Newsfeed

06May 2017 by DS News Team

Meet Ludde, World’s Fastest Skier

Leaders, Newsfeed, Training & Outfitting

..The world record had been beaten twice already, that evening in Hamar. First, the Under 23 world champion in sprint, Lucas Chanavat, a Frenchman, beat the record time in qualification (11:37) – only to be bettered in the semifinal heat by a Norwegian, Ludvig Søgnen Jensen, who set the new world record, clocking in at 11:29. What, you've never heard of the world records in cross country skiing? It's because you've never seen a new (and rapidly growing) competitive discipline – the super-sprint, with a distance of 100 meters over flat terrain. It might not be an official, FIS-recognized, competition distance yet, but the list of participants was nothing like a local get-together – more like a "who's-who" in both ski and rollerski sprint. ...In the finals, four of the…

05May 2017 by DS News Team

UpDated: Dude, Where Is My SkiBee?

Gear News, Newsfeed

What we wrote last year: The prize for one of the more original innovations in cross country skiing goes to Donald Steeg, a "tool and dye maker from the Detroit area," and, by all accounts, an avid skier. Back in 1970, Steeg had unveiled his SkiBee, "a propulsion unit for motorized skiing". Equipped with an eight-horsepower engine and a 24-inch propeller, SkiBee could accelerate the skier along the trail at the speed human propulsion is not quite capable of - neither then nor now. The Detroit Free Press newspaper put it thus at the time: "Now It's the Super Fan To Aid the Uphill Skier! If you have $300, earplugs, a strong back, and the urge to go your own way, call Steeg Industries in Redford Township. The company sold…

03May 2017 by DS News Team

UpDated: “Exercise-in-a-pill” Is Here. What Would WADA Say?

Newsfeed, Training & Outfitting, Trivia

This is what we published about a year ago: [caption id="attachment_3064" align="alignleft" width="300"] Source: Salk Institute[/caption] Good news or bad news for sport? A group of scientists, working at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have published a study purporting to show “ how to fully activate a gene pathway with a chemical compound, mimicking the beneficial effects of exercise, including increased fat burning and stamina.” Developing endurance “traditional way” i.e. through physical training, means being able to sustain an aerobic activity for longer periods of time. As people become more fit, their muscles shift from burning carbohydrates to burning fat. “It’s well known that people can improve their aerobic endurance through training,” says senior author Ronald Evans, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and holder of Salk’s March of Dimes Chair…

02May 2017 by DS News Team

Pellegrino: “It’s like a relaxing spa outdoors”

Leaders, Newsfeed, Trivia

"It's like a relaxing spa outdoors. In this society that goes faster and faster, I recommend everyone to go to the mountains, surrounded by nature, to slow the pace, with a pair of skis" Not, perhaps, what you would expect from the world's top ski sprinter but thus speaks Federico Pellegrino. A 26 year old from Aosta has appeared on the pages on the Italian edition of the Vanity Fair magazine last week to talk about his life and career. https://www.vanityfair.it/sport/storie-sport/2017/04/29/federico-pellegrino-oltre-agli-sci-ce-di-piu There the leader of the Italian cross country ski team talks about his path to the world championship crown in Lahti this year. https://www.instagram.com/p/BTWkdo-g6Yy Pellegrino singles out influence of his girlfriend, a fellow Team Italia sprinter Greta Laurent, as the most important factor in his success: " She straightened…

01May 2017 by DS News Team

Nordic Skiing in the US: Explosive Growth of Popularity

Newsfeed, Travel & Mass Sport

Nordic skiing is among the fastest growing in popularity outdoor activities in the United States, along with stand-up paddling and BMX biking. These findings are part of the massive Outdoor Recreation Participation Topline Report, just released by the Outdoor Foundation, a US nonprofit. Nordic skiing has shown a very impressive steady annual growth averaging 13 % during the last 3 years. In 2016, some 4,640,000 Americans hit the cross country ski trail compared to only 3,400,000 in 2013 – a rather whopping hike of 40.3%! Notably, the increase in cross country skiing participation is happening against a backdrop of less snowy winters: a recent Scientific American report declares that “55 percent of the stations showed a decrease in winter precipitation falling as snow", with Oregon, Iowa and New Hampshire being…

Category: Newsfeed