Newsfeed

25Dec 2019 by DS News Team

Did You Know: First Soviet Cosmonauts Were Avid Skiers. Two Of Them Had To Use Skiing Skills In Dire Emergency

... The first Soviet cosmonauts were men of iron health, selected among hundreds upon hundreds of young airforce pilots. And, as a part of their space launch training, they had to ski. A lot. In part because the guy in charge of their training, the guy who was ultimately deciding who gets to go into space and who stays on Earth, general Nikolai Kamanin, was the most avid skier himself. [caption id="attachment_14103" align="alignnone" width="786"] Lt.-General Nikolai Kamanin and his most famous " employee", Earth's first spaceman Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin was very decent skier on his own right - although he preferred water skiing [/caption] Kamanin was a famed Arctic aviator in his youth - that's where he developed affection for cross country skiing. That interest in the snow sport/recreation remained…

24Dec 2019 by DS News Team

Skiing Together. Christmas – Inspired Story Of Couples in Our Sport

Newsfeed, Trivia

It's Christmas and everyone is meant to be merry, jolly - and ready for a positive entertainment. We can't think of a better story on occasion than sharing pictures taken this year on various locations with one thing in common - happy skiers'couples. Key word is "happy" - including happy to be photographed together. Some were too shy to pose for photo or even to show their affections in public ( yes, we are talking about you, Frida and William!). If someone didn't make it into our camera lens - next year, hopefully! [caption id="attachment_14076" align="alignnone" width="1885"] Anna Zherebyateva and Alexander Bolshunov. We shall never get tired of photographing those two. Their affection for each other is obvious, deep and comes out very naturally[/caption] [caption id="attachment_14077" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Another "…

23Dec 2019 by DS News Team

Skiing & Media 101

Money & Finance, Newsfeed

We get questions that made us think it is worth explaining the basics of how media covers cross country skiing, what's the difference between writing, photo and television reporting and why does it all matter at the end. ....Once upon a time, when the xcskiing was a sport of bearded woodcutters, it was common for newspapers and television stations to just send their reporters to take a few pictures of them Nordic heroes in action and to do an interview at the finish line. Well, things changed since then - and rather radically. These days, the media allowed ( accredited ) at the event is firmly divided into two categories: paying and non-paying type. For reasons of political correctness it's rarely actually called that but it does not change the…

22Dec 2019 by DS News Team

World Cup Stage Fail?

Money & Finance, Newsfeed

Planica is a lovely place, but this weekend's World Cup stage was a fail. The weather played its part making skiing look like a form of OCR competition, but even in the best of conditions the very idea of having it where it was held and when it was held raises a lot of questions, among them: - What's the point of having it in the country/ region that is lukewarm to cross country skiing despite very impressive performance by its (mostly female side of) team? Ski jumping events in the area draw tens of thousands of spectators, ditto for alpine skiing - but cross country ones are, sadly, not and shall not in a foreseeable future. - What's the point of scheduling Planica stage two days ahead of Christmas?…

18Dec 2019 by DS News Team

Ski Bosses R US – Industry Captains Descend On Davos

Leaders, Newsfeed

We are of opinion that putting a face to a name makes a huge difference. In this case, faces of people who play prominent role in cross country skiing industry. Aside from the world championships and the Olympics, there is no better place to catch them than the annual Davos Nordic stage of the World Cup in mid-December. It might be a Swiss air but we reckon it's more about a unique layout of the Davos skis stadium: there a place where athletes prepare and where equipment-making dignitaries congregate is one & same, creating a sort of "mixed zone" where athletes could casually talk to producers and suppliers immediately before or after the race. [caption id="attachment_14008" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie is not just one the most legendary names in…

Category: Newsfeed