Three Canadian coaches partnered to launch Nordic Ski Lab in 2016: Kim McKenney, Kai Lukowiak and Chris Jeffries. (At the time, the site was called "XC Ski Nation". We re-branded in 2020 because of a trademark conflict.)
Kim is the lead on the project and does most of the video production and admin. Kai is a former racer, coached by Chris, who is a former member of the Canadian National Team. Chris retired as an athlete after competing at the Turin Olympics and is currently High Performance Director at one of Canada's National Training Centres.
Other Experts
Besides us, you’ll meet a number of other coaches, top athletes and experts from related fields in our videos. We also partner with Nordiq Canada to jointly produce videos.
This is us...
Kim McKenney
The insights Kim gained as an adult learner help her find novel ways to teach high performance skiing.
Kim has many years experience coaching youth and adult athletes. She's the proud creator of several popular drills, such as the "Stride Triangle", "Invisible Wall", and the "One Skate Dance". She's renowned for her ability to explain technique in easy to understand language.
Kim has 12 years coaching experience and is CANSI and NCCP certified.
Educational Background: BSc (honours) Zoology, MSc Neuroscience
Chris Jeffries
Chris is a world class coach and Olympian. He represented Canada on the Canadian Ski Team for 10 years, competing at 4 World Championships, numerous World Cups and the 2006 Winter Olympics.
After retiring, Chris coached at the club level for 2 years, then 10 years at the training centre level, the majority of the time as High Performance Program Director of the Alberta World Cup Academy. Chris is the current High Performance Director for Nordiq Canada.
Chris is beloved in Canada for his generous, charismatic personality and his many talents as a coach and athlete. He provides technical leadership for Nordic Ski Lab.
Chris has 14 years coaching experience and is NCCP certified.
Educational Background: BSc Economics
Kai Lukowiak
Kai grew up ski racing, pursuing the dream as a competitive athlete while coaching skiers at all levels - from young skiers who just want to have fun, to ambitious master's athletes with serious skiing goals.
Kai has a gift for translating the complexities of the sport into simple steps that help adult skiers experience dramatic improvements in their technique. He's an admitted nordic ski geek and loves studying all aspects of cross-country skiing.
Kai has 8 years coaching experience and is NCCP certified.
Educational Background: BSc (honours) Economics, MSc Data Science and Machine Learning