August 12, 2024
Summer training has transitioned into fall training as the last few months before the winter season tick down! Summer training has overall gone well and been very productive, but as some of you know, there has been a lot of craziness outside of training. Here’s a recap of what I have been up to this summer, as well as an update on the state of Nordic Combined in the U.S.
Summer Part 1: Lillehammer, Norway
I started the summer off training in Alaska before heading over to Lillehammer, Norway in late May. Lillehammer, as always, delivered with an extremely productive and focused training block. I was able to get back on the hill for the first time since February (When I was effectively deported from Norway see The Visa Saga), which after a rusty first session, I was able to brush off the cobwebs and continue where I left off. While in Lillehammer, I trained and lived with my fellow National Team member Niklas Malacinski, as well as Erik Lynch. Training consisted of Ski Jumping, Roller skiing, Running, and Strength Sessions in the gym usually twice a day. In between sessions we spent our time playing guitar in the sun, fly fishing, and calling friends and family back home. Our apartment was always full of music with Niklas and Erik both learning guitar, and in return for some music lessons, Niklas helped me with my flyfishing casts.
Summer Part 2: Lake Placid, NY + Steamboat Springs, CO
At the end of June our time in Lillehammer came to a close as Niklas and I flew back to the U.S for a National Team training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY. The idea was a Ski Jumping focused camp with coach Michael Ward. Our Norwegian coach Christian Ingebrigtsen was supposed to come for the camp, but USA Nordic didn’t book his ticket. It was at this Lake Placid camp that USA Nordic officially announced that they were prioritizing Ski Jumping and dropping my sport of Nordic Combined. Without warning they took away all our funding, which included our Norwegian partnership of coaches, wax techs and other team support. This was pretty shocking to all of us as a team and left many of us with mixed feelings of anger, betrayal, disappointment, and disbelief as we realized that we were left with no funding, no coaches, and no plan for the upcoming season. A season where we are expected to perform well and represent the United States at the 2025 World Ski Championships in February, and the last full season before the 2026 Olympic Games.
This was difficult to process, but the entire U.S Nordic Combined community, spearheaded by three parents Jill Brabec, Steph Wilson, and Jill Brubaker (mom!), worked tirelessly to form a new organization: Nordic Combined USA. This organization is doing its best to raise the necessary funds to support us this season, but it’s still short of its goal. If you are interested in supporting the team, please consider donating to Nordic Combined USA here. I also have a personal donation page connected to this blog that I will use to fund my own personal season linked here. Your donation means a lot as my team and I try to prepare for the World Championships and the Olympic Games.
Ok, that was my donation plug, back to training. Despite USA Nordic’s decision, the Lake Placid camp was extremely productive, and with the help of coach Michael Ward I was able to have some of my best jumps to date. After two weeks in Lake Placid, I flew to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for the 4th of July “Jumping and Jamming” competition, and a fund raiser for our new organization. Sickness unfortunately prevented me from racing in the roller ski race, but the jumping went well.
Summer Part 3: Home!
After Steamboat, I flew back to Alaska in mid-July for some much-needed time at home. Training in Anchorage is always amazing with the beautiful terrain and mountain running. Being home also allowed for weekend getaways backpacking, fishing, and spending time at our cabin in Seldovia, Alaska. Being home was a great reset, and after a couple weeks I was ready to get back to Norway.
I am currently in Trondheim, Norway training with my teammates Stephen Schumann, Niklas Malacinski, and the Norwegian athletes based here. We currently have not finalized a Norwegian partnership, so this coming season is a bit of an unknown, but we are confident that we will be able to raise the funds to make this happen. Now it’s time to focus on training for the last two weeks before my first ever Summer Grand Prix in Chaux Neuve, France! I am super excited to be competing in the Summer Grand Prix, and I’ll be dropping another blog post about the experience in early September!
Now for some thank yous! A huge thank you goes out to the Kroll family for letting me spend a night at their home in New York, as well as driving me to Lake Placid. People like the Krolls are the reason why the Nordic Combined community is so great. I’d also like to thank The Malacinski family for opening their home to me in Steamboat. Thank you so much to the Rennard family for their donation to my Go Fund Me which will go towards my gear costs for the coming season. I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who donated to Nordic Combined USA to support our team. Your support is greatly appreciated. Lastly, I would like to thank Jill Brabec, Steph Wilson, and my mom Jill Brubaker for all the work you have done towards getting Nordic Combined back on its feet. Your tireless effort and unwavering support is the reason why Nordic Combined will continue to be strong in the U.S.
That’s all folks! Thanks for reading this blog post. If you would like to contact me, feel free to shoot me an email at carterbrubaker@gmail.com. If you have the means, please consider donating to Nordic Combined USA or my donation page. Thank you so much for your continued support, and I’ll see you all in a month for a Summer Grand Prix rundown!