25Jul 2018 by DS News Team
Arne Idland: Blink Skifestival Could Become Start Of FIS World Cup Season

Arne Idland: Blink Skifestival Could Become Start Of FIS World Cup Season

Leaders, Newsfeed
Arne Idland is a legend. It's under his stewardship that the Norwegian biathlon, featuring great Ole Einar Bjørndalen & Co, became the world's best. Twice Idland was in charge of the Norwegian team this century - and twice it was on top of the podiums. Last year a 49 year old native of Sandnes resigned his commission as a top coach of the Norwegian national biathlon team to concentrate at his other job - that of the Sports Director for Blink Skifestival ( Idland is also a coach for Figgjo IL, local sports club) International experience and energy of Idland is in no small part a reason why a summer sporting event in relatively "non-skiing" part of Norway have gradually became an absolute must-go for the world's best skiers and…
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19Jul 2018 by DS News Team
Why Upcoming Blink Skifestival Might Be World Most Exciting Ski Event

Why Upcoming Blink Skifestival Might Be World Most Exciting Ski Event

Leaders, Newsfeed
For our money, Blink Skifestival is one the most exciting & anticipated ski-related events in the world. What makes us rank Blink on par and perhaps, higher than traditional “snow ski” events e.g. Tour de Ski? Let's see if you could convince you with the following arguments: a) It is the only event in the world featuring both the strongest skiers and bi-athletes starting in the same race. Last year Henrik L'Abée-Lund  beat both Martin Sundby and Sergei Ustiugov in the Lysebotn climb, for instance. As a result, there will be close to 40 ( your read it right – forty!) medal winners from the Olympics in Korea in February. Actually, it's easier to list those who will not be there, than who will be – sadly, Number One of…
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17Jul 2018 by DS News Team
Skiers Who Switched To New Gear This Summer ( And Some Who Thought To – But Did Not)

Skiers Who Switched To New Gear This Summer ( And Some Who Thought To – But Did Not)

Gear News, Leaders, Newsfeed
Today Fischer has proudly announced that it has officially won the battle to become a sponsor to Ingvild Flugstad Østberg. The switch is rather comprehensive: the double Olympic champion “...will place her trust in skis, bindings and boots from Fischer from now on...” Thus ends the “ski drama of the summer of 2018”, rather extensively covered in Norwegian media . The word "drama"" is applicable since it involved two teammates & friends, Østberg and the current World Cup holder Heidi Weng, who long were postergirls for Madshus but felt they underachieved at the Olympics in Korea. At the end Heidi chose to stay with her current skis/boots sponsor, Madshus - while Ingvild went to the “Fischer stable” - where, presumably, she will take the place of retired Marit Bjørgen in…
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13Jul 2018 by DS News Team
World’s Best Abdominal Muscles, Pictured And Explained

World’s Best Abdominal Muscles, Pictured And Explained

Leaders, Newsfeed
On the photo above is a great looking washboard stomach. A skier's stomach ( of course - otherwise, why would it be here, on the xcskiing site?). A perfect combination of beauty - and function. ...It was in the 1990s when Professor Bengt Saltin made a discovery: with each generation, muscles of cross country skiers are growing. Although aerobic capacities have improved only marginally over the years, the strength and muscular endurance of the upper body of cross country skiers have become dramatically better . Famed scientiest, FIS expert etc. etc., Saltin had an extensive experience working with Swedish elite cross-country skiers. His conclusions: elite XC skiers of the 1990s demonstrated 15–25% larger fiber areas, especially in their arm and core muscles, than their counterparts of the 1970s! Fast forward 20…
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02Jul 2018 by DS News Team
Elite Skier Launches His Own Apparel Brand. And There Is More To It

Elite Skier Launches His Own Apparel Brand. And There Is More To It

Leaders, Newsfeed
What does a skier do when she/he has a bit of time? Launches his own apparel line, naturally! At least that's what Gleb Retivykh, one of the leaders of the Russian sprint team just did. [caption id="attachment_7875" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Gleb Retivykh at the training camp in Estonia. Putting GR apparel through the grind[/caption] “ There are two things that I want to accomplish: first one is to give pro-skiers and serious amateurs apparel that is not just functional – but was built out of experience, of thousands of hours of hard training and competing....” says the World Cup stage winner and the former Junior World champion. [caption id="attachment_7876" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] "|See, it's light and stretches well... Testing it myself every day, several hours a day"[/caption] But the fame & the…
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