On Sunday, we posted an episode with Russian superstar Saveliy Korostelev. We reached out on Thursday, after he was in the headlines for being one of 12 athletes included in the Russian Ski Federation’s appeal to CAS over the FIS decision to ban athletes from the World Cup (and thus, Olympics) this winter.

He responded immediately, and we almost did an interview that day, but I wasn’t paying attention to my Instagram DMs…so we scheduled it for Sunday afternoon. I thought it was something the Nordic community would want to have ASAP, so we uploaded it almost immediately after recording.

….it’s pretty crazy, though. … we have less than 200 listens on that episode right now….our Instagram post promoting the episode has 7 likes….that’s the kind of thing that makes me think either 1) Google hates me, 2) I don’t understand the internet, 3) Nordic skiers actually don’t care that much about quality content creation/media/journalism …

We will try not to get too discouraged. Our show, our readers, our listeners — GripWax Nation – are what matter. We appreciate all of you, but especially those who were listening five years ago when getting more than 20 streams on an episode was actually significant…

Alas, I hope my conversation with Saveliy — the only interview I’ve seen with a Russian athlete, maybe ever, on a Nordic ski podcast (we’ll let Gavin do the fact checking there!!) — didn’t take away any of the thunder from some of our other recent episodes. Over the weekend, we also posted our interview with author, Minnesota Gopher alumn and co-MN state champ Doug Edmonson. Definitely check that out – also, we have some cool data Doug sent me in regards to the ‘Mt. Rushmore’ question we posed near the end of the conversation. See below…

Also, our show with Zak Ketterson drops tomorrow.

Finally, this Saturday, you won’t want to miss our conversation with the woman who started the Ely skiing dynasty from scratch. Minnesota High School Nordic Ski HOF Paula Anderson joins to talk about her ski story, coaching advice and also a cool anecdote on her former athlete — and current pro skier — Erin Bianco.

Oh…one more thing: we spoke with Bjørn Hanson from Out There Nordic yesterday and we’ll be scheduling that show for Nov. 22. If you’re big into the Birkie, you’ll definitely want to hear this convo. Bjørn and Co. have nailed the wax, so to speak, at the last 5 or 6 Birkies (probably more, too). We dove into strategy and specifics and pestered him with all sorts of questions about making skis fast. The only problem about that show is that it wasn’t three times as long!

Seder-Skier Podcast fall shows

• Oct. 29: Hailey Swirbul chats about her World Cup comeback.
• Nov. 1: Erin Moening talks about her work supporting coaches of all levels and growing the elite domestic Nordic community.
• Nov. 4: The Seder-Skier Podcast solo show: Gripwax Nation returns with robust commentary on all the latest ski news.
• Nov. 8: 1966 MN co-state champion Doug Edmonson joins to discuss his new book “Norm Oakvik: The Inconspicuous Coach — Memories of a Beloved Coach and a history of Minnesota Nordic Skiing.” 
• Nov. 9: Saveliy Korostelev joins to talk about the recent CAS appeal to the Russian ban and much, much more. Amazingly, not many people know who Korostelev is. At 18, he won two golds and a silver at the 2022 World Junior Championships. Last winter, he earned the overall title in the Russian Cup over folks like Alexander Bolshunov. He is arguably the best Russian skier right now…which means he might be one of the best two or three skiers in the world. a
• Nov. 12: Zak Ketterson hops on to talk about his mindset coming into an Olympic year after his best World Cup season yet in 2024-2025.
• Nov. 15: Minnesota High School Nordic Ski HOF Paula Anderson joins!
• Nov. 22: Out There Nordic’s Bjørn Hanson hops on to talk Birkie wax, systematizing waxing for high school coaches and more

The Mt. Rushmore of Minnesota high school skiing and running

Big thanks to Doug Edmonson for compiling some of these fun stats and standings!

GO CHECK OUT HIS BOOK SERIES, ‘MINNESOTA NORDIC SKIING’ ON AMAZON!

The three-part series includes: 1) “Norm Oakvik: the Inconspicuous Coach and Minnesota Book of Champions and 2)Book of Champions, Book 1 (1935-2000) and 3) Book of Champions, Book 2 (2001-2025). The latter two books list off year-by-year results and stories from the Minnesota High School state cross-country ski meet.

After pouring through the data, let us know who you think should be on the Mt. Rushmore of MN Prep skiing!!

Send us an email at sederskier@gmail.com

As always, I apologize for typos, grammatical errors and fake news haha!

——-Keep on Striving, Keep on Skiing!—–