By Gavin Kentch
This article was first published on April 1, 2026.
PARK CITY — Oslo will replace Houghton, Michigan, as a de facto central-region venue for purposes of scheduling U.S. Nationals in upcoming seasons, USSS officials announced in a Wednesday press release.
“We are always looking to grow the sport in this country,” USSS said in a statement, “and one aspect of that is facilitating stakeholder travel to our major championships. While the choice of the Norwegian capital over the upper Midwest — like, way, way upper Midwest — is admittedly unorthodox, we are confident that it will pay dividends in the form of reduced travel time and costs for athletes attending these races in Januarys to come.”
“Have you even tried to rent a car from Houghton County Memorial Airport during Nationals week,” the USSS spokesperson added.
The surprise announcement was immediately met with acclaim from the Alaskan contingent, who have long considered themselves the Norway of American skiing, anyway, just with less information-sharing and cooperation.
I acknowledge that is April 1 for this post and it is funny. Yes, and….I would like to STRONGLY disagree that the “Alaskan Contingent” is unanimous in its acclaim. Unless maybe you count only “Alaskan Contingent” currently with a FIS license and world cup starts?
There are two (more?) Alaska skiers currently on the MTU team, and at least one former MTU athlete currently training in Alaska, and they all know a thing or five about the travails of getting to, and sometimes from, Houghton. But by extension, at least four parents and possibly some number of siblings too, might rather enjoy watching some races there and skiing themselves silly afterwards. Having flown to both Oslo and Houghton, I would choose Oslo for nice coffee and polite, inestimably historical ski vibe, but I would choose Houghton southern boreal, Houghton’s neighbor Hancock any day for pannukakku, and both MTU and Swede Town trails for klister kick joy. “Acclaim”, from me, it would not be!