Chris Jespersen edged Norwegian teammate Petter Northug in the Skarverennet on Saturday, winning the 38 k race from Finse to Ustaoset, Norway, by 5 seconds in 1:31.24.

Close behind, Russia’s Eugeniy Dementiev was third (+8.0), and defending champion Jean Marc Gaillard of France finished fourth (+8.0). Sweden’s Martin Johansson was fifth (+9.0).

The runner-up from last year, Jespersen led with just over 8 k remaining and held off Northug, who moved up from fifth and made up a more than a minute (1:19) on Jespersen. Dementiev was in second at 29.7 k, but was 1 minute and 18 seconds behind Jespersen. He led a seven-man chase pack, which included Northug.

Top 10

1. Chris Jespersen (NOR) 1:31:24

2. Petter Northug (NOR) 1:32:29

3. Eugeniy Dementiev (RUS) 1:32:32

4. Jean Marc Gaillard (FRA) 1:32:32

5. Martin Johansson (SWE) 1:32:33

6. Toni Livers (SUI) 1:32:33

7. Robin Duvillard (FRA) 1:32:34

8. Simen Andreas Sveen (NOR) 1:32:44

9. Martin Hammer Team (NOR) 1:32:45

10. Frode Andresen (NOR) 1:32:52

Men’s results

Anouk Faivre Picon (FRA) and Roman Furger (SUI) won the 44th annual Engadin Ski Marathon in Switzerland.

Faivre Picon edged out the home favorite, Seraina Boner by just over a second with a final surge to the line.

Natascia Leonardi Cortesi (SUI) gave the host country two-thirds of the podium when she out-sprinted Italian Stephanie Santer.

The lead pack in the 42-kilometer freestyle race had dwindled to just five women by the end.

Faivre Picon is a regular on the World Cup circuit, and finished 22nd in the 2012 Tour de Ski.

Holly Brooks (USA) finished 8th for the US. Brooks was 2:30 off the pace.

Morgan Arritola was 13th, Evelyn Dong 16th and Nicole DeYong 20th for the US.

In the men’s race the 22-year-old Furger bested World Cup veteran Curdin Perl in the final sprint, with former Italian star Christian Zorzi two seconds back in third.

The relatively flat course generally means the elite wave does not break up much. The top-25 men all finished within 14 seconds of Furger, crossing the line in a continuous flow.

Matt Leibsch was the top American, taking that 25th place. Lars Flora was 31st and Torin Koos 83rd.

Women’s Elite Results

Men’s Elite Results

The 30th Lake Placid Loppet has been canceled due to unseasonably warm weather at Mount Van Hoevenberg in upstate New York.

The 25- and 50-k races were supposed to be held Saturday after a lack of snow in February pushed the event back a month.

The Loppet is part of the American Ski Marathon Series and usually takes place on a modified version of the course used at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

FasterSkier was in northern Wisconsin for nearly a week leading up to the 2012 American Birkebeiner. All articles through Saturday, Feb. 25, are listed on Birkie.com under “Behind the Scenes at Birkie 2012.”

Note: This post has been updated to reflect Joe Dubay’s disqualification for racing in the wrong bib. Dubay finished first in the classic race, but was wearing the bib of his teammate at the College of Saint Scholastica, Chris Parr.

HAYWARD, Wis. — U.S. Ski Team member Tad Elliott and Holly Brooks of Alaska Pacific University outlasted their elite competition at the 39th American Birkebeiner on Saturday to win the men’s and women’s 50 k skate races, respectively.

Elliott broke away from the pack with about 15 kilometers to go, opening up a gap to more than 30 seconds with 6 k remaining. He beat former CXC teammate Matt Liebsch (Team Strong Heart/Team Birkie) by 13.7 seconds with a winning time of 2:04.48.5.

Brian Gregg (CXC) was third (+14.8), two-tenths of a second ahead of Canadian Michael Somppi (NDC Thunder Bay).

In the women’s race, Brooks beat Caitlin Gregg (CXC) to the line by 0.4 seconds, winning in 2:18.53.2. The two consistently led a pack of about a half dozen women throughout the 50 k and broke away with about 20 k to go. Jennie Bender (CXC) made her way to the front of the chase group and finished third (+2:53.1) in her first Birkie skate race. Bender won last year’s 54 k classic race.

Minnesota’s Joe Dubay (Saint Scholastica) was the first to cross the line in the men’s classic race on Saturday, but was later disqualified for racing in a bib that belonged to his teammate at the College of Saint Scholastica, Chris Parr.

David Chamberlain of Boulder Nordic Sport, who was originally second but a small margin, moved to first. Norway’s decorated Olympian, Vegard Ulvang placed third.

Results 

Video from elite men’s finish

More video from elite finish, including women

While FasterSkier will be tweeting as much as possible from the 39th American Birkebeiner (@fasterskier) on Saturday, this Birkie Live webcast is also available via CXC.

If you happen to miss the races starting at 8 a.m. local time (9 a.m. Eastern), check out archived videos here.

(Note: FasterSkier live updates will be based on cell service, which is non-existent for at least the first half of the race. Be sure to check back and read the race recaps on Saturday).

HAYWARD, Wis. — The American Birkebeiner expo was jumping with athletes on Friday afternoon, many of which buzzed around industry tables seeking advice from ski professionals.

What’s the wax?

With temperatures expected to be in the 20′s later Saturday morning, most everyone was recommending blue.

Here are a few tips from the service pros as seen on their websites or expo newsletters:

Boulder Nordic Sport:

• Ski Selection: Early waves: med to stiff flex cold ski, Later Waves: Medium flex Cold Ski.
• Stone Grinds: Skating S1.3 (CV0), S1.2 (S1-0x), S0.2 (0.55), S2.2 (S2-1x), Classic: C1.2 (XTi2), C2.2 (Li2), C0.2 (ZR1XL).
• Base Layer: SkiGo LF Graphite
• Race Paraffin: Holmenkol Matrix Blue or Ski*Go HF Blue
• Fluoro Powder: Holmenkol Mid 08 or Solda HP05 or Ski*Go C105
• Topcoat: Holmenkol Speedblock Cold
• Structure: Holmenkol Structure Tool (one roller) or Finite L04/AF10
• Kick: Clean the kick zone, rough up kick zone with sandpaper, iron in a binder layer of Toko Green hard wax/binder. We tested quite a lot of kick wax Friday at 10AM and found the following recommendations. Conditions on race morning are supposed to be colder, with more new snow possible, so this may need to be adjusted on race morning!
• Guru Green for those who are skiing early and have solid technique.
• Rode Super Extra for those in later waves or who need a little extra kick. It had great kick and was the fastest of everything we tried except Rode Super Extra has better kick and is still almost as fast as Guru Green. SkiGo HF Blue was also quite good, although with the new snow coming, SkiGo HF Violet might be a better choice.

Fast Wax:

• Glide Wax: Apply 2 layers of HSF 20 Tan over 1 layer of HSLF-20 Blue. Top coat with Flite Cold, Iron in using the Fast Wax Base Saver
• Grip Wax Options: (Make sure to rough up your wax pocket with 100 grit sand paper before waxing)
• Iron in Rode Black Binder, cork in and let cool, then cover with several layers of Rode Multigrade Blue or Rode Multigrade Purple, –> Rode Violet Special
• Iron in Rex Blue Power Grip or Grip Tape then add a layer of Rode Multigrade Blue or Rode Mutligrade Purple –> Rode Violet Special

Start Wax:

• Glide: Start Blue for snow 10F-20F: It will be a high humidity day with plenty of moisture and dirt. The more Fluor skiers use, the faster the skis will be throughout the race. … The skiers in the back 1/3 will have air temps above this range but the snow will remain colder and with the extra dirt farther back, Blue is still ideal. Choose between SG6, FG16, LF07 or HF70 based on your budget and goals. Two layers of Blue with your highest Fluor on top. … For 100% Start Speed use SF10g or SFR 99 block or Nano N7 — 100% Finishing Fluors.
• Kick: Start Blue. Iron in Base Wax on roughed up kick zone to keep your kick in your kick zone for 22 km or 54 km. Add 5-8 thin layers of RF Blue. RF Blue has the widest temp range 14-15F of all our blues and has a lot of Fluor for dirst and moisture. Terva Tar Blue (the poor man’s Fluor) would be another good option for those that have it but we would recommend the durable Synthetic Blue under it for durability.

Toko: 

• Glidewax: All waves, both techniques: Apply LF Moly, scrape and brush, then apply HF Blue, scrape and brush. Finish by rotocorking JetStream Blue, brush with a dedicated nylon polishing brush and polish with a thermopad. “Quick ironing” the JetStream Blue and corking over it is also a great option. See www.TokoVideos.com for demonstration.
• Gripwax: Rough kick zone with 150 grit sandpaper, apply Nordic Base Wax Green, iron in, cork smooth, let cool. Then apply one layer of Nordic GripWax Blue, cork smooth, and cover with Base Wax Green, cork smooth. Then Blue, Green, Blue, all full length of zone. Follow with Green, Blue, Green, Blue, in middle of kick zone. Later waves should carry GripWax Red and a cork.
• Structure: A fine linear structure covered by one pass with the Blue Structurite tool (before JetStream application) will best suit these conditions.

Click here for a complete list of Birkie expo vendors and website links. 

Video of the 2012 Birkie Elite Sprints is now available to watch.

The sprints were won by Jennie Bender (CXC) and Dmitriy Ozerskiy.

Watch the video here

The second consecutive day of racing got underway today at the 34th annual Gatineau Loppet  under blue skies.  Again the competition for the top step on the podium was close and hard fought.  In the men’s 51km race it was Duluth, Minnesota’s Adam Swank who took the sprint finish by four seconds and by the same margin it was Canmore, Canada’s Amanda Ammar that claimed the women’s crown.

In the women’s race Ammar crossed the line in 2:24:55, just four seconds ahead of Canmore’s Andrea Dupont.  Robyn Anderson of Stowe, Colorado took the final step of the podium in 2:26:34.

The men’s 51km race was just as close as Swank finished in 2:06:52, just besting Anchorage’s Lars Flora.  Pate Newman (Canmore, Canada) captured third in the same time as Flora – 2:06:56.

In the 27.5km freestyle race it was a pair of Ottawa skiers that claimed the top hardware as Anna Crawford took the women’s race in 1:18:33 and Michael Vieira was the fastest male in 1:08:33.

Complete Results