All About Ski Preparation

Gus Schumacher is the 3rd ranked U23 skier in the world and a US Ski Team A Team member. In an interview a few months ago, Gus brought up how excited he was to have gotten a new treadmill and all of the training possibilities that it will afford him. I asked him if we could do an interview to flush this out once he had a chance to get to know the treadmill and how to best take advantage of it. Thi...

Laura McCabe got a late start to Nordic ski racing having had started Nordic track skiing and then racing in her early 20s. However, despite her late start, she made the 1994 and 1998 Olympic teams. Laura was on the Factory Team for 11 years and during that time dominated the US ski marathon racing circuit including the American Birkebeiner. Laura has coached for the Methow Valley Nordic Ski Educa...

Gus Schumacher is the 3rd ranked U23 skier in the world and a US Ski Team A Team member. This interview is to simply catch up and get his thoughts on how his summer training is going and some ideas he might have.

Caitlin Gregg has 5 American Birkebeiner wins, more than anyone in history. Additionally she is a bronze medalist from the 2015 World Championships. This 40 year old mother just competed in both the Birkie skate and classic last weekend and finished an amazing 3rd and 4th place. This podcast is to hear about her coaching and racing from this season as well as to see how husband Brian and daughter...

Reid Pletcher is one of the most talented fun adventuresome guys you will ever meet or hear of. Despite adversity Reid squeezes as much juice out of life as possible which I love. A few highlights include racing Nordic ski World Cups, Racing road bikes as a professional U23, winning Nordic ski NCAA championships, falling when rock climbing and incurring a severe long term brain injury including lo...

Carl Swenson has represented the US 72 times in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic competitions. His best international result was 5th place in the 2003 World Championship 50k skate in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Carl, a 3 time Olympian, also anchored the US relay team to a historic 5th place at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. Carl won 11 US National Nordic Ski Championships and had numerous t...

Reese Hanneman has represented the US 36 times in World Cup and Olympic Games. Reese has 4 US National Championships wins all in the sprints. He also won a NorAm race in 2016 in the Classic sprint. Reese has been on the US National Championship podium 9 times including a 2nd in 15k Classic and a 3rd in 50k Classic. Reese has 7 SuperTour wins. He retired from World Cup racing in 2018 but then did t...

David Norris has 10 top 30 World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic individual finishes. He is also the 2016 American Birkebeiner Champion. He has been one of our top 2 distance men for the past 4 years anyway. David also got Covid-19 in November and recovered well but missed a lot of training. This interview is to catch up with him after the Lahti, Finland and Falun, Sweden World Cup events fro...

Gus Schumacher is the defending World Junior Nordic Ski Champion and US National Skate Sprint Champion. This interview is to simply catch up and get his thoughts on the recently finished World Cup raced from Lahti, Finland and Falun, Sweden where he had some outstanding races and to see what he has planned for preparation before the U23 World Championships that will be held in Vuokatti, Finland in...

I have a huge treat for you today. You know those “most interesting man in the world” advertisements that the beer brand Dos Equis does? OK, I have a true candidate for this title. Anyone who races the Boulder Mountain Tour, Yellowstone Rendezvous, or World Masters knows or knows of Charley French. This is one of the most inspirational and interesting people that I know. Listeners, you don’t want...

Liz Guiney has 8 individual World Cup starts and 1 World Cup relay start. Her best World Cup finishes were 13th in the Skiathalon and 24th in the Classic sprint in 2017 in Pyeong Chang, South Korea. Liz also finished 2nd in a North American Championship Classic sprint in 2016. She has been on the podium 7 times in SuperTours including one win in a 10k Classic in West Yellowstone. Liz finished 3rd...

David Norris has 10 top 30 World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic individual finishes. He is also the 2016 American Birkebeiner Champion. He has been one of our top 2 distance men for the past 4 years anyway. David got Covid-19 in November. This interview is to see how David is recovering, what protocol he followed, to hear any recommendations he might have, and to check in with him before the...

Alison Owen Bradley won multiple World Cup races, finished 2nd in the famous Holmenkollen ski festival race, competed in two Olympic games and 3 World Championships, and won 8 US National Championships. After competing, Alison went on to coach for 12 years in Sun Valley, Idaho very successfully and helped develop many US National Team skiers. This exceptionally successful ski racer and coach is al...

Gus Schumacher is the defending World Junior Nordic Ski Champion, US National Skate Sprint Champion, and currently 2nd world ranked under 23 skier. I did a series of 3 interviews with him earlier this year to sort of introduce him and give people a chance to get to know him. This interview is to simply catch up and get his thoughts on the recently finished Tour de Ski where he had some outstanding...

Jim Galanes competed as a US Ski Team member from 1974 to 1984. Some of his top finishes include 5th place in Murmansk, Russia in 1984 and 6th place in Reit im Winkl, Germany in 1983 as well as a World Cup Relay victory in 1982. Jim finished 14th in the 30km in World Championships in 1984 in Oslo, Norway. A 3 time Olympian, Jim’s top individual Olympic finish was 17th in the Nordic Combined event...

Gus Schumacher is the defending World Junior Nordic Ski Champion and US National Skate Sprint Champion. I did a series of 3 interviews with him earlier this year to sort of introduce him and give people a chance to get to know him. This interview is to simply catch up and get his thoughts on the recently finished World Cup events in Davos, Switzerland and Dresden, Germany as well as the upcoming T...

Noah Hoffman, aka “the Hoff“ has 144 individual starts in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic games. He has finished in the top 30 41 times with 3 top 10 finishes. His best performance came in Ruka, Finland where on the second day of a pursuit he skied through the pack for the fastest time of the day and an overall placing of 9th. Noah won the 2012 US National Championship in the 30km Class...

Jim Fredericks started Nordic skiing at Johnson State College and then became its head coach for all ski sports starting in 1973. As well as being one of the East’s fastest racers, Jim worked at Craftsbury starting their Nordic Ski Center. Jim then turned to coaching starting the successful Green Mountain Valley School Nordic program. From 1986 to 2006 Jim ran the Nordic Race Department at Rossign...

Gus Schumacher is the defending World Junior Nordic Ski Champion and US National Skate Sprint Champion. I did a series of 3 interviews earlier this year to introduce him and give people a chance to get to know him. This interview is to simply catch up and get his thoughts on the recently finished World Cup mini tour called the Ruka Triple and on the whole world cup scene as it is now. This intervi...

Udo Raunjak has been the head of Toko Research and Development for the past 15 years. In addition to developing innovative new waxes, Udo also oversees quality control, production, and purchasing of raw materials. He is a straight talker who I think knows more than anyone in the world about ski wax. We discuss the development process of new waxes, the liquid paraffin revolution and what makes the...

Ida Sargent has represented the US 159 times in WC, WM and OWG. She has 59 individual top 30 finishes including 9 top 10s. Her best finish was 3rd place in the preolympic World Cup Classic sprint in Pyeongchang. Additionally, Ida finished 3rd twice in World Cup team sprints. Ida, a two-time Olympian, won the US National Championship Classic sprint in 2019. Ida is retired after the 2019 season and...

Chris Cook has represented the US 45 times in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic competitions. His best individual international result was 12th place in the Sovereign Lakes World Cup Skate Sprint in 2005. Chris finished 21st in the 2006 Olympics in the Skate Sprint. The 2006 US National Champion, Chris retired after the 2011 season. He is now 40 and living in Rhinelander, WI with his wife...

Jan Guenther’s runs and owns the largest Cross Country ski retail store in the US. Jan is an owner who is involved in all aspects of the business and along with a great staff is directly responsible for the great success of the organization. Jan Guenther has been and continues to be an elite runner, cyclist, triathlete, and cross country ski racer. Despite having had participated in 30 American Bi...

Torin Koos has represented the US 76 times in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic competitions. His best individual international result was a 3rd place in Otepaeae, Estonia Classic sprint in 2007. Torin also finished 4th in the Dusseldorf, Germany World Cup team sprint with Andy Newell in 2008. Torin has 34 top 30 individual results in WC and World Championships. He has won the US National...

Pat Weaver has represented the US 16 times in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic competitions. His best international result was 16th place in the 2002 Olympic 15k Classic. Pat, a 2 time Olympian and 2 time US National Champion, retired after the 2006 season. In 2010, Pat was named head Nordic coach at the University of Vermont. In 2012, he lead the Catamounts to their 6th NCAA championshi...