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FasterSkier provides independent reviews of products, races and places to ski! Race Reviews give you information that is only acquired through actually doing the event, including what you need to know about the course, potential waxing challenges, and much more. Places to Ski reviews are similar – we’ll make sure you hit the best trails, are dressed properly, and get the tastiest post-ski lunch in the lodge. We rigorously test all products that we review and provide a balanced report on the pros and cons of each product. If you would like to see a specific product, race, or ski area reviewed, please let us know!
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FS Gear Review: Nathan’s Reflective Convertible Glove/Mitt

Jason AlbertDecember 18, 2019

This is an essential item for those who literally and figuratively run cold. For me, Nathan’s glove/mitt comes along in temps 45 degrees Fahrenheit and below. And if you’ve never heeded the advice from Kelly Cordes  (see video below) about how to avoid the screaming barfies — think that nauseating pain from thawing fingers — you might have compromised circulation. Nathan’s Reflective Convertible Glove/Mitt comes to the rescue. For many running in the cold requires...

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FS Review: Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell
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FS Review: Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell

Jason AlbertDecember 12, 2019

Before diving deep into this review let’s get over the sticker shock: retail price $129.00 for the Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell. (But you can find it on sale.) $129.00 may not seem much if, for example, you’re stocking up on perfluoro wax. But take the weight of the Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell, 98 grams, and the cost seems disproportionate to the mass. Working the wax angle, the BD Distance Wind Shell actually might...

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Gear Review: Salomon S/LAB SENSE ULTRA 5 SET Running Vest
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Gear Review: Salomon S/LAB SENSE ULTRA 5 SET Running Vest

FasterSkierDecember 5, 2019

  If you are still running with a traditional drink belt strapped to your waist — listen here: It’s time to give up the drink belt for running excursions. The fight is over and the running vest is miles ahead of you, already sipping a refreshing recovery drink at the parking lot––heck they might have even swapped their cold, sweaty top layer for a warm, dry one by now. Instead of spending time catering to your...

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Gear Review: Skida Hats, Headbands, and Neck Warmers

Rachel PerkinsDecember 4, 2019

Over the last eleven years, Skida has taken off from its humble beginning as cross-country skier Corinne Prevot’s side hustle. Prevot began sewing hats and headbands for her teammates and friends in 2008 while attending Burke Mountain Academy. While at Middlebury, she continued to squeeze in production around her classes and ski training, with some help from her mom. After graduating in 2013, she officially started Skida in Burlington and her hats, headbands, neck warmers,...

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Gear Review: A Trio of Trail Running Goods from Black Diamond

FasterSkierDecember 3, 2019

Black Diamond has been around in several iterations for decades. First, there was Chouinard Equipment. Yup, that Chouinard. The emerging alpine climbing gear powerhouse was sold to employees and became Black Diamond Equipment. A few bumps on the proverbial road to growth and prosperity and now Black Diamond is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. But, the Salt Lake City based company has remained true to their core users: alpinist and rock climbers, backcountry...

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Gear Review: 55-Liter Patagonia Black Hole Duffel

Rachel PerkinsDecember 2, 2019

The Black Hole product line has been hauled and dragged around for a generation. They are timeworn. New as of this summer, the Black Hole line is made from 100% post-consumer recycled material. Back in August, during a ten-day stint of solo parenting while my husband led an outdoor education trip, I decided to take my ten month old daughter and four year old mutt on a two-day camping and hiking mission in the Fryingpan...

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Recover Smarter, Not Harder: A Review of “Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn From the Strange Science of Recovery” and Interview With Author Christie Aschwanden
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Recover Smarter, Not Harder: A Review of “Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn From the Strange Science of Recovery” and Interview With Author Christie Aschwanden

Rachel PerkinsJuly 30, 2019

If you’ve ever set a lofty athletic goal, one that required full commitment, going all in and pulling out all of the stops to optimize your training, you may have searched for strategies to similarly optimize your recovery between sessions, getting you back on the ski trails feeling strong as quickly as possible. In this process, you may have found yourself perusing a seemingly endless array of devices, foods, and drinks, each promising to improve...

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Buying a GPS/HRM Sport Watch – The Basics
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Buying a GPS/HRM Sport Watch – The Basics

FasterSkierJuly 10, 2019

The functions are many on our wrist-worn data collecting training tools. And in some ways, the putative cause for that post-training bliss might be the very data stored on that GPS/HRM device when uploaded to your training analysis app. Maybe you notched a PR, or simply logged 10,000 feet of vertical gain during that offseason ski tour. Or … you simply like pinpointing precisely where your heart rate spiked during that pre-Birkie time trial.  Whatever...

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Everyday is Safety Day: Virginia Tech’s Bike Helmet Ratings
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Everyday is Safety Day: Virginia Tech’s Bike Helmet Ratings

FasterSkierMay 28, 2019

Snow has melted out or is melting out, and it may be time to sharpen the rollerski ferrules. For those looking for ski-specific workouts, the go-to is often rollerskiing. It goes without saying that the poles, rollerskis, bindings, and boots should all be checked before heading out. The safety gear should include some hi-vis items. And it should literally be topped off with a bicycle helmet. That’s where the engineers at Virginia Tech (VT) come...

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Race-cation: Erik Bjornsen and Marine Dusser on Iceland and the Fossavatn Ski Marathon
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Race-cation: Erik Bjornsen and Marine Dusser on Iceland and the Fossavatn Ski Marathon

Rachel PerkinsMay 16, 2019

While many skiers were blowing the dust off of their rollerskis, hitting the track or trail, or looking for crust to cruise on May 1st, Erik Bjornsen and his wife Marine Dusser were previewing the race course for the Fossavatn Ski Marathon, or Fossavatngangan, in Isafjördur, Iceland.    While it might seem odd to begin a new season by racing a 21 k followed by a 42 k just two days later, Bjornsen and Dusser...

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As IBU Gears Up for North American Tour, Bø and Wierer Currently Top Standings
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As IBU Gears Up for North American Tour, Bø and Wierer Currently Top Standings

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 2, 2019

With six of the nine stops on the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup circuit complete, IBU athletes will take a brief hiatus from Europe this February and venture across the Atlantic for a race tour in North America. The first stop for biathletes, coaches and fans will be Canmore, Albert. Canada–the last World Cup races having taken place there in 2016. Following Canmore, the IBU will head for U.S. soil: The Soldier Hollow Nordic...

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2018 FS Gift Guide: The Complex Realities of Sport and Life as Told by Andre Agassi
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2018 FS Gift Guide: The Complex Realities of Sport and Life as Told by Andre Agassi

Harald ZimmerDecember 20, 2018

  As FasterSkier staff stroll into an upcoming weekend with no cross-country World Cups, it’s time to scramble and score some holiday gifts for friends and loved ones. Christmas is around the corner. It’s never too late for Hanukkah  (Hanukkah ended on December 10). In this third book idea for the gift-giving season, Harald Zimmer, German-based FS contributor, highlights Andre Agassi’s gem. *** 2018 Gift Guide – Open: An Autobiography The autobiography of a star tennis...

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Gifting the ‘Cross-Country Cat’; Learn Life Lessons from Mary Calhoun’s Stride-and-Glide Feline
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Gifting the ‘Cross-Country Cat’; Learn Life Lessons from Mary Calhoun’s Stride-and-Glide Feline

FasterSkierDecember 19, 2018

As FasterSkier staff stroll into an upcoming weekend with no cross-country World Cups, it’s time to scramble and score some holiday gifts for friends and loved ones. Christmas is around the corner. It’s never too late for Hanukkah  (Hanukkah ended on December 10). We’re keeping with the cat theme in this second gift idea for the season. It’s from one of Bend, Oregon’s iconic cats, Dave Smullin. This is how Smullin helps spread the love...

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A Holiday Gift for Improved Mobility: ‘Becoming a Supple Leopard’ by Kelly Starrett
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A Holiday Gift for Improved Mobility: ‘Becoming a Supple Leopard’ by Kelly Starrett

Gavin KentchDecember 18, 2018

  As FasterSkier staff stroll into an upcoming weekend with no cross-country World Cups, it’s time to scramble and score some holiday gifts for friends and loved ones. Christmas is around the corner. It’s never too late for Hanukkah  (Hanukkah ended on December 10). In this first gift idea for the season, Anchorage, Alaska’s supple leopard Gavin Kentch brings limberness to our lives.   *** 2018 gift guide – Supple Leopard What’s one book that Crossfit...

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Hailey Swirbul on the USST Park City Training Camp
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Hailey Swirbul on the USST Park City Training Camp

FasterSkierOctober 26, 2018

With the U.S. Ski Team’s final pre-season camp wrapping up on Oct. 22 in Park City, Utah, FasterSkier reached out to one of the newer additions to the USST’s D-Team, Hailey Swirbul, for a recap of her experience. Born in Grand Junction, Colorado, the 20-year-old grew up skiing in the Rocky Mountain area with the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. In 2016 she headed north to attend the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), where...

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2018 FS Gear Review: Rundle Sport Velox Skate Long Rollerski
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2018 FS Gear Review: Rundle Sport Velox Skate Long Rollerski

Jason AlbertAugust 21, 2018

Let’s go niche for a second as this will be a recurring theme of this rollerski review. It’s not exactly the dark web, but this esoteric rollerski site lists over 50 manufacturers. Presuming each brand builds out several models of rollerskis, we’re talking well over 100 styles and permutations of dryland training gear. That’s only considering skate rollerskis. The basic engineering premise is the same for all of those: two wheels, four ball-bearing sets per ski,...

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2018 FS Gear Review: Rundle Sport FLEX Skate Rollerski
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2018 FS Gear Review: Rundle Sport FLEX Skate Rollerski

Jason AlbertJuly 31, 2018

With the evolution from aluminum-shaft rollerskis to composite laminates (think a combination of wood, sometimes a honeycomb matrix and layers of fiberglass/carbon fiber) manufacturers have built rollerskis with “flex”. A skate rollerski’s flex pattern is part of the design process to better mimic that ubiquitous “on-snow feel” nearly all rollerki manufacturers claim and few master.   For the purposes of this review, “on-snow feel” for rollerskis will be defined as the following: smooth, relative vibration-free...

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2018 FS Gear Review: Hjul Skate Rollerski
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2018 FS Gear Review: Hjul Skate Rollerski

Jason AlbertJune 29, 2018

(Correction: This review has been updated to reflect that Hjul rollerskis are sourced and manufactured in China, as explained to FasterSkier by importer Pioneer Midwest.) This rollerski review has as much to do about perception as it does about the more-than-solid value discovered in the Hjul skate rollerski. info@fasterskier.com with the subject line “Gear Review Inquiry”.

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FasterSkier’s 12 Days of FBD Christmas: Day 12
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FasterSkier’s 12 Days of FBD Christmas: Day 12

Jon "Fast Big Dog" SchaferDecember 25, 2017

DDay 2 | Day 4 | Day 6 | 7 | Day 9 | Day 11 *** Day 12: Masters World Cup Total World Domination Package Day Twelve. We made it. Wow. Sure, we lost a few along the way, good men (and women, though most women were likely smart enough to not set foot on this sinking ship in the first place) As a quick aside, I bartended at Smullin’s rehearsal dinner, so I naturally wore a name tag...

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