Nordic roller-ski racing returns to Breckenridge and the state of Colorado this weekend with the Summit Nordic Ski Club Roller Ski Fest. The second annual two-day event, hosted by the Summit Nordic Ski.
Photo from Summit Nordic Ski Club
Summit Nordic Ski Club head coach Olof Hedberg spoke from Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah, on Saturday, March 13, in the same situation but with a far different experience as last year.
It was on the Thursday afternoon in Soda Springs, California, 12 months ago when Hedberg and Summit Nordic skiers rushed home to Summit County after the cancellation of the remainder of the week’s Cross Country Skiing Junior Nationals. The cancellation was a part of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s decision to cancel all remaining domestic events due to coronavirus concerns.
“Last year at this time, I was standing in a trailer packing up our stuff,” Hedberg said. “The races ended right there, right then. Since then, it’s been 12 different months.”
Photo by Olof Hedberg
Summit Nordic Ski Club head coach Olof Hedberg said this past weekend at the Raoul Willie Memorial cross-country ski races in Aspen was one of the greatest ever for the club.
The team’s several standout individual performances were led by 15-year-old Nina Schamberger’s eye-opening results racing against some of the world’s best cross-country skiers. At Friday’s skate-sprint heats, the Leadville resident Schamberger raced against the best American and international women U-18, U-20, U-23 and senior division athletes on the 1.4-kilometer course.
After advancing in the group of top-30 finishers out of the initial race, Schamberger advanced all the way to the final round of heats. In that race, her time of 4 minutes and 8.25 seconds was the best American time in the heat, behind only race winner and University of Utah skier Julia Richter of Germany (4:03.34) and University of Utah skier Karianne Moe of Norway (4:05.95).
A Summit Nordic Ski Club contingent 25 athletes deep made the drive to Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, last weekend to compete in the University of Utah Invitational.
The event which also served as a Junior Nordic Super Qualifier for athletes 14 and older featured skiers from California, Washington, Idaho and the New England area. The high-level races also featured college skiers from the University of Alaska at Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Denver and the University of Utah.
Nina Schamberger, 15, once again was a standout for Summit Nordic as she won the U-16 division for the 1.5-kilometer classic sprint and 5K freestyle. Her performance placed her eighth overall in a field that included three U.S. Ski Team skiers and top-ranked senior and collegiate skiers. Schamberger finished the long weekend with 13th place overall in her first 15K race.
Photo by Andy Stabile
The Summit Nordic Ski Club sent a pair of platoons to Casper, Wyoming, and Midway, Utah, this past weekend for their first races on snow since their seasons were cut short in March due to the pandemic.
At International Ski Federation races on the 2002 Winter Olympic course at Soldier Hollow in Utah, Summit Nordic 15-year-old Nina Schamberger of Leadville caught the eye of the national Nordic skiing community. Schamberger finished ninth in the skate sprint and seventh in the 10-kilometer classic in a pair of time-trial start events that featured a collection of the country’s best youth, college and pro Nordic skiers.