Getting StartedEquipment Training & Technique Race Tales Adventures & ThoughtsLinksContact UsHome

Race Tales

SkiPost Archives

Each tale generally contains a race story and some waxing or training advice.  Enjoy, and email us at weanswer@skipost.com with questions and comments. 

Contents:

Olympic Tales: Estonian Gold

Heber, Glycemic Index, Cera tips

Learning to Ski Tips

Olympic tales: Lighting the Fire

Noque and Kikkan's Jr. tale

Birkie and Rodent Victors

Strong Like Bull-Strength Training

Be the Bunny-Spenst Training

Pre-Season Ski Preparation

Kick Waxing for Snow Type

What are we doing out here? Finding Focus.

Thanksgiving Factory Team Style

2000 Silver Star Nor/Am

Chamberlain and Swenson Reign in Quebec Continental Cup Chaos

Domination of US Cross-Country Skiing National Championships

2001 Mora Vasaloppet

Getting prepped for the Snow Mountain Stampede, Tips for tackling hills at altitude, Birkie Epic, Demystifying Swix’s Cera F

Subaru Factory Team claims both the Men’s and Women’s American Ski Marathon Overall Series Titles

Summer Ski Care

Gold Rush Wax Report: Spring Waxing Tip

Marcus Nash E-Tales
Marcus Nash intro

Marcus in Bend

Marcus at the Fischer Factory

Marcus in Austria

Marcus in Fairbanks

Marcus from the World Championships

Marcus’ College skiing – don’t be dumb, stay in school.

Kikkan Randle E-Tales from World Junior Championships

 

 

 


Noque and Kikkan's Jr. Tale

SUBARU FACTORY TEAM DOMINATES SUBARU NOQUEMANON

Grooming and conditions at this year's Subaru Noque were as good as they could have been considering the record low snow levels, but conditions were rather quirky nevertheless. In a place where three, four feet of snow generally cover the ground, removing every last bump and stump is not a priority.
In past years the skate event drew the strongest skiers, but this year the classical race was a points race for the overall American Ski Marathon Series title and so was stacked with elite racers.
The race started with a monster 6km double pole across the long narrow lake of the Dead River Basin. It then climbed up into the rolling glacial terrain above Marquette where it twisted, turned, climbed and bumped around the most scenic terrain of any ski race in the Midwest, before descending (that doesn't mean it's all down hill) into Marquette for a flat run to the Superior Dome in down town Marquette.
The men's race broke up as soon as the course jumped from the Dead River, and started climbing. Still the only non-Subaru skier in the lead group was Justin Freeman, who will qualified to race for the US in the late season World Cup races this spring. Freeman was shucked from the lead by a strong attack by Subaru's Magnus Eriksson that also left teammates Dave, Chad, and Scott chasing hard. From there on the Subaru foursome was away for good. Magnus managed to pull away and win over the youngest member of the team, Dave Stewart, who skied an extremely strong race to finish second.
In the woman's race, Subaru's Unni Odegard, whose three fellow Subaru Teammates all made the US Olympic Team and so are not racing the Marathon circuit, skied alone the whole way and won by many, many minutes over the next woman.

The Subaru Factory Team used Swix LF 7, covered by HF 7 and Cera F 200 for glide. For kick they ironed in a combo of Swix VG 35 and Extra Blue as a binder and covered it with Swix VR 45 and 50. It worked well…

Magnus Eriksson - Subaru Factory Team
Dave Stewart - Subaru Factory Team
Chad Geise - Subaru Factory Team
Scott Loomis - Subaru Factory Team
Justin Freeman - New Hampshire
Nathan Schultz - Subaru Factory Team

Unni Odegard - Subaru Factory Team

New-snow conditions normally do not call for any sort of binder wax, because the snow isn't abrasive and the binder will be too slow. But when there are rough or icy spots sprinkled along the way, it is a good idea to have something as a binder. For this reason we mix a binder wax and a regular wax - such as Swix VG 35 and extra blue, which should then be covered with the day's kick wax. Remember: rough up your kick zone and iron in the binder/hard wax combo, let cool, and cover with the day's wax.


JR. WORLD RESULTS and RACE TALE FROM KIKKAN RANDALL

Bozeman's Kristina Trygstaad-Saari skied her way to 6th place in the 5km, at the Jr. World Championships in Schonach, Germany.

Here is a story from Schonach, written by 2002 Olympic Team member Kikkan Randall.

Hello everyone from the Black Forest of Schonach, Germany. There is green grass showing and rain has been falling off and on but we are skiing at the World Junior Championships nonetheless.

The whole event kicked off on Monday night with a wild and exciting opening ceremony!! There was a lot of great singing, dancing and some great fireworks!! I would have to say that Schonach has put on the best opening ceremonies by far!!

The first race was contested on Tuesday with a 15k classic mass start for the women and a 30k classic mass start for the men. The rain held back and some sunshine broke through and the races went off without a glitch. I had to sit out the race due to a cold I picked up. So I used my energy to cheer on teammates Lindsey Weir, Tara Hamilton, Kristina Trystad-Saari and Jordan Seethaler. These ladies represented our country very well with a top 15 result and a top 30 result (Weir 14th, Hamilton 26th).

The slushy snow however made it difficult to ski consistently and I missed 2 or 3 pole plants before the top. Then it was down and around a wide curve, heading toward a bridge. I was bracing myself for a road crossing just ahead when I flew over a large hole, whew, that was close. The next challenge was two hills in a row. I was getting into my groove now, feeling pretty good and catching the Australian that started ahead of me. As I came into the next downhill however, my ski got caught in a pile of slush and I face-planted. I scrambled to get up and keep going but I had lost a lot of momentum. I stayed focused though and reminded myself that the fall had given me a nice rest and now I would be charged to really gun it over the top of the next hill, which I did. Going into the next downhill I found my legs to be a little rubbery.
The second day of racing concluded today with a 5k freestyle for the women and a 10k freestyle for the guys!! After a couple of good days of rest I decided to give it a go today. My morning started off well with a wakeup call from the local church bells at 7am and a random selection to have my blood tested for illegal substances. As I headed out on the course to warm up I was greeted by rain, slush, puddles and a very gusty wind. I was in high spirits though as I warmed up with some Canadian friends. Soon it was time for me to enter the start area but not without being stopped to have transponders (time reading devices) strapped to my ankles. Next it was on to ski marking and then to a 50m patch of slush where I spent the next 14 minutes running back and forth. At 10:19:30, when most of you were still asleep I headed out into the wind and onto the course. The first kilometer was mostly downhill and it gave me a nice slingshot into the first climb. I
began to ski with a quick tempo, trying to relax. There after. Although I was frustrated that my race had not gone the way I planned, the good news of my teammate's 6th place finish (Kristina Trystad-Saari) made my spirits rise. Kris tight U-turn and skated hard into the next hill. I had caught the Australian now and cruised by my USA coaches. They told me that I was skiing in the top 10, right where I wanted to be. The next few climbs began to take there toll however, as I passed 2 kilometers and my legs began to feel like lead.
I managed a good tempo over the next hill but I knew I didn't have enough left. By 3 kilometers my legs were too heavy and I had to make a tough decision. With the sprint two days away I had to decide if it was worth it to expend all the energy I had left today to finish a race that had already turned bad. I decided to save my legs for the sprint on Saturday and began to just ski the rest of the course. As I went by my cheering teammates I felt terrible for not being able to give them something to cheer about. At
3.5 kilometers I fought through very dirty, slow snow and passed US coach Miles Minson. He could tell I had decided to save my legs for the sprint and encouraged my decision. I finished shortly tna's result is the best American distance finish (not including sprint results) ever!! It is exciting because it shows a lot, more than ever, promise for American skiing success in the future.

We cannot rest on our laurels or ponder on our defeats however!! There is still a relay ahead and history to be made.

Bye from Schonach for now!!


 

Olympic Tales: Lighting the Fire

Lighting the Fire
Kara Salmela's Olympic diary
Subaru Streak Stretches
Birkie?
Bonus paraphrase - altitude symposium.

(by Pete Vordenberg):
The idea, maybe the whole idea, of the Olympic games is to inspire. The 2002 Winter Olympic motto, "Light the Fire Within," is almost embarrassingly corny, but it is absolutely true to the idea of the games. Everything I have ever wanted to be came first from watching someone else do it extraordinarily well.

It's amazing how emotional momentum works. Ever since elementary school I have been on sports teams, from baseball and soccer to jr. ski clubs, college ski teams, to Olympic and US Ski Teams. My experience is that the performance of a team as a whole is absolutely dependent upon the attitude of the coaches and team members.
One good result can turn into many. Preparation is most important, but good preparation can be destroyed by a negative environment. Andrew Johnson's stellar finish in the Men's 30km on the first day of the Olympics helped put some momentum into the overwhelmingly positive attitude that fills the US men's team at these games.

Then there is Beckie Scott. These day's everyone claims to know Beckie Scott and the cool thing is, most of them do. This is one of the most friendly and approachable humans to ever bow her head so as to have an Olympic medal slipped around her neck.
Hell, I've surfed with Beckie Scott, but the point is, Beckie Scott, this knowable, likable, drug-free and always grinning person's person took Olympic bronze, and as she did, all of North American cross-country skiing could suddenly see themselves in a whole new light - as contenders at the highest level.

When John Bauer left the stadium after the start of the Olympic relay in dead last place all the crowd around me sagged, and even I thought, 'oh no'. But John moved up in the field and interest in the race started to pick up, and then in full view of the whole huge crowd lining the trails and filling the bleachers at Soldier Hollow, John fired himself past the field into second place and the crowd around me stood up two feet taller and let loose an animal roar.
I don't know what it was like for Kris Freeman who was to take over the baton from John to see his teammate in second place, among the top group and dropping many of the world's best, but I imagine it was like throwing the toaster into the tub.
I bet Kris thought if John could do it so would he.
And he did do it, and so did third leg Justin Wadsworth, and last leg Carl Swenson who sprinted in a few feet behind Austria's Christian Hoffman for fifth - our best place ever.

As JD Downing told me, the coolest thing about it was that afterward, all they could talk about was how next time they can do even better.

I'm not embarrassed to tell you that after watching the men's relay and seeing Beckie Scott take third in the pursuit, I left the Olympic venue with my fire within burning hot.

Inspiration is transferable. A bunch of athletes trying and succeeding on skis is inspiration to the skier and the student, and the cop and the kitchen staff.
The idea of the Olympics is that they make you want to do what ever you do, as well as it can be done.


As the Bullet Turns- Olympic Diary Feb. 13th, 2002
By Kara Salmela, US Olympic Biathlete and part of the Salomon Athlete Force

On my way to the venue today I was watching out the window and I saw a child about 10 years old jumping on a trampoline. I watched him for a while trying to jump as high as possible and then he did a Johnny Mosley dinner roll!
Without skis of course, but a pretty decent dinner roll anyway. I was so impressed. And I thought to myself, this is what the Olympics are about. Inspiring children to start dreaming.

I was a child like that boy once, watching the Olympics and imagining that I too could be there someday. I also thought to myself, well no matter what happens today I will try my best and enjoy the experience.

That is just what I did too. I skied really well and was able to ski a whole loop with one of the best German women. And after yesterday's training where I only missed 6 out of 85 shots, I really thought I was going to have a great race today. Had I hit all my targets I would have been top 15.

That's the frustration in Biathlon... getting it all to come together on the right day is rare. Talk about fun though. Skiing in front of 15,000 fans in America!!!

Biathlon is getting unbelievable ratings. In Germany it took 26 percent of all viewers. This is making heads turn at MSNBC and in the International Olympic Committee. My Brother-in Law, Chad is commentating for the races and he had a little extra stress today because many of the big-wigs from MSNBC and the IOC were there breathing down his neck. Apparently, Chad is doing a fantastic job and the spectators leave the venue enthusiastic about this new sport they originally knew nothing about.

The couple my parents are staying with came today and were so excited, they want to come back to all the races.

I will start in the pursuit on Saturday as number 49, three minutes out from the leader. We will be shooting four times so there are lots of
Opportunities to move up.

Anyway, I really truly hope that there are lots of kids out there that see the Games and become inspired to dream. Dreaming leads to all different kinds of personal growth. As Socrates once said, "The quality of life is determined by its activities."

-- Kara

Subaru Streak Stretches
Birkie?

The Minnesota Finnlandia was won in a sprint to the finish by Subaru Factory Team skier Scott Loomis. Second went to Subaru's Magnus Eriksson, third Subaru's Phil Bowen and fourth, Subaru's wax tech Bjorn Weisheit, known to some as "hefeweisheit."

The Next race is the Birkie, I hope. There is little snow so please keep tabs on the state of the race at www.birkie.com.

Bonus paraphrase from the Altitude Symposium:

Some of the top Olympic sports doctors and physiologist in the world attended Colorado Altitude Training's World Wide Altitude Symposium in Heber City, Utah this past week. They batted about many nuances of altitude training and altitude simulation, often in fairly heated tones.
In the end it was generally agreed that some sort of altitude 'treatment' (either training or sleeping) was a vital part of race preparation, and basically could not be done without to achieve world-class success any more. Knowing exactly how best to use altitude treatment however is a highly individual and not yet fully understood.
Many present, such as the US Figure Skating Association and the Norwegian Olympic Organization (Olympia Toppen), have already been using Colorado Altitude Training's altitude room and tent technology for their athletes. Many others were there to find out more about it and discus the ideas behind altitude training/sleeping and a few others were there for the pure love of debate.
Dr. Jim Stray-Gunderson, a long time US ski supporter, now working for the Norwegians, fielded most of the questions in his patented Texas style straight shooting manor.
When questioned about the ethical considerations of using altitude simulation, he responded (to paraphrase) that he failed to see any difference between an altitude room and a sauna. If one were living in Norway and had to compete in the heat and humidity of Atlanta, there would be no ethical debate concerning training in a Sauna (which people do). Both Sauna and altitude room, he said, are simply manipulating the present environment to imitate another, and in fact sitting in the room (where the symposium was) where it is 70degrees is simply imitating the conditions of spring or summer, when outside it is clearly winter.
For more info please see www.altitudetraining.com.



 

Learning to Ski Tips

World Cup Victory for USA's Demong!
Learning to Ski
Noque update
Olympic Biathlon Team
Jr. World Report
Important Kikkan Correction
Dream of It Rewards

VICTORY

USA's Billy Demong (Fischer/Salomon/Swix) won a World Cup Nordic Combined
Event last weekend! The Nordic Combined team has a great shot at some serious gold in Utah next month.

LEARNING TO SKI

The Subaru Factory Team is staying up on the North Shore of Lake Superior at the beautiful BlueFin Bay resort in Tofte, MN. We're between the Pepsi Challenge and the Subaru Noquemanon in Marquette, MI.
Though we are a racing team, everywhere we go we try to give a free ski and wax clinic or go for a ski with the local junior team, or in some way involve ourselves with the local ski community. Sometimes we get almost 200 people, and sometimes we get two. It doesn't matter; the participants always come away with some new ideas and end up skiing at least a little easier or faster and that's the idea.
Over the years we've found that some tips strike a cord with some people, some tips don't strike a cord with anyone, and some strike a cord with everyone. Here are a few that seem to help everyone.

Getting up: When you fall down you're often sort of tangled up with skis and poles. Roll on to your back with arms and legs in the air, like a dead bug, and then flop over on your side laying all your limbs, skis and poles off on one side. Remove or forget about your poles. Pull your legs in so that you can get your weight right over your feet - so that no pressure is pushing the skis forward or back. Push yourself up into a crouch (with your hands, not your poles), and stand. The key is getting your equipment untangled, forgetting about using your poles and getting your weight centered over your feet.

Staying up: To keep from falling you will need to assume an active, well balanced posture (see below). The trick to saying upright is keeping your weight centered. While skiing down hill focus on bending the ankles, knees and, importantly, keeping the hands down and in front of you. Catastrophe strikes when your weight gets behind you, and rising up and letting your hands get high and behind you is a sure way to take the most spectacular kind of tumble.

Neanderthal: Most sports demand a centered, balanced and active position, and skiing (all techniques) is no different. Start from the feet: weight should be evenly spread over the whole foot. Bend forward at the ankle, which also bends the knees forward - so your hips are centered over your feet. Gently round the back from the tailbone through the shoulders - generally bad posture, but good for skiing. Let the shoulders hang loose in the sockets so that the arms hang down and in front of the body. You'll look kind of like Neanderthal man, only probably not as hairy, at least in some cases.

Down the track: Focus all motion in the direction of travel. Swing the arms forward down the trail. The forward swing of the arms originates at the shoulder, and must be relaxed to allow the muscles to recover before the next push.
In classical, kick the forward swinging leg down the trail. The faster forward you drive that leg the quicker and more powerful your kick "back" will be. In skating and classical look forward down the trail rather than side to side.

No Poles!: Skiing without poles is the number one key to learning to ski and improving your technique. Kids learning to ski do not need their poles at all and will take to skiing in the most natural way possible with little or no instruction. Be like a kid, play with out poles and you will find the fastest, easiest way to move on skis.

NOQUE NEWS:

The Subaru Factory Team will be giving free ski demos between 2 and 8pm at the expo and sprints. Our wax tech will be testing wax and will put out some wax recommendations for the race at the expo.

From the race officials:

Marquette, MI - The Noquemanon Ski Marathon appears "highly likely" to be run on its regular course, race officials announced today. Periodic snowfalls and cold temperatures have improved the course conditions significantly in recent days, and additional accumulations are forecasted over the next week. There was concern in recent days that the January 26 race would have to be relocated to Blueberry Ridge due to lack of snow in certain areas on the Noquemanon trail.

Trail Chief Tom Mahaney reports that trail crews have surveyed the course and find 90% of it to be in skiable condition, with a snow base of six inches or more. "We just inspected the course and we're real pleased with how much it has improved over the last few days", stated Mahaney. "It looks like we'll be able to use most, if not all, of the entire 53 kilometers. We've pulled all the trail crew from Blueberry and have them working on the Noque course. We'll be running the Bombardier pulling snow in from the sides, hauling snow, and shoveling right up to race day if necessary to get the entire course in the best possible condition."

Forecasts call for continued snow accumulations of three to four inches each day over the weekend with additional snow mid-week. "Any additional snow now will ensure the course is in top shape for the race," stated Jon Mommaerts, Race Director. "The race is on, we've got a full line-up of events and it's going to be a great weekend for Nordic skiing! We've also got unconfirmed reports of an Olympic team member racing. Between the Rossi Team and Subaru Factory Team, we have 20-30 top competitors coming in this year hunting for American Ski Marathon points. This will be the most exciting race yet."

For more information on the Noquemanon Ski Marathon and U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame Half Marathon, call 1-888-578-6489

OLYMPIC BIATHLON TEAM

The Olympic biathlon team has been named and is as follows:

Lawton Redman
Jay Hakkinen
Jeremy Teela
Dan Campbell

Rachel Steer (Fischer/Addidas)
Kara Salmela (Salomon)
Andrea Nahrgang
Kristina Sabasteanski (Fischer/Salomon)

Congratulations to all!

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT

At the Nordic Combined World Championships, American Alex Glueck skied his way from tenth after the jumping to take second (!). One spot behind him in third was American teammate Nathan Gerhart. Both are members of the super strong Steamboat Winter Sports Club.

2002 US Olympic Team member Lindsey Weier took 13th in the 15km classical at the cross-country Jr. World Championships in Schonach, Germany. Tara Hamilton finished 26th, with Kristina Trygstaad-Saari in 43rd.
In the men's race the first US finisher was Zack Violett in 40th.

Keep up with the action at www.jwm2002.de

IMPORTANT CORRECTION

2002 Olympic team member Kikkan Randall, of Alaska and team Gold 2002 was incorrectly listed as using Swix poles in the last two SkiPosts. Kikkan and Marcus Nash (who was also incorrectly listed as using Swix) use only Yoko poles and Yoko gloves. The mistake was all mine, and I apologize for it.
Please visit Yoko on line for further info on their products and athletes.

SkiPost's mission is to bring cross-country information and inspiration to the skiing public in order to promote the sport of cross-country skiing and enhance all skier's enjoyment of it. Please let me know if you have any ideas, corrections or constructive criticism that will aid us in our mission. Thanks, and good skiing - Pete Vordenberg

DREAM OF IT REWARDS

(From Factory Team director, Andy Gerlach)

Why not let your passion for cross-country skiing get you free stuff?

The Factory Team's dreamofit-rewards program is designed to thank you for purchasing or simply testing our Factory Team partner's products.

Participating Partners: Subaru, Fischer, Salomon, Craft, Swix, Rudy Project,
Elpex Roller Skis, Yakima, Gary Fisher, Ultimate Direction, Extran, Colorado Altitude Training, Boulder Center for Sport Medicine, Master Skier, and the West Yellowstone Conference Hotel Sun Spree Resort.

Purchase any of our partner's products and gain one point per dollar spent.

Additional Incentive programs:
Subaru Purchase: Double Previously Accumulated Points
Subaru Test Drive: 500 points per car driven
Fischer Salomon Swix Demo: 100 points
Attend a Factory Team Clinic: 200 points
Participate in a Subaru Popular Series Event: 50 points
Get others to join SkiPost e-tale service 10 points per address

Redeemable Rewards as of (1/22/02)
1000 Points: Subaru Factory Team Hat or Subaru Ski Cap
2500 Points: Subaru Factory Team Fleece
5000 Points: Subaru Factory Team Duffel Bag
10,000 Points: Two nights stay at West Yellowstone Conference Hotel Sunspree
Resort (Not valid at special events or holidays)
25,000 Points: 5-Year American Birkebeiner entry, FT Fleece, 2 night stay at
West Yellowstone Conference Hotel Sun Spree Resort with private lesson from Factory Team member during Fall Camp or West Yellowstone Rendezvous.

All purchases or participation requires authentication by the dealer, retailer, representative, or Factory Team member. Regarding SkiPost e-tale prospects, simply supply potential member e-mail addresses. (Dreamofit reward items may be substituted or modified by Factory Team staff due to availability)

dreamofit rewards:
Program Verification Form
Endurance Enterprises, Inc.
201 S Wallace #9B2G
Bozeman, MT 59715

Please present this form at the time of purchase or sampling of Factory Team's partners' products or services. Make additional copies for additional product.
Once dreamofit headquarters receives this form, a confirmation will be
e-mailed to you and any applicable dreamofit rewards will be sent within 6-8 weeks.
Entire form must be completed, readable, and verifiable. Include copy of receipt.

Please Print
Name:
Date:
Address:
City/State/Zip:
e-mail address:
Telephone Number:
Age:
Product Purchased/Event Attended:
Dealer/Retailer/Venue:
Telephone Number:
Salesperson/Contact (please print):
Salesperson/Contact Signature:
Subaru Vehicle Identification Number:
Ski's Serial Number:
Model Number and or name:
Size:
Final Cost to Consumer:


Heber, Glycemic Index, Cera tips

Come visit with some Olympic stars in Heber City!
Wax suggestions for the Subaru Vasa, Cera tips
How helpful is the glycemic index? Further marathon-prep tips.


Swedish stars confirmed to meet with public at Heber City Hospitality
Suite! Medallists, Per Elofsson and Mathias Fredriksson to speak!

The Cross-Country Ski Fan's Dream!

This February's Olympic games bring the World's best to Utah. The Heber
City Hospitality Suite brings them even closer.

The Subaru Factory Team would like to invite all cross-country ski enthusiasts to stop by the Heber City Hospitality Suite after each cross-country and biathlon event to share stories from the day, hobnob with Olympians and Olympic Champions (including the Swedish National Team at noon on February 16th!), look over and even purchase some of the latest in cross-country skiing, health, fitness and winter equipment from Fischer, Craft, Subaru, CAT and many others. Take part in athlete discussions and press conferences, grab a bite to eat and something warm (or cool) to drink, grab a free cheering bell and other free goods, as well as get the latest info on race schedules, results and goings on around the Nordic venue.

The Hospitality Suite, located at 906 South 300 West, Heber City Utah will be open to the public from 2pm to 6pm daily with additional hours for special events. For more information and to receive a schedule of all the special events go to www.dreamofit.com and sign up for our SkiPost e-tales.

The Subaru Factory Team is excited to bring you this intimate addition to the Olympic games and we look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday's Subaru Vasa, in Traverse City, Michigan

The course is rock solid and skiing conditions are good for the Subaru Vasa, but the snow is very dirty. Here is the wax suggestion (even if it snows, unless it gets a lot colder, the wax stays the same).
Brush the ski with coarse bronze brush to freshen base and help remove dirt and grime. Next, clean the ski with hot wipe of CH10 or Base Prep (apply the wax and scrape it warm - removes dirt).
Iron temperature is important, because, though a scrape or scratch in the base looks bad, no damage is as bad as a burnt base. Check iron temp and melt in a layer of LF8. We generally use something like 2 to 4 iron passes of 4 to 8 seconds from tip to tale so as not to overheat the base. Let cool, scrape, brush.
Check iron temp, and apply a layer of HF8 as you did with the LF 8. Let cool, scrape and brush thoroughly.
Apply Cera 200.
Here is Swix's recommended method for applying Cera.
Sprinkle cera down the length of the ski, one pass down each side of the groove. Check iron temp (!), iron one pass per side of groove moving the iron fast enough and look for the bright stars. Let the ski cool 5 minutes, and lightly brush up (not off) the cera with horsehair brush. Make one more quick pass down the ski with the iron and let the ski cool completely before brushing again with horsehair.
We suggest a medium structure for the Subaru Vasa race.

We're sorry, but there is no wax report available for the Mora Vasa at this time. Look for the Subaru Factory Team on Saturday and for their posted wax suggestion.

Glycemic Buzz

The last skipost regarding getting happily to the finish of a race brought quite a few emails. It seems more than a few out there are coming to grief with 10km or so to go. I think training, pre-race prep and pacing are perhaps most important, and should be looked at before secretes like the coke/coffee combo, or which sports drink is best, etc are taken into account (though they are also good to explore).
Fuel is however very important.
There has been a lot of buzz lately about the glycemic index. The glycemic index (GI) ranks foods based their effect on blood glucose levels. It's been a tool of diabetics for some time, and has caught on as a tool of sports performance. It should be noted that most of the GI research has so far been done on non-athletic folks and there is a big difference between what our bodies do with carbos and what a more sedentary person's body does with them.
A food that raises the blood glucose rapidly has a high glycemic index. The idea is that one should avoid eating high GI foods before a competition so as not to create a drop in sugar levels while racing, but to use them during and after a race or training to maintain and replenish glycogen supplies quickly.
I think that this can be fairly helpful, but that there is more to it, and that as is the case with many performance related things, you have to experiment with it for yourself. There are no rules.
Some things to keep in mind when using the GI is that one food will affect different people very differently; also, how it is prepared and how long it is cooked can seriously affect its GI ranking. How much is eaten also comes into play, as does what it is eaten with, when it is eaten (empty or full stomach, after training, before…), as well as other factors.
My personal experience is that these variables make using the GI alone as a performance tool unreliable, and I am fairly sensitive to blood sugar levels. However, I know others who find it quite helpful.
In the end, I think that checking out a list of high vs. low GI foods (readily available on the net among other places) is a good idea, and that taking that information and experimenting with the consumption of different types of food before, during and after an event may get some people a few more km down the trail.

Some other ideas:

Final preparation: Take it easy the week and especially the few days before the event. It is quite possible that many are starting the race with the tank a bit low. Skiing long or medium hard to hard depletes your glycogen stores. You cannot get in good shape the week before your race. The time for that is in the months before, right before the race is time to tune up with some easy skiing, some short (!) bursts of speed or a little (!) race pace work, aimed at feeling good, rested and excited not at getting in shape. The workouts should not break down the body.

When I can, I follow some variation on this commonly used routine:

Sat: race.
Sun: long very slow distance.
Mon: off.
Tues: (off, if tired) otherwise speed or very easy.
Wed: very easy distance.
Thurs: off.
Friday: easy with speed.
Sat: Big Race.

Pacing: Start at your own pace. (You know who you are.)

Enjoy,

fischer-xcountry@listserv.montana.com; athlete-force@listserv.montana.com; nordic@listserv.montana.com; sponsorsandreps@listserv.montana.com; skiclubs@listserv.montana.com; retailers@listserv.montana.com

 

 


 

 

Olympic Tales: Estonian Gold

Subaru Streak Continues
Estonian Gold. From Smoking Bus to Just Smoking
Lars Flora Olympic Tale
USA: 12, 16, 22!
Canadian's: 6, 14, 25!
Heber Coffee


Subaru Factory Streak continues. Local boy does good.

Last Saturday's Subaru Vasa was won by Subaru Factory Team's Nathan Schultz, who also placed third in last Sunday's Mora Vasa - completing the weekend double in fine style.
Subaru Factory Team skier, Chad Giese won the Mora in front of his old hometown fans. Chad grew up in Mora and has always wanted to win his hometown event. Congratulations, Chad, and welcome home.


Estonian Gold: From Smoking Bus to Just Smoking

As juniors my friend Cory Custer and I undertook a self guided racing tour of northern Scandinavia, then called the Polar Cup. On this trip we ran into a skier from a country, then newly liberated from Russia, called Estonia. His name was Andrus Veerpalu. He was the only one from Estonia on the Polar Cup that year, and was scrapping his way along on a slim budget like Cory and I. He wasn't much for conversation, but in the Polar Cup final relay Cory, Andrus and I teamed up, and won.
It was many years later a group of us young American racers were again on a self funded training trip to the summer snowfields of Norway. The Estonians, including Elmo Kassin, Jak Mae and Andrus Veerpalu had driven an old gray van, taking the ferry from Estonia to Stockholm and then driven from there to the west coast of Norway. The trip took them much longer than expected, as they had to continually stop to fix their van. They were all crowded into a single room at our hotel, and spent most the time they didn't spend training trying to get their van to run. It was a rusty old thing of soviet construction that coughed and barked when started and lurched with a great bellow of smoke into reluctant motion with much fancy pedal work and no little shouting.
That was 1993. Today Veerpalu took gold in the men's 15km classical and his long time team mate, Jak, took third.
These guys raced seriously and trained hard, in spite of many adversities for many, many years before they got even close to winning. I wish them hearty congratulations.

Lars Flora's Olympic Tale

At the Olympics for the US cross country team a predetermined start list for each event is decided by previous Olympic Trial races, time trials, and current fitness and health. After I was named to the team, I was confident I would be competing in the thirty-kilometer skate and the sprint race. In reality, I was focusing on the sprint race. That meant starting on the January 15th no more hard classic intervals or races. I would be doing all my hard workouts on skate skis. Guess what? I am the number sixth starter in tomorrow's fifteen kilometer classic race. Today Carl Swenson, our team Captain, and I spent three and half hours waxing, testing, and cleaning six pairs of classic skis for tomorrow's race. Carl took three and I took three and we narrowed it down to two pair of skis for me. One pair of Carl's and one pair of mine. Carl was helping me test for two reasons. To help a fellow teammate out and he might be in the same position for the pursuit race. Carl and I were put into this situation because one of the worst possible things happened to one of our teammates. A head cold hit him (Justin) a day before the thirty. After all said and done, I am sitting here watching the figure skating getting ready for my first hard classic race in just under a month, and none-the-less it's the Olympic 15km classic race. I did end up going to the Opening Ceremonies. What an experience. The big highlights of the evening was taking my picture with President Bush and Lance Armstrong, and walking behind the American Flag. My heart pounded as I walked out into the stadium among thousands of people and looked up at everyone in the stands. I have never felt anything like that before. Last night we had our Friends and Family team dinner. The US Ski house in Park City invited all the cross-country athletes and the families to have dinner with each other. It was fun to meet all the families and to get a chance to talk to our families. Definitely, the moms were the most excited people in the house. Until next time, I hope everyone is enjoying watching the Olympics and best wishes to all.

-- Lars Flora, Fischer/Swix/Salomon. US Olympic Team

USA and Canada score top results

Canada's Beckie Scott took 6th today in a race won by Norway's Bente Skari. Bente started right ahead of Beckie, and it was fun to see Beckie skiing over the hills not far behind Bente. Her teammate Sara Renner took 14th.
Two day's prior to the race I watched the Women's Olympic half pipe competition with Sara and a whole crew of others. I asked Sara what place would satisfy her, and she answered, "top thirty," so before I could even finish my question. I guess it'd been on her mind some.
In the men's race, massage therapist (Rolfing specialist), three time Olympian John Bauer skied himself to a12th place finish, the best US Olympic result in many, many years. On top of that Patrick Weaver, a paint specialist at Home Depot in Bend, OR and two time Olympian, finished 16th, which is also the best place other than John's 12th for many years.
Kris Freeman, first time Olympian, took 22nd.
The US has a lot of positive momentum after great results at junior worlds, junior Biathlon worlds, and at this Olympics.
Let's keep it rolling!

Heber City Hospitality Suite

Wrap up your day of Cross-County Ski racing at the Heber City Hospitality Suite. Best coffee in all Utah, brewed by Saecco machines.
Check it out:

The Hospitality Suite, located at 906 South 300 West, Heber City Utah will be open to the public from 2pm to 6pm daily with additional hours for special events.

(Don't forget to visit with the Swedes on the 16th a little after noon.)

Enjoy,
Pete


Birkie and Rodent Victors

BIRKIE BIRKIE
(Rilling info)

"That was really, really hard," said Subaru's Nathan Schultz holding a brat sloppy with mustard and kraut in one hand and a cold beer in the other after the finish of this year's Birkie.
"I think there were fewer Italians when I raced in Italy."

Ten of the top-fifteen in this year's Birkie were Italians. Among the horde of Italians were Carl Swenson, competing for the Subaru Factory Team who finished third behind Italy's Mauizio Pozzi, one of Italy's better world cup skiers from a few years back, and France's Stephane Passeron, who was second in last year's Birkie as well. Subaru's Schultz finished 9th and Subaru's Dave Chamberlain took 14th with the every tenacious Marc Gilbertson also in the mix.
.
The Women's race was a purely American affair, sort of, with Bozeman's Jeannie Wall winning in front of Brooke Baughman from Idaho and Subaru's Unni Odegard who is technically Norwegian but who has lived in Boulder, Colorado for almost five years, finishing third ahead of a whole herd of other American's.

This year's Birkie was a heavy rilling race. Big structure was important for breaking the suction between ski and snow after about 15km where the snow was more saturated with water. Swix HF 8 and Cera 200 was the wax of the day, but a large grind and/or a big rill in the ski was necessary to have fast skis in the later portion of the race.

Rilling creates structure in the ski base that combats suction in wet snow. It is created with a rilling tool. Most rilling tools come with varying sized rill patterns for different wet-snow conditions. Basically the wetter the snow the bigger a rill one needs, but there are nuances to it. When the snow is new, as it was in the Birkie, and wet the snow is often slower snow than when the snow is old and wet.
Rills are not good in any dry snow condition.
Skiers often rill before or through the second to last layer of wax (i.e. the HF layer -before applying Cera).
To cut the rills into the ski, which makes the rills sharp and long lasting, rill before or after applying the last layer of wax. To press the rills into the ski, which makes the rill edges round and the rill less permanent, rill through the wax as it sits molten on the ski. It is fine to cut the rills into the base after you have applied the Cera layer. This is often done when skiers are unsure what size rill they will need come race time, and so they rill just before the start.
I highly recommend checking out the Swix wax booklet, sold for about $5 at most ski shops for info on rilling and all aspects of waxing.

The wet- new snow conditions spread skiers in the elite wave out as soon as they reached the wetter portion of the course.

"What I find it hard to believe," said Subaru's Erik Wilbrecht, "is that, in a race of 6000 people, I skied all by myself for 15km without even seeing another skier. I thought everyone behind me must have quit and I was the only one still out there."

No Erik, I, at least, was still back there.

Hope everyone had a great Birkie!

DRUGS!

It is hard to imagine celebrating victory knowing that you have cheated to earn it, and yet they do not slink away clutching their ill gotten medals like foul rodents, but stand smiling, joyful, even teary eyed before us and before the world and tell us how happy they are at having stolen many lives worth of dreaming and work from clean athletes the world over, an how glad they are at having totally dishonored themselves, their country, family, friends, their sponsors, their sport and all of sport.
Some were caught at this year's Olympics, some at last year's world championships, but most were not, and some we will see racing again in only a few years. While it is fact that Beckie Scott should be awarded the Gold Medal, with the way things are, it is an unlikely eventuality.
The rules are too lax, testing too limited, punishment too forgiving.
There is a long culture of cheating, a culture in which cheating isn't seen as wrong, but as only another part of the game. It is this culture shared across many countries and among many athletes, coaches and administrators. It's a culture that allows the smile you see on the faces of these rodent victors, and this culture that makes them cry out like victims when the trap actually manages snatch them by the tail. It is a culture that is perhaps cultivated by and certainly tolerated by most the world's international sports federations, and it is a culture that cannot be let live, if sport is to survive.

In the mean time do not let the cheaters and filth within the cross-country rob you of the joy of skiing, the sensation of skis on snow, and cold air, and power and grace in motion, and rest assured, your North American heroes are more heroic than their results show.

Do not lose faith in our sport. Drug users have been around for a long, long time; it is catching them that is new.

For more info check out: www.wintersport.as, www.langrenn.com and www.xcskiworld.com.


Strong like Bull-Specific Strength Training

 

I am happy to report that as I type this snow is falling past my window (Bozeman, MT - Oct 4th). It started falling this morning as I was doing my specific strength routine, and has picked up considerable steam since. It will probably peak as I head out for my second training pass of the day, but I don't mind. When it snows in the fall it's a reminder of what I'm doing out training and it gives me an extra boost of energy. I hope you too are getting excited, for the time is near!

Elite, recreational and novice skiers alike can increase their enjoyment and performance this winter by working on ski specific upper-body strength and strength endurance.
Whether you are racing, touring or backcountry skiing, arm, back and stomach (core) strength are essential to making the most of your outing, avoiding bogging down on steep sections or with slick wax, and gaining considerable time on your opponents (who aren't as well prepared as you). At the same time, while there is a place for beach muscles, that place is not at km 40 of the Birkie. Here are a few methods to gain strength that is specific to cross-country skiing.

Novice and Recreational skiers: folks just getting into cross-country skiing and those who ski recreationally - even those blessed with bulging biceps, can struggle on skis simply because they haven't built up the proper muscle groups in the proper way. The key is doing many repetitions using ski specific muscle groups. This doesn't require a trip to the weight room, or any equipment, or for that mater much an investment in time. Some favorite skier exercises are dips, crunches and sit-ups, pushups and, (gulp) pull-ups. Dips can be performed with a chair or, if you're strong, two chairs. Simply sit on the chair normally and grip the chair's seat on either side of your rear with your hands (so the heels of your hands sit flush on the chair). Stretch your legs out before you or prop them up in front of you on another chair (makes dips harder). Slide your butt off the chair so that your arms support the bulk of your weight. Bend your arms at the elbows as if you were lowering yourself timidly into a hot tub. Rapidly straighten your arms, as if the tub is too hot - and repeat. To make dips easier pull your legs in so that they support more of your weight.

With pushups, keep your hands and elbows narrow to focus on the back and triceps rather than the chest. With both exercises, go from a near straight arm to a 90degree bend. To make pushups easier support your weight on your knees rather than your toes, or do pushups against a wall instead of the floor. Pull-ups can be done in any playground, on a laundry pole, a stout tree limb, etc… to make pull-ups easier, put your feet on a chair to support some of your weight. In general you want to be quick on the up motion and slower on the lowering motion. Do one to three sets of 20 to 40 repetitions of each exercise. Stomach work is quite important and doing a variety of crunches and sit-ups in a virtually non-stop and varied routine of 5 to 10 minutes will yield big results in only a few weeks (Barb Jones, 4th on the current Olympic selection list, does an 8 minute routine of 8 exercises of a minute each, almost every morning. The routine includes a variety of stomach crunches and leg lifts). The whole workout can take as little as 10 to 20 minutes - and, done 2 to 5 times a week will really make skiing easier and more enjoyable.
Recreational skiers (as well as racers) will also benefit by using ski poles for hiking and running in the weeks before skiing. Kayaking and other upper-body intensive work is also recommended, but don't forget to try to combine upper and lower-body work in a ski specific fashion for maximum crossover effect.

Racers: Racers can incorporate all of the above into a circuit routine and will benefit by visiting a weight room 2 to 3 times a week and working on a more balanced selection of muscle groups as well as including a few power and maximum strength exercises into the routine - in addition to doing ski specific, endurance oriented lifts and exercises. Please see www.skipost.com for more info and email weanswer@skipost.com with your questions.

The area where most racers can make grand strength gains is in specific strength. Specific strength is carried out on rollerskis and on skis. It is doing long distance efforts as well as shorter (interval like) repeats using the upper-body only.
Classical distance workouts of 30mins to 2+ hours where one double-poles only or double-poles with a kick only are very important to developing upper-body strength (Every Thursday Olympic contender Barb Jones does a 20 mile double-pole only workout - ten miles all up hill with some very steep sections and then 10 miles back down.)
Skate distance workouts where one uses only the V2 technique accomplishes a similar thing.

It is best to take on challenging terrain so that a variety of tempos, and techniques (within double-poling, V2, etc) can be used, even if that means struggling over the tops of a few hills here and there.
Shorter, repetitious sessions are also very important, and for most skiers who are comfortable at a medium intensity, doing harder repetitions will absolutely help increase speed as well as strength.

There are a number of on ski/rollerski exercises to practice in a specific strength session. The first is double-pole sprints of 15seconds to 2minutes. Use both flat terrain and gradual to very steep up-hills.

The second is single-pole drills where one uses the arms much as one would while classical striding, only using the trunk a bit more actively and not using the legs at all. As with double-poling, efforts can range from an all out 15seconds to a more race like 2-3minutes.
The third is simple double-pole with a kick for sprints and longer intervals as well as distance sessions.

Other exercises are Nerds (standing stalk-up right, locking the elbows at the side and using the triceps only - so called because they look nerdy). Stomach only (double-pole, but lock your arms next to your body and crunch down with your stomach - only really good on a very steep up-hill - and even nerdier looking than nerds). Back only (stay up-right, lock your arms out fairly straight and push the arms through, in a stiff double-pole motion, without compressing with the upper-body at all).
Personally I only do double-pole, single-pole, double-pole with a kick, some classical sprints and perhaps a few nerds - the other exercises are not to my liking, but some people do them.

In Sweden (I trained in Sweden for a year after high school) all we did for specific strength was double-pole sprints and distance double-pole sessions - 15 x 15second all out double-pole sprints and then an hour hard, fast double pole home - and that seemed to do the trick.

An example specific strength workout: warm up for 20 minutes classical rollerskiing. Pick a long gradual hill; do 5x 15seconds double-pole only, then 5x 15second single-pole, then 5x 15 double-pole w/kick - all of them with the throttle wide open. Follow that with 5x 1-2min of each exercise. Recovery between repetitions should allow you to go full out on the 15second sprints and faster than race pace on 1 to 2 minute repetitions on all repetitions.

This is only an example and as is the case with all training start with a manageable, but challenging quantity and build from there.
At Northern Michigan University, a school that turns out fast ski racers year after year, they do a program like the example above. In the early fall they start with about 4km total work and built to 9km total work by snowfall, and continue with specific strength into the winter until a week or two before the big races rolled around.
For more info on training and all aspects of skiing, be sure to pick up The Master Skier this fall and winter, or, even better, subscribe at www.masterskier.com. There are some great articles coming out in the Master Skier this year - by experts and authors from around the world.

Also visit www.skipost.com and email your ski questions to weanswer@skipost.com.

A reminder: this service is made possible with the support of all the great sponsors of the Subaru Factory Team: www.dreamofit.com.

Soon to come:
Pre-Season Ski Prep - including racing and recreational prep info, stone grinding, and info on finding a ski's kick-zone.


 

Be the Bunny-Spenst Training
Getting prepped for the Ski Season

 

Email contents:
Spenst Training
Beginner pre-season prep tips

Spenst Training

What is Spenst training? Spenst training is a well-worn mode of training that is practiced in some form or another by world-class skiers the world over.
Spenst is a Norwegian word that, according to Jon Aalberg (Olympian '92, '94, director of cross-country at the 2002 Olympics), means either explosiveness or literally "Boing!"
Spenst training involves ski specific plyometric exercises that develop power, explosiveness, balance and strength.
If you are looking to gain that extra snap in your technique, learn to accelerate over the tops of hills, around corners, sprint to the finish, improve balance and strength, or just impress your friends at parties, then spenst training is for you.
Ski technique has always demanded a quick, dynamic kick, for both skating and classic, and spenst training is a great way to develop it. Often it is the skiers who seem to be skiing with the least effort that have the most dynamic kick. Their secret is a dynamic push and then relaxation of the pushing muscles.
Spenst is a great addition to training and it yields noticeable results with a fairly small time investment of 10 to 15 minutes a week.

Goal: develop power and balance.
Means: several short repetitions of the following exercises with full rest. Gaining maximum distance with each jump - going as far as possible in the shortest number of jumps. Generally one takes between 10 and 20 jumps in a row (10-20 seconds of work) followed by a good recovery (about 2 minutes should suffice).

Type of spenst exercises:
One-legged hop: This is a spenst training staple. As the name suggests you will be hopping on one leg - up a hill. Start with a tame grade and build toward a steeper hill. Take 10-15 jumps on one leg moving continuously up the hill (don't stop between jumps, but keep your momentum going); walk slowly back down the hill and take the same number of jumps on the other leg. Repeat 2 to 3 (or more as you build up to it) times.
Stationary Skate hop: Simply jump sideways back and fourth as if skating from leg to leg aiming for max distance with each leap. Make sure you have your balance on each leg before you leap again. You can use your arms as if you were skating. You shouldn't move forward, but should leap directly sideways off the whole foot, side to side, in the same place. Take 10-15 leaps per leg, rest, repeat.
Bunny hop: Return to the hill where you did the one legged hops. This time hop with both legs at once. Unlike the one-legged jumps, hesitate slightly between jumps so that energy must be regenerated with each jump. This is a killer, and can cause soreness as well as loud guffaws, snarks, snorts and general hilarity among spectators.

Organization of workout: Warm up very, very well. Stretch thoroughly and begin slowly to make sure you are warm enough. The goal is not to work out your aerobic system, so take your time and recover well between each set of jumps so that you can make maximal efforts with each jump and each set of jumps.
Placement of workout in the week: It is best to place spenst training after a bit of rest because for it to have maximal effect you should be fresh enough to perform the work maximally.

Example: Midway through an easy distance run or after warming up (the Jr. team I trained with in Sweden for a year did spenst as part of an interval workout) stop at a nice grassy hill. Stretch out some; perform a few easy one-legged jumps, side jumps and bunny hops (bunny hops can make your whole body sore if you're not careful). When you are ready, take 15 one-legged jumps up the hill. Walk slowly down the hill and then take 15 jumps on the other leg. If it is your first outing take not more than 2 times up the hill per leg. The idea is to try to get further up the hill with the same number of jumps each time. Do the skate jumps, and bunny hops and be creative with jumps of your own creation. Just remember it isn't spenst if it isn't explosive - more isn't better. If you are too tired to jump far, or if you feel any twinge of pain or pull, stop (start slowly to avoid injury!) Warm down well. The whole spenst routine can take as little as 10 minutes and so on a day when time is limited spenst is a great workout option.
If running and jumping is not in your repertoire, power can also be built on a bike with 15 to 20 second sprints up a very steep hill. Do some sprints seated and some standing, some in a tough gear and some spinning in an easy gear to work all the muscles. Explosiveness of this kind is more difficult to build on rollerskis, but like on the bike, sprints of 15-20 seconds on a steep hill are effective.
The Subaru Factory Team does offer coaching packages. Please visit www.dreamofit.com. For questions and free advice please email weanswer@skipost.com.

Beginner prep tips

All skiers, be they Olympians or weekend tourists, are made in the summer and fall. The primary concern of cross-country skiers is developing the aerobic system. Great aerobic gains can be made between now and the first snowfall of the year. Running and walking yield the most effective and time efficient means to tax the aerobic system. Cycling and inline skating are good alternatives also, but as they are not as weight bearing or, especially in the case of cycling, as sport specific and so are not as effective.
It is important to be as sport specific as possible, even for recreational and novice skiers. The reason for this, according to physiologist Owen Murphy from Montana State University, is that people's perceived level of exertion is so high when skiing that, if they haven't built up to the specific efforts of skiing, and no sport offers as high an energy expenditure, they quickly become fatigued, frustrated and turned-off to the sport. Including some running or hiking in rolling and hilly terrain a few times a week can make a huge difference in ski specific fitness which translates into cruising along and enjoying beautiful ski tours rather than simply huffing and puffing along with great effort.
It is very beneficial to hike with ski poles as skiing is a quadrapedal sport and getting used to taxing both the upper and lower bodies simultaneously is a great benefit since we are basically bipedal creatures. Also using poles helps take the load off the knees, especially descending hills. Hiking poles should be about 2 inches shorter than your classical ski poles.
Helping to set up a basic training program for novice skiers is something that we (with assistance from the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine) can help do - free of charge. Simply email weanswer@skipost.com. More specific training programs are offered by the Subaru Factory Team, see www.dreamofit.com.

Hope you enjoyed the training tips and can put them to good use,

Pete


 

Pre-Season Ski Preparation

 

Is it too soon for a pre-season ski prep email? There has been groomed skiing at Lone Mountain Ranch - Big Sky, MT (great skiing: 1800-514-4644) for 4 days; there are groomed trails at Bohart ranch - Bozeman, MT (season trail pass holders only), and the first Nor/Am races are three short weeks off in Fairbanks, AK. The time has come…

SkiPost contents:

New racing ski preparation
Stone grinding
New recreational ski preparation
Finding the kick zone
Did you miss the last 3 skiposts?

New Racing Ski Preparation:

Whether your ski is new or newly stone ground this is a good way to prepare them for the season. It is adapted from the Swix method for pre-season ski prep.
Take each ski and brush it from tip to tail with a soft Swix nylon brush a few times to loosen and remove any dirt that might have landed on the bases. Next define your classical kick zones (please see below).

On the glide zones and skating skis start with a Swix T-89 blade tool and delicately swipe it from tip to tail (drag the blade down the ski, rather than pushing it or will dig into the base), removing any extra PE hairs. Continue 2-3 times until there are no more hairs. Next, proceed with a "hot wipe" cleaning with Swix CH10. While the bases are new or newly ground, take extra care with heat. All PE bases are very sensitive. As the ski base absorbs soft wax over time, the wax will decrease the risk of overheating the base. But when the skis are new, they are very sensitive. Using inexpensive irons that emit inconsistent amounts of heat will easily damage the base with heat. Once you have dripped wax from tip to tail, start at the tip and proceed with one long swipe with the iron all the way to the tail - repeat the process. Waxing in this manner, with a good Swix waxing iron, will increase wax absorption while decreasing risk of overheating the base.

Next, scrape the bases while the wax is still warm. This will essentially "clean" the base of any dirt, loose surface hairs, and any other materials that may be sitting on the base. Let the bases cool down and proceed with at least 5 layers of Swix Base Prep (soft wax only!). Allow the Base Prep to cool completely in between each waxing. You can scrape and brush each time or re-iron the wax once or twice. The more you wax them, the better - five times is minimum. Your skis are now ready to accept the wax of the day!

Stone grinding:

What is stone grinding? Grinding and waxing guru James Upham lists a good description of what stone grinding is and how it works on his www.glidefactory.com website. I asked James, who runs the Glide Factory in New Hampshire and who reads a little Harry Potter in his spare time, to explain stone grinding. "What is Grinding?" he shouted. "It is magic! And I am a wizard! Don't be a muggle and have slow skis!" I was taken aback initially, but he went on. "Actually, through my experience (highest levels of ski competition and racing service) I've found that there is nothing magical about making skis fast - we can all be Harry Potters - just like there is nothing magical about making your body fast through proper training."

Basically stone grinding, James told me, flattens the base, removes PE hairs and puts a pattern in the base that combats friction, suction or to some degree both. It also removes the old hardened top layer of base and reveals a new, soft under-layer of base that absorbs wax better. James has been grinding skis for the Subaru Factory Team as well as many of the USA's fastest skiers and biathletes for several years now and offers super grinding at great prices. Grinding skis can help make your old boards new and your new boards even faster.

Get your skis stone ground if:
- they have spent the summer without glide wax on the base.
- you haven't waxed them very often (but want them to be fast).
- they are naturally stone ground from too many low-snow outings.
- the bases are wavy (not flat).
- the base has odd, dull looking patches (base burn from iron heat, too little glide wax) or the whole thing has a dull sheen if any sheen at all.
- the base looks and/or feels hairy (you get kick without kick wax).
- bases dry out (look white in patches) after a short ski.
- the skis do not glide as well as your ski buddies' skis.

Recreational skis:

The fundamentals of ski care that apply to racing skis also apply to recreational skis. A ski glides well, lasts a long time and stays free of ice and dirt build-up if it is glide waxed often. Even for recreational skiers who aren't interested in going fast, skiing shouldn't be any harder than it has to be, and so a ski that performs up to its ability will be a lot more fun to use than one with a torn-up, dried out base.

The minimum amount of care that should be afforded a ski base is a yearly (yeowch!) waxing and base tune-up that almost any ski shop can do for a very reasonable price (see www.fischerskis.com for a list of good Nordic retail shops). Waxing them a few times a year will really help. If you want to do this tune up yourself, it can be done easily and inexpensively with the Swix T-89 base prep tool as outlined above - you can use it more aggressively, especially if the base hasn't been waxed for a while. After using the T-89 apply a few layers of soft glide wax as outlined above. We recommend using a Swix iron, but since many recreational skiers use fabric irons, they must be very careful with iron temp (racers or any skier who invests much time, money and energy in their skis should never use anything but a pure waxing iron or they risk wasting their time/money/energy investment - we recommend Swix's iron). If it's smoking - it's way too hot! During the ski season it will help considerably to use a wipe-on wax such as Swix F-4 before and more importantly after skiing to help protect the bases. If you have any ski care questions please email weanswer@skipost.com. I get help on these questions from Swix and Fischer so if we don't have the answer, we'll find it for you.

Dialing in Your Kick Zone:

Different snow conditions call for different methods of kick waxing. Finding the kick zone and understanding the versatility of your skis for various conditions can aid your racing efforts and help you enjoy pure recreational skiing because you will know how to wax your skis so they perform optimally in a variety of snow conditions. Here we'll cover the Swix method, a variation on the Fischer test board method, the eyeball method and the on-snow method.

The Swix recommended method of finding the kick zone requires a friend, a very flat surface and a piece of normal typing paper (they suggest A4, 60 gram paper, but any fairly normal typing paper will do). Place the paper under the ski and stand with the body-weight equally distributed on both skis. For all these tests you must stand with your feet on the ski where they would be if you were skiing on them - on the bindings. Have the friend move the sheet of paper towards the tip. At the point where the movement comes to a stop, mark with a pen on the sidewalls. This point represents the forward front of the kick zone for cold, dry snow conditions (hard kick waxes such as VR 40 or Extra Blue).
Next, fold the paper once and repeat the process. Where the paper stops represents the forward front of the kick zone on freezing point conditions (soft kick waxes such as VR 60 or a red kick wax).

Finally, fold the paper once more so that it is 4 times its original thickness. Repeat the process by moving the paper as far forward as possible. This time the stopping point represents the front of the kick zone when using klister.

The rear of the kick zone normally ranges from under the middle of the foot back to the heel of the boot. Very, very seldom does the kick zone extend beyond the rear of the heel. Often a klister kick zone will stop under the mid-foot while a hard wax kick zone will extend back to the rear of the heel.

Generally the length of the kick zone, using hard waxes, is approx. 55 cm, from the heel.
For klister it is slightly shorter, around 50 cm. Remember these are just initial, though often accurate, guidelines - see the on-snow method below.

All Fischer retail shops are equipped with a Fischer test board. The test board enables the customer to find not only the kick zone but also the exact right ski for their weight. While using the test board is the best way to do these things the way they measure the kick zone can be duplicated to some degree at home.

Again you'll need a friend and a piece of paper and the flat surface (one reason the test board is so good is because few of us have access to a flat enough surface - irregularities in floorboards, tables, etc can lead to incorrectly marked kick zones).

This is not Fischer's exact method, but a variation on it. Stand with your feet on the ski where they would be if you were skiing. First, to determine that the ski is not too stiff for your weight, stand on one ski with all your weight on the ball of your foot (you are standing on one leg) with the paper under the ski beneath the toe. If the paper can be moved, the ski is too stiff. If it cannot be moved it is not too stiff.

Next, to determine the kick zone, stand flat on the ski so your weight is on the whole foot (you're still on one leg) the paper should now move, the forward most point you can move the paper is the shortest possible kick zone - for klister skiing. Repeat for both skis.

Next, stand on both skis with your weight evenly distributed. Move the paper fore and aft marking the furthest points of movement. This is your hard-wax kick zone. Again the rear of the kick zone should be near the heel of the boot.

The on snow method is a necessary step toward finding the right kick zone. Since it is easier to add wax while out skiing than remove it, start by waxing your skis only within the shortest kick zone - if you have used the Swix or Fischer method use those marks. If you have not used them then start with the eyeball method. Holding the skis base to base, grasp your skis on the bindings and give them a squeeze that is hard enough to get them to almost touch in the middle. sight down the space between the skis and note where the wax pocket appears to be (the space between the skis, where the bases aren't touching). Start by waxing well within that zone - from the mid-foot forward.
For this exercise do not sand the kick zone and do not iron in any binder wax. Simply ski on your skis applying wax forward two inches at a time, until you are satisfied with the kick. Ski on them for a time and check the wax periodically for wear. If there is considerable wear then you maybe waxing too long (at least for those conditions). If there is little or no wear continue adding wax, until you reach the wear point.

All of these methods are only starting points to find the kick zone. Though these methods are often accurate, snow conditions, technique, experience and other variables make experimenting in a variety of conditions necessary. Don't be afraid to bend or break the rules.

A good example of this was at the World Cup 15km last year in Heber City. After the race (After!) we learned that all the International Fischer racers, including Johan Muhlegg waxed well forward of their normal kick zones. Conditions were new, loose-in-the-track, cold, dry snow on top of warmer, wetter man-made snow. While many racers scrambled with warmer wax, which was too sticky, the top racers used colder wax layered far forward on the ski (Swix VR 40 was rumored to have been Johan's race wax that day - but how he used it was more important).

Have patience and have fun playing on your skis.

If you are new to SkiPost and would like to receive the e-tales you missed this fall, please send me an email requesting them. The topics were:

Improving economy (saving time)
Spenst (be the bunny)
Specific Strength (strong like bull)

Topics to come:

Fairbanks Olympic Qualifiers (race tales from the season's first Olympic qualifying races on Nov 3&4).
Kick waxing for snow type.
As well as more training info and ideas…


 

Kick Waxing for Snow Type

Kick Waxing for Snow Type
Also: Silverstar Nor/am sprint races
Snow type is important because it describes the type of snow crystal, and the kind of snow crystal determines the hardness of wax to be used.
Temperature serves to influence snow type, and air temperature serves mostly as an indicator of snow type. Like most things it is not really possible to break snow type down into perfect categories. There are degrees of each snow type and these degrees are largely determined by degree of temperature, humidity, and age or amount of abuse the snow crystals have endured.
The first task is to define a few categories of snow type.


NEW FALLEN SNOW - Below freezing
Falling and new fallen snow is characterized by relatively sharp, well-defined snow crystals. Generally calls for a harder kick wax.


FINE GRAINED SNOW - Below freezing
This is the intermediate transformation stage of snow type. While the crystals are still fairly sharp, with fine-grained snow it is not possible to identify the original snow-crystal shape because of transformation. Generally calls for a softer kick wax.


OLD SNOW - Below freezing
The final stage of transformation is to old snow. Transformation has rounded the snow crystals even more and the snow surface is made of uniform and well-rounded grains. Could call for a klister, but more likely softer hard wax.


WET CORN SNOW - Above freezing
Wet snow results from warm weather and can affect new, fine or old snow. Generally the grains lose definition and there is "loose" water in the snow. Generally demands a softer klister, but can also call for a soft hard wax.


FROZEN or OLD CORN SNOW (Melted and re-frozen) - Below freezing
When melted snow refreezes it forms large grains connected by frozen melt water. The snow surface is hard and icy. Generally demands a hard klister.


The next task is to understand what these snow types mean for waxing. Kick in classical skiing is achieved when snow crystals penetrate the kick wax when the kick wax is pressed to the snow. Glide is optimized when the wax is able to let go of the snow crystal when the wax (kick zone) is lifted from the snow after the kick. Kick wax then must be sticky enough for the snow crystals to penetrate, but not so sticky as to grip the snow when the ski is un-weighted or lifted from the snow. Just as a sharp knife is required to cut tough steak only a sharp crystal easily penetrates a hard kick wax. A dull butter knife is adequate to cut soft butter, and dull snow crystals can penetrate a soft kick wax.
A hard kick wax used on dull crystals won't kick. A soft kick wax used on sharp crystals will not glide.
Current air temperature makes a relatively small difference in wax compared to snow type. For instance new fallen snow demands a hard wax at -9degrees centigrade and a warmer hard wax at 0degrees centigrade. However, at -9, a hard wax will work for new fallen snow, but at the same temperature on old corn snow, a klister is needed.
The charts below give an example of waxing for snow type.

Please note: VR is Swix's top of the line hard wax. KR is Swix's top of the line klister. The lower numbers are harder waxes. For instance, VR 40 is similar to extra blue and VR 60 is similar to red, KR 60 is similar to red klister. Each VR wax and KR klister is labeled with both the temperature and snow type in which it works best.


 
-9
-3
0
New Snow VR 30/ blue-green VR 40 or VR 45 VR 45 and VR 50
Fine Grained VR 40/ extra blue
VR 45 and VR 50 VR 50 and VR 60
Old Corn KR 20 Plus KR 40 KR 45 and KR 50 KR 45, 50 and 60

 

 
+1
+2
+4
New Snow VR 50 and 60 VR 60 and 70 VR 70 or 75
Fine Grained VR 60 and 70 VR 70 KR 50 and 60
Old Corn KR 50 and 60 KR 50 and 70 KR 60 and 70



These charts are simply guidelines and examples. Waxing is a science, but the number of variables and constantly changing conditions make it also an art. Often snow type and temperature are different on different parts of a ski course and/or change during a race or ski outing. At the same time, as stated above, it is often not possible to categorize snow into an absolute snow type. Even so, it is important to understand the basic idea of waxing as they pertain to the variables of snow so as to build art into the science rather than reaching blinding into the wax box.

As can be seen in the above charts many conditions call for using more than one wax. Layering waxes can be done in many ways. Generally a hard wax such as VR 30 or KR 20 or 30 is applied to the sanded kick zone (80 grit for klister, 100 for hard wax) and ironed or heated in (especially in fine grained, old corn or even cold new snow and always for long races or ski outings). After it has cooled the wax or waxes of the day are applied.
The waxes of the day can be applied either from hard to soft, mixing soft, hard, soft, or soft covered with hard.
Soft waxes are covered with hard waxes and klisters are covered with hard waxes when conditions are variable and/or changing and a soft wax sticks too much while the harder wax is too slick. The hard wax serves to protect the softer wax from sticking to the snow, while the soft wax gives the hard wax a cushion into which the snow crystals can penetrate. This is a tricky process where proper application is paramount.
Even more difficult is layering hard waxes on top of klister. This is a widely used technique in changing, variable conditions especially where old and new snow are mixed and especially around 0degrees centigrade. Be sure you cool the under layers totally before applying the over layers, and apply and cork the over layers with a delicate hand (have patience!).
Another layering method is layering hard, warm, hard waxes. In this way you effectively create your own wax that best fits the specific conditions (VR 50 is too slick, 60 too sticky but both are almost right - together they are perfect).
In most cases one should simply start with the hardest (coldest) wax that should work according to the snow type and temperature and then simply add warmer waxes as needed thus layering warmer (softer) on top of colder (harder). To avoid ending up with too many layers of wax or too warm a wax add a little at a time, add thin layer by thin layer, corking each layer upon application.

Have patience! When testing wax it is often the case that a wax will not work for as many as a few km of skiing (more often, less than that, but if it doesn't work right away give it a little more time - especially in new, wet snow). Let the wax cool after corking and then ski the wax in. If you decide that it is too slick after some skiing, then add one or two layers only of the warmer wax.
Generally you will ski on 4 to 8 thin, even layers of wax. It is important to learn your skis and your ski's kick zone so that you know how many layers you can add and how long forward and backward on the ski you can wax in different conditions.

Start with the basics and keep it simple.

Silverstar

Subaru Factory Team's Tessa Benoit won the night sprint ahead of a strong US and Canadian contingent. The race was held under the lights in front of an amazingly large and loud crowd in Silverstar, BC last weekend. It was snowing hard and just below 0degrees. The Factory Team used Swix HF 7 covered with Cera 200, and all our racers made it to the late rounds of elimination (Subaru Skier Pat Casey took fourth).

Please visit www.SkiPost.com for more information and see www.swixsport.com for more info on waxing and Swix wax.

Much thanks to Subaru for their support of North American cross-country ski racing.



 

 

What are we doing out here? Finding Focus

 

Contents:

Quotes on time use
Tips for focus
Season Opener in Fairbanks (Olympic Selection)
Dressing to ski

Maximizing training time is always of utmost importance. Here are some quotes regarding organizing and using your time effectively.

"When planning training, the emphasis should not be on what you will do, but rather how your body and mind will react to what you do. The goal is not simply to fulfill training, but to elicit a positive adaptation in your body and mind through training - to become faster, fitter or whatever your goal may be.

Keep at the fore of your mind the goal of training, be it to get faster or to become fitter. Too often secondary means to the goal become the goal itself. For instance, in an effort to improve health and fitness one may deem weight loss important. Weight loss can then become the sole concern often at the expense of the true goal, health and fitness. For many athletes attaining a certain number of training hours is important to becoming faster, but when accumulating training hours becomes the goal, it is often at the expense of actually becoming faster. A good motto is: Train, Don't Strain.
In other words, do only what it will take to reach your goal - not more, and not less."

- Subaru Factory Team, Boulder Center for Sports Medicine Pocket Guide to Cross-Country Ski Training. Look for it this winter. Preview it at www.skipost.com. It's free.

"The most fascinating thing about top athletes is their focus. They are at all times aware of what it takes to achieve and reach the goals they have set for themselves. Every time they train it is to achieve something specific. Every workout has a purpose. An easy training session is only successful if the tempo/lactate/heart rate was kept down. A level 3, interval session is only successful if the heart rate is kept within the pre determined levels. The athlete always has a certain type of training in mind and does everything to achieve the objectives of the day. If the training session is done too fast, too slow, too long, too short that means he/she did not achieve the objective of the day.

It might sound like the athletes are up tight. This is not the case at all. They just know what it takes to become good and what their bodies need and can take. They do not train two sessions every day, they do not train when they are sick, they are not obsessed with training, they have lives outside of training, they take days off, they work or go to school and best of all; they have a healthy perspective on sports."

- Trond Nystad, Subaru Factory Team alumni and coach of the Denver University ski team (National Champions in 2000 and 2001), after an extended visit back home with friend Bente Skari and other top skiers.

"Use the smallest effective dosage."

- Warning on a bottle of medicine, and good advice in general.

Here are a few things to focus on in training:

- Technique. Pick one or two specific things per workout to work on. See the next issue of The Master Skier for some thoughts on skating from Norway's Skating Project, and reference articles on "New Skate" in last year's Master Skier. Trying to focus on technique in general is less effective than focusing on a few specific aspects of technique.
Here are some general technique pointers to focus on:
Initiate the double pole with a crunch of the stomach muscles.
Keep the hips high in classical skiing - through the whole stride.
Maintain a light, quick rhythm on the up-hills.
Swing the arms forward from the shoulder.
To relax the whole body, focus on relaxing the face.
Initiate the skate or classical kick by dropping your weight onto the ski.
Breath in sync with your poling.
Look ahead and change your tempo with the terrain.

- Developing aero