In 1976, mainstream America was introduced to cross-country skiing when Bill Koch won a silver medal in the men's 30-kilometer race at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics. His feat astonished even his fellow Nordic skiers, who were probably some of the only Americans to witness it; no American journalists were at the Nordic venue that year.

"I was there in the stadium," recalled Olympic biathlete John Morton, talking about his Olympic experience and his subsequent work building Nordic trails to a group of ski writers in Jackson, N.H., on January 10, 2009.

"We had just finished a biathlon workout, and somebody said, ‘Hey, the men's 30k is taking place right now, let's wander up through the stadium and see how it's going for the U.S. guys.'"

Morton and his teammates climbed into the stadium and looked at the electronic scoreboard. It listed Koch in second place. The 30km was an interval-start race (not head-to-head), with each competitor starting at a specified interval - for example, one minute - behind the next.

"We thought, ah well, he went out early and all the hot shots have yet to finish," said Morton. "But still having an American on the scoreboard at the Olympics was pretty good."

Soon, European athletes, spectators, and coaches began coming up to the biathletes, distinguished by their USA jackets, and saying, "Hey, Beel Koch, OK, U-S-ah, very good, U-S-ah, very good."

"We were thinking there must be something happening here," said Morton, "and sure enough as the race progressed and athletes would come in through the finish line, everyone would scroll down below second place, and it stayed. What a thrill to be there!"

The 1976 Winter Olympics were the second for Morton as a competitor (he also competed in biathlon in 1972). Since then, he has been involved with five more Winter Olympic Games as a coach, U.S. biathlon team leader, and most recently, as Chief of Course for the biathlon events at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

For the past 20 years, he has also developed cross-country ski trails and through this work has had a direct impact on the development of future Olympians, like up-and-coming biathlete Russell Currier, 21, from Stockholm, Maine.

A decade ago, Morton helped re-establish Nordic skiing in Aroostook County, Maine's northern-most county where potato farming and timber are the primary industries. The goal, says Morton, was to make cross-country ski trails as accessible and as prevalent as Little League baseball diamonds in each community.

The program was highly successful, he says, with more than 5,000 kids participating in Nordic skiing in 72 communities. One of those kids was Currier, whose dad - a potato farmer - once described his young son in eighth grade as a couch potato. To this day, Currier lists napping as one of his favorite activities on his team bio.

"He had virtually no interest in athletics," said Morton. "In sixth grade, his recess activities consisted of snowball throwing and fighting with other kids."

But he tried Nordic skiing and "obviously had an aptitude for it," added Morton. Currier is a five-time Maine State Cross-Country Ski Champion, and in 2006, he added a national title to his trophy cabinet.

Currier also tried biathlon, and in 2004, qualified for the Junior Biathlon World Championships in France. In January 2008, he had three top-20 finishes at Junior Worlds, earning himself a World Cup berth this season.

"He's become a role model for the rest of the kids in northern Maine," said Morton.

The founder of Morton Trails, Morton continues his trail building work around the world, most recently redesigning trails at the Jackson Ski Touring Center to meet international racing standards. He lives in Thetford Center, Vermont, with his wife Kay.

Peggy Shinn is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This blog was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.