By Gavin Kentch
It is May. I am home with my kids. I don’t have time for a full treatment of various news stories, apparently. Here are some quick-hit news items from all over:
Ben and Gus to get signature IDT models
Rollerski manufacturer IDT will be trotting out signature models for Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher later this year, industry sources tell me. The only other athlete who currently has a flagship ski with IDT is some rando named Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Congrats to the boys; you love to see it.
Mentioning Ogden, Schumacher, and Klæbo in the same paragraph is more than enough of an opening for me to share the following priceless mixed-zone exchange from February, which was on the record following the Olympics team sprint but somehow never made it into an article in the midst of a very full fortnight of reporting:
What did you talk about with Klæbo before you guys got up on the podium?
Ogden: “Oh, what were we talking about?”
Schumacher: “Probably some bullshit.”
Ogden: “I was giving them some shit for the fact that they have the least cool podium outfits. And then he said, How many golds do you have? And I was like, Well, that’s a good point. But they still have the least cool podium outfits. There can be no denying that.”
Scene.
USSS hires first of two new World Cup wax techs
In April, USSS program director Chris Grover announced that the team was hiring for two new World Cup Wax/Ski Technicians to fill spots previously held by longtime staffers Per-Erik Bjørnstad and Chris Hecker. One of these jobs is going to Simen Finjord, a 22-year-old Norwegian wunderkind from Alta (Norway, not Utah) previously employed by Team Aker Dæhlie. (The recent implosion of the coaching staff at Aker Dæhlie deserves more attention than this parenthetical can provide.)
Finjord shared the following post to his personal Instagram on May 5:
“After two fantastic years in Team Aker Dæhlie, the time has come for new adventures,” he wrote, per an auto-translation. “Thanks for the ride guys. And thank you for believing in me💙🧡 Now the trip continues to new challenges in the U.S. Ski Team 🇺🇸”
The following day, langrenn.com had a longer piece on the news (paywalled, sorry).
“I will be the main responsible for gliding in the U.S. national cross-country team, as well as personal responsibility for the ski [fleet] of two of the runners on the team,” Finjord told that outlet, again per an auto-translation. The identity of his two athletes was not established yet, he said.
Team Birkie hires new High Performance Coach
Sticking with coaching news: Team Birkie has named Randy Gibbs as their new High Performance Coach and Race Service Director, per a Tuesday press release. Gibbs takes over this coaching role from another boldface Midwestern name, Chad Salmela.
Jake Stiele continues as head coach for the program, with Julie Ensrud as managing director and Jake Brown as coach of the college team.
“Gibbs brings deep Minnesota Nordic roots and one of the most accomplished ski service and coaching resumes in American Nordic skiing history to a program that has rapidly grown into one of the most competitive professional Nordic ski teams in North America,” the press release informs us.
Gibbs was Head of Glide for the U.S. team at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, per the press release. According to his LinkedIn page, Gibbs did seasonal coaching work for Ski and Snowboard Australia from 2015 through January 2022, then worked in communications for much of the last four years. He was also on the service team for Far West at 2026 JNs, and, per the press release, on ski service for Team Birkie at 2026 Spring Series.
U.S. Ski Team to have June Camp in Norway, not May Camp in Bend
The national team is trading its traditional May Camp, in Bend, for a Norwegian swing, in June, this year, owing to horrid snow conditions across much of the Mountain West this past winter.
“The new season will kick off in June with a two-week training camp in Norway in collaboration with the U.S. Ski Team,” wrote SMS head coach Colin Rodgers in a recent email to team supporters. “Our time will be split between dryland training in Sjusjøen and on-snow training on Sognefjellet. While we missed our usual May camp in Bend, OR due to lack of snow in the West, we’re excited for the opportunity to log quality ski training in Norway and to test new skis and grind patterns on snow.”
The alpine portion of Mount Bachelor closed this season on April 19, more than a month earlier than 2025’s closing date of May 26. The nordic center also closed on April 19. This native-advertising piece from… another outlet, entitled, unfortunately, “Great Skiing in June? It’s Real, and Mt. Bachelor Has Your Ticket,” continues to age poorly.
Alaska on track to host both Junior Nationals and Spring Series next year
The end of the 2026/2027 season will tentatively feature spring skiing in The Last Frontier, for both junior and senior athletes, per decisions made at USSS Spring Congress earlier this month.
2027 Junior Nationals will be held in Anchorage, tentatively from March 11 to 15 (four races in five days: 7.5km interval-start classic, skate sprint, 5/10/15km mass start skate, classic mixed relay), according to the current version of the U.S. skiing vertical calendar.
This was to be the Mountain/Far West’s turn in the five-year rotation for JNs hosting, with Auburn Ski Club set to host. However, ASC subsequently withdrew their bid due to “organizational restructuring” on their end, per a USSS spreadsheet. Anchorage then volunteered to move up one year in the hosting rotation to give the region time to regroup.
Alaska was previously in line to host in 2028. Their next hosting spot on the schedule, in 2033, remains unchanged. Look for, presumptively, Mountain/Far West to host JNs in 2028 instead of in 2027 (cite: a bid from Royal Gorge for 2028 was accepted by the Sport Committee), then a return to the normal rotation: East in 2029, Mountain/Far West in 2030, Central in 2031, Mountain/Far West in 2032, then back to Alaska again in 2033. I am pulling from this spreadsheet when I prognosticate all this, btw.
A few weeks later, high-level racing is slated to return to the state, this time to the Golden Heart City. Fairbanks is currently scheduled to host Spring Series, featuring three races in three days, on April 2–4, 2027. There will be an individual skate sprint, a team classic sprint, and a 40km mass start classic. All three races should be national championships, per my reading of the season’s race schedule.
Fairbanks last hosted Spring Series in March 2017. Before then, Anchorage hosted in March 2014.
40 kilometers, classic, at Birch Hill, at the end of a long season. Gods help us. At least it should be hardwax skiing.
