This is your results roundup for the week of December 4. There were some pretty memorable World Cup races in Gällivare, Sweden, which I wrote about here. You can also find NRK’s coverage of the Gällivare weekend here, and Expressen’s coverage here. Google Translate is your friend for the latter two.
Programming update: Story on Sunday’s men’s relay also coming today, better late than never.
Alaska
Fairbanks held its third race of the no-longer-young season (they’ve been on snow at Birch Hill for eight weeks now) on Saturday. Town Series Race #2 was a classic sprint. Results are maybe not available yet, but should be up here once they are. The Instagram caption embedded above states that UAF skiers Christopher Kalev and Mariel Merlii Pulles took victories, in what I would characterize as a strong day for Team Estonia. Given that the post comes from UAF, I am sure this is correct.
Anchorage held the country’s first high school race (by only a 24-hour margin over New England, by my math), the Snowball Sprint, on Saturday morning. Athletes raced a 2.8km prologue, then sprint heats over an approximately 1km course. Murphy Kimball, Elias Soule, and Vebjorn Flagstad set the pace in the prologue for the boys, with Olivia Soderstrom, Piper Sears, and Reine Soule leading the way for the girls.
Many, but not all, of these names repeated in the heats: Olivia Soderstrom, Berit Meyers, and Miyana Kam-Magruder made up the final podium for the girls, and Murphy Kimball, Elias Soule, and Justin Lucas for the boys.
High-level skiers in Anchorage (APU Elite Team, UAA, Alaska Winter Stars) also raced a classic sprint simulation on Saturday, and a 10km skate time trial (double Spencer!) on Sunday. It’s a small town and I know who won, but it would violate the code of local skier omertà to tell you, sorry (no really, it’s not cool to publicize TT results imho).
West
Grand Mesa kicked off the non-Alaska race season for this winter with the Winterstart 5km at Skyway Trailhead in Grand Mesa, Colorado. In the flagship 5km classic race, James Sowers, David Rasmussen, and Ella DeWolf were the top three overall. Garret Moehring was the third male finisher. Eva Smith and Dewachen Ilg were the second and third female finishers.
In the later 5km skate race, which was timed and had results but did not award series points for the Grand Mesa Nordic Race Series, it was once again James Sowers, Garret Moehring, and David Rasmussen, now in that order. Ella DeWolf was another repeat winner for the women, with Eva Smith again second and Tracy Phil now third.
New England
Waterville, Maine, opened up the New England race season on Sunday with the Quarry Road Opener, a 7.5km interval-start skate race on a heroically constructed manmade track. Conditions looked… soft. (But also my driveway in Anchorage, not to mention the entire town, is sheet ice right now, so who am I to talk. Skiing is skiing, and they had some in Waterville this weekend.)
The day’s fastest times came in the men’s open race: Zach Nemeth, Jack Young, and Brian Beyerbach led the way. In the women’s open race, the podium was Lucinda Anderson, Hattie Barker, and Emma Crum. Recognizable names in the women’s masters field included Caitlin Patterson, who was the fifth woman overall. Patterson is still all of 33; “Masters” status in skiing is pretty broadly inclusive.
In the high school race, Mallory Raymond, Maya Kellett, and Nora Condit were the fastest girls over the 4.5km course. For the boys, it was Orrin Slover, Silas Bartol, and Tait Harvey.
Norwegian Cup in Gålå
Klæbo was back on top in Norwegian Cup racing in Gålå, Norway, taking the win in Friday’s skate sprint to start off the weekend. Close behind in second was Lucas Chanavat of France, racing “down” for the weekend in a sprint-free period on the World Cup; this was no light field. Harald Astrup Arnesen of Norway was third.
Notably, Wang Qiang of China, a mysterious figure who tantalized with a podium in the classic sprint in Drammen in March 2022 but was then unable to leave China for long periods after that due to travel restrictions, was fourth in the final. He was 32nd in qualifying in the classic sprint in Ruka to kick off the 2023/2024 World Cup season, then was 54th in the 20km skate.
While Wang represents China when racing overseas, he is currently affiliated with Team Aker Dæhlie as his club, following some challenges for the Chinese national program.
In the women’s field, Helene Ekrheim Haugen, 19, took the win, followed by the more experienced Anna Svendsen in second and Julie Bjervig Drivenes in third.
In the 10km interval-start classic on Saturday, Hedda “Harald’s twin sister” Østberg Amundsen took the win, with Svendsen second and Anna Heggen third. For the men, it was Henrik Dønnestad, then Klæbo, then Mikael Gunnulfsen. For perspective on the strength of field here (I don’t want to overexplain but I’m guessing you might not follow the Norge Cup super closely), Gunnulfsen has finished 11th or higher in all four of his World Cup distance starts since 2019, and has a World Cup relay gold to his name. There are a lot of good skiers in Norway. Like, of all types, but maybe especially of men’s distance skiers.
Speaking of good skiers, Finn Hågen Krogh (three world champs medals and eight World Cup wins, though he’s had a rough few years of it lately) won the 20km interval-start skate race on Sunday. Dønnestad was second, and Martin Kirkeberg Mørk was third.
For the women, Milla Grosberghaugen Andreassen, who is still just 18, took the win. (She is pictured above winning the 20km classic at World Juniors in Whistler earlier this year.) Second was Tuva Anine Brusveen-Jensen, and Heggen again third. FIS lists this as a 20km on the distaff side, but all three podium times were in the 25-minute range; I know these are good skiers, but I’m presumptively calling it a 10km for the women.
Other FIS racing
FIS races also occurred in Planica; Imatra, Finland; Silvaplana, Switzerland (Swiss Cup); and Sovereign Lake (Western Canada Cup), pictured above. It is now December. Ski racing season for all.
— Gavin Kentch
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