NewMNSA Award Banquet this Sunday

April 1, 2025

The 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, 2025

Nominations 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, 2025

The 2025 edition of Sunnyski (April Fools) is still available online.

NewYet Another Winter Storm

March 31, 2025

No fooling, yet another Winter Storm is expected to roll through the Midwest on Tuesday night, with forecasts dropping as much as a foot of wet snow across much of northern Minnesota by Wednesday evening.

NewTeam Birkie: 2025 College Summer Program Registration Now Open

March 31, 2025

Team 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, 2025

Relay 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, 2025

The 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, 2025

Minneapolis 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, 2025

While 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, 2025

New 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, 2025

The 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, 2025

Saturday'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, 2025

NorthStar 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, 2025

Freestyle 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, 2025

The 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, 2025

Lumi 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 . 

World Cup Racing: Lahti Schedule

March 20, 2025

The World Cup circuit comes full circle this weekend as it returns to the country where it all began almost four months ago. First up in Lahti, Finland is a round of freestyle sprints on Friday which are slated for 9:00 AM CDT and 11:30 AM CDT for the qualifiers and heats respectively. Then team sprints are scheduled for Saturday with a qualifying round for that event taking place at 4:40 AM CDT, and the finals taking place a couple hours later at 6:40 AM CDT. Bringing it home, a mass start classic marathon closes out the season on Sunday with the men's and women's fields covering 50K each starting at 2:30 AM CDT for the women, and 6:45 AM CDT for the men.

Tour de Finn: 2024-2025 Season Rundown

March 19, 2025

Another season has come and gone, marking the second full winter for the Tour de Finn. While the snow was lacking at times the competition was not with more skiers participating in multiple events than in the previous season, calling for the first use of the "best six races" rule in scoring. Offering a rundown of the results, Allie Rykken has the all the numbers of note, including the top-10 standings for the individual, team, and age group categories. An end of season celebration is scheduled for 6:30 PM this Thursday at Finn Sisu, so take a peak at the results before heading over to see if you also won one of their handcrafted awards!

World Cup Tallinn: Freestyle Sprints; Kern Third in Return to Podium

March 19, 2025

A one off event in Estonia, the World Cup circuit made a stop in Tallinn on Wednesday for a round of freestyle sprints under the stars. Not unusual in sprinting, there was drama abound with the first major upset going to the US athlete Julia Kern who first knocked out Norway's star sprinter Kristen Stavaas Skistad in the semifinals, and then fought hard for a third place finish in the final, her second career World Cup podium and first since 2020. Winning the women's final was Switzerland's Nadine Faehndrich who looked unbeatable throughout, while the veteran Maja Dahlqvist skied smart to take second ahead of Kern. Drama ensued in the men's final as well, but not when deciding the winner which was, unsurprisingly, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway. The real spectacle was in the sprint for second between France's Jules Chappaz and Norway's Harald Oestberg Amundsen which, after much deliberation, was called as a virtual tie. Missing out on all the action, Ben Ogden, the best of the US men, would fall just short of making the final, finishing 7th in the semis. Now, with three events to go, the circuit moves on to Lahti, Finland for the final weekend of the World Cup season!