet International Ski Federation. Replacing Finland’s Juho Viljamaa, Popp will serve a four year term, effective immediately.

He already has the regalia to prove it. The Federation’s gavel, a relic of the Tony Wise Era, has taken a circuitous path through Central and Northern Europe—but Popp’s election returns that artifact, and the Presidency, to the site of the Worldloppet’s establishment some five decades ago. “It’s literally inscribed: ‘Telemark Lodge, Wisconsin USA, Feb. 23 1978,’” Popp tells me.

To any skier who has made the trek from Cable to Hayward in the last eleven years, Popp cuts a familiar figure. Energetic, upbeat, and faster-paced than a sprint finish, he’s become a fixture of all things Birkebeiner—churning out trail-grooming update videos, fundraising initiatives, and ambitious projects ranging from a revitalization of the once-derelict Telemark Property to the Team Birkie, the Midwest’s professional racing team. Moreover, he’s brought the event safe to shore through three great calamities: the Canceled Birkie (politely remembered as “BirkieFest”; 2017), the Covid Birkie (2021), and the Manmade Miracle Birkie (2024).

It therefore comes as no surprise that Popp has assumed the Worldloppet Presidency with characteristic vigor—and lofty goals. FasterSkier spoke with Popp to discuss what they are, and how he plans to achieve them.

“What skiers needed back in 1978 is very different from what we need right now.”

Despite “representing popular skiing around the world,” the Worldloppet is a small operation, with two full-time employees headquartered in Tartu, Estonia. As Popp describes it, their efforts to coordinate ten events across five continents are “Herculean.” Countries tend to concentrate on their own ski federations, and on their respective flagship races. “It’s hard for them to focus” on the collaborative, international mission of the Worldloppet.

That’s where Popp sees himself differing from presidents past. When it comes to filling the Worldloppet’s two primary goals—providing support for member nations as they host “pre-eminent events,” and providing support for the more than 130,000 skiers who tackle Worldloppet races each year—the organization has gotten “really good at doing the same things over the years, and doing them really well,” like the Worldloppet Passport.

But Popp recognizes that “what skiers needed back in 1978 is very different from what we need right now.” It seems he views the Worldloppet of the past as catering to those already enamored with the sport and its signature marathons. The Worldloppet of the future can do more to expand the range and reach of popular skiing—even if that requires a course correction. “I know change can be really hard,” Popp says, “But believe it or not, I think the Worldloppet and global, popular skiing can be even bigger than FIS. Instead of focusing on getting a young skier from the U.S. to travel to Japan, we should be asking, ‘How can Japan engage its own young skiers?’”

Popp’s electors seem to agree: In fact, the Scandinavian delegations nominated Popp because of the athletic inroads he’s paved with the ABSF. “The Scandinavians know that the United States is seeing skiing grow in leaps and bounds, from the success of Jessie Diggins to almost 15,000 skiers at the Birkie. They know something’s going on here. They asked me, ‘Can you take it to the world?’”

An “absolute recipe for growth.”

What is Popp’s plan for growing cross-country skiing—for engaging new skiers at Worldloppet events?

In his own words, it’s a page from the NFL’s playbook: To get incoming athletes excited, “We need to marry skiing’s role models to everyday skiers. This is what the NFL does; it’s how they sell out stadiums every Sunday”—connecting the sport’s elite to their fans. The stars of the FIS World Cup are, currently, “just not part of what we think of as popular skiing.” Popp wants to change that—and wants the Worldloppet to take the lead “plugging in” Crystal Globe-chasers to the marathoning masses. “We can negotiate and create connections. We can get these role models to our races.”

He cites the Birkie’s recent collaboration with Jessie Diggins and Gus Schumacher (its 2024 champions) as proof of concept. The median age of a Birkie skier has fallen from 47 to 43.7, and young athletes are increasingly participating in ABSF events for a chance to meet these avatars of America’s Nordic ambitions. At this year’s Birkie Bash, an annual pre-race fundraising dinner, “half the room was kids, 18 or younger—they were there to see Jessie and Gus!” With the encouragement of the Worldloppet, the same could be true of New Zealand’s Merino Muster or Australia’s Kangaroo Hoppet (which Diggins has won multiple times): Popp sees more summer-training elites competing in these Southern Hemisphere marathons as a clear way to build enthusiasm in host nations.

Popp has his eyes on names from beyond the U.S. Ski Team as well. “I was talking with Haakon Klæbo last week, discussing how we can bring [Johannes Høsflot] Klæbo more into popular skiing.” Having charmed crowds of adoring young fans from Park City to Minneapolis, it should come as no surprise that the Norwegian phenom “wants to be engaged. He wants to be a role model and to bring more people into the sport.”

This involvement could go beyond racing Worldloppet events when the World Cup schedule permits, to incorporating these events into the World Cup itself. It’s happened twice before (La Transjurassienne in 2000 and the Birkebeinerrennet in 2002). Popp’s American Birkebeiner floated a bid for the 2024 World Cup schedule immediately after Minneapolis, with Main Street sprints on Wednesday and the Birkie itself on Saturday. A price tag pushing $3 million thwarted that effort, but Popp sees elites and popular skiers, tackling the same races, as the key to the longevity and financial viability of both worlds. “It’s a proven model. Look at the New York Marathon, the Boston Marathon. Who doesn’t want to run those—they’re iconic races, and you’re on the same course, the same starting line, as the best athletes in the sport. There will be concessions on both sides, and it will take some creativity,” but “if we can marry the popular consumers of skiing with the elite, it’s an absolute recipe for growth.”

Sustainability and support from “the hub of the wheel.”

Popp’s new direction for the Worldloppet goes beyond his hopes of exciting wider audiences. He sees the organization facilitating resource and knowledge-sharing between world-class events that have, thus far, largely remained “in our own unique silos. We’ve all learned through trial and error. But we haven’t necessarily come together as a group.” A unified timing and registration system, for example, has seemed like a phantasmic “pipe dream on paper,” but each race is “spending an enormous amount of money on data collection, registration, and data storage.” In addition to reducing costs, the data could be leveraged to secure event sponsors. While the Worldloppet cannot be “the whole wheel,” it can be “the hub of the wheel”—a central source of direction, activity, and coordination around which individual races organize, and around which skiers structure broader cultural experiences.

Snowmaking is another prime example. This year’s “Miracle Birkie” took place on 10k of man-made snow; the 2024 China Vasaloppet was on 25k, hand-moved to the course. Fed by the guns of eight local alpine resorts and maneuvered into place by the Italian National Guard, the Marcialonga has been almost entirely on man-made snow for the last decade. Other events may not have that infrastructure—but they’ve developed their own strategies for coping with low snow that the Worldloppet can help systematize. Trails can be manicured in the off-season to maximize their ski-ability, even with minimal coverage; Norway and Switzerland have perfected long-term snow-storage with cement basins, drains, and coverings. Each nation’s Worldloppet race “wants to put on an amazing experience. That means we have to be the best at what we do,” even in a warming climate.

It’s with respect to climate that Popp also sees a distinct role for the Worldloppet. This is despite his recognition that there’s pronounced tension between the organization’s globetrotting ethos and any desire for more sustainable practices. Reusable gear bags—of which the ABSF has sold over 20,000 since 2017—could be one avenue for promoting conservation. So could carbon offsets, or broader opportunities for group travel to race events, including through partnerships with independent, curated trip coordinators. But the goal, Popp says, is to transform every Worldloppet skier into “an advocate, and to get them to get others to be advocates” for “green futures.” Telling the story of the reusable bag, or of a mass-transit journey to the start line, can create a network of climate-conscious athletes. While there’s “a long tail on that horse, we have to start somewhere,” Popp says. “We can’t get paralyzed with ‘what-ifs.’ We’ll get nowhere.”

Pedaling ahead.

Reflecting on his 11 years at the head of the American Birkebeiner, Popp is approaching his four-year presidency with an ambitious vision for the Worldloppet. “The Birkie has an amazing, storied history, and it’s been super successful.” But directing one of skiing’s signature marathons—let alone an international federation of such events—is “like riding a bicycle. If you’re not pedaling forward, you’re going to fall over. The challenge is to remain relevant.” What the Worldloppet “has been doing is awesome, and we have a lot of people that love skiing,” but the organization needs to “take a critical look and better evaluate whether we are doing the things that allow us to grow.” This will require closer dialogue with athletes, engagement with elite skiers, and coordination of FIS’ Popular Skiing Subcommittee, where Worldloppet representatives occupy a “huge majority” of the 20 seats. Popp expects a “day-to-day challenge.” But, “I think it’s worth the time and effort because we can have a real impact on global skiing.”

Ben Popp will continue to serve as Executive Director of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. FasterSkier thanks Popp for taking the time to speak with us about his new role at the Worldloppet International Ski Federation.

We live in an era where product lines are often dominated by several large companies. More and more, small companies are bought up by large corporations as soon as the small company shows an innovation or growth pattern which its lumbering competitor can’t duplicate. Consolidation, just shy of monopoly, is standard practice for many industries.  Fortunately for skiers, this pattern hasn’t held true for cross-country ski wax. There are the big two—which is really the big one—but there are lots of small “mom and pop” wax companies putting out shockingly good products which are every bit as good, and sometimes better than their major competitors.

FasterSkier has previously taken an up close look at family run wax companies, when we profiled Rex, Fast Wax, and Rode. We now turn our eyes toward another family run operation, STAR Ski Wax. STAR is the definition of a family run business.  STAR was founded in 1978 in the Italian town of Asiago by Roberto Mosele while he was employed in an Astrophysics laboratory where he was responsible for the design and implementation of a new digital orientation system for the observatories’ telescope. His occupation at the time as an observatory employee is how the company’s name was derived. Like many great ideas, STAR wax was the result of a dare taken on by Roberto Mosele over 45 years ago.

If there is something vaguely familiar about this story it’s probably because you might remember that Rode ski wax was also founded and manufactured in Asiago (population approximately 6,500). Whatever murky forces are at work in Asiago leading to the confluence of wax manufacturing is a mystery; perhaps it’s the cheese? But as wax consumers, it’s probably best to leave that puzzle to the ages and focus on the great products coming out of this small Italian town.

Davide Mosele the product manager of Star was kind enough to answer FasterSkier’s questions about the family wax business. Davide, 48 years old, is Roberto’s son, and is now responsible for the day to day operation of the business. His mother—Roberto’s wife— also works in the company along with Davide’s wife Cristina. With a grand total of six employees, it’s truly a family affair.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

FasterSkier: How was the company started and what was it like in the early days?

Davide Mosele: Star was founded in 1978 by Roberto (Davide’s father). Roberto was out cross-country skiing with friends, gliding through the snow-covered landscape. As they paused to wax their skis, one friend exclaimed, “Wow, it must be really difficult to make these products.” With a spark of determination in his eyes, Roberto declared, “I can do it!” What started as a lighthearted challenge among friends soon became a journey of passion and perseverance.

Over the next two years, Roberto poured his heart and soul into the project. It was far from easy, with countless trials and errors, but his unwavering dedication paid off. He eventually crafted an almost complete line of high-performing ski waxes. It was then that he began to dream of turning his new found expertise into a business.

At that time, Roberto was working for the Astrophysics Observatory of the University of Padova in Asiago. This connection to the stars inspired the name STAR for his burgeoning company.

Like many legendary startups, STAR began in the most humble of settings: a garage. As a child, I vividly remember his first laboratory being none other than  my mother Donna’s kitchen. It was a whimsical sight, finding spaghetti pasta and ski wax sharing the same stove.

In those days, ski wax was often seen as a mystical product, but Roberto approached it with scientific rigor. What began as a garage project has now grown into two thriving buildings, and the playful bet with friends has evolved into a globally recognized company.

Today, STAR stands as a testament to Roberto’s vision and determination, a shining example of how a simple challenge can spark the creation of something extraordinary.

FasterSkier: As product manager, what is your role?

Davide Mosele: I deal with “products” at 360 degrees, from developing to testing them on snow. I follow races, talk with wax technicians, skiers, and share information. At the same time, I am present in the production area when we are “ cooking/ melting” product lots.

In a small family company we all know about all the things that are happening. Our coffee break in the morning is what  a big company would call a “ general meeting” where many people, probably even located in different countries,  have to make decisions and share information.

Roberto is still following production and new product development as well, and can share a lot of experience.

FasterSkier: Are there other family members involved?

Davide Mosele: Donna (Davide’s mother, and Roberto’s wife) has been working in the company in the sales and accounting department for 40 years. I have been working in the company since I was 18. I graduated in  Engineering at Padova University in 2003 (which is the site of the observatory). My wife Cristina is managing the accounting office and sales for 15 years. My best friend Riccardo is also an important part of the company, taking care of all the mechanical department and running production machines.

FasterSkier: Do you see yourselves as underdogs battling the big two wax companies?

Davide Mosele: I believe that the size of a company is not always the key to success. In many industries, we often see large companies acquiring small start-ups that are able to innovate much faster.

STAR has carved out its space in the market thanks to the quality of our products and our ability to innovate and react quickly to market changes. While I respect the big companies as well as all other competitors, I do not feel like an underdog!

FasterSkier: What does your Research and Development (R & D) look like in terms of the skills and background of the people who work there and the size?

Davide Mosele: Research and Development (R&D) is the heart of our company; everything evolves around it. With over 40 years of experience, we approach each day with a curiosity that drives us to improve our products continually. We seek out anything that can help make skis faster.

Many of our products originate from specific customer requests—sometimes seemingly crazy ideas that turn into the perfect inspiration for a successful product.

I closely follow World Cup races, Ski Classics, and junior races. I am in contact with numerous professional ski technicians, and I gather all their insights to enhance our products. As a serviceman at these races, I know exactly which ingredients are used in our products. This firsthand knowledge helps me understand the effects of different ingredients on snow and enables us to respond quickly to any requests.

FasterSkier: What kind of seemingly crazy ideas do you get which lead to success?

Davide Mosele: Often, technicians find that a product works even in conditions for which it was not designed, or that when applied in a different way, the result seems better. Based on this information, I work on the formulation to optimize it for the new conditions of use. In other cases, the requirements are very specific. For example, last year we received many requests from Ski Classics teams. They needed a product that could last for their “long distances”… even 70-100 km. From this particular request, the “Durable” powder product was born, which was very successful. Later, they also asked us to develop the same product in liquid form! Durable Liquid proved to be very effective in extremely cold, abrasive, and dry snow conditions.

FasterSkier: Do you look to other industries to see what new compounds are available, or are you trying to invent new compounds?

Davide Mosele: As a product manager, I am always on the lookout for new material and innovative ideas. My curiosity, combined with my academic background, helps me understand the scientific advancements in materials.

I don’t just focus on new ingredients; I also explore how to achieve the best performance through different application methods. The same ingredients can perform differently when applied in various ways. For example, our fast-drying Next liquid, applied with a wool roller, has become a market benchmark. It’s not just about the chemistry but also about the application technique.

At STAR, we help our customers find simple yet highly effective methods to apply ski wax, ensuring optimal performance on the slopes.

FasterSkier: From the point of view of the wax industry, is the move away from fluoros a good thing? Has it been harder for small companies to adapt to this change?

Davide Mosele: When a new regulation comes into effect, it’s pointless to argue whether it is right or wrong; you just need to react and find a new solution. For those following the EU/EPA regulations, it was clear that fluorocarbons would have a short lifespan.

In 2019, I stopped considering fluorocarbons as an ingredient for ski wax and immediately began developing products using other material. It has been hard work, but also fascinating. This challenge opened up a new universe of opportunities, and I enjoy it!

FasterSkier: Are we close to having ski waxes without fluoros which are as good as fluorinated waxes in warm wet conditions?

Davide Mosele: Unfortunately, the chemical and physical characteristics—primarily the hydrophobicity and affinity to the ski base—of fluorocarbon waxes were exceptional, making them the “perfect” material.

This doesn’t mean we can’t have good working ski wax, but for now, it seems quite challenging to achieve the same performance offered by fluorinated ski waxes particularly in these specific conditions.

FasterSkier: What’s harder to develop, a really good kick wax or a really good glide wax?

Davide Mosele: Creating a good kick wax requires extensive experience and knowledge of raw materials. Achieving the best kick with the best speed is not easy; it’s a compromise. Since fluorocarbons are no longer available, developing a good glide wax has also become more challenging. We are exploring a large number of new ingredients/application methods, which consumes a lot of time and energy.

FasterSkier: Wax products seem to come and go and sometimes it seems like change just for change sake. But, it looks like smaller companies stick with proven products longer than larger manufactures. Is that perception accurate?

Davide Mosele: Changes are necessary whenever better solutions are found. Changing the packaging to make customers believe the product is new is not a good strategy. We aim to introduce new products to the market only when we are confident that they are better than their predecessors. Big companies can invest much more in marketing, in our company we believe that the best way to promote our  products is to have satisfied customers,  meaning we must have the “best” product and then the word will spread.

FasterSkier: Are we close to the point where people can throw away their wax irons for glide waxing?  Do you think we’ll see a day soon when ski bases evolve to the point of never needing to be treated with glide wax?

Davide Mosele: We conduct extensive research on application methods. I believe the use of a waxing iron is essential for treating ski bases.  Some liquid products deliver excellent results, and the use of wool rollers is becoming popular even for applying blocks. However, these products are a complement and do not replace the use of a waxing iron at a professional level.

For customers who do not compete, the use of liquid products and wool rollers is an excellent solution. Skis still need to be periodically waxed with an iron. Often, these customers turn to workshops or friends for hot waxing and use liquid products every time they go skiing, enjoying all the benefits of easy application while still achieving very fast skis.

FasterSkier: What’s the favorite product your company makes?

Davide Mosele: We love all our products and believe each one has special qualities that makes it unique. The fast-drying liquid products are very versatile and high-performing. Blocks applied with wool are widely used even in World Cup races and allow for easy layering of different products. The powders are perhaps the ones we cherish the most for sentimental value. In 1985, STAR introduced the first complete line of micronized powders to the market, long before fluorinated waxes. At that time, only blocks were used to wax skis. The easier and faster application with low waste was already a revolutionary idea. Of course during the years, raw materials have  changed a lot … but still the powder aspect is our favorite.

We also have excellent kick waxes in our catalog that, especially in recent years, have won over many ski technicians.  Many of these products were conceived together with a  valuable collaboration in the United States. Ten years ago, we introduced 70mm rotary brushes to the market, which are becoming a standard not only for their size but also for the absolute quality of the materials used.

FasterSkier: You mention the pride of introducing micronized powders. Was that your father’s invention?

Davide Mosele: Yes, STAR was the first company to introduce a complete line of micronized powder products (emphasis added). The idea was to simplify the application process. Until then, ski waxes were based on very soft paraffins, and the waxing irons were not as efficient as they are now. Using harder products made it necessary to simplify the application… the micronized powder form was a good solution to these problems. Nothing is easy, but Roberto’s persistence made it possible for a small lab like his to create that formulation of waxes and additives in powder form.

FasterSkier: What is the hardest part about being in the ski wax business?

Davide Mosele: I love my job, so there is no hardest part. I feel lucky to do what I like!

FasterSkier: What’s the wildest idea your research department ever came up with that never got the go ahead?

Davide Mosele: Over the years, we have developed products that have never reached  the public. Fortunately, as a company, we have decided never to release a product to the market before thoroughly testing it. We have a  trial program where we are supplying  product ideas to “professional people” who help in testing, knowing that some of these products may not turn into a valid ski wax proposal. The important thing is to never get discouraged and to learn from our mistakes.

FasterSkier: Are there any other products, other than wax, which you make which would surprise people?

David Mosele: Maybe people do not know that STAR waxing irons are produced in our factory in Asiago. It is 100 percent our project, and we are proud that it is highly appreciated in the market.

If you check our website, www.starwax.com, you will discover that we also produce a complete line of bike care products! This helps to keep us busy during the summer. We started producing bike care products 30 years ago, and our products are well known throughout Europe.

FasterSkier: Why did STAR get into bicycle maintenance equipment? Is there a lot of similarity between ski wax and bike products?

David Mosele: The idea is that skiers often cycle to train, so the brand remains in use even during the summer. Often, bicycle workshops become ski workshops in the winter. The chemistry used is not the same, but it is very similar.

FasterSkier: You are located in Asiago, Italy, which is also the home of Rode ski wax.
How did it come to be that Asiago is the home to two great wax companies?
Is there a big rivalry between the two companies?

David Mosele: Our relationship with Rode is the same as with all other companies in our industry. There is obviously rivalry, but at the same time, respect. I believe that all of us “small” ski wax producers share the same passion: making skis faster and helping athletes achieve their goals.

One funny thing is that whenever a team comes to Asiago to visit STAR, they end up visiting Rode as well—and vice versa. If you come to Asiago, you will certainly leave with the best ski waxes on the market!

FasterSkier thanks Davide Mosele for taking the time to share his family’s story and give us a glimpse into the life of a family run ski wax company.

The man’s name is Andy Gerlach, and he’s the owner of EnjoyWinter. You may know them from their ubiquitous “EnjoyWinter” e-mail newsletters, which have information ranging from new products to travel ideas. But Gerlach has a larger mission than just selling gear. For those who have been in the sport for a while, you may remember the Factory Team. The team was run by Gerlach with athletes who were sponsored and travelled around the country competing in races. The team broke up in the late 2000s, but Gerlach is resurrecting it one skier at a time. His revival of the Factory Team isn’t necessarily about winning races, rather it’s about being ambassadors to local skiers, not for a particular brand, but for the sport. Gerlach has noticed—along with many people who have been in the sport for a while—an unsettling trend which can best be summarized like this: How many times have you walked up to someone at the ski trailhead, asked them how they are doing, and the response is an immediate recitation of their most recent training schedule, injury report, and race results? It seems to happen a lot. Gerlach thinks it’s because the sport has developed a mindset which needs a reset. He believes people are asking themselves the wrong question.  Instead of asking yourself—or others— “how did you do,” he wants to change the framing to thinking about “how do you do?” It’s a small one word change of verbiage, but gets to a big change of mind set. Instead of thinking always about performance and results, think more about the experience. That’s what the  guy who is selling ski stuff is trying to do; change American’s mindset about skiing, one cool product at a time.

Andy Gerlach was generous enough to devote several hours to a discussion with FasterSkier about his interesting personal history, importing ski goods into the U.S., and how he’s determined to change the way people think about skiing and buy skis. Gerlach has a unique perspective with a degree in engineering and a master’s degree in economics.

This interview has been edited and condensed from a two hour conversation with Andy Gerlach.

FasterSkier: Let’s talk a little about your history and how you started in the business.

Andy Gerlach: I started out in 1996, I was in Bozeman having skied for Montana State University. I took over what had been the Fischer Marathon Team, which I managed, and I created what was known for 14 years as the Factory Team. At the time it was the biggest professional team in the world, with the goal to promote brands through ski racing. We closed it down in 2008 during the auto crisis when we had just signed Saab as our title sponsor. Then I worked for Salomon in race service and athlete management. In the Vancouver Olympics I saw athletes wearing Bliz so I reached out to them and in 2011 started importing Bliz.

FasterSkier: Did you move away from engineering and economics because of your love for skiing?

Andy Gerlach: Yes. When I graduated with my engineering degree I tried getting jobs in a ski factory, but I didn’t end up getting the job, and engineering didn’t seem to be my passion. I was involved in ski racing, and got a job as an investment banker, but Fischer kept pulling me back in to help with race service. Then I was able to turn the program into the Factory Team and it just took off.

FasterSkier: What’s the name of your business now?

Andy Gerlach: EnjoyWinter.

FasterSkier: What does EnjoyWinter do?

Andy Gerlach: EnjoyWinter is America’s largest independent importer and distributor of cross-country ski equipment. We distribute over 20 brands that each specialize in one product category for cross-country skiing. For example, Bliz is our sunglass brand, and they specialize in sunglasses. Peltonen is our ski brand, and they make skis. 4KAAD is our pole brand and they specialize in poles. Rottefella is our binding supplier, and they only make bindings— which is the only product where we’re not the exclusive distributor. We sell through 200 cross-country ski dealers throughout the country, which is our primary distribution network, and we also sell through our showroom and Enjoywinter.com. Many of the brands we compete with are category generalists, and they’re selling their brands. They are great companies, but they are in the business of selling their brand. Our brands specialize in one product category. That’s what differentiates us.

FasterSkier: Does that make your brands better?

Andy Gerlach: All the brands in cross-country skiing love cross-country skiing. The people driving their brands are passionate about it and make great stuff. But our brands really specialize in one specific thing. I don’t want to come across as saying any of these brands don’t care about the sport. The good thing about cross-country skiing is that it’s so specialized that any company involved in it has to be making good stuff. But, for example, Peltonen only makes cross-country skis, and they make every one of their skis in one factory in Finland. So, their $180 kid’s ski is on the same production line as their top end World Loppet skis. The other major brands can’t say that.

We are providing cross-country skiing solutions. When a dealer comes to us and says I have “x” problem … they come to EnjoyWinter and we can solve their needs. We’re the only place a dealer can come to and get everything from one supplier, and the expertise from us and from the brands. We’re selling the sport of cross-country skiing and skiing solutions rather than a brand. What also makes us different is if we don’t have a solution, we try and make one. When we need something different in a product, our brands make it. Peltonen just launched some touring skis, which they haven’t needed in Finland, so we now have American styled touring skis.

FasterSkier: I used to love Peltonen skis, and I miss them.

Andy Gerlach: Your story is common. We’ve only been distributing it for a year. But the number one story has been everyone coming up to us and saying, “I used to ski on Peltonen, it used to be my favorite.” There’s a big affinity for Peltonen. The rest of the brands we carry were unknown when I launched them.

FasterSkier: One of the solutions you sell is Anti-freeze face tape. Did EnjoyWinter create that?

Andy Gerlach: That’s my own brand and my own creation, my son’s face is the logo.

FasterSkier: Are there lots of knockoffs?

Andy Gerlach: What you’re seeing across the U.S.— if it’s pre-cut and cut well for the nose and cheeks, it’s my stuff; Anti-freeze face tape. Ours holds up to the moisture that can come from snow and is pre-cut for the face and cheeks.

FasterSkier: Were you your own guinea pigs for that?

Andy Gerlach: Oh yeah! Back in the day we even used duct tape, but that can make things even worse. You can even use face tape on your fingers if you have old frostbite spots. Our tape has been on the faces of Olympic champions and happy kids across the world. It’s just about trying to find solutions that Nordic skiers need, and making it ourselves if it’s not already made.

FasterSkier: Let’s talk about another product. You carry Ogasaka skis from Japan. What’s their story?

Andy Gerlach: Those are perhaps the most beautiful hand crafted skis in the world. During Covid when we couldn’t get enough skis in the U.S. I was searching for a ski brand to add to our quiver. I reached out to them and got the skis and was blown away by the precision and how exact every ski was; and the base finish was the nicest I had ever seen. Every 192, for instance comes out of the mold exactly the same as designed, there’s no variation in flexes due to manufacturing. Every ski comes out as designed or it’s not accepted. They use Japanese carbon fiber with the most precise manufacturing. And the bases are the softest, freshest most wax absorbent I’ve ever seen in production skis. Everyone who’s gotten them has loved them. They’re not inexpensive. I wish I could do it more service and sell it more, but right now our focus is on Peltonen with a wider and more affordable solution. All these fluctuations in flexes in skis aren’t design variations, they are inconsistencies in the manufacturing. Most manufacturers don’t know what a ski is going to flex at until after it’s made. Ogasaka knows before it’s made, what the skis are going to flex at. This is part of EnjoyWinter existing to sell cross-country solutions rather than to sell a brand. We love the sport for the sport’s sake and not for the equipment’s sake. We have a great dealer—Start Line Inn—right at the Birkie start, is one of the places to demo them.

FasterSkier: How bad were supply disruptions during Covid and how have recent big price increases in shipping containers affected you?

Andy Gerlach: I’m moving stuff constantly; we have small shipments coming all the time. We’re more flexible than the big guys. It hasn’t dramatically changed the way I do business. But shipping costs are the biggest driver of inflation in the industry. And the logistics of having orders coming in from over 20 brands is an ongoing process every day. But, my biggest risk is dealers going out of business due to the boom and bust of Covid and the lack of snow last winter. My biggest threat is getting dealers to pay us on time when we’re delivering them small brands. We have no way of collecting.

Please return to FasterSkier when we go in depth with Andy Gerlach and talk about his plans to sell skiing to the masses and changing skiers’ mind set.

Anhelina Hryhorenko is a typical 14-year-old girl in many ways—she loves art and isn’t a fan of math. And she’s excited to have her freshman year of school over.

But she’s got a lot of unique qualities, too. For one, she’s a junior national champion with more medals than she can hold in two hands. She’s also the daughter of a former national cross-country ski team member team and the niece of a three-time Olympian.

She lives and trains in Bend, Oregon, and races in a blue-and-yellow Ukrainian national team suit. Since she’s only been in the U.S. since December, she speaks little English, but she’s gotten very savvy with Google Translate. She has also made friends with classmates and teammates on the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation (MBSEF) nordic ski team.

Anhelina, known by her teammates and coach as “Angelina,” is a quiet teenager most excited about training this summer. She moved to Bend with her family in February, thanks to a family who offered to host them and Mila Shelehoff, a fellow Ukrainian who’s been living in the U.S. for the last 30 years. Shelehoff has been serving as the translator and local liaison for the Hryhorenko family, which includes Anhelina, her mother, Yuliia, her father, Oleksandr, and her 10-year-old brother, Ivan.

An art and outdoor educator, nonprofit founder, and instructor at the Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center, Shelehoff created Bend For Ukraine. This community initiative supports displaced Ukrainian families by helping them resettle in Central Oregon. She’s known as “Mamma Mila” and has assisted the Hryhorenkos since they relocated to Bend. She’s also helped several other Ukrainians in Bend as they navigate the challenges of housing, employment, education, and cultural integration.

The Hryhorenkos met Shelehoff a few months ago, and they’ve already become fast friends. Ivan is the same age as her son, Lukian, and the two go to school and ski together with MBSEF.

“I moved to Bend about for the same reason they moved to Bend,” Shelehoff said of moving to the area two years ago. She and her son were drawn to the downhill skiing at Mt. Bachelor, which has the longest natural ski season in the U.S., with snow lasting into June. They ultimately switched to nordic and never looked back.

The Hryhorenkos had a different “coming to Bend” story. When they arrived in the U.S. in December 2023, they knew nothing about Mt. Bachelor or Bend. They initially landed in Salem, Ore., about 2 ½ hours northwest of Bend, to stay with friends who sponsored their humanitarian parole from Ukraine through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Uniting for Ukraine program.

They came seeking refuge in a foreign country, uncertain about their future. Anhelina brought her ski boots and little else.

Life Before

About two and a half years ago, Anhelina was training at a Ukrainian boarding school and racking up medals as a promising young cross-country skier. Her family lived in Central Ukraine, about an hour south of Kyiv, while Anhelina lived at a private academy and trained for skiing. She was chasing a dream and had the genetics to back it up—her father, Oleksandr, raced on the Ukrainian national team, and her aunt, Kateryna Gryhorenko, was a three-time Olympic cross-country skier.

On Feb. 24, 2022, everything changed. Russia invaded Ukraine, and Anhelina’s school evacuated its student-athletes to Poland. Meanwhile, her father, mother, and brother sheltered inside their home’s root cellar for two weeks while their country was under siege.

When they felt safe to leave, Yuliia fled to Poland with Ivan. They spent three months with Anhelina in Poland before returning to Ukraine and Oleksandr, a carpenter by trade. Kyiv had installed anti-missile systems while they were away, and their region wasn’t under occupation, so they felt it was safe to go home.

But life was far from ordinary. Anhelina returned to boarding school, but her family slept in their cellar and lived in constant fear.

“It creates a lot of anxiety, especially when you hear the explosions,” Yulia told the Bend Bulletin. “The bunkers are truly root cellars. They’re not bulletproof; they’re not bomb-proof.”

They continued to live this way until October 2022, when Anhelina survived a massive air raid while commuting to school. With that, the Hryhorenkos resolved to leave.

It took the Hryhorenkos a year and a half and several attempts to gain approval to enter the U.S. Eventually, with the help of their sponsors in Salem, their third application was accepted, and they landed in Oregon in December 2023.

Once in Salem, Oleksandr started working to support his family. Yuliia, a former physical education teacher, reached out to ski clubs across the U.S., hoping they could find a place for Anhelina.

“After arriving in America, we immediately started looking for a club for Angelina,” Yuliia explained in an email to FasterSkier. “She had to continue to practice so that there were no gaps in training. Salem could only give us running training, and we needed [ski] training. There was even a question about ending our career if we didn’t find anything, [after] almost 8 years of training.”

Despite not speaking English, Yuliia sent about ten inquiries. One responded.

“At first, when the email came through, I thought it was spam,” MBSEF Nordic Program Director Reitler Hodgert told FasterSkier.  “But as soon as I opened it, it made a lot of sense for us to offer them a space to land and do what we could to support that.”

Knowing very little about MBSEF—one of the premier nordic ski clubs in the country—the Hryhorenkos signed her up. By mid-January, she began training with the team in Bend. Their Salem friends assisted with transportation, lending a vehicle with winter tires so the Hryhorenko family could drive to Bend each weekend for Anhelina’s training. On Monday mornings, they’d drive three hours back to Salem in time for school.

After witnessing their long commute, Anhelina’s teammate, Maddie Carney, and her family invited Anhelina to stay with them on weekends. In early February, Sarah Max offered to host the family for free, and Yuliia and Ivan joined Anhelina in Bend while Oleksandr worked in Salem. The kids started school at Bend-La Pine and lived at Max’s home until late March.

They were also hosted by another nordic family, Dr. Sondra and Mike Marshall, who ultimately helped them find an apartment.

“They put a lot of effort into finding us housing among their acquaintances,” Yuliia wrote. “They are currently helping us pay for an apartment for a certain period of time. During our entire stay here, we are surrounded by fantastic people, whom it is rare to meet.”

Life After

United for Ukraine grants Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members two years of temporary stay in the U.S. Through Shelehoff, who translated, Yuliia told FasterSkier that she was hopeful they could make the move permanent but uncertain whether that was possible.

“[I hope] my children can discover themselves here in this country versus in Ukraine,” Yuliia said. “They have many more opportunities to find themselves and do something they love in the future.”

In addition to other community members, Mt. Bachelor and MBSEF are sponsoring the Hryhorenko family so they can continue settling in Bend. Fischer and One Way have pledged to provide Anhelina with equipment for the coming season.

“When they first arrived in town, we had a huge outpouring of support,” Hodgert explained. “Mt. Bachelor reached out to support Anhelina’s family with trail fees and whatnot, and that was largely through [Mt. Bachelor Nordic Manager] Sydney [Powell] and was huge.

“… They moved here with basically just Anhelina’s ski boots, and so we had families giving gear, jackets, snow pants, gloves, hats…” continued Hodgert, a Bend native. “[That was] one of the proudest moments for me of our community here locally, just to see the number of people stepping forward to give what they could to get them on their feet here in town.”

One local bought Anhelina and Ivan new bikes.

“I’m in awe of how they were received and how much help they got,” Shelehoff said. 

Asked about Anhelina as a skier, Hodgert said that considering her age, she’s one of the most talented technical skiers he’s ever worked with.

“She has a very innate sense of body awareness, just like where each of her limbs are and how she’s moving them,” he noted. “Even while working through a language barrier … she picks up technical feedback and applies it to her skiing faster than any athlete I’ve worked with.

“She’s universally adored on our team,” Hodgert added. “Anhelina, as a person, is fairly quiet, so there were definitely some concerns that she’d feel … a little bit isolated around the team. And thus far, that hasn’t at all manifested. She has jumped right in with things.”

He laughed that his athletes “spend a significant time on Google Translate” while riding in the team van.

“Unsurprisingly, all of our athletes are super curious about what life in Ukraine is like, just her being from somewhere else, and they’re all super eager to introduce her to all the things that they love about being here in Bend or the U.S. in general,” he said.

Compared to Ukraine, Anhelina said the trails and facilities were “much better,” and the training was “different.” Asked what her skiing goals were, she said she just wanted to train. She prefers skating in the winter and classic ski training in the summer.

“I like that it’s a very long ski season,” Anhelina said of Mt. Bachelor specifically.

Her mother elaborated on their U.S. experience so far.

“First and foremost, as a mom and as a former athlete, I want safety for my kids, which is above and beyond what we experienced in Ukraine,” Yuliia said. “Second, the equipment and the facilities and, of course, the trails… the availability of all of those, to provide opportunities for children to train in a safe and enriching environment.”

She explained that when Anhelina was a child, she and her teammates built their own trails, carrying tools to practice.

“In the winter, a little wall of the kids would line up and groom the trail with their skis so they could skate,” Yuliia added, explaining how the kids side-stepped to pack down the snow. They had never experienced grooming like at Mt. Bachelor.

“We’re in awe of the level of the trails here and just really appreciate that they’re groomed and ready every morning,” she said.

“The people we’ve been in contact with are all very wonderful and good-hearted,” Yulia said of the Bend community. “They really care for our family and situation. I’m sure they also care about the rest of the world the way they care for us.”

Hodgert described Anhelina as a “fantastic addition” to the MBSEF program, which boasts over 200 athletes.

“Having Anhelina join our team has been a great worldly learning experience for the athletes, and in exchange, we’ve been able to provide her with a space where she can hone her craft,” he said. “We intend to support [her family] as long as they’re here. That might be just this year, it might be two years, three, five, we don’t really know. But as long as Anhelina wants to be skiing and wants to be in Bend, we’ll be supporting her.”

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.

All of us need to take a break from our jobs every now and then and do something a little bit—out there— which challenges us. For many, that’s going for a long ski, or some other outdoor activity like a hard bike ride or a tough hike. The physical break provides a nice and often essential mental refresh.

But what do you do if your profession already involves physical challenges, say like being a professional skier? What happens when the world’s reigning cross-country skiing champion needs a refresh? For Jessie Diggins, that refresh comes in the form of an annual event which she has dubbed, “the big stupid.” Basically, it’s an extremely hard physical challenge involving a sport other than skiing.

For Diggins, her “big stupid” this year was racing the 46 kilometer category Broken Arrow Skyrace (Diggins ran 69 kilometers *), which is a mountain run held June 22^nd. The race, which takes place in Palisades Tahoe— near Lake Tahoe— has seriously steep sections with slopes hitting 30 percent, huge elevation gains, and hits almost 9,000 feet in altitude. It’s a major challenge for even serious runners. What would motivate the current Crystal Globe Overall Champion to decide to throw down an effort at such a difficult event in an area outside her specialty?

Jessie Diggins was kind enough to answer this and other questions about the “big stupid” events she does every year. (This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity).

FasterSkier: You began doing these “big stupid” events several years ago. Why do you still keep doing them?

Jessie Diggins: I still keep doing these because it does have more meaning than just one big epic day. Although I love running for the sake of running … the reason I love these big adventures is it fills up my soul in a different way. It challenges me and really forces me to push deep and see how I confront challenges when they come up. You’re going to have low points when you’re running for ten hours (*the race was two laps, but Diggins opted to do an extra third lap giving her 69 k total and an overall time of 9:53:09, which even including her ‘bonus’ lap put her 48^th in her age group out of 70 participants and 391^st overall. An indicator of the race’s difficulty was that there were 13 DNFs in her age group. The age group winner’s time was 4:52:34 (for two laps)). I want to see what I say to myself in these moments, how do I get through them, and use what I learn in ski racing. I learn so much about myself and really grow my mind when I do these events.

FasterSkier: What are the qualities an event needs to be worthy of obtaining the “big stupid” label?

Jessie Diggins: It’s just something I feel will challenge me. So, some years it was a 100 kilometer roller ski, one year it was the Presidential Traverse (an 18.5 mile hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire). They tend to keep getting bigger and stupider as I get older and have more training under my belt. But I do want to say that they have stepped up gradually, and I’ve always done them in a way where I feel like I’m going to be safe. While I want to challenge myself, I don’t want to actually risk my ski career.

FasterSkier: How challenging was this year’s? Was it the hardest “big stupid” ever?

Jessie Diggins: Gosh. I think it was the hardest. It was the furthest I’ve ever run because it ended up being 59 kilometers. It was 14,000 feet of climbing, which for sure was more than I’ve ever done. I have run for ten hours before … but this was probably the hardest one that I’ve ever done.

FasterSkier: Is it important for you to have a sense of accomplishment in a physical challenge which doesn’t involve skiing?

Jessie Diggins: Yes. I think what’s really nice about this, when I’m skiing it’s all about needing to go really fast … there are a lot of eyes on me, and there’s a lot of pressure and expectations, and it’s all about how fast can you do this? It’s never a question of can I finish this 10 k race. With my “big stupid” the goal is just to finish. Because doing it is challenging in itself. I really like that. I love that it’s challenging me in a mode that’s not “my sport.” I find that really satisfying.

FasterSkier: The day after the event you worked at a pancake breakfast and did a book signing. Any regrets about being on your feet that much after a ten hour run through the mountains? How sore were you after the race?

Jessie Diggins: I don’t have any regrets. Serving pancakes to kids was incredibly fun. It was a really good way to get my day started. The book signing was so cool. I met so many amazing people. I was pretty sore. I think walking around the vendor village helped me out with a little bit of active recovery. If I had just laid in bed all day, I probably would have felt worse.

FasterSkier: The race hit 8,900 feet altitude. Was it tough to deal with the altitude? Was that the highest you’ve ever raced.

Jessie Diggins: That was for sure the highest. I purposely didn’t even try to acclimate to the altitude. I just rolled in two nights before and then raced, because I know if I do something hard on the second or third day, I usually feel ok. But day four through seven feel pretty bad for me. I knew I wasn’t going to have time to acclimate … so that strategy worked pretty well for me.

FasterSkier: Do you set any goals for yourself for doing these events, or is it just to participate, finish, and have fun?

Jessie Diggins: It’s just participating, finishing, and having fun. This is the first time I’ve done my big stupid in a race format, but I figured with this challenge, with the altitude, the dryness and heat … having aid stations and support … was amazing. It allowed me to pick something that was so much more physically demanding than I’ve ever done before.

FasterSkier: Did you have any goals for time, distance, or place?

Jessie Diggins: Nope. Anything except the cutoff time … I made it by two minutes! So, I was looking at the clock, but that was the only kind of race that was happening for me.

FasterSkier: You posted about doing a 32 mile trail run to train for the event. Did you do any other specific training for this event? 

Jessie Diggins: Normally I don’t specifically train for my “big stupid.” But for this, I knew it was going to be so much climbing, 14,000 feet … so I did a lot of runs just to make sure that I was getting my legs used to being on for that long. The weekend before I went for my O.D. (over distance). Instead of roller skiing, I went up and down Stratton for 4 ½ hours. So that helped as well. The other thing I did was I got some collapsible poles from Swix so I practiced going up and down Stratton with the poles, so I could offload some of my weight onto my arms, and save my knees a little bit more.

FasterSkier: At some point, do you say to yourself that “yeah this really is a big stupid idea?”

Jessie Diggins: Yes! There were several points where I was, “wow, I’m really dumb for loving this.” But I did honestly love it. There were only a couple of low points. It was something I’ve been looking forward to for so long. I decided last October that I wanted to do this. When you look forward to something for so long, even though it’s hard, there’s a sense of “wow I finally get to be here and get to challenge myself with this.”

FasterSkier: Any other big epic training days this summer?

Jessie Diggins: No. From here on out it’s kind of normal training. We are going to go down to New Zealand, with Julia (Kern) and Jason Cork … for a training camp on snow for three weeks like we have done in years past. So, I hope we get good conditions for crust cruising. We like to end the camp with a big long ski. I’m hoping that comes around for us. For now, it’s just normal training in Stratton which I love.

FasterSkier thanks Jessie Diggins for taking the time to speak to us about her “big stupid.”

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.

In part I of our interview with Julia Kern we talked about her summer training changes, and what was a very challenging winter of racing. Please continue reading for Part II of our interview.

Race Strategy

Kern has had a lot of success, but she’s still searching for regular World Cup podiums. What will it take to get to the podium more? “What’s really exciting is women’s Sprinting is at an incredibly high level,” says Kern. “There are so many contenders on a given day for a podium. There are lots of ways to go about doing it (improving). There’s more fitness, more end speed— tactical, and a lot of it is how do you approach heats and heat selection and what’s your strategy there. You can play the safe game and go lucky loser and just try to get into the semi-finals and maybe that reduces your chance of a podium at the end of the day. Do you decide to play more of the game and go with earlier heats that are harder to move on, but then you have more energy to move on? That aspect comes down to confidence and what your skill set is. A lot of it comes down to confidence. Being able to be fit enough to then be relaxed in the early heats so you can save energy for later. For me, if I’m more fit at a base level, then I can accelerate on top of that and make the moves when I need to.”  Last year’s illness affected this strategic calculation for Kern. “Last year I was missing my pep in my step. My top end just wasn’t there. Normally if I’m rested, that is there, then I can have more strategies in my toolbox.”

Heat selection is unique to Sprinting and it becomes a significant factor in outcomes. But does going in the first or last heat of a round really make that much difference? “It depends on the course. At altitude it matters a lot more. It also depends on the round. Semi-final two to the finals is a really hard turnaround. Quarter-final five to semi-final two is not so bad. It’s also a little personal. I’ve gone quarter-final one to semi-final two, and that’s too much time. You have to cool down and warm back up. So, you expend more energy. It depends a little on the type of athlete you are.”

And not everything is always within one’s control. “Jonna (Sundling) and Skistad always go in quarter-final one so it kind of takes that out of the cards. If you go there then it’s going to be really hard. So, there’s a little bit of seeing what other people are doing. But coming from semi-finals to finals, it matters for sure, especially if you feel like you’re already skiing at your limit in the semi-finals. The more you’re able to reserve in the early rounds, the better because if you’re burning a lot of your matches in semifinal two it’s really hard to bounce back up for the finals, and that’s where semi-final one definitely helps. But semi-final one tends to be really competitive and really hard to move on from. It’s a gamble. But the more you develop all those tools in your toolbox the more likely you are to move on. That’s why you see the fastest sprinters are consistently making the final no matter what path they take, and consistently on the podium. Ultimately, that’s the goal.”

Experience Matters

Kern is now at the point in her career where her experience and tactical knowledge have become a valuable asset. “On World Cup we generally watch footage from previous years during the week leading up to it, and people share their experiences. Then when we go out and do race prep, our coaches are filming too, and in a pack we might try out different positions in a group. Can you slingshot, can you pass? We talk about all of that. The way I approach sprints after that is to have main takeaways. Like this is the only passing opportunity or these are my opportunities to make a move from the back, or ideally at this point on the course I’m in second. But you don’t have full control. The best sprinters are aware and see different options. Then sometimes you get tangled up and your plan goes out the window. There are a lot of different strategies.”

Unintended Consequence of Fluoro Ban

Strategy has also been affected by the fluoro ban. Because of ski inspection, the amount of warmup time before races has changed, and glide wax can’t be adjusted in between heats. “It definitely changed our warmup time. Now we’re out there an hour and forty minutes before the race testing (skis). If the day before the testing is accurate, we’ll do a lot of testing ahead of time. Each athlete has their own method, but we definitely changed our own testing routine. Sometimes my tech will have two similar skis prepared with two different wax jobs. I might have those two different wax jobs on my warmup skis and ultimately decide right before the race which ones to go on because you can check in two different pairs of skis. The other thing to note is you take a freshly groomed course, you test it when the track opens, then you have an hour of people zooming around on the same sprint course and everything completely changes. It can go from bullet proof ice to sugar. So, a lot of times you’re really not testing what’s representative of the race, so our techs are having to predict that. It complicates things a little bit more.” Not being able to have skis freshened between heats also made a difference. “You really noticed it. The extra juices were definitely nice, but it wasn’t something I was thinking about on race day, everyone was in the same boat and that’s just the way it is. Things definitely slow down by the final.”

Kern is known mostly as a sprinter, but she does have longer distance chops. “Some of my best distance races have been 30k. I haven’t been consistently good in distance, but I’ve raced entire World Cup seasons the last few years both distance and sprint. I’ve had some strong distance races, but for distance to go well, everything needs to be pretty dialed in, whereas in sprint … even if you’re not in peak form, you can use other aspects to do well. It’s a tough balance. If you put a 50k two days before Drammen (City Sprints), it only makes sense (to do the 50k) if you’re fighting for the Overall. I definitely would love to develop on the distance side.”

Balancing a World Cup Schedule

This is a World Championship year which leads to long term strategic planning. “The sprint obviously is the event I’m targeting. The Team Sprint and the relay are also really big goals. Our team has been searching for that Championship medal in the relay for a really long time. That’s a big team goal of ours. The rest depends upon how the season’s going. The thing our team really has some goals for is the Nation’s Cup. Last year we were in a battle for third (team USA ultimately lost the podium spot to Finland on the last day of competition). We’ve come from tenth to fourth in the world. I feel like that’s a great reflection of a full team effort. That was really fun this winter. It keeps us hungry to get even better together.”

The World Championships demand attention, but there’s also the entire rest of the race season including the Tour de Ski. Some observers and athletes feel like it’s too much. Kern has a unique perspective on this as she is one of the athlete representatives to FIS (International Ski Federation). “I don’t think it’s too much. I think it’s a personal decision ultimately. It depends upon what your goals are and how you respond to racing. For me, I have historically peaked after Tours and a lot of racing. That’s been an important part of my peaking plan. My physiology responds well to a lot of consecutive racing and then rest. For me, I’m stoked that it’s a Championship year. I tend to race my way into shape, but for some people it can tank their season. It’s a really personal thing. It’s also one of the most watched pieces of our sport (the Tour de Ski) … so I think that’s important to continue to grow the sport. As an athlete representative I work closely with the FIS team on the calendar. I think the content will change over the years, but ultimately the athletes always have a choice to race or not to race. We’ve worked really hard on making the calendar better. You’ll now see more of these three day weekends, but then bigger blocks of breaks. There are more breaks built in, and that’s the model the athletes wanted. It is a lot of racing. Racing a full season is really really challenging. But generally, people were happy with the race calendar this last year.”

The tight schedule has also been a point of discussion regarding racing in North America. With Lake Placid anticipated to be a host venue for 2026 it has brought the issue more sharply into focus. “We had an all athlete meeting, discussing this topic and surveyed the athletes. It was over 90 percent who said they wanted to go (to North America). Everyone’s favorite World Cup was Minneapolis, and everyone was so impressed, that they want to go back to the U.S. The challenge is financial for the Europeans who are not used to traveling across the ocean to add a weekend. But it’s important. We saw the impact that Minneapolis had. It’s been really cool being an athlete representative, connecting with the FIS team and the athletes and understanding how the system works, trying to make it as smooth as possible. If something doesn’t make sense (on the schedule), there’s probably a reason why.”

The pressure is on for Lake Placid and Kern sees it as another great chance for North American venues to shine. “It’s not Minneapolis, it’s Lake Placid, and there’s a lot of Olympic history there and incredibly cool new courses. I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunity. People will see that there is excitement in the U.S. (about cross-country skiing), and they are excited to continue to grow the sport here. People are seeing the value of coming to North America.”

Thanks to Julia Kern for taking the time to speak with FasterSkier.

Parallax is an effect where the objects in the background of an image appear to move more slowly than the objects in the foreground. In animation, it’s traditionally been used to add depth to an otherwise two-dimensional world. With the background moving slowly, the faster movement in the foreground implies that time is moving. In effect, parallax is a way of adding time into one’s understanding of a place.

I reckon that the essential experience of being in the mountains is based in parallax. The mountains are the only environment where if you only ever experienced them, you would have a complete understanding of where humans are set in the universe. Ancient fissures in the Earth stretch the scales of time beyond you, and when put up right against them, you get a sense that we’re all in a small moment in an infinitesimal smaller place in time. When you attune yourself to parallax, you attune yourself to time not as an instant, but as a fluid, playful thing.

I’ve been especially experiencing a parallax effect lately while looking at old pictures of the mountain town of Crested Butte, Colorado. Crested Butte is set in the platonic ideal of a parallax setting, wholly occupying the lowest point of a glacial valley 9,000 feet up in the central Rocky Mountains. It’s also neatly framed by Mt. Crested Butte, a 12,168 ft laccolith just East of the valley, which is Seussian in its whimsical, perfect jaggedness. In the foreground of that mountain, all the great tropes of western history have been captured. There’s volumes of old sepia photographs with people, looking out from bonnets and stetsons, all distinctly of a time. In the background though, that perfectly pointed mountain. The creases on its sides are the same as the vivid shadows you see when you walk outside your front door today. Always there, always looming. The sensation at the heart of viewing photographs like this is at once humbling and connective. The first thought is that you’re among the essential history of a place that has always been transitory, where everyone is always just passing through. The other is that between you and the Utes and the miners, there is the essential experience of a moment in time where you learn that lesson looking up at that rocky old mountain.

All of which has got me thinking about another photograph. My stint in the long chorus of Crested Butte has been as a ski coach and a writer. As such, the last couple of years have allowed me to fully indulge a pet interest in ski history. And in that capacity, there’s a photograph that keeps finding its way to my eyes, both literal and in my mind.

Here. There’s a group of men, stetson’s affixed, looking out and postured. Too long skis, and too long wooden poles accompany them, which produces a kind of defiant effect. They share the kind of pose every skier takes on to this day about to head out onto the trail. A nod that skiing is an unnatural way to get around a frozen world, but that we’ve figured out the trick, and it’s made weathering the winter a lot more fun.

Through some serendipity, I’ve learned a lot about the men in this photo over the past few years. It was taken in the early 1880s and is often denoted as the first ski club on record in United States history, formed at the gold mining boom camp of Irwin, Colorado, five miles West of present-day Crested Butte and sitting at 10,500ft, during its haughty gold rush days. In most sources, there’s a quick addendum to point out that it was actually the “Irwin snowshoe club,: which was the contemporary description for skiing, and that the single wooden pole each man carries was representative of how the sport was practiced then.

The most in-depth sources also identify the front and center man as Al Johnson. In the history of Crested Butte, Johnson holds a kind of Paul Bunyan status among the ski bums. By which I mean he’s a much-lauded folk character (with his own folk song) intentionally stretched in the proportion of his size and abilities to represent an ideal of what being committed to a life centered around skiing looked like in a semi-imagined past. He took whatever work could get him out on skis, which, in the 19^th century, was carrying mail to all the mining camps in the Elk Mountains. He was always up for a race. And he was a devout Telemarker – heel free, mind free – before a term even existed. Arch-coolness. For it, he got a Telemark race now in its fiftieth year named after him (and won frequently by FasterSkier fan Pat O’Neil, shoutout).

All of which color the black and white photo, but don’t necessarily change your initial impressions. In nearly all settings it’s displayed, this is a photo meant to temper the impression that this is where North American skiing came from. And likewise, alongside images of lycra-clad US Ski Team suits, carbon poles and skinny skis, it points to where skiing went from Irwin. The parallax does its job. The background is all old, black and white, and here we are today, with skiing in vivid color.

The other impact of parallax though, is to imbue connectedness. And so, I’ve been thinking about ol’ Al Johnson a whole lot lately as the winter melted away in the high country, retreating from the valley floor in Crested Butte up to where it never seems to go away, twelve miles west on Kebler Pass in the isolated pocket of alpine meadows where the Irwin snowshoe club used to ply its trade. Here, in a couple of wetlands and along some alpine lake shorelines there’s still skiing well into June, and along with an eager group of Crested Butte’s best up and comers, skiing towards a common recognition that the old show-shoers and we do today – it’s always a wonder to ski, and by some miracle, a sublime experience to never have to leave it as the winter retreats. When through time and circumstance you find yourself in Irwin, you can’t help but ski. It was true for the miners, and it’s true for me today.

The bare facts of why are up to immutable geography, one-part outsized precipitation, and one-part thermal inclination. Creste Butte sits at 9,000 feet, gathering an average of 236 inches of snow per year. Go up 1,500 feet though, and the snowfall grows exponentially. The remnants of Irwin collect closer to an average of 600 inches of snow each winter. The evidence for why most residents of Irwin packed up the town and quite literally dragged their buildings down to Crested Butte lies right there. The inordinate amounts of snow get a prolonged life too due to the Gunnison River Valley’s central place in Colorado, making it one of the most prone places in the state to cold air pooling (this process is why Gunnison, elevation 7,000ft, is colder during the dead of winter than Crested Butte, elevation, 9,000 feet) the effect happens to some effect up in the smaller valley that the old Irwin mining camp existed in, elevation 10,500 feet, collecting the supercold air off of the 12,000-13,000ft Ruby Range that towers above the valley.

To understand the results of Irwin’s positioning just-so in the universe though, is best left on cosmic terms. When I first found the relatively flat patches of sun-cupped snow ready not just for metal-edged backcountry set-ups, but for skinny skis, in my first spring in Crested Butte, I felt as if I’d stumbled upon some epiphanic geography. A born Midwesterner, skiing was the province of a specific slice of the year, which only heightened all the appreciation that it brought you. To ski was to turn the evolutionary perception of winter on its head. Suddenly the cold was welcome. Likewise, it connected you in a very specific way to very specific people. There are still folks I’ve known my entire life in my hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, good folks, that I hardly recognize without a buff and a beanie on their head, and there’s a hinted appeal of sociality that comes exclusively with the seasons. The whispers I did get that snow could exist past March were comprehensible. Bend, Oregon and California lied along continental meeting points where the moisture of an ocean was due to meet with the mountains. When I came across Irwin though, it felt as if I was let in on a secret. Just up the road, literally, there was a place where some complex set of factors had conspired to mean that the winter, skiing, and what skiing brought in the way of metaphysical relief never seemed to go away. Since then, every ski in May or June has glowed with a little more sentimentality, and letting others in on the secret has stretched the poignant feeling of joy incurred by sharing a great ski with others well into the year.

In short, it’s been a dream. One that I know that’s happened by that quintessential rule of the mountains, by parallax. Up at Irwin, time’s been loosed from the sockets that bolt us together. The winter is there in the summer. At the precipice of its cliffs looking South over the Gunnison country, you can literally see all seasons as once. Green stretches over the horizon, with snow under your feet. For their part, the kids growing up on skis in Crested Butte have started to fully embrace, and appreciate, the singular experience they get out of their backyard. A recent report from one of their skis was that they’d found an abandoned canoe on the shores of one of the isolated alpine lakes accessible easily only in the winter, and decided to try and makeshift a combination workout by taking to a still melting out lake.

This spring, the quintessential Irwin summer ski for myself happened over Memorial Day weekend. A cadre of Crested Buttians and I headed up the little road west of town early, before the sun that had started to bring summer to the Rockies bore down in full force. Our ages stretched literally from 8 to (nearly) 80. There was the full Larson family, with Mom and Dad Drew and Noelle accompanied by Benaiah (13), Gabe (11), and Simi (8), our lead middle school Devo Team Coach Murray Banks, and a couple of his Assistants, alumni of Crested Butte Nordic Team, the O’Neil twins, Katie and Piper. Our objective was to split off into two groups. The O’Neil girls and myself set out with Benaiah and Gabe to see if we could make it to one of the stunning overlooks that follow a ridge East-to-West, and from which on a clear day the San Juan Mountains loom large across the whole of the Gunnison country. Murray and Simi, oldest and youngest in the group, meanwhile, were set to make the “fun for ages 8 to 80” moniker a literal thing for skiing on the valley floor. A couple hours of stumbles, breaks through the crust, moments where you would swear the skiing was as good as mid-winter, and a lot of views, and we were satisfied. Not just with the that ski, but with what the ski represented. Up there, where the winter never ends, we could see that the connective tissue it brings between those that practice the sport all winter long don’t have too either. Between that group, there had been a lot of kilometers skiing in a lot of places. For an instance, we skied a few more. And with the mountains there as a backdrop, full parallax in effect, the bounds of time between us, stretching back to all of those that had come to Irwin, and Crested Butte, and found that same joy in skiing, looked ready to enter a timeline more akin to those that govern the mountains. Timeless, sublime, glowing with a towering beauty too.

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support 

Julia Kern is firmly established as a veteran member of the U.S. Ski team. She is uniquely sandwiched between the venerable veterans Jessie Diggins and Rosie Brennan, and the up and coming squad of youngsters in their early 20s. Her first World Cup start in Quebec City is almost seven years behind her, and she is now a mainstay of the U.S. team, mostly known to race fans for her Sprint performances. During her time representing the United States she has won a World Championship bronze medal in the Team Sprint, been to the Olympics, raced for the USA in the Junior World Championships, and stood on the podium in a World Cup Sprint in 2019.

FasterSkier caught up with Kern while she was in Vermont to talk to her about training, race plans, behind the scenes Sprint strategy, and what it will take for her to regularly find the podium in Individual World Cup Sprints.

Training for a New Season

Kern has been busy traveling and training since the race season ended. After the ski season concluded she spent two weeks in California, then four weeks in Vermont which serves as her home base. Then it was off to the team training camp in Bend, Oregon, and ending up back in Vermont, where she is now settling in to train for the rest of the summer while she creates a new home base in Burlington.

But real training began with Bend camp. “Bend camp is always a fun way to start the training year,” said Kern. “It’s amazing kicking off the training season on snow, and really good skiing conditions. That makes it easy to get back into the swing of things.” Bend Camp wasn’t just the official start of the new training season, but an opportunity to make some course corrections. “Coming off a challenging season, my goal at Bend Camp was to ease back into the training year and enjoy being on snow and being with the team. Bend camp is about getting back into the routine of training and working on technique while we have all of the amazing coach and staff support. We have such a big coaching staff now that one day you will work with one coach and another day a different one. I enjoy working with different coaches and taking their input and feedback and making my own decisions.” Kern spends a lot of time working with U.S. team coach Kristen Bourne who is collaborating with Kern in writing her training plan. Kern likes to receive input not just from the coaches, but from her fellow skiers as well. “A lot of it is learning from each other. We had Emma Ribom from Sweden there, we went on a lot of skis and talked about training and exchanged ideas. There are so many people you can learn from and lean on. In the end it’s trying to use all of that.”

New Home Base and Training Changes

Kern is tweaking her regular summer training and is establishing Burlington, Vermont as her home base to operate out of. She’ll go to Stratton to train with her team and do more on her own than in years’ past. “I was looking to have things in my personal life that gave me balance. I spend seven months a year on the road…it’s important to feel that I have a life outside of skiing. I have good access to doctors and physical therapist. It’s a new thing I’m trying out. I’m looking forward to having a home base and building a life outside of skiing.”

Kern is coming off a difficult season where she faced illness which affected her performances and yielded results which were not a step up from last year. “I did a lot of reflecting this spring, it’s hard to pinpoint just one thing, and I don’t think it ever is just one thing. I fell into a bad health trap last season that took me a long time to climb out of. It’s like the ball rolling down the hill gaining momentum and you want to change direction, and sometimes you just need a reset. I had lung issues, a bad cough and cold, then I got the flu, and then I got a secondary infection. I ended up getting a chest infection after the flu and had so much stuff in my lungs, my chest hurt. When you’re modifying training for two or three months within the race season, it’s really hard to get your rhythm back. It was a really challenging year. It was a big learning year. Sometimes you have to have those years where you’re pushing a little more in training and overshooting, and realize, that was too much, and pull it back the next year. I feel like I learned a lot last season. Not every year is going to be a linear jump upwards.”

Overcoming illness wasn’t necessarily a new thing for Kern, though last winter was extremely challenging. “I’ve historically dealt with my fair share of injury and illness and had a lot of setbacks. Despite that, I’ve always been able to pull it together and make it happen at some point in the season. Last year (training) generally went smoothly. In the past, I’ve always been forced to have this extra rest because of injury and illness, as a result (of not having that rest), I didn’t recover as well. I also think as you get closer to the top, those margins get so much smaller, so once you’re up there, a little change is so much more visible than in prior years when you’re developing and getting better.” Recovering from illness during the race season presents its own challenge apart from training and racing. “You’re trying to race, and if you get something like that during the middle of the season it’s hard to come back, especially if you’re not able to come home and recover and instead you’re stuck in Europe. Do I just keep skipping weekends, or do I try to race?”

Kern attributes only some of her difficulties last season to her illnesses. “I ended up being in a lot of lucky loser heats this year. So that meant that it was fast and hard, and I was expending a lot of energy to move on. I felt like that extra pep was missing. I feel like through sheer willpower, and tactical abilities and just grinding it out, I was able to make the semi-finals even when I wasn’t feeling at my best. It was head down and put everything in mentality. When your body isn’t feeling 100 percent, you can go hard for one round, but not sustain it for as many rounds. That’s what I was feeling last year. But I’ve gotten to the level now where I could move on to the quarters even not feeling 100 percent. But I had to put a lot into it, and I was not recovering as quickly as previous years.”

Kern is making some other tweaks to her training plan. “This year I’m trying to ease into the training year a little bit more, so lower hours, especially in June. I always have nagging injuries, so I’m trying to get foundationally really solid before I’m pushing the training. I’m also making sure that in those recovery weeks I’m getting mental recovery too. I’ve always done well when I’m happy. I’m a very social being and having stuff outside of skiing feeding my soul and happiness is really important. You need to have the mental bandwidth for a full winter of racing. Giving 100 percent to skiing might actually look like me turning off my skiing brain every once in a while. I’m being more intentional about each workout and mindful of where I’m putting in volume and how I’m doing it and being okay with changing my training plan if I’m tired. More or harder isn’t always better. That’s what a lot of injury has taught me. The most important thing is that you’re rested and ready.”

Kern is taking a mindfulness and self-awareness approach. “Sometimes I’ll feel really good at the end of a training block, and I’ll want to keep pushing it, but then I go from feeling really good one day to really bad the next so, my body doesn’t have this slow down warning sign. I need to be mindful about where I’m at. You don’t want to be the most fit in September, you want to be the most fit in the winter.” She also has taken more ownership of her training. “I’m writing more of my plan. Kristen and I work together. It’s not a coach telling me what to do, it’s a collaboration.”

One of Kern’s other passions is her design work with Skida, a company which makes performance neck and headwear for athletes. She makes a new design every year which appears on the neck gaiters and hats. She is currently working on the upcoming winter’s design. You have to move fast to keep up with Julia Kern, on and off the snow.

Please return to FasterSkier for part two of our interview with Julia Kern where we dive into the nitty gritty of Sprint tactics and what it takes to reach the podium, and thanks to Julia Kern for taking the time to speak with FasterSkier.

Wall Scrubs

• Lie on your side with your butt 4-6 inches from a wall
• Bottom knee is bent and the top leg is straight
• Push the heel of your top leg into the wall and move that leg up and down
• You should be putting a lot of pressure into the wall—think about scrubbing the wall vs just painting it
• Keep your toes pointed forward not up towards the ceiling
• Pelvis stays vertical and quiet. The motion should be isolated at the hip, not from the pelvis tipping. You can put your hand on the side of your pelvis for feedback to monitor potential movement
• You’ll need to be wearing just a sock or use a washcloth on your heel to reduce friction on the wall
• 3 sets of 10-15 reps (if you’re not getting much fatigue with 15x, add a resistance band around your knees)

Banded Side Steps

• Put a resistance band around your ankles
• Bend and the ankles, knees, and hips like the ski stance
• Keeping tension on the band throughout, step sideways leading with the knee rather than reaching with the foot and shifting your weight
• Band position variations: band around the knees is a regression offering less resistance and possibly more cuing to lead with the knee vs the foot; band around the feet is harder with more work at the ankles but requires a durable band not the cheap ones we give to patients in PT
• 2×15-20 steps or whatever length of hallway you have 

Curtsy Step Downs

• Stand sideways on the bottom stair or a plyo box
• The foot at the edge of the stair will be the working leg
• With the other leg, reach behind the stance leg and tap the floor then finish with knee high
• The working leg will be doing a single leg squat so look to keep your spine neutral, hinge through the hips, lean forward with the the trunk and your butt goes back
• Ideally, this is also a balance exercise with the non-stance leg never taking any weight. However, if this is a struggle, use a railing or wall for assistance
• You can add weight for additional resistance 
• 3 sets of 10x

Lateral Bounding

• Think of these as hopping side steps
• Start in the ski stance position
• Push/hop sideways off the stance leg and land on the other leg in a balanced position
• Switch back to the working leg and go again
• As described, you’ll be moving sideways like down a hallway. If you’re tight on space, you can go back and forth from right leg to left leg but strive to be honest about the balance before the next hop
• Look to do 30 contacts/reps on each side split into sets however your space allows (2×15, 3×10, 5×6, etc)

Lateral Countermovement Jumps

• Stand sideways on the bottom stair or a 8+ inch plyo box
• Step off, landing in the ski stance position on the opposite leg
• Rather than pausing in a balanced position, immediately hop back up to the standing leg on the stair/box
• Think of the landing leg as being a spring or pogo stick that will bounce back after being compressed—the compression will create the ankle, knee, and hip flexion inherent to ski stance, then we want to rebound off quickly and pop back up to the box
• Make sure the work is being done by the landing leg vs just stepping back on the box
• 2 sets of 5-10x. You can add weight or increase the box height for more difficulty (with a med ball or dumbbell held in both hands, move it from chest height while standing on the box to the hip of the landing leg on the floor)

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.

In Part I of FasterSkier’s article about the Lake Placid organizing committee’s work to be chosen as a venue for a World Cup, we spoke with Kris Seymour, Nordic Program Coordinator for the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) to see what had to be done to bring Lake Placid into contention to be a World Cup venue. Our discussion with Seymour continues as we look at what it took to get Lake Placid a World Cup and what other challenges the host venue will face.

A Very Busy Month

If all goes according to plan, just before the FIS World Cup in Lake Placid, there will also be an International Biathlon Union (IBU) stop. The IBU Cup Lake Placid is hosting is one step down from the biathlon World Cup but is still a major international event. Seymour is confident in Lake Placid’s ability to handle the high volume of headline-grabbing events. “One of the things about ORDA is that it’s a fairly large company,” commented Seymour. “We have dedicated departments…and dedicated and trained people on the venues. In the last two years we’ve hosted major events simultaneously. For the last four seasons we’ve been pushing our schedule to be quite aggressive. This year we challenged ourselves. We had the New York State public high school championships, the Lake Placid Loppet, the USCSA (United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association) national championships, and junior nationals all within a three week window. Our venue is being called on more and more to host events because of our capabilities. With every event we get more efficient, professional, and capable. We’re excited for the events.”

Lots of State Money

Footing the bill for all the upgrades to transform Lake Placid into a World Class level venue wasn’t cheap. “All of the Olympic facilities at Lake Placid are funded by the state of New York,” explained Seymour. “The state of New York invested $80,000,000 into the Lodge, the snowmaking, the construction of the new trails, the team areas, the broadcast infrastructure, and other public facing pieces, and some for bobsled and skeleton. This includes installation of a mountain coaster which simulates bobsled, and a 500 foot long push track for bobsled and skeleton. The state also invested in other ORDA facilities including Whiteface (downhill skiing and snowboarding venue), and the speed skating oval which were all brought up to international standards.”

In addition to the direct Lake Placid facilities upgrade, the State also went big investing in the surrounding communities. The $80,000,000 investment doesn’t include “$500 million the state invested into Lake Placid and surrounding communities to upgrade roads, downtowns, and facilities. That investment into the communities helped take a step up into modernizing everything from data, power, housing and accommodations. The number of beds and new hotels is increasing.”

An Experienced Host of Major Events

World Cup ski jumping drew 5,000-8,000 daily spectators at Lake Placid, so Seymour is confident in the region’s ability to house and transport perhaps double that amount for a cross-country World Cup. The recent World University Games was also an invaluable training ground for ORDA and other organizations to learn how to fine tune things such as housing and transporting such large numbers of people. “Our expectation…is to have 8,000 to 10,000 people,” said Seymour. “But, given the U.S. team’s fabulous seasons…we recognize we may have more than that. We’re looking at what we need to do to accommodate even more.”

Hosting other international events such as UCI’s Mountain bike World Cup races sharpens organizers’ skills and helps debug glitches in advance of other major events. Seymour describes the level of preparation that will have been achieved by the time the cross-country World Cup hits Lake Placid: “We will have had two World Cup cross-country mountain bike races. We’re expecting 8,000 spectators this year. I think that will give us a very good idea of what that impact is on the venue. Most spectators will be shuttled into the venue that will be the same for cross-country skiing.”

The area has a small full-time population, but having large international events isn’t perceived as a negative strain on the community. “Lake Placid has been the epicenter for sports and events since 1932,” said Seymour. “People recognize that those events bring people, fill hotels, and make for a vibrant downtown and business model. It’s a place that recognizes that these events present different opportunities for families and young people. Lake Placid has been very productive producing winter Olympians from a grass roots level. Lake Placid does well in sending people into the world to compete.”

Home Field Advantage

It hasn’t yet been decided which race formats will be utilized for the three days of racing in March, but Seymour is confident in Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s ability to accommodate any race configuration, and that racers will be challenged by a unique course. “When we were designing the trails, we reached out to the U.S. teams: Nordic Combined, biathlon, and cross-country, and took from them different characteristics of what they would like to see. There were stars of the current teams and coaching staff which had a large influence on what we did, particularly in the Sprint loop. It will be well suited to the skill set of American Sprinters.” That input included looking for a course with “multiple transitions either in topography or turns. So that means multiple changes in topography where you’re either ascending or descending, with quite a few turns. They also wanted a course that was a cardiovascular challenge on the final climb. Our final climb is quite wide and at a grade that benefits the skill set of many American Sprinters. The last 100 meters is about a two to three percent grade with a slight uphill to the finish. The feedback we’ve had…is that there’s not a World Cup course like this on the planet, it’s very technically and tactically challenging.”

More fine tuning will take place when Lake Placid hosts the SuperTour finals this coming winter. Hosting the SuperTour will also present an opportunity for the American squad to add to the home field advantage. “Jessie and Rosie have never skied on snow at Mt. Van Hoevenberg on the new courses, so we wanted to have a window for them to compete before the World Cup.”

Volunteers

One notable hallmark of the Minneapolis World Cup was the quantity and quality of its volunteers. In Lake Placid, volunteers will also be relied upon as an essential component of the event. “Going into major events it’s easy to have concerns about the volunteer load needed,” said Seymour. “Recruitment and training are very important. But it’s a community that’s quite passionate about cross-country skiing…we’ve seen from larger events that we recruit people who are coming to the event, and locals. Our volunteer base comes from as far as northern Maine to New York City. Recruitment and training are a big focus. We have a full time chief of volunteers within ORDA. It’s a dedicated effort across the venue.”

Lingering Concerns

“We engage with a lot of federations and world class events; that’s familiar territory,” noted Seymour. “There are always nuances…between different federations. This is our first World Cup ski race since 1979, and just having that first World Cup event…we’re trying to do everything to understand the nuances. We try to communicate openly with USSS (United States Ski and Snowboard) with what they view as important, and Minneapolis about things they experienced that they didn’t anticipate. We try to bring in as many well experienced people as we can for things that might come our way. The ski race part of it—there’s a high level of expectation—but sometimes the actual race is the less complicated part.”

“We truly feel honored and privileged to be able to host this event. We are doing so with the hope that we get to share it with the Nordic community…and be part of the fascinating story that is being built in the United States with regard to cross-country skiing, and to continue the momentum of the success of the team, the national clubs, and Minneapolis’ spectacularly successful World Cup.”

Thanks to Kris Seymour for taking the time to speak with FasterSkier.

For the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (the Birkie) it’s been a long time coming.

The dedication ceremony held Saturday for the new projects that encompass the Mt. Telemark Village, the former site of the legendary Telemark Lodge, have been in the works for five years. All together, Mt. Telemark Village is “the biggest thing the American Birkebeiner has ever done.” Its $10.2 million dollar capital campaign, though, doesn’t capture what, for skiing, might just might be priceless. Up in the woods outside of Cable, Wisconsin, the Birkie has been busy figuring out how to commemorate a little glacial knoll that’s played an outsized role in the history of skiing while making it a vital place for more of that history to happen.

The dedication ceremony on Saturday featured two main draws that illustrate that delicate balance at the heart of Mt. Telemark Village. The first was the official dedication of the paved rollerski loop to George Hovland, a name linked to the deep past of skiing in North America. The second was the opening of a new mountain bike trail system sponsored by Wisconsin-based bicycle manufacturer, Trek, building on another of Telemark’s legacies as a key site in the development of the sport of mountain biking. In addition, the on-going, glass-plated construction of a new base lodge promised the realization of a vision that’s been in the works for the Birkie and Telemark the past five years.

Telemark and Tony Wise

Mt. Telemark Village, itself, is a re-birth of a long-lived Midwestern legend. Telemark was set up in 1947 by local entrepreneur Tony Wise. The downhill ski area made all it could of its ~300 ft of vertical descent set upon a glacial erratic. Wise, an ebullient character, seemed to derive inspiration from that terrain, making Telemark a cultural erratic, a place for Governors, Musicians, and Packers (the biggest celebrities on offer in Wisconsin) set in rural northern Wisconsin. He did so unrelentingly, building the giant 200-room Telemark Lodge that was too big for its own good. In the glory days, Telemark was a flame whose influence burned over thousands of miles of Northland. After bankruptcy in the 1980s, the embers of Telemark continued to glow primarily in the American Birkebeiner, Wise’s cross-country ski race from Telemark to Hayward that became the largest in North America.

The Birkie was Telemark’s first foray into cross-country skiing, but the race’s momentum in the 1970s led to the resort playing an outsized role in the development of modern cross-country skiing in the United States, and beyond. The first World Cup race ever was held on a trail system laid out in 1978 by American skiing pioneers John Caldwell, coach Marty Hall, and Olympic medalist Bill Koch.

The legacy of Telemark limped along on its own legend for years following Tony Wise’s bankruptcy and surrender of the property in the 1980s. Numerous owners passed through. Central Cross Country Skiing (CXC) briefly made it a home for its Elite Team in the early 2010s, before Telemark closed for good in 2014. The Lodge sat abandoned for years.

In 2020, the Birkie started to piece together a new vision for the property: Mt. Telemark Village. The Lodge was demolished in 2021, the vision that has played out since is the Birkie’s community-oriented project to honor the whirlwind of history that emanated from the little patch of Wisconsin woods, and make it a site to take a central role, again.

George Hovland Trail

Saturday’s dedication ceremony celebrated the success of the new Birkie venue linked by a number of trails to Telemark.  It also linked the new venue to a giant of Midwestern skiing: George Hovland.

George Hovland’s name looms large in his hometown of Duluth, Minnesota, where the 1952 Olympian had a hand in founding nearly all present-day fixtures of Zenith City’s ski scene including Spirit Mountain, Snowflake Nordic Center, and the North Shore In-line marathon.

Hovland’s legacy as a ski pioneer in the wider-Midwest is being celebrated by the Birkie in dedicating its 5 k training loop. A friend of Tony Wise, Hovland competed in every Birkie from 1974 to 2012. In the years prior to his passing in 2021, Hovland was the vital link to a deep, essential past of Midwestern skiing. Hovland took to the sport of skiing as a boy in the 1940s when jumping was nordic’s premier discipline and Chester Bowl in Duluth was still populated by the Scandinavian immigrants who brought the sport to America. He skied his last kilometers after Minnesotan Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall combined to earn the first Olympic gold in US skiing history. The George Hovland Trail will play an active role in developing Midwestern ski racers this summer, with CXC hosting its Developmental Camps, and Team Birkie looking to utilize the resource.

“George was such an amazing man and an influence on our sport,” said Ben Popp, American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Executive Director. “George loved training and this will forever be a medium to get people training and faster!”

Trek Trails Lay New Lines Down Mt. Telemark

Before snow fills the George Hovland Trail next winter, there will be plenty of treads on trails of another type: biking.

Telemark was the site of some early movement in the sport of mountain biking. As the sport first advanced beyond riding klunkers in the West in the early 1980s, one of the first flat-land homes it found was the Birkie trail at Telemark. The Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, one of the oldest extant mountain bike races in the country, was dreamed up in 1983 with the proposition, “What if we did a bike race on the American Birkebeiner trail?”

While the Chequamegon was based out of the nearby Lakewoods Resort for most of its formative years, a trail system was quickly developed on the Telemark property, and eventually linked via the CAMBA trail system. For years, the Telemark portion of the CAMBA system stood out as a kind of staid testament to those early days of mountain biking as a sport. The trails cut through the woods between logging roads. In the days before slack frame geometry, 29 inch wheels, and full suspension made riding downhill more joy than hazard, the singletrack was laid out to get from point A to B more so than to get from feature to feature.

In more recent years, Mt. Telemark itself started to look ripe for the new-look crop of mountain bike trails that were being built around the Midwest at places like Spirit Mountain Duluth, MN, or Copper Harbor, MI.

When the Birkie took over the property in 2020, those in the Wisconsin biking community took notice. That included Trek, based in southern Wisconsin, which was willing to provide funding for the development of a trail system that utilized the whole of Mt. Telemark’s terrain and set it up to be a central host for mountain biking in the same way that Telemark had long served for skiing.

An additional grant from nonprofit group One Track Mind set the Trek Trails at Telemark in motion. Now in development, 16 additional miles of trail will eventually play host to training and racing for cross-country, enduro, and downhill racers alike.

Mt. Telemark Village Gets a Base Camp

What’s next? A successor for the old Telemark Lodge. While the Birkie gathered its community together on Saturday, the site of a new building under construction where the legendary lodge once stood seemed an apt harbinger.

The “Base Camp” Community Center still looks erratic against the fields and forests that surround it. But in terms of decadence, Telemark seems to have a matured sense of stature. The three-floor fireplace that once greeted visitors in the lobby of the old Lodge isn’t making a comeback. Emeril Legassi is unlikely to be in this version of Telemark’s kitchen (he was, in fact, in the old one).

This new community center doesn’t include the giant concrete walls that are still visible on site from the old Lodge, but it seems to impart that this version of Telemark, after a half-decade of dreaming, is starting to be set. 

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.

The Minneapolis World Cup was a sensational success. Now, the announcement of the upcoming vote on Lake Placid as a host venue for a cross-country World Cup weekend has kindled hopes of another hugely enjoyable and exciting experience for North American fans. But it takes more than just hope and aspiration to be seriously considered to host a World Cup, and to actually land the big date takes even more. Earlier this month, FasterSkier looked at what it took to get the nod for Lake Placid from the United States Ski and Snowboard and FIS (International Ski Federation) perspective. But there’s another entire story from the venue’s perspective. Here’s a look at what folks in New York needed to do to get to the point where they are just one step away from being ratified as a World Cup site.

To start with, Lake Placid’s organization is structured very differently from that in Minneapolis. Lake Placid is already an international venue with facilities and government sponsored organizational structure in place to handle large events. Minneapolis was a much smaller venue organized mostly by volunteers and non-profits without an existing state agency to run the event.

To understand those differences—and what’s behind Lake Placid’s bid—FasterSkier spoke with Kris Seymour who is Nordic Program Coordinator overseeing recreation activities, sport development activity, and all of the endurance events that take place at Mt. Van Hoevenberg, Lake Placid.

Seymour works for the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), a state agency dedicated to the management of Lake Placid’s Olympic facilities. ORDA is a byproduct of the Lake Placid Olympics of 1980 and 1932. Its mission statement is: “To create economic and social benefit in the Adirondacks and Catskills by operating year-round venues that provide recreational and athletic development opportunities, achieved through a commitment to continuous improvement and emphasis on environmental stewardship, fiscal responsibility, and the delivery of world-class programs and experiences to persons of all ages and abilities.” That’s a pretty broad mandate, but it’s the part about delivery of world-class programs and experiences that lays the foundation for ORDA going after big international events like the FIS World Cup.

Bringing a World Cup to Mt. Van Hoevenberg has been a long time coming. The last time there was a cross-country World Cup event in Lake Placid was in 1979 before the Olympics. “A really important part of our mandate is to go after high level national and international events,” said Seymour. “It’s pretty unique.”  Mt. Van Hoevenberg has hosted national and international events in bobsled, skeleton, luge, and cross-country (skiing). This September, it will expand to include International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cup Mountain biking. “For us the 2026 finale— the proposed races would be the last weekend of the season— in cross-country skiing has been a long time goal…and has also been one of our major accomplishments.”

Lots of Upgrades

Forty-seven years between visits is a long time, but that doesn’t mean ORDA has been waiting around just hoping that FIS will revisit the Adirondacks. “The goal (of a World Cup) has been longstanding, going back to the early 2000s,” said Seymour. “We knew that Mt. Van Hoevenberg needed to go through a revitalization and re-homologation period.” Given the venue’s location, this presented some additional hurdles. “We’re on state land, so the level of revitalization which needed to happen had regulatory and other environmental milestones which needed to be met. Those took a number of years. About 6-7 years ago Lake Placid was coming into a new era. Our governor at the time—Andrew Cuomo— was very interested in the revitalization of all of the Olympic venues in Lake Placid. He wanted all of those venues to be to international standards.”

It was the confluence of many factors that ultimately resulted in the World Cup bid. But the spark that led to the hosting fire was the World University Games coming to Lake Placid in 2023. “That event became the piece where the state of New York invested money into Lake Placid as both a community and invested in the Olympic venues for revitalization,” said Seymour. “This led to the creation of one venue at Mt. Van Hoevenberg which could host World Cup biathlon and cross-country. 2018 was the start of master planning for the World University Games which led to a closer look at how ORDA could create a single site for cross-country and biathlon. That’s when the process for becoming a World Cup venue really began. It’s when the benchmarking for the courses to hold a World Cup occurred. The process involved having FIS appoint an homologation inspector and designer (homologation is a big word which simply refers to the process and standards of having a course approved to meet FIS World Cup standards).”

Having an approved course for biathlon, Nordic combined, and cross-country presented challenges since the homologation standards are different. “It is achievable, which we did at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. We held the University games for cross-country, biathlon, and Nordic combined at the same venue, which isn’t typical. It was a pretty significant accomplishment to do all these events over a two week period. Bringing the world in…gave us the chance— in a pretty condensed amount of time— to gain a lot of experience by working with both the athletes and the international organizations.”

The longest loop on the homologated course is a five-kilometer section with small loops built around it as required for biathlon and cross-country. “We have future plans for expansion, but that’s a few years away.”

With all of the changes, Mt. Van Hoevenberg brings a lot to the table in addition to simply having an international level ski trail. “The infrastructure development has become a differentiator,” Seymour explained. “We built a lodge that’s over 50,000 square feet, there are facilities specific to recreation, sport development, competition, and event management. Inside that space is all of the room we need for timing and scoring as well as broadcasting and jury rooms. We looked at what FIS and the IBU (International Biathlon Union) required and created those permanently within the lodge. Having this level of infrastructure in place is a game changer for governing organizations and host venues.”

This means that to host future events, ORDA doesn’t have to build or bring in temporary structures and also has the space for other uses. “Those spaces also serve other important needs…such as using those spaces for meetings or social activities. It’s been really positive for us.” Also created during the rehabilitation was the establishment of permanent team areas for waxing. These meet FIS standards for heating and ventilation and are adjacent to the stadium through a tunnel. “We use those for everything from a high school race to family spaces.”

Lake Placid also took visionary steps to make itself appealing for large international events by creating a plug-and-play technology footprint for broadcasting. “One of the biggest things we did—which isn’t done by a lot of our contemporaries—is we established a dedicated broadcast, I.T., and scoring system,” Seymour explained. “Throughout the trail network we have over 20 media pedestals. Each has power, data, and fiber. When T.V. comes to the event, Mt. Van Hoevenberg is literally a plug-and-play; they don’t have to lay miles of cable. This became a big differentiator (compared to other venues). If we didn’t have that, broadcast has to come in a week early. Instead, they can show up a couple of days before the event which saves everyone money.” This permanent infrastructure has eliminated the need for most cable runs. “All of the pedestals are linked to a server room, so everything is plug and play to make it easy for broadcasters. This technology support is viewed very favorably by international organizations. This infrastructure played a big role in Mt. Van Hoevenberg being approached by UCI to be a World Cup Mountain bike host.”

Additional infrastructure upgrades were also needed to deal with the always-present issues driven by climate change. Snowmaking is now an important consideration for venues; Lake Placid is no exception. Before revitalization projects began, Mt. Van Hoevenberg didn’t have snowmaking. It was an enormous undertaking to add snowmaking to the facility. “We created a reservoir site of just over 3,000,000 gallons, that’s within the trail network, we have a snowmaking pumphouse feeding the course. Every 60-80 feet is an air and water hydrant with high efficiency snow guns. In the stadium there are three fan guns. After completion it was recognized by FIS as one of the most capable and powerful systems on the planet. There are five kilometers of snow making, and all of the competition loops sit within those five kilometers. Additionally, there’s another kilometer of snowmaking in the warmup loop. Since adding snowmaking, despite the significant weather challenges, Lake Placid hasn’t had to cancel any races in the last four seasons.”

While snowmaking is becoming a baseline requirement for an international venue, Lake Placid may have a leg up on other venues for other reasons when it comes to ski conditions. “Looking at climate models, Lake Placid is fairly well poised for cold temperatures. We should still—through the middle of the century—have significant cold windows.”

Four years ago, ORDA began serious conversations with Stifel U.S. Ski Team Program Director, Chris Grover, and head coach, Matt Whitcomb, about hosting an event. The idea of timing a World Cup at Lake Placid to intersect with the career arc of current U.S. team stars was a natural consideration. “That became a conversation—of certain windows—with the season finale being an obvious window,” said Seymour. “We’re not assuming that anyone is retiring after the Olympics, but recognizing that for some athletes, that is a time…it was identified as a perfect window for the rising stars and the more experienced parts of the team—potentially on home soil—to be able to shine…in front of what’s expected to be a robust crowd.”

Please return to FasterSkier for Part II of our interview with Kris Seymour to learn more about what it took for Lake Placid to rise to the level of being a World Cup host venue.

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.

In part one of our interview with U.S. coach, Matt Whitcomb, about Bend spring training camp he told us about training regimens and the team building approach. In part II, Whitcomb talks more about training in Bend and wider ranging topics.

Aiming To Be The Best in the World

A big point of focus at training camp from the team perspective is the standings in the Nation’s Cup. “One of the things that’s sort of a rallying cry for us is the quest to finish in the top three in the Nation’s Cup scoring,” said Whitcomb. “There’s a lot of energy surrounding our Nation’s cup scoring when we talk about our team culture document: team goals that we can rally around. We’ve finished fourth for the last two years. (Losing to Finland in the last weekend for two consecutive years.) This is something that ten years ago we weren’t even discussing. The fact that we’re even in a discussion to be in the top three represents a massive change over the course of the last decade. That’s something we’re very proud of; to be competing on equal ground with the Scandinavian nations, often beating them. In a great year we used to be sixth. Now we know we are often in the top three, we just haven’t finished there by season’s end. That’s a big goal of ours. While we do have a way to go, in particular against the Norwegian men, and the Swedish women, we can see the pathway to becoming the best ski nation in the world. We have the numbers of athletes to accomplish this, we have the number of coaches and clubs. It’s all there. Each of us needs to take a couple of small steps forward, and we’ll be that much closer. But these are levels that we haven’t felt as being tangible targets; now they are. Now that we can see it, we can see the pathway to becoming the best cross-country skiing nation in the world. I think in the near term, on the scale of a decade…the changes that have happened over the last decade…if they happen again, we’ll be in contention for (best in the world). We feel that’s a place we can now actually go, and target.”

But to do well in the nation’s cup, team USA will have to strike a difficult balance of putting forth the best team while also resting athletes who need it. “There are times when we are not starting our best relay team because we are trying to preserve the long term goals of (individual) athletes. But all the athletes on the team respect any athlete’s need to sit out an event. They all know how hard it is.”

The Next Generation

Whitcomb has noticed a generational shift of sorts with new team members. “The athletes arriving now (for camp) on the development team, they are more professionally prepared, have better technique, and overall are better trained (than they used to be),” whitcomb explained. “The athletes on average are training 100 hours more (per year) than they were ten years ago. We have surveys that we have taken over the years, so we know the training volume has grown, along with that, the level of coaching has grown. We have so many great coaches peppered throughout the country that we didn’t always have.” Whitcomb sees the long term impact of this change. “It gives us more belief in the future of our program, and our ability to compete against the best in the world.”

With a new class of younger athletes coming in, there are new challenges and new expectations. “At this age change happens very quickly, it can happen over the course of a camp. A lot of the athletes are skiing better by week two.”

Along with the heightened abilities of new athletes is also the challenge of dealing with increasing team success. Last year was one of the best ever—if not the best­—for U.S. cross-country. Does it create a different level of pressure? “As we’ve improved as a nation, we’ve also improved under pressure,” Whitcomb said. “We’ve learned to utilize the pressure as an asset and resource, we see it as a privilege. On a race day when an athlete is dealing with nerves, you can reframe it and acknowledge to them that they have this privilege of doing something important; it’s not necessarily a negative source of energy. At this time of year pressure is fun and motivating.”

The Bend Chill

Bend is also unique because of its more relaxed atmosphere. “There’s a different tone in our October camps where we’re training at a higher level, we’re training big hours, we’re doing specific time trials,” said Whitcomb. “There’s a layer of stress that doesn’t exist at Bend. An example is we had an athlete get sick (in Bend). He stayed in his room to recover and protect everyone else’s health, but people weren’t really that stressed. That’s a different story on the World Cup where you try to avoid these germs at all costs.”

Ogden’s Status

For world-class endurance athletes, illness is often an issue around which accommodations must be made; Ben Ogden’s presence and performance at the camp was a relief to the team. Ogden is returning from a case of mononucleosis he contracted toward the end of last season that kept him out of the Minneapolis World Cup. Fans will be happy to hear that he is doing well. “Ben is training at a very high capacity,” said Whitcomb. “We are still being careful. We’re probably asking him how he’s feeling more than the other athletes. We want to make sure we’re not starting too early. He’s had a wonderful medical team around him since his diagnosis. I feel like he’s in the place where he’s training at nearly full capacity, and I say nearly just because it’s May, and I don’t know if anybody is training at full capacity just yet.”

World Cup Developments

Whitcomb is also looking forward to changes which will have to be addressed during the upcoming World Cup season. One of the big changes is FIS’s decision to raise the maximum altitude at which races can be held. Whitcomb doesn’t see that as much of a problem for the American team. “For Americans, I think that’s actually and advantage,” he said. “We tend to race pretty well at altitude because we naturally have more experience at altitude. All of our best athletes throughout the year will be training at an altitude event. That’s not the case for (other countries). I feel like this is something we excel at. I welcome it. We need to be able to access more venues (for snow); I think it’s a good change.”

Whitcomb also shared his thoughts on the potential of Lake Placid, New York, hosting a World Cup. “This is great news. Minneapolis is no longer a one-off amazing experience; it’s a legacy event. The Europeans had such a great experience in Minneapolis that I think we’ll draw a full compliment of World Cup athletes.”

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.

May 4^th through the 17th marked the return to the unofficial start of serious cross-country ski training for Team USA with their annual return to Bend, Oregon for their spring camp held at Mt. Bachelor. Over the years, Bend camp has become a rite of passage for Stifel U.S. Ski Team members who enjoy Mt. Bachelor’s unique ability to provide excellent snow conditions late into the spring on a reliable basis, and enjoy summer like weather while in the valley below. Skiing in shorts and t-shirts is a great way for the team to get back on snow while having a little bit of fun. It’s a low key atmosphere; a little more laid back than camps closer to race season.

Bend’s reliable spring snow has made it the venue of choice for many North American teams. Not only is the U.S. cross-country team in attendance, but also in Bend this spring are the U.S Biathlon Team and Craftsbury Green Racing Project team. According to Mt. Bachelor cross-country director, Sydney Powell, those teams will be joined by members of the U.S. and Canadian Para Nordic teams, some members of the Canadian biathlon team, and several other North American Nordic teams.

FasterSkier had the opportunity to speak with Team USA coach, Matt Whitcomb, for updates on what was going on in Bend, and to get the inside scoop on early season training.

This spring, Bend has lived up to its reputation as a skiing paradise. “Conditions have been great,” Whitcomb said. “When we arrived, we had two days of winter, the first day was below freezing and the second day was right around zero (Celsius) and still snowing. Waxing was a challenge, which is what we hope to run into. We need work skiing, waxing, and training in these tricky conditions. Since then, it’s been bluebird conditions; freezing overnight then warming during the day; universal and red klister all day.” The waxing fine tuning is carried out by coaches since the team is unable to have their regular season waxing support. In addition to Whitcomb, the World Cup coaches present included Chris Grover, Kristen Bourne, and Jason Cork. Also present were Greta Anderson and Brian Fish. Rounding out the group is strength coach, Tschana Schiller. Schiller sets up strength training sessions known as “garage training.”

There was an excellent turnout; 22 of 27 Team USA members attended for all, or part, of the camp. And joining this year’s camp was Swedish star Emma Ribom (friend of JC Schoonmaker). Having prominent visitors from foreign teams has also become a tradition of Bend camp.

The Format

Each day at Bend camp provides unique opportunities. “Every day is different,” Whitcomb said. “But the general plan is we ski in the morning, load up the vans at 7:30, and we’re skiing by 8:15. This is after we’ve gotten together and watched a little World Cup video to set the tone, and do a little visualization. We ski for 2-3 hours, not an incredible amount of volume this time of year. This camp is particularly early this year, the way it fell on the calendar, so we’re being a little more conservative. Then in the afternoons we do dryland training, running, roller skiing, biking, or doing strength training. The goals are getting a jumpstart on our fitness and strength and motivation to kick us off into another training year. Also, every hour we can log on snow is a very valuable hour for us. We do emphasize individuality. If there’s a workout that doesn’t work for an athlete, we work with them, if someone misses an interval session because they’re tired, we’ll run a separate one for them later in the week. We’re very flexible.”

There are many ingredients that go into making a good training camp. “One of the goals is that we set the stage for what our new team looks like,” said Whitcomb. “We get together in a room several times a day to eat and train. Some athletes are brand new. Every year this team feels entirely different…even if you exchange just one athlete, the dynamic feels different. This camp is really about setting the tone for what the new team is going to represent.”

Building Team Culture

The American squad is now well known for its team approach, but it doesn’t come by accident. “One of my favorite meetings of the year that we have is what we call our team culture meeting,” said Whitcomb. “We ask ourselves three questions, talk about them and build a document we can reference the rest of the year to remember at the beginning of the season what we intended to build.

Whitcomb shared the secret sauce of the content of the three question approach. The first question is: “What are we proud of as members of the U.S. ski team, as ambassadors for U.S. skiing? So, it will be things like we’re proud of the community we’re part of, which was in our face in Minneapolis.”

“The second question is: “If we wanted to, how would we wreck our team culture? That’s a fun one. Rather than calling ourselves out on things we don’t do well, we can talk about things we know will destroy the fabric of the team, like being late, creating cliques, being lazy, not having each other’s backs.”

“The last question is: “What are our action items; what are we going to do as a team? An example of that is we want to do one community event per camp. Another example is we want to review this document several times through the year, to make sure we’re on track.”

This type of candor can present a challenge for new members. “We don’t ever say that we want everybody to participate…just because not everybody is comfortable speaking in a group that they’re adjusting to for the first time. But generally, everybody does participate with something spoken. But simply to be present is to participate.”

The message of what skiers take home is different for everyone. “The one baseline concept I hope they get is a new level of confidence knowing that they have this other team, the national team, that has their backs that they are a part of and connected to. Also, individually we have worked on technical and training concepts that they can bring home to apply to their training.”

The American Way

The U.S. team’s approach to camp is different than many other countries. Since the American system is decentralized, the athletes also work with their own clubs when not training with the national team. “It’s no problem for a lot of these athletes to accomplish all of the training that they need to be able to sustain a great season in Europe, or at World Juniors,” said Whitcomb. “But at the end of the day, in particular for World Cup athletes, you’re not going to be spending that time with your club program. You need two teams. We are proud to be a decentralized program that depends on its clubs as important partners. This is an additional resource. It’s really necessary for an American athlete to have two teams…to have a club program and national team. If we’re not a connected group, we won’t perform well in Europe. We’re on the road for too long in too tight of quarters not to have team cohesion be a critical focus.”

Please return to FasterSkier for part II of our interview with Matt Whitcomb for more insight into the Bend/Mt. Bachelor training camp when he will discuss the team’s goals, integrating a new generation into the team, trying to be the best in the world, World Cup issues, and an update on Ben Ogden.

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.

After the smash success of the Minneapolis World Cup, a question being asked by American cross-country fans was whether Minneapolis was a one trick pony, or would we see other World Cup events in the United States? That question was partially answered when it was announced that Lake Placid is on its way to being a host venue for a World Cup in 2026. While it’s not official yet, the groundwork has been laid; barring any last minute complications with FIS (International Ski Federation), we should see World Cup racing in Lake Placid, New York, toward the end of March 2026.

To get the details of what it took to get to this point from the perspective of FIS and United States Ski and Snowboard—and to get a clearer view of what remains to be done—FasterSkier spoke with United States cross-country Program Director, Chris Grover. It has been a long journey from the first seed of the idea of having a World Cup in Lake Placid to getting to the point where it’s almost a done deal.

To start with, it is not completely accurate to say that Lake Placid has been selected to host the FIS World Cup in 2026. It is correct to say that they are significantly past the initial stages—having been approved by the FIS cross-country committee—and close to the finish line. “In the last round of meetings, the cross-country committee (within FIS) has approved the rough calendar for 2025/26,” said Grover. “The general process is that about two years in advance we’re nailing down the venues.” But the tentative calendar still must be approved by the FIS council when they meet in early June. “We expect it to be approved, generally there isn’t much pushback on things like calendars. After it’s approved, it’s pretty much set for Lake Place for 2026. We are expecting and planning on going to Lake Placid in 2026.”

But the work to achieve FIS compliance doesn’t end with the vote. “With every new venue, the FIS staff will want to inspect the venue…they might come over as soon as this summer.”  According to Grover, FIS will not only inspect the course, but they will also consider things such as lodging, wax cabin locations, banner locations, and television planning. Grover doesn’t see problems arising, “Lake Placid is an experienced venue that is used to hosting big international events, and they’ve been doing World Cups in other disciplines like luge and ski jumping.” To prove that point, Mt. Van Hoevenberg—located within the Lake Placid complex—is hosting the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) cross-country cycling World Cup this fall, which will add to their experience.

The March 2026 World Cup program is anticipated to have three races. While the format won’t be finalized until next spring, Grover expects that there will be one day of Sprinting, and two days of Distance racing. He doesn’t think it is likely that there will be team events such as relays. So that means the race format will probably come down to a Sprint, a 10 k race, and a 20 k race.

Grover emphasized the momentum of building off Minneapolis’ success. This was demonstrated when an athlete survey was conducted by Julia Kern (USA) and Jimmy Clugnet (GBR)—the two FIS athlete representatives—where almost 100 athletes were surveyed as to what their favorite venue of the year had been. Minneapolis won by a landslide. Over 90 percent of athletes also voted yes when asked about coming back to the U.S. after the 2026 Olympics.

There was also wide spread international support for another North American World Cup from FIS officials. “It was almost unanimously supported in the sub-committee where the voting took place,” said Grover. “The vote was 17 to 1 to go to Lake Placid, so there’s huge support, in part due to the success of Minneapolis.”

That enthusiasm will surely be tested when the tentative schedule will make athletes decamp from the last weekend of racing in Europe, travel the next day on Monday, and race in Lake Place the following weekend, March 20-22nd. There will not be a week off like there was this last winter when the World Cup traveled to North America.

The impetus for having another U.S. World Cup came in part from U.S. Ski and Snowboard. “The idea of doing something in the spring of 2026 was something that our C.E.O., Sophie Goldschmidt, asked. We floated the idea to Lake Placid and asked if they would look at it. They really dug into it…and they came back this winter and said they figured out how they could do it.”

An often overlooked benefit of having a World Cup race on home soil is the increase in team size that comes with it. The benefit—the “host nation’s groups quota”—would mean additional starters for  the U.S. “We will have a full start field, 12 men and 12 woman that can start each race,” said Grover. “It gives the most opportunity to the most U.S. athletes. I expect we’ll have a team size there of probably 35-40 athletes, when you take Sprint, Distance, men, women into account.”

Unlike last winter when the World Cup visited Canada and the U.S., this time it will be strictly an American affair with no Canadian stop. Grover attributed this to the Scandinavian venues already on the calendar. “It’s pretty locked in that in the spring you’re going to be in Lahti, Oslo, and one Swedish venue, usually Falun. That block is traditional in the long term planning.”

Grover hopes that trips to North America will now be part of the regular schedule. “We’re already starting discussions with Canada about 2028. Whatever happens with the FIS games in 2028…could make that more difficult.” But scheduling difficulties go beyond potential conflicts with the nascent FIS games. “There are more places that want to have World Cups than we have weekends in the calendar.”

It wasn’t lost on Grover that the timing of the Lake Placid weekend could be historical. “It will be a celebration of what we hope will be a successful winter Olympic games a few weeks before,” he said. “It may end up being the last World Cup for some of our key athletes. Nothing is written in stone, but there is a possibility of it being the last World Cup for (long time athletes). If that happened on home soil…it would be incredible. We’ve had that on our radar screens for a while now.” The long term athletes he is referring to are Jessie Diggins and Rosie Brennan. Diggins has already stated her intent to ski at least through the 2026 Olympic season. Brennan has been a little more ambiguous and seems to be taking more of a year to year approach. No one knows for sure when either woman will take their final bow on the World Cup stage, and clearly there is a lot of speculation involved. But if it did turn out that 2026 was the end of the ski trail for two American icons, what a great sendoff it would be.