Knut-Eric Joslin (asst. coach)

Although I always went skiing when I was a kid—usually accompanying my mom on tours of the local golf course a few times each winter—it wasn’t until the seventh grade that I competed in a Nordic race. It was a 5km skate at Prospect Mt. and I remember sporting a pair of purple track warm-ups, a green L.L. Bean vest, and a knitted hat rolled up about an inch (a peculiar style that was popular with the local H.S. racers). My only technique, V1, was pretty bad and, to put it nicely, my performance reflected this fact. My father’s refusal to “believe” in waxing also didn’t help (the other day—a decade later—he says to me: “I should really learn something about waxing.” Finally!). Despite the shaky start, even then I knew that skiing was something I would do for the rest of my life. I could list a dozen reasons, but the appeal of the sport is greater than the sum of its parts.
The opportunity to coach at St. Lawrence is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope to facilitate each skier developing his or her potential and, in this way, contribute to the storied SLU ski tradition. I also intend to foster a general enthusiasm and excitement about the sport. As for my qualifications, I worked as a coach and race administrator at MBSEF (the Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation) in Bend Oregon during 06/07, and as a coach in the Ford Sayre program during college. In addition, I have completed over 100 hours of NSF (the Norwegian Ski Federation) training to earn T1, T2, and T3 Nordic coach’s certifications. My coaching philosophy, simply put, is based on the movement toward a personal ideal: I believe skiers must develop their own solutions (to technical problems, training, etc.), but that this is what makes sport rewarding.
A few personal notes which may be of interest: My formative years were spent in beautiful Williamstown Massachusetts. During high school I ran cross-country; Nordic skied; and competed in track and field. I have always been proud of the fact that in addition to the running events I was locally competitive in the javelin and the jumping events. At Dartmouth College I was a four-year ski team member and occasionally competed in cycling. During my freshman ski campaign I raced over 400km, and in my senior year I was given the development team award. I majored in chemistry and minored in physics. (If I could go back I would probably have majored in physics and minored in chemistry. Oh well!) If I had to describe my college experience with two words they would have to be “awesome” and “exhausting,” combined either as “exhaustingly awesome,” or “awesomely exhausting.” I am fluent in Norwegian, speak some German, and have an academic and mostly defunct understanding of Latin. To conclude, a few favorites: Cinemo Paradiso, Lil’ Wayne, Pinsky, Fagles, Basquiat, and The New Yorker.

Sincerely,

Knut-Eric N. Joslin
Assistant Nordic Coach