Intense Oberhof Training Camp Helped Prep Star Skiers for Another Paralympic Run

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by Alex Abrams

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing coaches wanted to pick up the intensity and create pressure situations for the four Paralympic gold medalists, even as they were skiing on manmade snow inside an underground ski tunnel in Oberhof, Germany. 

 

Instead of taking it easy, coaches put top American Para Nordic skiers Dan Cnossen, Kendall Gretsch, Oksana Masters and Sydney Peterson through a series of high-intensity workouts and shooting competitions during a 10-day training camp in Oberhof. 

 

And since athletes from Great Britain and Brazil were also training inside the ski tunnel while the Americans were there in late September and early October, coaches arranged for the skiers to take part in a time trail race. 

 

“The time trials and competitive workouts were great chances to check in on everyone’s preparation process,” said Nick Michaud, a coach with U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing. “It’s better to practice details now — warm-up routines, morning fueling, the rifle hand-off — than to wonder later if we’re ready enough. This camp helped everyone reestablish those race-day routines after several months away from competition.” 

 

This year’s training camp in Oberhof was much more intense than the one that U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing held a year ago with a group made up mostly of Paralympic hopefuls and development athletes who are new to the sport. 

 

Cnossen, Gretsch, Masters and Peterson are U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing national team members who have combined to win 36 Paralympic medals. All four are training this offseason in the hopes of being in top shape and skiing as fast as possible at the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in March. 

 

Michaud said the training camp in Oberhof was set up to help the athletes build confidence and prepare for when the Para Nordic skiing season starts in December. They had the chance to see how the adjustments that they made to their ski equipment in the offseason impacted their high-speed movements on snow. 

 

The two weeks in Germany also gave the Americans an opportunity to spend time together after training in different parts of the world over the summer. 

 

“This is very much a team sport. Our group has become a family that laughs hard together and supports each other through the tough moments,” Michaud said. “It’s always special to reunite after months apart and to see athletes choosing to run together, grab coffee during training breaks or linger after dinner in hopes of (playing) another card game, which is always a yes. 

 

“I know the team is strong when they give each other feedback on the snow and when they choose to spend their downtime together. That’s what keeps our culture connected and grounded.” 

 

For Masters, the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time, the training camp was the next step in her comeback from various injuries that have sidelined her for much of the past year. 

 

She was forced to miss this past Para Nordic skiing season after developing an infection in her leg. She then needed surgery on her right hand, the same hand that she uses to pull the trigger on her rifle while competing in the biathlon. 

 

Masters, a 19-time Paralympic medalist in Nordic skiing, cycling and rowing, is looking to add to her medal count in Milano Cortina, which will be her eighth consecutive Paralympics. She recently shared a video of herself skiing inside the ski tunnel in Oberhof on Instagram. 

 

“It’s more than snow — it’s the feeling of starting again. After surgery, after setbacks, after everything,” Masters wrote on Instagram. “Tunnel vision. Same dream. Different chapter.” 

Susan Dunklee, a three-time Olympian in biathlon, traveled to Germany with U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing to serve as a coach at the training camp. She has been getting more involved in coaching Para Nordic skiers since retiring from competition following the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. 

 

Dunklee worked with Masters, Gretsch and Peterson on small details with their shooting at the range to hopefully shave precious seconds off their times in the biathlon. Cnossen has stopped training in the biathlon to focus solely on competing in cross-country skiing. 

 

“These athletes have had a lot of success, and they have developed incredibly good intuition and habits around many aspects of their training,” Dunklee said. “One important challenge of coaching at this level is discerning when to give feedback or bring a new idea and when to recognize that something is already working really well and let it be.” 

 

Dunklee met individually with Masters, Gretsch and Peterson to improve their shooting fundamentals, such as squeezing the trigger and the fit of their rifles. They then wrapped up the training camp by having fun by staging a biathlon race against the British skiers and competing in shooting games with them at the range. 

 

“During any sort of championship, it’s advisable to not try anything drastically new or different if you don’t need to,” Dunklee said. “During this camp, we were trying to dial in basic routines on the range for both athletes and staff that we can all trust and feel comfortable with during race weeks.” 

 

Michaud said the months leading up to the Winter Paralympics can be even more stressful than usual for athletes. To keep the training camp fun while still intense, the group of coaches and athletes went to an escape room, visited an aquarium, enjoyed local pastries, played cards most evening and drank cappuccinos at their new favorite coffee shop in Oberhof. 

 

“If we don’t take time to laugh and enjoy the experience together, it can be easy to let the pressure override the gratitude we have to do all this together,” Michaud said. 


Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaNordic.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.