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NewWorld Cup Les Rousses: Freestyle Distance; Diggins and Ogden Go 1-3
January 17, 2025Period III of the World Cup circuit got under way in Les Rousses on Friday, but desipte the weekend's competitions taking place in France, it was a day to celebrate for Les Red, White, et Blues. Taking part in an interval-start 10K freestyle event, Jessie Diggins showed her mettle, fighting through foot pain to take the win over some of the season's strongest so far: Astrid Oeyre Slind of Norway and Victoria Carl of Germany. She would credit her performance to the impressive Ben Ogden on the men's team, who just a few hours earlier put in an incredible solo effort to secure a third place finish in the men's race, his second World Cup podium and first ever in a distance event. His finish would put him under 10 seconds back from the men's race winner, Iver Tildheim Andersen of Norway, and less than 5 seconds out from second, Paal Goldberg, also of Norway. American fans had at least one more name to celebrate on the day however, Sophia Laukli, who also bounced back from injury to an 8th place finish. Looking to tomorrow, classic sprints will be the subject for Saturday.
NewWeekend Skiing and Trail Reports
January 16, 2025Temps may be cold again, but there is a lot of good skiing available up north! New reports from Wabana, Northwoods, Big Aspen, Bird Lake, Howard Wagoner, Elm Creek, Univ of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry, Hyland Lake3, Mecca2, Trade River, Mt. Ashwabay3, Gamehaven2, Piedmont, McKeever Hills, Movil Maze, Three Island, Battle Creek West, Hartley, Birch Lake Plantation, Land O' Lakes, Andes Tower Hill2, Soaring Eagle, Nine Mile Forest, Grand View Lodge - The Pines, Mount Itasca, WinMan, Maplelag, Sugar Hills, Lester, Hayward Forest, Noquemanon, Valley Spur, Tower Ridge, Miners Memorial Heritage, McNaughton Lake, Sugarbush2, Theodore Wirth North, Hayward Hospital, Legion, Wolverine, Central Gunflint, Ariens and recent reports from Flathorn-Gegoka2, Copper Falls SP, Elm Creek, Hyland Lake2, ABR2, Treehaven, Iola Winter Sports, Univ of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry3, Snowflake2, Trezona, Northwoods, Love Creek, Tribute GC, Boulder Lake2, Mt. Ashwabay2, Upper Spirit Mtn, Nordic Ridge, Vasaloppet, Moccasin, McCarthy Beach SP, Ariens2, Birkie2, Jay Cooke SP, Hartley, Mt. Valhalla, Wolverine, Battle Creek West2, Central Gunflint, WinMan, Lapham Peak3, Minocqua Winter2, Schlecht Lake, Upper Gunflint, Maplelag2, Banadad, Spidahl Gaard, Saint Mary's Univ, McKeever Hills2, Wolf Lake, Black's Grove, Sugarbush, Valley Spur2, Trout Lake, Pioneer Creek, Norpine, Piedmont, Tilson Creek, Alder Pond, McComb, Suomi Hills, Magney-Snively, Lauterman National, Bally Creek, Larson Lake, Blackwater Environmental, Rainbow, Three Eagle, Wintergreen, Swedetown, Ed's Lake National, Nordmarka.
NewNoquemanon Ski Marathon Cancelled Due to Low Snow
January 16, 2025The 2025 Noquemanon Ski Marathon in Marquette, Michigan has been cancelled due to insufficient snow and poor trail conditions. Organizers cited safety concerns for the 800 registered racers. The race plans to defer registrations to 2026. Skiers are encouraged to still visit the area and explore other trails like Big Bay, Saux Head, and Valley Spur.
NewWeekend Racing
January 15, 2025Cooler temps this weekend, but there are a couple of racing options...
Jan 18 Ski de She - Women-only races at the Birkie Trailhead, part of the Ski de She weekend.
Jan 18 Lapham Loppet - A big field is expected again for the citizen race on Lapham Peak's snowmaking trail.
Jan 18-19 Ariens Nordic JNQ - Two days of JNQ races on the trail system at Ariens Nordic.
Jan 18 Tower Ridge Races - Moved to Silvermine, 800m and 5K low-key races on their snowmaking loop.
Jan 18 ABC Relays - Vasaloppet Nordic Center hosts a big field for high school relays races on their snowmaking trails.
Check out the Racing Outlook for updates.
Related:
Waxing Recommendations
World Cup Racing: Les Rousses Schedule
January 14, 2025World Cup racing returns this weekend for Period III of the circuit, a prologue for World Championships which are just over a month out. A trip to Les Rousses, France will start off the cycle with competitions getting underway on Friday. First up is an interval-start 10K freestyle race which will be taking place at 6:30 AM CST for the men, and 8:45 AM CST for the women. Then classic sprints take center stage on Saturday, with qualifiers taking place at 5:15 AM CST, and the knockout rounds happening afterward at 7:45 AM CST. Finally, the weekend's activities come to a close on Sunday with a mass-start 20K classic race for both the women's and men's fields which will start at 4:20 AM CST and 8:45 AM CST respectively. In addition to Jessie Diggins and Alayna Sonnesyn who were present for Period II, the Tour de Ski, and will be returning for Period III, Midwest supporters should be on the lookout for Luci Anderson, Emma Albrecht, Erin Bianco, and Zak Ketterson who may all be making appearances in the coming weeks.
Racing Outlook
January 13, 2025A lot of changes already on the weekend calendar as most, but not all, events have been rescheduled or cancelled. Still on events at Ariens Nordic, Eau Claire, Cable, and Lapham Peak!
Out There: Birkie Events Service, Wax Clinics
January 12, 2025Out There is again offering race wax service for Birkie Events, with spots filling fast. And they are offering insights from US Nationals with wax clinics Jan 15th (evening) and Jan 16th (morning).
Low-pet Law-pet Challenge Coverage
January 12, 2025A couple of inches of fresh snow overnight slowed the conditions just a little for the Low-pet Law-pet Challenge (aka Pre-Loppet) race on the snowmaking trails at Theodore Wirth Sunday morning. The men's 10K raced featured a fairly large pack before juniors Eli Andre, Dylan Little and Daniel Gladkov pulled ahead with Andre taking the photo finish over Little. The women's 10K race was a close battle for the two St. Olaf stars, Liesl Cope-Schaeffer and Lily Ward, vs. Laura Cattaneo, Cattaneo making her move in the final kilometer to take the victory, Cope-Schaeffer second, and Ward third. The 5K race was largely a junior race with Peter Schulz and Louisa Lindfors posting the top times. In the 15K fat bike race, Sean Cooley and Laura Bednarski were champions. Results linked in, photos from the 10K and 15K events posted.
Seeley Hills Classic Freestyle Results
January 12, 2025For the first time in race history, the Seeley Hills Classic offered a freestyle race Sunday. And like Saturday, it was a family affair as Marit Ross-Sonnesyn and Nick Ross took the women's and men's titles out of a field of just over 150 skiers. Sarah Widder and Maggie Bowman rounded out the women's podium, with Sam Holt and Anders Sonnesyn second and third for the men. Results linked in.
Mesabi East Invite Results
January 11, 2025Utilizing the same man-made snow course as the previous season, the Mesabi East Invite still drew well over 750 skiers to race on Saturday at Giants Ridge. Owen Kalmes, Mounds View, took the boys 5K classic win, just 5.5 seconds ahead of Wayzata's Hudson McMillan while Eddie Snider, MPA, dominated the boys 5K freestyle event. On the girls side, Della Bettendorf, Proctor Hermantown, finished just 4.7 seconds in front of St. Paul Highland Park's Hannah Koch for the classical title, as Elsa Lindfors, St. Paul Central won the freestyle race just over 6 seconds ahead of Washburn's Chloe Angerman. Team score champions were the Brainerd boys and Highland Park girls. Full results linked in.
Seeley Hills Classic Coverage
January 11, 2025Day one of the Seeley Hills races, held at the Birkie trailhead this year, as skiers pounded out laps on the 5K snowmaking loop for 20K and 35K classic races. The premiere 35K race came down to a three way sprint for the podium positions with Brian Gregg besting Dave Joda and Matt Liebsch for the victory by just two seconds. Caitlin Gregg completed the family sweep in taking the women's title ahead of Chelsey Youngberg and Vivian Johnson. Champions of the 20K race were Drew Huotari and Charlotte Brown. Sunday will feature first time freestyle races for Seeley Hills. Results linked in along with photos from Jackie Schneider.
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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