Lake Placid is hosting the Cross-Country World Cup Finals this weekend. It’s the first time ever that the world’s best skiers will finish their season on American soil.
In addition to three days of racing, there will be special events for kids and opportunities to meet American skiers like Jessie Diggins, Ben Ogden, and Gus Schumacher, all of whom won medals at the recent Olympics. Norwegian skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who won six gold medals at the games, will also be racing in Lake Placid.
Emily Russell was at the Mount Van Hoevenberg sports complex on Tuesday to preview the event with Kris Cheney Seymour from the Olympic Regional Development Authority.
Emily RussellLake Placid expects large crowds at Cross Country World Cup Finals
EMILY RUSSELL: So I want to start with snow. We’ve had some really warm days here recently, up to 55° or so. I was watching the snow melt here in Lake Placid and Saranac Lake in recent weeks. It’s back to winter now outside. It’s snowing out here, but what’s gone into making sure that the trails are ready for the World Cup finals?
KRIS CHENEY SEYMOUR: It all comes down to snow production. So, for us, we began as soon as the temperatures allowed in late November and early December. We just started making as much snow as possible. So within the stadium and on the course, when we were complete with snow making, we had somewhere between 4-6 ft of produced snow that was on the 5-km network and in the stadium.
In addition to that, we had snow storage piles that were created that were then deployed right before the event. So in like the athlete warm-up and test areas, just having a large pile of snow on the edge that we could move and transport to fill in any spots, any places where there’s been a melt. So we, in the last week, have really needed to do quite a bit of work with that. The transport of snow and the regrooming and building has been quite active in the last 10 days with the less than seasonally nice weather for snow.
Jessie Diggins, of the United States, competed in the cross-country skiing women’s team sprint free at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
RUSSELL: For folks who don’t ski, don’t watch skiing, aren’t big cross-country ski fans, what’s the pitch for them to come out and see one of the races happening this weekend?
CHENEY SEYMOUR: So, outside of the races, they’re going to have an absolute blast. From music and flyovers, to polka bands, to food, to interesting expo areas with different companies that are showing what they do and sharing interesting things.
It’s just going to be a good time. Around that, you’re going to have the best cross-country skiers in the world here. I think that, for a lot of people, it’s hard to capture on a television just how quickly they move on snow and how competitive and shoulder-to-shoulder the racing is. So Saturday, an example is sprint racing. It’s on a short course, it’s a little over a kilometer.
There will be 10,000 people packed into a stadium, screaming and yelling for these skiers who are going round after round against each other. And again, it’s racing that is very close. There are strategic moves, people are getting cut off. It’s quite exciting to watch and you don’t need to know anything about cross-country skiing to enjoy it.
I think the other thing is going to be the crowds, the cheering, the excitement, the energy and the vibe just because how intimate the trail system and the stadium is at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. There’s going to be 10,000 people here, but it’s going to feel like 100,000 and it will be loud and exciting and fun and it’s going to be a great show.
Einar Hedegart, of Norway, from left, Ben Ogden, of the United States, and Elia Barp, of Italy, compete in the cross-country skiing men’s team sprint free at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
EMILY RUSSELL: So, Jessie Diggins is the most decorated American cross-country skier and these are going to be her last races as a professional cross-country skier here in Lake Placid. I wonder if you could just talk a little bit about her legacy and how she’s changed the sport and how the sport has changed in America since she started skiing.
CHENEY SEYMOUR: Yeah. what is phenomenal in Jessie’s career is that she and Kikkan Randall, when they won the first gold medals for US cross-country skiing together in the team sprint at the 2018 Olympics- I think that really changed the mindset and it made people believe.
Since, there’s been this watershed that really in a lot of ways the coaches and that community within US skiing, the clubs of this country have really gotten behind one vision and that one vision is not just excellence in performance, but it’s also excellence in a community and supporting each other and working together and Jessie has for sure been the role model for all of that.
Medalists in the women’s team sprint freestyle cross-country skiing, silver medal winners Stina Nilsson and Charlotte Kalla, of Sweden, at left, gold medal winners Kikkan Randall and Jessica Diggins, of the United States, center, and bronze medal winners Marit Bjoergen and Maiken Caspersen Falla, of Norway, pose during their medals ceremony at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
RUSSELL: This is the first time the World Cup Finals for cross-country skiing is on American soil. Do you think this is the start of a rebirth or bringing more races like this to the US and maybe even to Lake Placid?
CHENEY SEYMOUR: Yes. Yes, it is. Yeah, World Cup finals coming to Lake Placid has been many years in the making. I think that for this to be cemented happened when there was a World Cup hosted in Minnesota in 2024. Jessie was pushing to bring that World Cup to the United States in Minnesota a few years ago.
When the crowds and the turnout happened in Minnesota, I think it really got the attention of the European Federations about what is possible in the US. At that same point, after the revitalization of the venues within the ORDA portfolio, FIS [the International Ski Federation] was quite interested in coming back to the States and coming to Lake Placid.
So, I think what has been happening after Minneapolis is a conversation with FIS about how they can come back to the US more. What they’re seeing is the energy, the activation, the positivity that comes, the crowd that arrive and the athlete experience is viewed as significantly positive. So, there’s a desire to come back more and more. So, yeah, the conversation here in Lake Placid is about when’s the next one? So, hopefully, it’ll all be back in just a couple of years.
Gus Schumacher, left and Ben Ogden, right, of the United States, celebrate after winning the silver medal in the cross-country skiing men’s team sprint free at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)