FIS Ruled Thus:

FIS Ruled Thus:

Leaders, Newsfeed
The FIS Council on Friday has made the following decisions ( in some cases officially confirmed previously reached ones) - Nordic World Championships 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany will take place: " preparations are well on track and approved by the national health authorities". - Nordic Junior World Ski Championships 2021 is moved to Pragelato, Italy ( cross country ski races) instead of Zakopane, Poland - World Cup will take place almost without change to original schedule. FIS will help WC stage organizers by contributing up to 20% of prize money. - Flourinated Ski Wax Ban is officially postponed till 2021/22. https://www.fis-ski.com/en/international-ski-federation/news-multimedia/news/decisions-of-the-autumn-2020-fis-council-meeting
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This Is What Will Happen To World Cup This Season

This Is What Will Happen To World Cup This Season

Leaders, Newsfeed
Bold headline, we know. For the last few weeks we kept on asking that question to various people in the know. Here's what we found out. None of this is directly attributed as none of our sources was willing to go on record - so, it's up to you whether you elect to see it as a figment of our imagination ( it isn't ) - The fate of the FIS World Cup 2020/2021 shall be finally, irrevocably decided on October 9th during the (online as it looks) meeting of the FIS Council. The Council is an august body running the whole International Federation . It's not to be mixed with separate committees - Vegard Ulvang, the head of the xcskiing committee, for instance, is not a member of the…
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Skiing Of Tomorrow: Indoor, With Wall Projection Panels Instead Of Dreary Looking Walls

Skiing Of Tomorrow: Indoor, With Wall Projection Panels Instead Of Dreary Looking Walls

Gear News, Newsfeed
We have two revelations to make: A - in the foreseeable future most of cross country skiing will move indoors. Yes, indoors - into those purpose-built ski tunnels. If you're optimistic enough to think otherwise - or lucky enough to live in certain areas in the mountains - our compliments. The rest of the humanity, spurred by the (correct) assumption that cross country skiing is the next-to-none cardiovascular and strength-building activity, will have to practice it indoors. B - skiing in tunnels as a way of receiving pleasure currently sucks. First ski tunnels were built far away from big cities but close to traditional training centers: Vuokatti, Torsby and Oberhof all fit that description. Practical? Check! Convenient? Depends on your idea of convenient, but generally no. No more. Toksovo is…
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U.S. Ski & Snowboard Effectively Cancels All National Competitions For 2020/21

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Effectively Cancels All National Competitions For 2020/21

Leaders, Newsfeed
" The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Sport Committee has voted to formally restructure many of our national-level competitions for the 2020-21 season. This includes the SuperTour, U.S. National Championships, and the Junior National Championships. These events will be replaced with high-level regional and divisional competitions-including season ending Regional Junior Championship in each Region of the country, at the discretion of local organizing committees and regional governing bodies..." That's from the letter by U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Tiger Shaw & his colleagues from the so-called Discretionary Selection Review Group, basically a task-force created to deal with 2020 challenges. The reasoning used: "...Even in individual start racing, social distancing challenges exist in race formats where athletes are in close proximity (i.e. passing each other) .."Also regional restrictions,…
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Finland, Norway Start Closing Borders Again. Will There Be Season?

Finland, Norway Start Closing Borders Again. Will There Be Season?

Newsfeed, Travel & Mass Sport
This week on Wednesday Norway announced that it's tightening cross-border admissions policy - again... ...Two days earlier Finland went even further, bringing back travel restrictions in the form of quarantine for several countries , including Germany and, ironically, Norway. The COVID-19 is officially back to Europe. Not that it ever got open this year to either the North American or Russian skiers who traditionally train in Europe, at least part time. To remind you,the first stage of the FIS World Cup is supposed to be held in Ruka, Finland in three months with Lillehammer, Norway to follow. So, back to question we put in headline: will there be the international race season in cross country skiing? Nobody would tell for sure, but if you asks us the prospects for a…
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