photo credits: Carter Hall

We’ve just refreshed this fueling guide with a few new updates — including a new variety that Ben Ogden has recently added to his favorites — but the core advice remains as solid as ever. Ben, a World Cup skier and Olympic hopeful, continues to share the strategies that help him perform at his best. Keep this guide handy if you’re gearing up for the Birkie in 2026, and keep an eye out for Ben as he chases another big season ahead!

For the Birkie I have a couple of specific goals for both on and off course fueling. Some of the most important fueling will happen before I even get to the start line. An event like the Birkie requires an early start even for the pros who get the benefit of being escorted to the start line. My day will begin with a solid breakfast of (ideally) bread with jam, a hard boiled egg or two, and likely some ham or other protein source. Consuming breakfast 2-3 hours before the start will help lay a good foundation while still allowing for ample digestion time. An hour before start I’ll eat something still hearty, perhaps another piece of bread with jam. With 45 minutes to go I’ll begin warming up and testing my skis for any last minute wax changes. During my warm up (15-30 minutes before start) I’ll have a Maple Waffle and a new favorite UnTapped – Salted Cinnamon Spice! I have found this new variety to be a fantastic tool for my early season races so far. I like to get a boost of carbs and sodium shortly before every race. This can be tricky as the stomach is often not the strongest at this time. Lately, I have found the Salted Cinnamon Spice UnTapped to be the easiest salt boosted gel to get down within 5 or 10 minutes of the start. 

For both my warm up and race I’ll be sipping my special high-carb hydration blend  – Lemon Tea Mapleaid mixed at 1.5x strength, plus a Maple UnTapped gel to give me that  carbohydrate boost. During the race I plan to carry 3 UnTapped gels – two of the high sodium Salted Citrus and one Coffee (for the added caffeine). I plan on trying to find a low intensity area between 10 and 20K to have one of these gels, likely the Coffee first, and save the others to see how I’m feeling further along. With limited hip belt space, I am thankful that UnTapped will be supporting everyone as the on-course nutrition, so I can grab more as needed. Having UnTapped readily available will provide a nice safety net if I start to feel that late-in-a-long-race empty feeling. My primary fuel for the race will come from my water bottle filled with the high-carb Lemon Tea. I plan to finish the 21 oz bottle in its entirety by around 40-45k, and then it just becomes a matter of giving everything I have through the finish line!

About Ben: Ben Ogden is a Cross country skier born and raised in Southern Vermont. During his childhood, Ben spent the winters ski racing, and the springs sugaring with his family. For college, he attended the University of Vermont, raced 5 seasons, and won 3 national championships as a Catamount. There he studied Mechanical Engineering and learned; among other things, the physics behind the ancient secrets of producing Maple Syrup. He currently represents the USA on the FIS skiing World Cup circuit and is a current member of the US National team, SMS T2 team.Consuming UnTapped products during the long and challenging race season is not only an important tool for his success, but also a much needed reminder of home.