Everyone has been saying that there’s going to be an Olympics next February, and that it’s going to be in Italy. So it’s natural for people to wonder if there will be any Skiwolves at the Olympics. And of course the answer is: Of course! Why wouldn’t there be? There are always Skiwolves at the Winter Olympics; it’s only a question of which ones. What follows is speculation about which Skiwolves will, might, or won’t be at this winter’s Olympic Games. These characters are listed in no particular order. Or, more accurately, they are listed in the order that they popped into my head.
----------
Will Magnus Norøy be at the Olympics?
Yes. After graduating
from UAA a year and a half ago with some kind of a degree related to business
and property management, Maggie spent a lot of his time last winter traveling the
world as a ski technician with the Canadian national team. He’s been fortunate to work closely with Alain Masson, who is probably the best kick-waxer I
know personally (besides Trond, of course). When he skied for the Seawolves, Maggie always wanted kick wax
that was two or three steps warmer, and thicker, than anyone else on the team.
If it was super cold and we were all using a thin layer of Rex Mäntyranta,
Maggie would try a thick layer of Rode violet, and then come back
and ask us for more kick. The Canadians have had some huge successes with their
kick-waxing on classic race days in recent years (think Planica, Slovenia, and
Schilpario, Italy) presumably because Alain Masson has been involved. Magnus Norøy was in the thick of it all last year on the World Cup circuit. Magnus Norøy will be waxing for the Canadians at the Olympics.
Will Tuva Bygrave be at the Olympics?
Probably. Our friend
Tuva has been skiing for Australia at multiple World Championships over the years. She hasn’t
been in the Olympics yet. That’s likely to change this winter. Since graduating
from UAA in 2024, Tuva has been in Norway, training at all the best training
spots in Lommedalen, and the word on the mean streets of Bærum is that she’ll
most likely be representing Australia at the Olympics.
Will Lukas Ebner be at the Olympics?
No. I spoke with him a few weeks ago, and he told me that despite the fact that he’s improving the lives of the people of Switzerland by bringing them better cell phone service than they've ever had before, it's not like he can take unlimited time off from his day job so he can work as a ski technician for the Australian national team, as he’s done at previous World Championships. This year, he wants to use his annual allotment of vacation time to hang out with friends and family instead of spending it hunkered down in a smoky wax bunker in Val de Fiemme next February. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.
-----------
Will Pascale Paradis be at the Olympics?
To me, it seems very likely. After graduating from UAA in 2024, Pascale
spent last winter on the World Cup biathlon circuit, competing for Canada. She’s
been training non-stop this summer, shooting and skiing, skiing and shooting. Will
she compete in the Olympics? If World
Cup participation is any clue, then it would seem likely she’ll be in the
Olympics, because she’s been on the starting line of a heck of a lot of World Cup biathlon races
recently.
Will Andrew Kastning be at the Olympics?
I think it’s unlikely. UAA’s former ski coach has been the voice of the World Cup for American viewers the past couple of years on SkiAndSnowboardLive.com. And I’m assuming he’s providing commentary again this winter for the network. But I have a feeling that when it comes to the Olympics, the commentary jobs are going to go to the regulars: Chad Salmela and Kikkan Randall. My guess is that Andrew Kastning will not be at the Olympics.
----------
Will JC Schoonmaker be at the Olympics?
If our friend JC is not at the Olympics, it’ll be shocking,
and not in a good way. JC has been on the World Cup podium before. He’s among
the best in the world in sprinting. JC Schoonmaker will probably be at the
Olympics. And he will be trying to win a medal.
Will Erik Flora be at the Olympics?
Yes, Erik Flora will be at the Olympics. I saw him out
skiing the other day, and he told me he’ll be at the Olympics. Some people know
Erik as the head coach of the Alaska Pacific University ski team. Others know
him as Marit Flora’s dad. Or as the
son-in-law of Rob Pfisterer, the former president of the Anchorage Teacher’s
Union. But I know him as the former two-time All-American Skiwolf from the mid-1990’s. Because he’s the coach of many of the skiers who will be on this year’s Olympic
team, Erik Flora will be in Italy, coaching his athletes.
Will Peter Hinds be at the Olympics?
Hey, did you know that Peter Hinds is half-Slovakian? Though
Peter grew up right here in Anchorage, his mom is originally from Slovakia.
After Peter graduated from UAA last spring with an engineering degree, he moved
to Slovakia, and lately he’s been spending all his time rollerskiing and
running in the mountains with the Slovakian national ski team. How many Slovakians
will be on the Olympic Ski Team? What
are their qualifying standards? I really don’t know. But if you ask me if Peter
Hinds will be in the Olympics, the uninformed, ill-researched answer
I’m going to give you is: 50% chance he’ll be in the Olympics. I could contact
Peter today and ask him what his chances are of making the Slovakian Olympic Team, and I know he'd give me a well-supported, reasonable, honest answer. But that would spoil the fun and anticipation. It’s way more fun to guess. So I’m
hedging my bets and saying there’s a 50% chance that Peter Hinds will be in the
Olympics in February.
Will Derek Dueling be in the Olympics?
I think it’s possible Derek could be in the Olympics. But I
think it may be an uphill battle. Derek was on the Canadian national team while he was at
UAA. He graduated from UAA last spring. He’s still on the Canadian national team. He was recently an Under-23 World Champion, along with his relay teammates, in Planica, Slovenia. He continues to get faster each year. But these recent successes do not guarantee a spot on the Olympic Team. Maybe
Derek will be in the Olympics. I sure hope so!
But Derek would need to have a very good series of results between
now and February if he is to be selected for the Olympic Team.
Will Hailey Swirbul be at the Olympics?
Oh boy, here we go. Hailey is this year’s Olympic wild card.
Hailey was recruited to UAA as the best junior skier in the USA. I remember
rollerskiing with her (and the rest of the Seawolves) one autumn day when she
was a freshman in college, and we came across Kikkan Randall, who was planning
some rollerski sprints at Kincaid’s biathlon range as part of her workout.
Kikkan casually invited Hailey to join in for a few sprints. Hailey wondered
whether it was a good idea to do some sprints when it wasn’t part
of the written plan for the day, and my answer was that if you are a junior skier who's invited to
do a few casual sprints with a 3-time World Cup
Overall Sprint World Cup Crystal Globe winner, you should not pass up the
opportunity. (This was after Kikkan had won the overall Sprint World Cup three
years, but before she won an Olympic gold medal.) I remember Hailey unleashing some
serious firepower in those sprints, and the three of us witnesses (Kikkan, her husband
Jeff, and I) feeling like we’d seen some next-level athleticism in the way
Hailey was able to put power down to the pavement with her "whippy" style of double-poling! Anyway, Hailey went on to achieve a World Cup podium, and compete in the
Olympics. And then, a couple years ago, she announced that she was ready to
move on to other interests and was retiring from elite-level ski racing. She’s
been working as a coach for Alaska Pacific University ever since. But a couple
of months ago, she showed up at the US Ski Team’s training camp in Utah and won
the team’s rollerski race. Then she announced that she plans to get back into elite
ski racing this winter. I was out for a bike ride last month and saw her out
coaching her group of APU junior skiers. As I passed Hailey, I asked if it’s
true she’s going to do “all the races” this winter, and she said “yup”. Will Hailey Swirbul be at the Olympics this
winter? I’m going to leave it to you to
speculate. But I will say this: as of this writing, Hailey has 990 FIS points. Of
all the people in the world who have 990 FIS points right now, I believe Hailey Swirbul
has the best chance of being in the Olympics.
Will Toomas Kollo be at the Olympics?
Probably. After spending four years on the UAA Ski Team and then another four years as the Seawolf graduate assistant coach, Toomas moved on to simultaneous full-time positions as a mechanical engineer and as an appraiser of remote Alaska real estate, scurrying back and forth between two mid-town office buildings. He also picked up occasional side-gigs as a ski technician for hire when elite-level pro teams came through town and needed local expertise. I don't know how he did it. By and by, he left the mechanical engineering work to others, and now he has a somewhat more flexible schedule, as he's only working one full-time job. Everybody is saying that Toomas will be spending February in Italy, working as a ski technician for the Canadian Olympic Team. And I believe them.
----------------
Will Nevio Zeni be at the Olympics?
Yes. Unless he goes on vacation somewhere else. Because Nevio is recently married, and lives in Val di Fiemme, the town where he grew up, with his wife. I don't know how Nevio will be involved in the Olympics, but I'm sure he'll be in the thick of it, somehow. If you are going to the Olympics, ask around town for Nevio Zeni. I promise you: you will have a good time! Nevio will know where the party is, and he will be on his way there. You should tag along.
Will Murphy Kimball be at the Olympics?
I think I might have read somewhere last year that Murphy Kimball was the youngest American male XC skier ever to compete in a World Cup race. Now Murphy's on the US Ski Team. At the moment, Murphy's specialty is sprint races. Will Murphy be in the Olympics? There are only so many sprint spots available on that Olympic Team, and we have some pretty good sprinters that are already full-time World-Cuppers. I'm talking about JC Schoonmaker, Gus Schumacher, Ben Ogden, Jack Young... It won't be easy for Murphy to make that Olympic Team. It's not out of the question, though.
