Extra Blue
Episodes
Ep 33: How Curiosity Turned Into a World Cup Biathlon Season w/ Luci Anderson
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode I welcome Luci Anderson! Luci is a U.S. biathlete from Golden Valley, Minnesota, and a lifelong skier who grew up racing in the Midwes...
Ep 32: Tracks That Shape Us: Skiing Through Career, Motherhood, and Identity with Erika Flowers and Annie Van Fossan
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s episode is about what it means to grow, evolve, and keep skiing at the center of it all, even as life adds new roles, new priorities, and ne...
Ep 31: Chasing the Love of the Sport w/ Johnny Hagenbuch
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, I welcome Johnny Hagenbuch to talk about his build up for this season while training with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Jo...
Ep 30: Strength for Skiers w/ US Ski Team Strength Coach Tschana Schiller
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Strength for cross country skiers of all ages and abilities. On this episode, I welcome US Ski team strength coach, Tschana Schiller. Tschana is the l...
Ep 29: Balancing a Full-time Job, Coaching, Athletic Goals AND Family Planning with Maggie Bowman
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s guest is someone who has inspired me since I was a teenager on the Wayzata ski team.I sit down with Maggie (Pierson) Bowman to talk about th...
Ep 28: Stanford Soccer AND Skiing with Sammy Smith
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sammy Smith is a member of the U.S. Ski Team, a D1 soccer player at Stanford University, and one of the most exciting young athletes representing Team...
Ep 27: Dealing with Injuries with Adam Witkowski and Skylar Patten
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode I welcome Adam Witkowski and Skylar Patten. Both Adam and Skylar are new athletes to Team Birkie and recent graduates from Michigan Te...
Ep 26: Racing Through Nonlinear Progression and Loving Ski Racing with Luke Jager
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I welcome Team USA ski racer, Luke Jager. Luke is from Anchorage, Alaska where he grew up skiing for Alaska Pacific University. From a young age, Luke...
Ep 25: Healing from Disordered Eating as a Skier with MK Cirelli
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Extra Blue, I welcome guest, Mary Kate Cirelli. MK and I discuss her experience with disordered eating starting as a young athlete ...
Ep 24: First Year on the World Cup with Kate Oldham
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From National Champ to World Championships, on this episode of Extra Blue I welcome guest Kate Oldham. Kate had a standout season this past winter, wi...
Ep 23: Waxing for a World Cup Podium with Gus Schumacher and Chris Hecker
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How to Wax for a World Cup Podium! On this episode of Extra Blue I welcome World Cup skier, Gus Schumacher, along with his wax technician, Chris Hecke...
Ep 22: Trying New Things, Like Biathlon World Cups with Margie Freed
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We launch a new era of Extra Blue powered by Gear West! In this episode, we welcome Margie Freed, Minnesota native, fellow UVM Catamount and now a sta...
Ep 21: Q&A by Bearskin Lodge with Zak Ketterson and Alayna
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode I welcome guests, Zak Ketterson and Quinn McCloughan for a little Q&A on all things related to cross country skiing. I did a full...
Ep 20: Navigating the Transition: How US Nordic Skiers Transition Away from Competitive Ski Racing w/ Lizzie Larkins
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Extra Blue I welcome friend and former college teammate, Lizzie Larkins. Lizzie recently wrapped up three years as the assistant co...
Ep 19: Midwest Ski Racing w/ Team Birkie
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Team Birkie is a Midwest-based professional ski team led by Team Director Yuriy Gusev and Head Coach, Julie Ensrud. Team Birkie was formed through a c...
Ep 18: Our Ski Community w/ Gear West Ski & Bike Shop
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Extra Blue I welcome Jan Gunther and David Chamberlain. Jan is the owner of Gear West Ski and Bike shop located in Long Lake, MN, j...
Ep 17: USA Biathlon vs Cross Country with Kelsey Dickinson
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kelsey Dickinson is a biathlete for Team USA and traveling the World Cup circuit all season. She grew up in Winthrop, WA, attending the College of St....
Ep 16: Skiing w/ Flora Dolci and the French National Team
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Flora Dolci is a member of the French National Cross Country ski team. She has multiple top-20 results on the World Cup and is a fierce competitor, bu...
Ep 15: The USST D-Team with Kristen Bourne
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kristen Bourne has been the USST D-Team coach for over year now and has taken on some impressive roles. Not only is she coaching 8 athletes on the D t...
Ep 14: Visma Ski Classics w/ Katie Feldman
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Katie Feldman is an American skier who just wrapped up a successful racing career with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. After 5 years of Sup...
Ep 13: World Cup Expenses w/ David Norris
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
David Norris raced in 58 World Cups as a professional skier. He competed in 3 World Championships and had many top-30 results on the World Cup, yet he...
Ep 12: Racing on the Canadian National Ski Team w/ Katherine Stewart-Jones
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Katherine Steward-Jones is a World Cup Skier for the Canadian National Ski Team. She has had a stand-out season this year with 3 top-13 finishes on th...
Ep 11: World Championship Alternates w/ Zak Ketterson
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Zak Ketterson is a member of the US Ski team and a fellow native to Minnesota. He was recently named to the World Championship team, but was not given...
Ep10: From the Finnish National Ski Team - Jasmi Jonsuu
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Most foreigners come to the US for college as their last stop as a ‘pro skier.’ There have been a few exceptions over the year, including Jasmi Jo...
Ep9: World Cup Support Staff - PT and Chef: Anna & Cada
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of Extra Blue takes a look at the behind-the-scenes of World Cup ski racing with the support staff. Anna Giguere is a physical therapist ...
Ep 8: Balancing World Cup & College Skiing w/ Ben Ogden
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Ogden is a member of the US Ski Team, University of Vermont Ski team, and the SMS T2 club team. Ben is coming off a 6th place finish in the 10k Cl...
Ep7: Trusting the Process with Jessie Diggins
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jessie is a 3x Olympic medalist for team USA. She is an advocate for mental health, eating disorder awareness, equal rights, getting the community out...
Ep 6: A Klister Konversation w/ Rosie Brennan: On and Off the National Team
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rosie is a member of the USST and a world cup podium skier. In this episode, we chat about the road to get there and how it wasn’t always smooth. Ro...
Ep 5: Fueling for the Winter Athlete w/ Megan Chacosky
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Megan currently serves as the lead Sport Dietitian for the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, organizing nutrition provisions for the elite club programs of b...
Ep4: Season Goals - Accountability and Vulnerability w/ Gus Schumacher
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gus Schumacher is a professional cross country skier for Team USA. Born in Madison, WI but raised in Anchorage, Gus shares a little bit about his life...
Ep3: Women Led Wednesday with Indura Athletic Founder, Abby Drach
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this Women Led Wednesday I welcome Abby Drach to the Extra Blue podcast. Women Led Wednesday occurs annually on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving....
Episode 2: Julia Kern
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Julia Kern is a professional cross country skier for Team USA, my own teammate on the SMS T2 Ski Team, and my friend. She has many podiums to her name...
Episode 1: Intro to Extra Blue
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Extra Blue! Extra Blue is a podcast about cross country skiing; sharing stories, race results, training insight, innovation in the sport, a...