From National Champ to World Championships, on this episode of Extra Blue I welcome guest Kate Oldham. Kate had a standout season this past winter, winning her first national title in the 10k skate in Anchorage, qualifying for her first World Cup where she DOMINATED, enough to qualify her for the World Championships in Trondheim, Norway. Although it was a whirlwind of a season, I had a front row seat to watch as Kate handled herself with grace, allowed herself to be patient and strategic, and race with the ebb and flow of a ski season. Kate and I frequently roomed together during our travels this winter and it was super fun to get to know her better and about her journey from Colorado, to Vermont, to Montana. Battling through covid uncertainty, and searching for the right place that felt like home to her. Kate recently graduated from Montana State University and has joined the BSF Pro Ski team in Bozeman, Montana where she is preparing for her first Period 1 on the World Cup come November. 

How to Wax for a World Cup Podium! On this episode of Extra Blue I welcome World Cup skier, Gus Schumacher, along with his wax technician, Chris Hecker. We catch up with Gus about how his summer training is going and how he’s been trying to find as much snow as he can this summer, whether that be in Bend, OR or on the Glacier in Alaska. We also talk to Chris about how he’s working with the US Ski Team this summer to conduct more ski, grind, and wax testing on snow, with travels to Bend, OR, Norway, and the Ramsau, Austria to get on glaciers.

Later in this episode we get into the nitty gritty of Gus’s ski fleet and how Chris supports him throughout the World Cup season by managing his fleet, testing skis constantly, preparing them for race day and ultimately working with Gus to pick out the best ski, grind, and wax for each race. We dive into the step-by-step process that went into waxing for Gus's second place finish at the Falun World Cup this past winter.

We launch a new era of Extra Blue powered by Gear West! In this episode, we welcome Margie Freed, Minnesota native, fellow UVM Catamount and now a standout member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project and the US National Biathlon team. We discuss what it was like for Margie to make this transition from cross country to biathlon, how often she still classic skis, and some of her favorite memories so far competing around the world as a World Cup Biathlete.

On this episode I welcome guests, Zak Ketterson and Quinn McCloughan for a little Q&A on all things related to cross country skiing. 

I did a full episode with Zak back in 2023 so if you’re interested in learning more about him I recommend giving it a listen! Zak and I welcome Quinn to the podcast as the owner of Bearskin Lodge, a supporter of Team Birkie, and a lifelong ski enthusiast. Quinn runs the Bearskin Lodge up in Grand Marais, MN where he lives with his family. The lodge is open season-round to guests and is just off the Central Gunflint trail. We chat a little bit about Bearskin and how it represents authentic northern Minnesota living. 

In this episode we flip the narrative and Quinn is the one doing the interviewing! He asks Zak and me questions about life on the road, competing at the World level, and plenty of other ski-related topics.

On this episode of Extra Blue I welcome friend and former college teammate, Lizzie Larkins. Lizzie recently wrapped up three years as the assistant coach at Montana State University. During her time there, she also continued her education and graduated from MSU with a Master’s of Science in Sport and Coaching Sciences. It was during her studies that Lizzie conducted a research project titled: Navigating the Transition: How US Nordic Skiers Transition Out Of Competitive Ski Racing. I think this is an incredible topic that is often overlooked. For many skiers, our self-identity is intertwined with being a ski racer.

In this conversation, Lizzie and I talk about what she discovered about this transition, both from her own experience of stepping away from racing and through her research. What she found was that camaraderie is a huge theme for individuals navigating this process and that talking about it or going through it with the safe space to talk about it and feel supported is so important.

Team Birkie is a Midwest-based professional ski team led by Team Director Yuriy Gusev and Head Coach, Julie Ensrud. Team Birkie was formed through a collaboration between the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation, The Loppet Foundation, and Central Cross Country Skiing (CXC). In this episode, we dive into the history of professional ski racing in the midwest, how Team Birkie got started, and the direction Team Birkie wants to take going forward.  

The team supports athletes competing at the World Cup, U.S. SuperTour, and regional marathon levels, as well as biathletes and college summer skiers. Team Birkie is dedicated to advancing skiing in the Central Region. With its home base in Minneapolis, MN, Team Birkie promotes partnership and community engagement, striving to set higher standards in the sport and inspire the next generation of Nordic skiers. 

On this episode of Extra Blue I welcome Jan Gunther and David Chamberlain. Jan is the owner of Gear West Ski and Bike shop located in Long Lake, MN, just west of the Twin Cities. Founded in 1992 by Jan and her husband, this little shop has grown to be the largest ski shop in North America! In this episode, we dive into how Jan built the shop, touching on the subject of starting a business as a woman in the 90’s, and how she’s built the team of experts around her to bring the best products and services possible to the ski community. That team of experts would not be complete without Gear West’s head of service, David Chamberlain. David was a professional ski racer himself, competing on the World Cup and at multiple World Championships. He took his knowledge from elite performance and ski preparation and turned it into an incredible service to offer others at Gear West.

In this episode, we talk about the symbiotic relationship between Gear West and the ski community. One would not be able to succeed without the other! I’ve seen the impact Gear West can have on a community through the countless events, sponsorships, and engagements that are all circled around getting more people outside, with the love of the sport.

URL: https://www.gearwest.com/collections/alayna

Kelsey Dickinson is a biathlete for Team USA and traveling the World Cup circuit all season. She grew up in Winthrop, WA, attending the College of St. Scholastica where she balanced both biathlon and cross country, and then joined the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. Kelsey just achieved her career best result in the 15k individual race in Ostersund, Sweden, landing in 36th place and scoring her first World Cup points. On this episode, we dive into the similarities and differences of cross country vs biathlon and what Kelsey's experience has been like going from the domestic circuit, to the International Biathlon Union, and on to the World Cup. Finally, Kelsey shares with us her passion for her side hustle working for the Women’s Ski Coaches association. She shares the vision for the organization that was founded by Maria Stuber and how it is working to develop, retain and advance women in ski coaching leadership.

You can follow Kelsey on instagram: @delseykickinson
Follow the WSCA: @womenskicoaches
Learn more about the Women's Ski Coaches Association: https://www.womenskicoaches.org/

Flora Dolci is a member of the French National Cross Country ski team. She has multiple top-20 results on the World Cup and is a fierce competitor, but I believe she is known more for how kind and sweet she is. Truly one of the nicest humans, always with a smile on her face and always looking to have fun. We talk about her path as a skier growing up in France, how she reached the National team and what she gets up to when she isn’t racing or training (like rock climbing, paragliding, studying, and being a part of the French army). 

We chat about so many other topics like racing equi-distance and racing the first Women’s 50k Holmenkollen last year. We also discuss the community that builds cross country skiers and how similar the journey can be for a young American skier vs a young French skier. There are many paths to get to being a strong adult athlete and no one’s experience will look the same. Rather, Flora grew up trying all sorts of sports like karate and canoeing. She believes that learning to use your body in so many different ways and so many new skills, especially at a young age but even today, the more they can help contribute to strength, balance, agility, body awareness, which all come into play for cross country skiing. Overall, we share our joy for ski racing and our enthusiasm for outdoor activities!

Follow Flora on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flora_dolci/

Kristen Bourne has been the USST D-Team coach for over year now and has taken on some impressive roles. Not only is she coaching 8 athletes on the D team, plus two A and B team athletes, attending all of the team training camps, visiting and working with her athletes all over the country during the summer and fall... she is also a full-time World Cup coach, ski tester, organizer, planner, administrator and leader. After only 3 world cup weekends last year, she stepped up to take full control of the USST during the Tour de Ski when a majority of the staff got sick. And she did it with the most positive energy and smile on her face. 

I love chatting with Kristen in this episode about her journey to get to where she is today. It felt like I was talking to an old friend, because she is! Kristen and I go back to our Junior racing days together on the Midwest circuit and have countless hours, training, racing and traveling the world together. It was so fun to catch up with her in person when we recorded this podcast back in Vermont this summer!