Nordic Nation – FasterSkier.com
118 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 53 ratingsFasterSkier — All Things Nordic
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Episodes
Nordic Nation: Four Birkies and the World Cup with Alayna Sonnesyn
March 13, 2023 19:58In this episode, we talk with Alayna Sonnesyn (SMS T2), who is coming off of her fourth consecutive victory at the American Birkebeiner in Hayward, Wisconsin. But the path between these victories, especially over the last two seasons, has not been smooth or direct. Alayna has had standout results on the SuperTour, but that has not directly translated into consistent results on the World Cup, leaving her navigating the tricky waters of being what is...
Nordic Nation: Prioritizing mental health and rediscovering passion with Hailey Swirbul
February 19, 2023 03:21In this episode, we chat with Hailey Swirbul, who – at just 24 years old – has been competing at the top end of the sport for quite some time. A bronze medal in the 4 x 3.3k relay at the 2017 Junior World Championships in Soldier Hollow put Hailey – and relay teammates Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and Katherine Ogden – on the map in a big way in US Skiing. Hailey has gone...
Nordic Nation: Ben Ogden Breaks Through
February 03, 2023 13:47It’s been a minute! With the arrival of host Rachel Perkins’ second baby in July and a subsequent job shift, Nordic Nation has been on pause, but we are excited to relaunch now with the hope of producing these regularly over the coming months! Our first guest of 2023 is the one and only Ben Ogden, who’s had a standout season of racing on the World Cup. Ben has cracked into the semifinals in four...
Nordic Nation: Rebounding From Setbacks and Gaining Momentum with Julia Kern
July 05, 2022 23:44At 24-years-old, Julia Kern is quickly becoming a seasoned veteran in her 7th year on the U.S. Ski Team. However, her career trajectory has been stepwise, not exponential. After making breakthroughs during the 2019-20 season, including her first World Cup podium in a skate sprint in Planica, Slovenia, she faced injuries and setbacks heading into the following season in 2020-2021, leaving her walking away from that season feeling disappointed in both her World Cup and...
Nordic Nation: 2022 SuperTour Champion Rosie Frankowski in Transition
June 21, 2022 11:55The Olympic Dream. Perhaps the opportunity to compete at the highest level of sport would not be as sought-after and revered were it not for the inherent scarcity of opportunities to achieve it. This year, only eight women and six men were able to represent the United States in cross-country skiing in Zhangjiakou, down from a total of twenty – 11 women, 9 men – who were selected for PyeongChang in 2018. Among those who...
Nordic Nation: Greta Anderson’s 2021-2022 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Development Program Year in Review
June 05, 2022 12:34Last June, U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced the hiring of Greta Anderson as Development Team Coach, supporting Cross Country Program Manager Bryan Fish in “all aspects of leadership and logistics surrounding the U.S. Development Pathway, including National Training Group camps, U.S. Nationals and Junior/U23 World Championships, Europa Cup, select SuperTour and other national-level competitions, as well as working on Coaches’ Education and Certification.” (Read an in-depth interview with Anderso...
Nordic Nation: Cross-Country Program Director Chris Grover on Looking Back and Planning Ahead
May 26, 2022 11:51I think we can all agree that the last two years have been a wild ride. For those at the helm of the cross-country program at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, added layers of COVID safety precautions and expensive testing have increased the otherwise mounting demands of preparing for an Olympic Games. There have been numerous domestic and international competitions canceled, including a full season of SuperTour racing in 2020/2021, numerous World Cups canceled, and three...
Nordic Nation: Jessie Diggins — Eating Disorder Awareness, Media, and Why What to Say Matters
April 15, 2022 11:47It’s likely that today’s guest needs no introduction. Over the last decade, she has steadily worked to become the most decorated American cross country skier in history. As she gained more recognition beyond the niche of cross country skiing, she began to use her platform to become an advocate for causes she felt passionately about, opening up about her own experience struggling with an eating disorder and working hard at recovery through the Emily Program,...
Nordic Nation: A Backcountry Ski Race on Skinny Skis – Simi Hamilton and Ben Koons Take Second at the 2022 Montane Grand Traverse
April 08, 2022 12:46Tucked deep into snowy valleys, the tiny iconic Colorado mountain towns of Aspen and Crested Butte are separated by a mere 40 miles by foot, but roughly 200 miles by car in the winter. Separating the two is the expanse of the rugged Elk Mountain range, which features six of Colorado’s 14’ers, peaks that reach above 14,000’. Now meccas of outdoor recreation, the two towns were historically established as profitable coal and silver mining sites,...
Nordic Nation: A Discussion on the Media’s Portrayal of Endurance Athletes with Rosie Brennan, Corrine Malcolm, Brian Metzler, and Nat Herz
March 31, 2022 21:21Though the FasterSkier team would select other highlights from the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, one of the most read articles we produced featured the responses of members of the ski community to a story published on February 8th by the New York Times, which included the following quote: “In a sport that has so many women with massive shoulders and thighs, Diggins looks like a sprite in her racing suit, and it’s not clear exactly...
Nordic Nation: Inside the booth with Chad Salmela and Kikkan Randall, NBC’s Olympic cross country ski analysts
March 04, 2022 21:34In this episode, we’ve got Chad Salmela and Kikkan Randall on to discuss the experience of calling the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games, live from a booth in Stamford, CT. The duo worked as cross country analysts, alongside long-time NBC play-by-play announcer Steve Schlanger. While Chad is a veteran in the role, this was Kikkan’s first Olympics inside the booth. During the call, Kikkan and Chad field a variety of questions on their experience –...
Nordic Nation: Getting to Know the Future of the U.S. Ski Team — A Conversation with Sophia Laukli, Novie McCabe, and Sydney Palmer-Leger
January 27, 2022 22:53In this episode, we have Sydney Palmer-Leger, Sophia Laukli, and Novie McCabe. Each is a member of the U.S. Cross Country team, and they are also all teammates at the University of Utah (UU), where they are coached by Miles Havlick and Fredrik Landstedt. Laukli and McCabe were recently named to the 2022 Olympic Team and are soon headed to Beijing, while Palmer-Leger will race in the RMISA collegiate circuit for the next few weeks...
Nordic Nation: Inside the Athlete-Guide Dynamic with Jake Adicoff and Sam Wood
January 22, 2022 13:34In this episode, we have Jake Adicoff and Sam Wood, calling in from Lillehammer as the duo races as athlete and guide at the Para World Championships. Jake is a visually impaired athlete from Sun Valley who grew up racing with the SVSEF cross country program and now trains with the Gold Team. He has raced at both the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, and the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, where he won a silver medal...
Nordic Nation: A 2021/22 Tour de Ski Debrief With Matt Whitcomb
January 06, 2022 13:59In this episode, we have Matt Whitcomb back to debrief the 2021/22 Tour de Ski, including highs and lows, overcoming setbacks, and managing a circulating head cold. We also discuss the cancellation of the upcoming World Cup races in Les Rousses, FRA, covid safety in a critical window before the Olympics, and the racing happening in Soldier Hollow during the 2022 US Cross Country Championships. Thanks for listening.
Nordic Nation: Transitioning to the World Cup with Ben Ogden, JC Schoonmaker, and Gus Schumacher
December 15, 2021 13:55In this episode, we have Ben Ogden, Gus Schumacher, and JC Schoonmaker coming to us from Davos, SUI. These athletes are key members of the new generation of American men who have found success at the junior level internationally, and are now transitioning onto the World Cup as athletes to follow. In this conversation, we explore this transition from a variety of angles, along with goal setting, team dynamics, and navigating the challenges of competing...
Nordic Nation: Challenges of the Pro-Athlete Journey with Hannah Halvorsen, Hailey Swirbul, and Kate Barton
December 01, 2021 13:04In this episode, we have U.S. Ski Team members Hannah Halvorsen and Hailey Swirbul along with development team coach Kate Barton. The original idea behind the conversation was to discuss a variety of challenges female athletes of all levels experience during their careers based on an infographic posted by the organization Voice in Sport, shown below. As the conversation evolved, it became clear that this conversation will resonate with athletes of all genders, ages, and...
Nordic Nation: From NoCo Crystal Globe to Biathlon, An Interview With Tara Geraghty-Moats
November 17, 2021 12:46In this episode, we have Tara Geraghty-Moats, a trailblazer in women’s nordic combined who made the switch this season to biathlon. As we discuss in this conversation, women’s nordic combined could be put on display as an example of gender inequity in sport. Despite the fact that men have competed in nordic combined at the Olympics since the first Winter Games in 1924 and the FIS has organized a men’s World Cup season since 1983,...
Nordic Nation: Guiding Principles for Masters Athletes with Jim Galanes
November 10, 2021 12:39In this episode, we have Jim Galanes to discuss some guiding training principles for masters athletes. If you enjoy the endurance athlete lifestyle, or are juggling a career and family, but still enjoy trying to get fitter and faster as in this fickle sport, this interview has plenty of exercise physiology insight to chew on. Galanes may need no introduction — he’s been a noteworthy member of the cross country ski community for more than...
Nordic Nation: A Fall 2021 Pre-Season Chat With Matt Whitcomb
November 02, 2021 15:42In this episode, we connect with US Ski Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb following the US Ski Team and National Training Group camp in Park City. Whitcomb answers a variety of questions to provide insight into the upcoming season leading up to the 2022 Beijing Olympics. A couple of notes: Firstly, you’ll notice some crackling in the audio on our end. We’re working out the kinks. Thanks for your patience. Also, if your interest...
Nordic Nation: Moms Matter Now with Holly Brooks and Calisa Kastning
September 27, 2021 11:22In this episode, we discuss the topic of maternal mental health with Holly Brooks and Calisa Kastning. On Mother’s Day, the partners announced the launch of their passion project, Moms Matter Now with the aim of supporting and empowering women as they transition into motherhood. For those unfamiliar with these names, Brooks is a two-time Olympian and U.S. Ski Team alumna who became a licensed professional counselor after retiring from professional skiing in 2016....
Nordic Nation: A Type-1 Diabetic’s Take on Continuous Glucose Monitoring for Athletes, Featuring Kris Freeman
September 20, 2021 15:28In this episode, we bring Kris Freeman back to Nordic Nation. For those unfamiliar with Freeman, he skied in four Olympics from 2002 to 2014, placed fourth on two occasions at the World Championships in the 15 k classic, and stayed at the sharp end of American distance skiing until retiring in 2018. After leaving the ski realm, Freeman — now 40-years old — switched his focus to long distance triathlon and has now completed...
Nordic Nation: Caitlin Gregg — Athlete, Mother, and Team Birkie Head Coach
September 01, 2021 12:43In early July, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation announced the launch of the Team Birkie professional racing team. The elite post-graduate training group would pull from the three primary midwestern clubs, the Loppet Foundation, Central Cross Country Skiing (or CXC), and the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. While the midwest has a strong culture of cross country skiing with a breadth of strong youth and masters racing teams, it has been nearly a decade since the...
Nordic Nation: Coaching Britain Up – Hans Kristian Stadheim and Jostein Vinjerui
June 09, 2021 17:27As far as teams go on the cross-country World Cup, Great Britain arrives at the show with perhaps the smallest team roster and staff. Somehow, they often roar when considering the results. We know British Nordic from the sharp end skiing of Andrew Musgrave, and sprinters Andrew Young and James Clugnet. Like all teams on the circuit, the human capital behind the Lycra-clad skiers make the travel, training, and race grind happen. In this episode...
Nordic Nation: Intentional Versatility in the Masters Athlete Lifestyle with Elite Ski Mountaineering Athlete Cam Smith
March 29, 2021 16:51If you have the good fortune to spend time in the Gunnison Valley of Colorado, perhaps on Crested Butte Nordic’s extensive trail system, exploring the Elk Mountain backcountry on mountain bike or skis, or taking laps on Mount Crested Butte, you may cross paths with a friendly red-haired resident who is likely moving faster and breathing easier than you are. Known locally as an aerobic machine, 25-year-old Cam Smith embraces all mountain sports as training...
Nordic Nation: Diving Into Female Athlete Specific Fueling with Maddie Alm
January 27, 2021 16:58This podcast is part of a series on female athlete specific physiology and sports nutrition. With the help of experts and novel research in this area, this series unpacks how the menstrual cycle might influence training adaptations and provides female athletes and coaches with the information to help optimize fueling and training schedules accordingly. You can find a primer on the menstrual cycle and training here. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Maddie Alm is the face...
Nordic Nation: First-Timers on the Dachstein with Marty Hall
November 11, 2020 19:47A lack of on-snow opportunities. Although a major first-world problem, that’s been on the mind of some this offseason. Here and there, we’ve published stories about a strict dryland diet for elite skiers this season. Meaning, no on-snow training. Mostly, that strict diet has applied to North Americans who normally access snow in late spring and summer at a variety of venues. The Haig Glacier and its Beckie Scott High Altitude Training Center have been...
Nordic Nation: On Lhotse with Filmmakers Dutch Simpson and Nick Kalisz
October 28, 2020 18:12Something a bit different on the podcast today. In the spirit of high mountains and the autumn season which is often the time many seek any iteration of mountain film. During normal times, we flock to touring mountain film festivals to celebrate. You know, solid storytelling and vibrant images to help us dream a bit bigger. Some of you may have already watched LHOTSE, a film featuring ski mountaineers Hialree Nelson and Jim Morrison as...
Nordic Nation: A Midlife Crisis in Biathlon with Craig Wiggers
October 19, 2020 16:27A few weeks back, we featured an excerpt from a new book titled Nordic Warrior? A Midlife Crisis in Biathlon. Written by Ithaca, New York, based biathlete, Craig Wiggers, the book explores his love affair with biathlon which began midlife. Wiggers’ path to biathlon is as circuitous as they come. Raised in the deep south, Wiggers attended school at Auburn University and spent a full career hopscotching around the globe as a U.S. Marine. He was deployed...
Nordic Nation: Building Equity in Sport with Dr. Edwin Moses
October 12, 2020 15:59In this episode, we hear from a familiar voice – someone, in fact, we’ve heard from recently on the podcast, former elite cross-country skier Noah Hoffman. Post-race career, Hoffman has been deeply involved in the anti-doping movement as an educator, lobbyist, and content creator. This conversation is from Hoffman’s content creation side. A few months back the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA) posted a six-plus minute video interview between Hoffman and Dr. Edwin Moses –...
Nordic Nation: Jordan Fields Snags the Triple Crown of White Mountain FKTs
September 28, 2020 16:17Last fall, FasterSkier spoke with former Williams Ski Team member Jordan Fields after his impressive effort on the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains of Northern New Hampshire. This classic point-to-point route leads travelers over eight summits in roughly 18 miles, including Mt Washington, which tops out at 6,288 ft as the highest elevation peak in the Northeast. Over the years, many have raced the clock against the storied challenge of traversing the range as...
Nordic Nation: Zach Caldwell and Noah Hoffman Talk Anti-Doping Reform
September 16, 2020 16:36With a kowtow to Zach Caldwell and Noah Hoffman, we are repurposing their recent video conversation about anti-doping reform. On Nordic Nation, you’ll find just the audio. If you are more visual by nature, you can find the video here. Hoffman is a former longtime U.S. Ski Team member. Caldwell is Hoffman’s former coach and runs Vermont based Caldwell Sport. In this conversation, you’ll get solid details about anti-doping policy in the U.S. and abroad....
Nordic Nation: Clare Egan and Navigating the Pandemic
September 10, 2020 18:05Thirty two years old and wise as wise can be. Clare Egan brings a calm intellect to the sport of biathlon. Speaker of many languages and head of the International Biathlon Union’s athlete committee, Egan is respected by her peers for on-snow performances as well as her leadership in the IBU board room. We spoke to Egan earlier this month as she was training in Antholz, Italy with U.S. women’s head coach Armin Auchentaller. The...
Nordic Nation: The Ups and Downs of Trail Design with John Morton
August 21, 2020 14:47In this episode of Nordic Nation, we speak all things trail design with John Morton. Based in Vermont, and global in perspective, Morton provides insights into the literal ups and downs of trail design and how full-blown nordic centers and small scale trails can bring a modern vibe to an old-school sport. He runs Morton Trails locally but has a global reach with projects based in China. His most recent trail work at Paul Smith’s...
Nordic Nation: Post Surgery and Pre-New Start it’s Andrew Musgrave
July 25, 2020 02:46Mid-Summer and mid-fishing session, we connected with Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave near his home in Trondheim, Norway. Musgrave underwent surgery on both Achilles tendons recently and is on the mend. In this episode, we discuss his comparatively down season last year, his plans to remain healthy, and how excited he was during the interview to spot what he described as a weasel swim past. If you are new to the podcast, FasterSkier, or Musgrave…here’s some background....
Nordic Nation: Clean Sport, Testing Gaps, and Virtual Sample Collection with Noah Hoffman
May 27, 2020 15:02As we all know, the COVID-19 global pandemic has left the world scrambling to adapt to the many challenges of slowing the spread of the virus. In the world of Olympic sports, the ripple effect has disrupted the efforts of anti-doping agencies worldwide to conduct the athlete testing normally relied upon to hold athletes accountable to abiding by the rules surrounding banned and controlled substances. Most international antidoping agencies have halted testing since mid-March as...
Nordic Nation: U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb Fields Questions from Right and Left Field
May 01, 2020 17:51A slight reshuffling of positions at U.S. Ski and Snowboard and longtime coach Matt Whitcomb has a new title: Head Coach. Whitcomb held the title of World Cup Coach last season. As the pandemic took hold in mid-March here in the U.S., Whitcomb holed up at his cabin in rural Vermont for a two-week solo quarantine. We caught up with Whitcomb via phone on April 23 from his cabin. This was a broad ranging interview....
Nordic Nation: Running to the Edge with Author and NYT Deputy Sports Editor Matt Futterman
April 24, 2020 17:17If you’re an avid reader of The New York Times sports section, you’ve most likely read the work of writer-journalist Matt Futterman (50). Futterman is the Deputy Sports Editor at the NYT, a fan of nordic sports, and an avid runner who was slated to run the Boston Marathon this past Monday. Futterman’s love for endurance sports, running in particular, is evident as he peppers readers with in-depth running stories. He helped cover the recent...
Nordic Nation: Shooting World Cups with Federico Modica from NordicFocus
April 17, 2020 10:00Many of the World Cup race photos featured on FasterSkier come from NordicFocus, a European bases photo agency. NordicFocus, as the name suggests, features images from the world of nordic sport: cross-country, biathlon, nordic combined, and ski jumping. If you have buzzed around the media center at any big cross-country event, it’s likely you have seen Federico Modica. Modica wears a mountain endurance-fit look as if he’s just descended from some alpine climb; there’s a veneer...
Nordic Nation: Holly Brooks on Mental Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic
April 10, 2020 08:00We’ve all heard the phrase: “These are unprecedented times.” And it is true. What the world is facing during the Covid-19 pandemic is something that none of us have experienced before. We are all feeling it. Uncertainty is ubiquitous and caused by a myriad of factors. We may be concerned about the health of ourselves and our families, or about the financial impacts of our country coming to a halt. We might be attempting to...
Nordic Nation: Ollie Burruss and Shades of Green at Craftsbury
April 06, 2020 18:37This past fall, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center (COC) updated its wax use policy. The New England institution was one of the first and among the largest cross-country ski centers to implement a policy curbing the use of perfluorinated wax on its premises. The Craftsbury Outdoor Center supports values and practices that try to minimize its impact on the environment while still providing recreational opportunities for visitors. The Craftsbury Outdoor Center hopes to help lead the...
Nordic Nation: Going the Distance with Ben Lustgarten
March 26, 2020 14:09Live, from Vermont, it was Ben Lustgarten of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project — we spoke to Ben about his recent retirement announcement from full-time training and racing at the elite level. Lustgarten’s name is synonymous with the SuperTour’s sharp end. He’s also known to throw down burly strength workouts. He qualified and raced in two World Championships and claimed a 30 k classic National Championship in 2017. In this episode, we discuss the reasons...
Nordic Nation: Brian Gregg and Matt Liebsch-Faster Together
February 10, 2020 17:52Independent of one another, Brian Gregg and Matt Liebsch are always to be feared as they line up for a ski race. Now in their mid-thirties, their lives have transitioned to other responsibilities that include partners, children, and full-time work. Yet, in the highly competitive world of elite-level ski racing, these two have maintained a healthy friendship and are fast and furious training partners. We could spend time noting their accomplishments on the ski tracks...
Nordic Nation: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) and the Climate in High Performance Skiing
January 22, 2020 15:20In this episode, hosted by FasterSkier contributor Rachel Perkins, we dive into the issue of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). This condition was formerly known as the female athlete triad, which was described as inadequate energy intake, the loss of menstruation (amenorrhea), and decreased bone mineral density. The name was changed to include males, who are also affected, and to expand beyond the three symptoms originally included. Though not quite the same, the condition...
Nordic Nation: Bringing the World Cup to Minneapolis
January 06, 2020 22:04In this episode, we connect with John Munger, Executive Director of the Loppet Foundation in Minneapolis and Garrott Kuzzy, former U.S. Ski Team member who grew up near Wirth Park. From impressions of Wirth back-in-the-day to exploring how the World Cup ended up in Minneapolis, we drill down on most (but not all) things Minneapolis World Cup. That event goes down on March, 17. We cover the cost of hosting, infrastructure demands, and how the pieces...
Nordic Nation: Reporting on the Reporting of Fluoro Use in Norway
December 13, 2019 19:17If you’ve been following along with the global ski scene and wax, you know this: perfluorinated waxes have been a hot button topic. From issues with importing into the U.S., stories on potential health and environmental risk, and new “green” wax products coming on-line…it’s been hard to keep up with trends. The International Ski Federation announced last month that it would move towards a fluoro-free race series next year. That caught the surprise of many...
Nordic Nation: World Cup Preview with Devon Kershaw
November 28, 2019 14:30 - 46.1 MBour map infographic for the 2019-2020 World Cup.) (To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.) buy chantix online
Nordic Nation: The New Coach Episode with Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter
November 22, 2019 21:08 - 36.4 MBSwedish national development team this fall. download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, buy ventolin online
Nordic Nation: The Hard Work Pays off Episode with Rosie Brennan
November 15, 2019 17:01 - 38.4 MBBack in 2015, prior to her first go at a World Championships, Rosie Brennan was asked this: What’s your biggest motivation while racing?. “I am most motivated by wanting to show that my hard work was worth it, that I did everything I could to go as fast as I could,” Brennan replied at the time. She was twenty six years old then, and now at 30 years old, the Park City native grinds away,...
Nordic Nation Audio Short: Max Cobb and the Extraordinary IBU Congress
November 08, 2019 23:39 - 19.6 MBIn this episode, we connect with Max Cobb, the CEO of U.S. Biathlon. He also sits on the International Biathlon Union’s (IBU) Executive Board. When we spoke, he had just returned from the IBU’s “historic” Extraordinary Congress which took place from October 18th-20th, in Munich. The IBU has been rocked in the recent past by internal mismanagement and doping scandals. Rather than succumb to the inertia associated with systemic change, the IBU has reset and...
Nordic Nation: Vegard Ulvang and the Will to Lead
November 01, 2019 14:26 - 80.6 MBVegard Ulvang at fifty six years old remains an icon in Norway. With Olympic and Championship medals, a World Cup Overall title in 1990, he’s in the lineage of Norwegian skiing royalty. Away from the tracks, Ulvang began and then sold a profitable clothing company. He fills his time making documentaries and television features. He is also, as you’ll hear at the top of the interview, committed to living a life of exploration, calculated risk,...