SkiPost Newsletter

The biggest event on my TV screen for years and you've not even mentioned it in your newsletter. We have no UK racers at this level so I shout for english speakers!!

I want to know what racers feel about this event. Just one example:
when racers and teams plan their years program to peak later in the season at World Champs or Olympics how do racers train now for a very strenuous series of races at the very time they would have been having a well earned Christmas rest.

Give us your slant on this.
Regards

Note: There is really no better person to answer this question than the person who is in charge of taking care of the US Ski Team's training around this event. Thanks to Pete Vordenberg for taking a few minutes to describe the US Ski Team's outlook for this event.

Most the athletes are excited about the tour de ski. The service staff is less excited as it will involve a lot of driving, set up and waxing time and effort in a variety of venues in a short amount of time. For a service staff it will be killer. The athletes like the challenge and newness of it and I hope it helps make the sport more popular and get more sponsors involved - which is good for the athletes, industry and sport.

Peaking is a strange thing in this sport. Some years there is a clear focus, like the Olympics, and other years there isn't. For some the overall World Cup title is a goal and for others select events are more a focus. Some athletes aim at events they are good at (skating, long races, altitude,etc...) while some a certain time periods. Many top skiers go very fast from the start to the finish of the season. Strategies also depend on where the races are - most teams are in Europe and don't have to deal with travel to Europe. However as the Olympics in Vancouver get closer they will have to travel over here more often.

Generally the trick is to stay healthy, maintain good training when possible through the race season, and be able to implement a peaking strategy prior to the selected events that does not compromise other important events - if they exist - and which uses other less important events for training.

Pete Vordenberg
Head Coach US Ski Team

Dear SkiPost,
Just bought the new SLab Classic boots, and of course bindings, and was wondering if there are any guidelines for setting the spring on the binding such as on very hill course vs flatter course, hard vs soft track? Would think technique comes into play. I had yellow bumpers in my skis before which were medium bumpers. Any guidelines would help or should one just play around and try different settings? Thanks.

Hello,

This is a question a few of us tried to explore at the West Yellowstone Ski Festival this November. Chad Giese went to the extreme and tightened one of the bindings all the way to the maximum setting, and let the other all the way to the minimum. There was a difference when he first got started, but he said he seemed to fall into a rhythm after a while without being bothered much by the difference. He came back and set them at 3, and has been happy with that ever since.

I have skied on the 2 setting, and have felt comfortable there. This adjustment came as a result of watching different teams on the World Cup adjust the bumpers to fit skiing style and preference. It would have been easy to have one tension point for these bindings, but Salomon felt the adjustment was necessary to accommodate the different skiers - a common theme this year with the custom moldable boot as well.

Your answer is that this adjustment is related to skier preference, and as little to do with terrain from the standpoint of Salomon's engineers. Enjoy the new boots and the transition away from the bumper!

Sincerely,
Justin Easter
Subaru Factory Team