U.S. ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson secured the first-ever women's ski jumping World Cup title on Saturday in Zao, Japan, then won her eighth WC competition on Sunday. Hendrickson, 17, was second in a competition on Saturday, collecting enough points to clinch the overall title. "Knowing that I had already secured the overall title made it easier to jump with less pressure," Hendrickson said on Sunday. In the inaugural season of World Cup women's ski jumping, Hendrickson became the first woman t... Read More
Spain's Alejandro Valverde continued his comeback from a two-year doping suspension with a victory on Tuesday on stage three of the Paris-Nice road race. Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins finished the stage in 20th position but maintained a six-second lead in general classification ahead of American riders Levi Leipheimer and Tejay van Garden. Andy Schleck, the 2011 Tour de France runner up, withdrew from the race on Tuesday morning with a stomach illness. Valverde returned to professional cycli... Read More
The U.S. Forest Service announced last week that access to most national forest land will become free following a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. On February 9, the court ruled that "everyone is entitled to enter national forests without paying a cent," but did not clarify whether charging for the use of maintained facilities would make access fees acceptable. In a statement issued Thursday, the agency said it would continue to charge user fees to 26 sites that offer ammeniti... Read More
A massive, slow-moving avalanche destroyed a chair lift carrying 70 people at a ski resort in the French Alps on Sunday. Ski patrollers at St Francois-Longchamps were able to evacuate all of the skiers and riders from the lift without injury. The lift operator said she stopped the lift when she saw the avalanche approaching. Several skiers captured video footage of the slide, which measured 26 feet deep in places.
Read more at Global Post
The 40th Iditarod began on Sunday in Willow, Alaska with 66 teams competing for more than $500,000 in prize money at sled-dog racing's most prestigious race. Wasilla, Alaska's Ray Redington Jr. holds an early lead over Hugh Neff and four-time champion Lance Mackey through the Rainy Pass checkpoint. The fastest teams are expected to finish in eight or nine days after covering nearly 1,050 miles on the way to Nome, Alaska.
Read more at the Anchorage Daily News
