This podcasts gives a quick overview of all new Toko products for the 2023/24 season. We have been busy developing exciting new products for you ..read more

Jim Fredericks started Nordic skiing at Johnson State College and then became its head coach for all ski sports starting in 1973. As well as being one of the East’s fastest racers, Jim worked at Craftsbury starting their Nordic Ski Center. Jim then turned to coaching starting the successful Green Mountain Valley School Nordic program. From 1986 to 2006 Jim ran the Nordic Race Department at Rossignol which really defined his career. A Vermonter through and through, when Rossignol moved from Vermont to Utah, Jim remained in Vermont and took the role of the Catamount Trail Association’s executive ..read more

Udo Raunjak has been the head of Toko Research and Development for the past 15 years. In addition to developing innovative new waxes, Udo also oversees quality control, production, and purchasing of raw materials. He is a straight talker who I think knows more than anyone in the world about ski wax. We discuss the development process of new waxes, the liquid paraffin revolution and what makes the Toko liquid paraffins different from others on the market, new fluorine free racing products, how to best waterproof skins, and ECO friendly waxes. If you are interested in ski racing wax or are curio ..read more

Chris Cook has represented the US 45 times in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic competitions. His best individual international result was 12th place in the Sovereign Lakes World Cup Skate Sprint in 2005. Chris finished 21st in the 2006 Olympics in the Skate Sprint. The 2006 US National Champion, Chris retired after the 2011 season. He is now 40 and living in Rhinelander, WI with his wife and son. We discussed the legacy that his parents have left, the 2010 Birkie, some of his most memorable races, how sprinting has changed, and enduro motocross racing among other things. This was an ..read more

Torin Koos has represented the US 76 times in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic competitions. His best individual international result was a 3rd place in Otepaeae, Estonia Classic sprint in 2007. Torin also finished 4th in the Dusseldorf, Germany World Cup team sprint with Andy Newell in 2008. Torin has 34 top 30 individual results in WC and World Championships. He has won the US National Championships 7 times and the Canadian Championships once (not counting sprint relays). Torin retired from full time training and racing after the 2014 season. This 4 time Olympian now lives in Lausa ..read more

Rick Kapala has been the program director and head Nordic ski coach for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation since 1987. He has been named the US Ski and Snowboard "Coach of the Year" 3 times. Rick has coached at both the senior and junior world championships levels. SVSEF has annually qualified 2 and sometimes even 4 athletes for the US Junior World Championship team. Despite this amazing success, Rick's true legacy is in how he changes lives for the better. There are thousands of skiers in the USA with a deep appreciation for how Rick has prepared them not only for elite ski racing, but a ..read more

Kikkan Randall has 262 starts in World Cup, World Championships, and Olympic games. Of these international starts, she has reached the podium in individual races 31 times including 13 victories. Kikkan has won the overall Sprint World Cup 3 times and was 3rd in the overall World Cup in 2013. In the 2018 Olympic Games Kikkan won the gold medal in the team sprint with Jessie Diggins. In addition to her 17 US National Championship titles, this 5 time Olympian won individual silver and bronze medals as well as a Team Sprint gold medal in World Championships. Kikkan is also deservedly well known fo ..read more

Kaitlynn Miller is member of the 2018 US Olympic team. She has 33 World Cup starts, 5 US National Championship podiums, and one US National Championships win in the 2016 Classic Sprint. She retired in the spring of 2020 and is now working as the Youth and Introductory Program Direction for NENSA. Kaitlynn is 29. Kaitlynn talks about skiing for Craftsbury as a kid and then again as an elite skier, her job with NENSA, and the importance of not focusing on results but rather on all of the aspects of skiing and ski racing that are so attractive and enjoyable ..read more

Sverre Caldwell coached the Stratton Junior Nordic Team from 1980 until he retired after the 2019 season. Sverre has been honored as USSA Coach of the Year 3 times, was a 1988 Olympic team coach, a World Junior Team coach 3 times, and was a US Ski Team regional coach. The Stratton Junior Nordic program has been very successful qualifying at least one junior athlete for World Juniors in each of the last 25 years and also 15 Olympians. This year and traditionally about ¼ of the US Nordic ski team is made up of Stratton athletes. That said, Sverre is a legend not because of his results but becaus ..read more

Caitlin has 72 World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic starts. She has 19 podiums at the US Nationals and has won the US National Championships 7 times. Despite seeming to be a pure distance skier, she has two US National sprint titles showing that she is a true all arounder (and in both classic and skate). Caitlin has 12 individual World Cup top 30 results and was 4th in Pyeonchang at the preolympic WC as well as 26th in Pyeonchang at the OWG. Her brother is US XC Ski Olympian Scott Patterson. Caitlin is 30 years old and is clearly in the elite echelon of Nordic skiers in the history of th ..read more