Skiing

NORDIC SKIING

APU's Brooks gets spot on US Ski Team

Late bloomer that she is, Holly Brooks' latest great news arrived this week, about a month after she turned 30 -- she's on the U.S. Ski Team for the 2012-13 season.

Alaska Olympian uses clinics to teach village kids how to ski

Two-time Olympian Lars Flora led a group of accomplished cross-country skiers into Northwest Alaska for week-long clinics at four schools, where the visitors taught kids how to ski and showed them, by example, how elite athletes keep their edge.

Photos: NANANordic

ALASKA SPORTS

Anderson claims title in Kobuk 440 sled-dog race

A digest of various Alaska sports and results

NORDIC SKIING

USSA hires Caterinichio to manage its program

A lifetime involvement in nordic skiing reached new heights this week for Anchorage’s Joey Caterinichio, who was named the nordic program manager for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association on Thursday.

UAA ski team shows its smarts

UAA seniors Jaime Bronga, Sandra MacDonald, Alex Parker and Laura Rombach each earned academic honors for the fourth straight season from the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association.

Norris finishes 6th in 50-K championship

David Norris of Fairbanks led Alaska's nordic skiers Saturday in Craftsbury, Vt., taking sixth place, five seconds and two spots ahead of Anchorage's Eric Packer, in the men's 50-kilometer national championship race.

Photos: US Cross Country Championship

Randall ends 2012 season with another nordic victory

Kikkan Randall, the World Cup's reigning sprint champion, used her strength and fast-twitch muscles to reap a reward in the longest of women's races by capturing the 30-kilometer freestyle national championship Friday in Craftsbury, Vt

UAA's Berther 12th in super-G

UAA freshman Vanessa Berther finished 12th overall, and third among junior skiers, in Friday's super-G at the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships in Winter Park, Colo.

Anchorage skiers sixth, 15th at alpine nationals

UAA junior Andreas Adde finished sixth in the slalom Thursday at the 2012 U.S. Alpine Championships in Winter Park, Colo., and Kieffer Christianson of Anchorage took 15th place.

SKIING

Anchorage's Packer wins classic sprint

Anchorage's Eric Packer, the classic sprint champion at the U.S. nationals earlier this year, added another nordic title to his resume Tuesday, when he won the men's 1.6-kilometer classic sprint at the SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt.

SKI JUMPING

Alborn makes leap from jumping to coaching

For nearly a decade, three-time Olympian Alan Alborn of Anchorage was the country's top ski jumper. He got into the sport as a kid at the Karl Eid Ski Jumps, where for awhile he jumped in secret -- his mom thought she was dropping him off to ski at Hilltop, but after she drove away, Alborn would sneak over to the ski jumps. Today he is the head coach for Women's Ski Jumping USA -- a job that puts him in the midst of some of the world's top female jumpers, who will make their Olympic debut in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

A great season on snow for Alaskans

From Kikkan Randall's historic World Cup title to Amy Glen's photo-finish NCAA championship to Jay Hakkinen's age-defying biathlon results to Tyler Kornfield's delayed glory, Alaskans set the world of snow sports on fire this winter.

Brooks leads Alaskans to 2-3-4 finish

Racing in balmy conditions and forced to run as a warm-up because the only snow was the stuff on the course and organizers were treating that set-up gently, Alaska nordic skiers fared well Saturday in the opening race of 2012 Super Tour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt.

Skiers await final run

Cami Cabana and Shaun Poirot are leaders in the Chugach Open alpine competition at Alyeska Resort, but will have to wait until Sunday to try to close out a victory.

Jose Miguel Banda of Mexico absorbs techniques of ski jumping

The sport of ski jumping comes with a long list of physical and mental challenges, but Jose Miguel Banda's list was a little longer than most others.

Lamb leads J-4 alpine skiers

Charlie Lamb led a group of eight Junior 4 skiers from Alyeska Ski Club last weekend, notching three top-10 finishes at the Inter-Mountain Division Championship at Brundage Mountain Resort in McCall, Idaho.

Air Guard rescues skier injured in Turnagain Pass avalanche

An avalanche Friday night injured a skier in the Turnagain Pass backcountry south of Anchorage, according to the Alaska Air National Guard, which sent a helicopter to rescue the man during the early morning hours Saturday.

Second heli-skier dies from 'huge' Haines-area avalanche

Randall clinches World Cup sprint title in unusual fashion

Even on one ski, Kikkan Randall is the best in the world. The three-time Olympian from Anchorage clinched the World Cup cross-country sprint world championship Wednesday in Drammen, Norway, despite skiing on one ski while carrying the other for part of the race.

Photos: Kikkan Randall's World Cup season

Talbot, Muffoletto lead Alaska skiers in Utah

Silas Talbot placed fourth in the Older Junior boys sprint race and Matthew Muffoletto was sixth in the Junior 2 boys race to lead the Alaskans on Monday on the opening day of the U.S. Junior National cross-country ski championships at Utah's Soldier Hollow.

2012 TOUR OF ANCHORAGE

Iverson collects first Tour win

Twice a runner-up in the last three years, Mark Iverson of Anchorage on Sunday locked down his first victory in the biggest race in the Tour of Anchorage -- he's the 50-kilometer freestyle king.

Photos: Tour of Anchorage