NewMNSA Award Banquet this Sunday
April 1, 2025The annual MNSA Award Banquet is this Sunday, April 6th, in Mora. Neil King and Ben Croft will receive the Minnesota Nordic Ski Association (MNSA) Lifetime Achievement Award as the event will also honor master skiers, biathlon achievers, and the North Star Ski Touring Club, plus a keynote speech by Claire Wilson. The banquet is free and open to the public.
NewMoose Valuable Skier Award: Nominations Now Open
April 1, 2025Nominations are open for the Moose Valuable Skier (MVS) Award, celebrating Minnesota high school Nordic skiers. The award recognizes athletes who embody sportsmanship, humility, empowerment, and integrity. Two winners will receive (to their team) Madshus skis, poles, boots, and Julbo glasses. Nominations due by April 8th!
NewApril Fools 2025
April 1, 2025The 2025 edition of Sunnyski (April Fools) is still available online.
Trail Report Updates
March 31, 2025Fresh snowfall over the weekend has provided some late season grooming opportunities! New reports from Giants Ridge, Upper Gunflint2, Piedmont, Snowflake2, Wolverine, Mt. Ashwabay, Pincushion Mtn2, Northland Arb and recent reports from Wolverine3, Piedmont, Maplelag, Hyland Lake, Mt. Ashwabay2, Three Eagle2, Bally Creek, Miners Memorial Heritage2, Upper Gunflint, Swedetown2, Timberland Hills.
Team Birkie: 2025 College Summer Program Registration Now Open
March 31, 2025Team Birkie's 10-week summer program offers collegiate skiers high-quality training in the Midwest. Starting June 1, 2025, athletes train alongside Team Birkie World Team members. The program includes five morning and three afternoon practices around the Twin Cities.
US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series Mixed Relay Results
March 29, 2025Relay racing was on the docket for Saturday in Lake Placid, NY as part of the third day of competitions at the US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series. A big day for clubs, the competition was fierce through the first leg of the race, but the pack quickly broke apart as the race went on and as some of the favorites made their moves. By the time the finish was in sight it was the SMS T2 team that had a clear advantage, taking the win with over a minute advantage on the rest of the field. Crossing the line in second was the team representing the University of Utah who themselves held a roughly 10 second gap on the third place Alberta World Cup Academy I team, and rounding out the US podium was the Team Birkie team consisting of Zak Ketterson, Alayna Sonnesyn, Kalev Christopher, and Luci Anderson who finished just seconds behind their Canadian counterparts on the overall podium. The US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series will wrap up on Sunday with a title on the line for the final event: a 40K marathon.
US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series Freestyle Sprints Results
March 28, 2025The second of four days of racing at the US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series took place in Lake Placid, NY on Friday, and national titles were on the line for the day's freestyle sprint competition. Flying in from Finland, a handful of World Cup athletes made an appearance including Julia Kern and Jessie Diggins who were in a league of their own in the women's final. The pair would go one-two with Kern taking the title, while Erica Laven of Sweden was the third to finish several seconds later, with Kate Oldham just behind her as the third American. World Cup athletes made up the majority of the men's podium as well with Ben Ogden edging out Gus Schumacher for the national title, while Xavier McKeever of Canada out sprinted Jack Young for third. Young would still reach a podium however, as the third all-American. A mixed relay event breaks up the individual competition tomorrow with athletes competing for club and country in Lake Placid.
MPLS Ski Club Launches Elite Summer Training Program for College Skiers
March 27, 2025Minneapolis Ski Club offers a 15-week summer training program for NCAA and USCSA Nordic skiers. Led by Coach Erin Moening, the program includes practices, training plans, and performance testing to prevent overtraining. College athletes can join MPLS Ski Club practices and two additional college-only practices per week, ensuring personalized support and goal-oriented training.
US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series Freestyle Results
March 26, 2025While international racing has largely wound down, domestic racing still had a stop to make in Lake Placid, NY for the US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series. Getting underway on Wednesday, the first competition of the Series was a 10K freestyle event that had athletes starting in an interval-start fashion. Hailing from Minnesota, the women's race was won by none other than Team Birkie's Luci Anderson who finish first 22 seconds ahead Erica Laven in second, with Liliane Gagnon just under 10 seconds back from Laven in third. John Steele Hagenbuch, a perennial favorite from the collegiate circuit, decisively won the men's race with over 30 seconds to spare, while Joe Davies, a Brit and chief competitor to Hagenbuch, took second, followed closely by the third place finisher, Graham Houtsma. Full results can be found via the link.
Biathlon: Campbell Wright Wins Historic U23 Biathlon Globe
March 24, 2025New Zealand-born American biathlete Campbell Wright secured the U23 World Cup title, a first for a U.S. athlete. Wright's consistent top performances throughout the season, including two World Championship silver medals, earned him the globe. This historic achievement demonstrates the growing strength of the U.S. Biathlon program.
World Cup Lahti: Classic Distance; Diggins Takes Home Third Overall Crystal Globe
March 23, 2025The sun set on the 2024-2025 World Cup season on Sunday after a grueling 50K classic competition in Lahti, Finland offered one last challenge for athletes. The women's field was on course first for the mass-start event and in typical fashion Norway's Therese Johaug was quick to tighten the screws, causing the field to fracture early on. Her teammate Astrid Oeyre Slind tried to equal her efforts, but only for so long as Johaug eventually got the separation she needed to take the win. Slind would go on to secure second, leaving third up to a sprint between Ebba Andersson of Sweden and Teresa Stadlober of Austria that went in favor of Andersson. With less leadership the men's race was a closer contest, albeit one that was ultimately decided by a group of four Norwegians. With the shutout sprinter Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo among their ranks there was little the other three athletes could do inside the final kilometer, leaving them to fight for the final two spots on the podium which went the way of Martin Loewstroem Nyenget and Simen Hegstad Krueger. Two top-10 finishes by US skiers, Jessie Diggins in 9th and Gus Schumacher in 8th, sealed a stellar season for both the men's and women's squads, with Diggins taking home her third overall and distance crystal globes. Rounding out the rest of those results were Victoria Carl of Germany and Kerttu Niskanen of Finland who finished second and third in the women's overall standings, while Astrid Oeyre Slind and again Victoria Carl were second and third in the women's distance standings. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo picked up his fifth crystal globe in the men's overall standings with Edvin Anger of Sweden taking second and Erik Valnes of Norway third, while Simen Hegstad Krueger took home the crystal globe in the men's distance standings where Martin Loewstroem Nyenget finished second and Hugo Lapalus of France third.
World Cup Lahti: Team Sprints
March 22, 2025Saturday's sprints in Lahti, Finland were the final opportunity for World Cup athletes to compete as a team this season, and it was an exciting competition at that. Capitalizing on her success from yesterday's individual sprints, Germany's Coletta Rydzek carried her team to another win after out sprinting the rest of the field in the final stretch of the women's race. Hot on her heels were another five athletes, but with only two podium spots remaining it was a tight finish that ultimately saw the Sweden I and Switzerland I teams rise above the rest. Playing out similarly, the men's race finished with another breakaway sprint by Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo that put his team on top of the podium, leaving the rest of the field to fight for second and third. Those two spots would go to the Switzerland I and France I teams, with the US teams of Kevin Bolger with JC Schoonmaker and Ben Ogden with Gus Schumacher both putting in valiant efforts to finish just seconds back in 4th and 6th respectively. A marathon of an race, tomorrow's mass-start 50K classic competition marks the final event of the 2024-2025 World Cup season.
NorthStar Development Launches ProtoStars Youth Cycling Program
March 21, 2025NorthStar Development, based in the Twin Cities, has launched ProtoStars, a new program focused on non-competitive cycling skills development for kids aged 7-10. The program aims to foster a love of cycling through fun, skill-based sessions. Headed by certified coach Corey Coogan Cisek, Protostars emphasizes accessibility and welcomes diverse skill levels.
World Cup Lahti: Freestyle Sprints
March 21, 2025Freestyle sprints in Lahti, Finland started off the final weekend of World Cup racing on Friday, and despite both of the sprint crystal globes already being all but secured athletes were still eager to give it their all. Chief among them was Coletta Rydzek of Germany who had reach the podium individually on two separate occasions heading into the day, but had never won a World Cup race. That all changed when a late surge propelled her across the line ahead of two of the top sprinters in the world, Kristen Stavaas Skistad of Norway and Nadine Faehndrich of Switzerland, awarding her her first World Cup win. Just shy of making the final but with enough points to spare regardless, Finland's Jasmi Joensuu would go on to win the women's sprint crystal globe, while Faehndrich and Maja Dahlqvist of Sweden would also share the spotlight as the second and third place finishers in those standings. Not needing the win but refusing to be denied it either, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway collected his 16th straight sprint win in the men's final, fighting off the Frenchman Jules Chappaz who secured second just ahead of a controversial crash between Valerio Grond of Switzerland and Federico Pellegrino of Italy that saw the latter take third. Klaebo would also claim his third straight sprint crystal globe, with his teammate Erik Valnes and their Swedish competitor Edvin Anger taking the remaining two spots on that podium. A host of US athletes would make the heats, but only one made the finals, JC Schoonmaker, who finished 6th on the day. Julia Kern was the best of the US women, finishing 13th. Team sprints shake things up on Saturday as athletes will have a chance to compete in pairs before the final day of racing on Sunday.
MNHSNSCA Awards Announced
March 20, 2025The Minnesota High School Nordic Ski Coaches Association has announced the awardees for the coach of the year: Josh Scharnberg, Fergus Falls girls and Andrew Hansen, Wayzata boys. Plus check out assistant coaches of the year, as well as volunteer (group) of the year!
Lumi Experiences: Save $300 on 2026 Trips by March 31
March 20, 2025Lumi Experiences trips for the 2026 cross-country ski season are filling quickly. Reach out by Monday, March 31 to receive the $300 per person early booking discount on any 2026 trip! Lumi's most popular trips for 2026 are the Opening and Middle Week Trips of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and the Finland & Estonia trip -- for the first time in years, the Finlandia doesn't overlap with the American Birkebeiner in 2026 .
Skinnyski FAQ
December 4, 2011We've collected together a bunch of common questions to assembly our own FAQ for cross-country skiing in the Midwest and using the Skinnyski website.
Skinnyski Photos
February 5, 2009Found a photo you'd like to get a copy of? Looking for images from a past event? Find out how to dig through our archives and help support the web site by purchasing photographs.
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