I don't want to blow the family budget but would like to get a pair of roller skis to keep up the ski exercise when the snow isn't flying. I have knee and back problems, am slightly over 50, was in Fl for 20 yrs and didn't ski but have moved back to New England and have started getting back into it and love it. Recreational/exercise only.

Years ago (over 25) I worked at EMS when roller skis first came out and I got to try a demo pair quite a bit. They were pretty rough though could see the potential. By now they must have improved considerably.

2 questions.

1) IF I buy used on Ebay, are there some brands or models to look for or stay away from so I don't waste my money? And I do want to see you list of newer models when you compile it, hopefully before the snow flies again.

2) Is there a model or are there wheels that can attach for fairly clean trail/grass roller skiing? I like going out through the woods more than on the roads and the impact on ground is much easier on my body that way.

I would like to take a moment to first suggest that you consider a pair of combi rollerskis. This will allow you a little more freedom if you do ever decide to skate on them, but it will also give you the ratched wheel system - needed to classic ski.

1) I have no idea who the people who sell rollerskis on Ebay are. I'm sure they are probably fine, but I would suggest writing directly to the individual to find out where they first purchased the skis, why they are selling them, and the condition of the skis. There are no real suggestions regarding brands, and the buyers guide that I have been putting together has been for skate rollerskis. It will give you little insight into classic rollerskis. I have had a pair of ProSki Rollerskis for many years now that I classic ski on, and they have been fine. You should probably look for a pair of skis that have a speed reduction system on them. ProSki and V2 I know have this, and you will probably only find this system on a new pair of skis. I can assure you that these rollerskis will be with you for a long time, so buying new is my recommendation.

2) V2 makes an off-road rollerski, but I have never tried it. There are both skate and combi rollerskis that are designed for off-road use. As I mentioned before, think about the combi ski - it expands your training options.

By: Andrew Newell
Salomon Athlete Force

Hello from the Snow Farm in beautiful New Zealand. I am 1/3 of the way through our three week on snow training camp here on the southern island of New Zealand. For the past four years the US Ski team has been flying down under to make the most of our August training in great winter conditions and to get in some quality on snow training.

To be an elite cross country skier it is important to incorporate blocks of high volume training throughout the year in order to build up your aerobic capacity. For most racers August and November tend to be the optimal months to put in their biggest hours in order to peak their performance for the important races in February and March. Not all athletes are at the same level however and in order to get the most out of your volume training it is important understand the goals of these training blocks in order to know how many hours you should be training.

Before jumping into a high volume-training block it is a good idea to review the pros and cons of putting in the big hours. If all it took to be a great ski racer was to train as many hours as you could things would be pretty simple, but cross country ski racing is not a pure "endurance" sport, rather a delicate balance of power and efficiency.

When an athlete trains a lot of low intensity hours (level 1), their ability to apply power quickly will go down, but on the other hand the more high intensity (level 4 and 5 intervals) they do can negatively affect their endocarp. The most important thing to remember when trying to "balance" your training is that you really can't effectively focus on both sides at the same time or your body will not effectively absorbed your training. This is why it is good to decrease the amount of high intensity sessions during a volume-training block. There should be a couple interval sessions a week though in order to keep in touch with your speed and anaerobic heart rate zones.

When you increase the number of hours your training becomes even more important to listen to your body. Here in New Zealand we monitor our morning heart rates, lactates, glucose levels and hemoglobin levels in order to insure we are not getting too tired from the training. It is a good idea to increase the number of calories you consume per day, and make sure you are drinking a lot of sports drink during the work outs.

During a high volume-training block it is also important not to lose touch with the speed you have been working so hard to develop over the year. A good way to do this is to incorporate speed workouts a few times a week. All it takes is 8 to 10 five to ten second sprints during your shorter distance workouts. It is also a good idea to continue doing strength workouts several times a week, but to decrease the duration of the gym sessions and to keep the exercises fairly light and explosive. These things will prevent you from losing too much quickness during you big hours.

Included is my work out plan for this on snow New Zealand Camp. Keep in mind this plan is designed for more of a short distance skier. In the first week, with the biggest hours, notice how all the intensity is kept in level 3, and how the volume in week 2 was decreased due to the weekend races.

Ski on!

Note: Emails have been coming along asking about rollerskis. This guide is for skate rollerskis, and is what I have come up with from digging around on the Internet. I'm sure there are other rollerski brands out there - pass them along to me, and I will share them on SkiPost. Thanks, Justin Easter

Ski Skett -
Shark Racer $159
Shark Hybrid $179
Shark Trainer $199
"Shark rollerskis use interchangeable wheels: Fast for racing and slow for training.
Racing wheels are durable polyurethane wrapped around a nylon hub with ABEC-5 bearings. Training wheels feature a lightweight machined aluminum hub, a specially formulated long-lasting rubber compound, and high quality waterproof rubber-sealed bearings." Nordicskater.com

"The Shark comes in two different shaft lengths (see photo above). We recommend the short 53 cm (21") shaft for women, juniors and recreational skiers. The long 60 cm (24") shaft is best for men and for elite nordic racers." Nordicskater.com

Elpex -
F1 $249.99 "Wheel speed is slower than other company's skis, giving accurate snow speed and a better workout. Narrow wheels provide perfect edging stability when pushing off." Gearwest.com

Race $299.99 "Lightweight shaft and Elpex #1 wheels which have the fastest bearings in the Elpex line." Gearwest.com

Pro-Ski -
S3E $289.00
"An excellent ski for those desiring a snow-like resistance in their workouts." Torbjornsports.com

S2 $280.00
"Easily ridden freestyle ski with good front grip. A must for active racers who want to develop efficient technique. This is PRO-SKI's lightest and fastest rollerski, with speeds similar to hard, fast snow conditions." Torbjornsports.com

Marwe -
Skating 100 $299.00
"These skis provide slightly less dampening/more road feel, while still supporting a wide weight range of skiers." Finnsisu.com

Skating 610 $325.00
"Honeycomb shaft body. * Wheelbase: 610mm * Wheels: urethane, 105x25mm * Weight/pair: 1.75kg * Ground clearance: 34mm * Rolling/friction: medium" Finnsisu.com

V2 -
V2 830 & 850
"The 830 and 850 have better ride comfort than the Black Mamba wheel skis on rough pavement, but the Black Mamba wheels are more durable. Many skiers have told us that, except for the Aero, the 830 and 850 are the smoothest riding skate skis available." Jenex.com

V2 840 & 840R
"These skis use the new Black Mamba wheel compound which is both fast and durable." Jenex.com

V2 6600
"With four wheels the ski is better balanced and is not as sensitive to road debris and cracks in the pavement … this is a very fast roller ski designed for very skilled skiers who wish to travel at Mach 1 speed." Jenex.com

Start - http://www.startex.fi/productgroup.php?group=37
Elegance
"Oval profile is a revolution in rollerski development. Stabile, elastic and balanced skis enable skating training like on snow."

Start Skating 71
"The lightness of the Start skating and form of the wheels enable effective training. The correct wheel material makes possible excellent durability and perfect training even on wet asphalt. 10097 Start Skating 71 suits best for use on even asphalt."

Start Skating 100
"The lightness of the Start skating and form of the wheels enable effective training. The correct wheel material makes possible excellent durability and perfect training even on wet asphalt."

Other Considerations Before You Get Started

Speed Reduction:
There are several ways to bring the speed of your skis down. Many of these skis offer speed reducers that will be mounted near the wheel of your ski, and V2 has even come up with a break system. A softer wheel will tend to be slower than a firm wheel, and the bearings will have an effect on speed as well.

Road Noise:
This refers to the amount of vibration you will feel on your legs. A softer wheel will have less road noise than a firm wheel. A fiberglass shaft will also absorb much more road noise than a metal shaft.

Pole Tips:
One of the first investments one should make before testing their new rollerskis is a pair of roller ferruls. These will replace your pole basket for use on pavement. These can be purchased through a Swix dealer, and will make your rollerskiing experience much better. The carbide tip of a roller ferrul is beefy, and will not break like your basket tip may tend to do.

2005 West Yellowstone Ski Festival

Make your plans to attend the 2005 Yellowstone Ski Festival now! This year's event runs from November 22 - 26 and will again feature the largest On-Snow gear demo in North America, an Indoor Ski Show and the NorAm XC Supertour races. As an incentive to bring more teams to West Yellowstone the organizers of the Yellowstone Ski Festival are offering the following:

1) Discounted passes for the month of November. Regularly $45.00 each, these passes can be purchased by college, high school and club coaches for $30.00 each. Passes must be paid for by check no later than November 1, 2005 to qualify for this special rate.
2) Team workout with members of the Subaru Factory Team, winners of the last X American Ski Marathon Series. This is a great opportunity to expose your athletes to some of the best Nordic ski racers in the world.

To qualify for these incentives, coaches must send a complete list of athletes attending the Yellowstone Ski Festival and a check for their ski passes postmarked no later than November 1, 2005 to:

The West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce
ATTN: Yellowstone Ski Festival Coordinator
PO Box 458
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
___________________________________________________________

US National Coaches Conference and Coaching Education Summit

Lake Placid, New York September 24, 2005

Event Update: Goals and Schedule Released, Registration Deadline Moved, Coaches Education Materials Requested

August 19, 2005 - For Immediate Release
Contact Nathan Schultz 720.227.9400,
www.NatronNordic.com

The 2005 US National Cross-Country Ski Coaching Conference and Coaching Education Summit in Lake Placid, NY released its goals and final schedule today. The schedule, as well as registration and detailed information on the conference is available at www.NatronNordic.com. The 3-day conference's purpose is to present a wide range of relevant coaching information, discuss these ideas and find ways for the US XC coaching community to collaborate on a project to create a National Coaches' Education Resource. The conference requires registration, but the Summit on Coaches Education Resources on Saturday, September 24 from 6-9:30PM will be free and open to anyone.

Registration Deadline Moved Up
Additionally, the final registration deadline has been moved forward to September 9, 2005. Early registration at a reduced price ends Tuesday, August 23, 2005. The change was precipitated by requirements for lodging at the Olympic Training Center.

Goals and Schedule
The purpose of the conference is to present ideas about training, technique and athlete development from a wide range of sources while bringing together coaches from across the country to discuss these ideas and collaborate on how best to implement a new coaching education resource. Previous attempts at creating coaches education systems have tended to legislate guidelines on what coaches should be doing. We hope to bring a new approach where the function is to create resources for coaches' education where it is understood that there are many different ways to create capable skiers. To facilitate this, we will kick off the conference with the US Ski Team coaches presenting their concept of a National Development System (NDS), which focuses on athlete competencies rather than specific training methods. We will then discuss the NDS as a framework for coaches' education.

From there, speakers will present topics on intensity training, strength training, and technique. Each area will have multiple presentations which will focus on presenting their ideas, the reasoning and science behind them and specific ways to implement and test these ideas. Each session will be followed by time to question the speakers. We will then break into small working groups to discuss the topics and their relevance to specific age groups and the development pipeline. Each working group will then make a short presentation back to the entire conference.

Conference registration, compiled coaches' education materials and additional information can be found at www.natronnordic.com. Materials or ideas can be emailed to nathan@natronnordic.com.

_______________________________________________________________

Craft Custom Orders

Dear Ski Coaches and Clubs,
This message is to remind you that now is the time to get your Craft custom suits made. Craft has the ability to create your custom races suits, hats, warm-ups, and other gear for the coming season. The Subaru Factory Team works closely with Craft to create our unique uniforms. The sky is truly the limit when you are thinking of creating your next race suit.

Ski to the starting line knowing you are wearing one of the highest quality suits on the market, and that you aren't going to look like everyone else. Visit Craft's custom site below for details, and get started creating your Craft race gear today!

Make sure to get rewarded!
Why not let your passion for fun get you free Subaru Factory Team merchandise? The Subaru Factory Team's enjoy winter-rewards program is designed to thank you for purchasing our Subaru Factory Team partner's products. Buy a Subaru; get a free Subaru Factory Team vest. www.enjoywinter.com/rewards.htm

For more information on Subaru's technically advanced all-wheel drive vehicles check out www.subaru.com

"Think. Feel. Drive."

SkiPost is a cross-country skiing informational, educational and motivational service, brought to you through a partnership with the Subaru Factory Team and the Salomon Athlete & Event Force.

The goal of SkiPost is to make the sport of cross-country skiing easier and more enjoyable for all who choose to participate. If you have questions on Cross-country Skiing see www.skipost.com or email us at mailto:weanswer@skipost.com

If you wish to be removed email nordic-unsubscribe@mailman.montana.com
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Enjoy Winter,
Justin Easter
SkiPost Editor