I grew up in Wisconsin using primarily waxed skis, although we did have one set of waxless around the house. We generally thought the waxless were not that great.
Since moving to the West (California and now Washington State), everybody uses waxless. They are said to be better for the conditions out here. Other than convenience, why use the waxless? What conditions are they better for?
Thanks.
Hello,
After 35 years of skiing and racing in California and the Sierra Nevada, and now as the Swix Technical Representative for California, Justin at weanswer@skipost.com figured I would have answers.
Well, I don't have ALL the answers, but the question about waxable vs. waxless skis here in California, and also in the Northwest, is pretty simple. Mainly, it's a matter of the variability of the snow, and, like you said, it's for convenience. In the West, we ski in the mountains at high altitudes mostly. The climate here is generally much warmer near the coast, because of the influence of the Pacific maritime air, than it is in the interior of the country. There's also a lot more humidity in the snow in the Cascades and the Sierra. Temperatures fluctuate more, especially in California with the more abundant sunshine in the lower latitudes found here.
Waxable skis work great for inland skiers, especially when the conditions are colder, and if temperatures don't change very much. Putting on a layer of green or extra blue and then skiing around all day (or all week!) is pretty much a no-brainer for most folks. A lot of people back in the Rockies and the Midwest simply put their skis away by the time klister is called for. Here in the Sierra, for example, we use klister ALL WINTER LONG (as a matter of fact, I JUST got back from an awesome 2 hour ski on New Years Day with Universal Klister on my skis). In the Midwest, you'd put on a layer of green and leave it on for days, and never change it. Here in the Sierra (and the Cascades), you might start the day off with Swix VR 40, Blue Extra, and by the afternoon, you might be slipping on VR 60!
That's why most of your skiers in California, Oregon, and Washington use waxless skis a lot. However, when the snow is cold and powdery (and stays that way), waxable skis will definitely perform better than waxless skis. Also, if it's icy, it's really hard to get grip on waxless skis (but of course, then you're into the klister situation).
Racer types find that they use waxable skis more of the time, because they are willing to put in the extra time for better performance for grip and especially glide. But even racers around here will have a backup of a good waxless ski or two for those conditions where it simply impossible to find the right wax. That commonly occurs when it's snowing, and it's around 32 degrees. We had a race last weekend in the Sierra that was won by Matt Gelso using "Zero" skis, a ski especially designed for just that condition.
For most average skiers in the Sierra and Cascades, especially those coming up from the cities to have fun in the mountains, waxless skis are simply a lot simpler and easier to deal with. The whole idea of this sport is to have fun, and if people are spending all their time worrying about the wax to use and not being out there on our beautiful mountain trails, they're probably missing out.
Hope this helps you.
Mark Nadell
Far West SWIX Wax Technician
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| Thank You To The Volunteer |
By Justin Easter
Editor - SkiPost; Head Coach - Summit Nordic Ski Club, CO
I’ve been sitting in my basement office for the last week thinking of how nice and warm it was compared to what was being experienced in Alaska at US Nationals.
It didn’t take long for my mind to wonder back to my days of racing in, but more importantly dealing with, race situations that are right around a legal starting temperature. The toll that this type of weather takes on the mental and physical state of athletes is extraordinary. It involves an amazing amount of discipline and race experience to deal with this type of adversity. Most athletes are very concerned about their race, their warm-up, their wax, themselves. But at the core, athletes can be some amazingly gracious, and humble individuals.
The reason for writing today is to take the athlete perspective and put it into words of graciousness to the volunteer base in Alaska and around the country. Without the volunteers, races don’t go. Without dedicated volunteers, it would be simply impossible to have a race in adverse conditions. My last US Nationals experience was in Houghton, Michigan where the snow was nearly non-existent. Somehow, the volunteer base in the UP was able to salvage every scrap of snow within a mind-staggering radius and pull together a truly noteworthy competition.
My early memories of US Nationals are similar. I was in the fifth grade when my father took me out of school to help volunteer alongside my late grandmother and still-volunteering grandfather at US Nationals in Rumford, ME (1992 - wow, time is going by). We hiked to the highest point on course to be technique control, we came in after and acted as, US Ski Team Coach, Justin Wadsworth’s shadow before drug testing, and we were part of something special. To each volunteer there is a reason for being on course or in the start/finish area, but to each volunteer this is a special opportunity. As a young skier my experience eventually, without me knowing it at the time, changed the course of my life. My early memory of volunteerism at US Nationals has had a lasting impression, and led me to this computer week after week to bring you stories from some of the finest athletes, and people in the sport.
Volunteers are the backbone of our sport. The community that is created around race venues is the community we wish we lived in every day of our lives. It is the type of community that will risk their own wellbeing to make sure someone else has finest experience possible.
As a coach, it is difficult to relay to an athlete how hard a volunteer works to make a race happen. Everyone has a job, and every one of those people will put in some very discernable form of sacrifice to make an event take shape. When I was talking to one of my athletes in Anchorage about her experience, I asked her if she had warmed up enough before the skate race. She said, “Well, I warmed up like you said, went to the line warm, and right when I got there I was wrapped in a big wool blanket by one of the volunteers.” That volunteer didn’t have a big wool blanket around them, but they were out there in that unforgiving weather to be sure you were safe…if only that lesson could have been the point of our conversation.
This week has been one for the history books. Some of the finest athletes in the country were not ready for the weather. Some of those athletes were shaken in their head by the never-ending warm-up. Some of those athletes pushed beyond the limitations that were out of their control and stepped to the line ready to race. Everyone reacted differently, but the volunteers didn't falter.
It is my intention to simply extend, on behalf of all the racing community, a healthy and sincere THANK YOU to all volunteers out there this week. It is my further intention to say to everyone who has volunteered, and will continue volunteering to insure the safety of our athletes and preserve the experience of the race, perpetual thanks. Without you, this sport would no longer be possible.
You are the silent hero among us who quietly do what is asked, and never ask for anything in return. Thank you.
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| SWIX Wax Reports - Weekend 1/2/09 - 1/4/09 |
Wax Recommendations for the weekend of 1/9/09 - 1/11/09
New England
Great Lakes
Mid West
Rocky Mountain
Far West
Event: 2009 US National Championships, Kincaid Park, Anchorage, Alaska 5/10km FS Race
Event Day Course Conditions: Warmed up enough to race! Excellent course conditions. Clean snow becoming more transformed due to grooming and number of skiers. More cold weather predicted.
Notes: Six of the top ten men and seven of the top ten women used Swix Star CT1 poles! Swix LF3 was a fantastic glide wax for today's conditions. In the two days preceding the event, the metro Anchorage area and Swix Racing Service sold over 54 viles of Swix LF3 cold weather glide wax!
Results:
WOMEN
1. Caitlin Compton -CXC Elite
2. Kikkan Randall - USST / APU / Swix
3. Liz Stephens - USST / Burke
MEN
1. Kris Freeman- USST / Swix
2. Leif Zimmerman - USST / Swix
3. Matt Liebsch - CXC Elite |
Val di Fiemme, Italy - Salomon Athlete, Ivan Babikov (CAN) won the final stage of the 2008-2009 Tour de Ski. Babikov completed the 11km freestyle event in a time of 33:51.2, 1.5 seconds faster than German Tom Reichelt.
Babikov skied well in the first two Tour distance races, placing 22nd and 25th in the 15km classic events. He contracted a cold, however, and finished way back in 48th in the 20km Mass Start yesterday. But he bounced back in a big way, skiing strong from the start and holding together on the brutal 400 meter vertical, 2.5 kilometer final stretch. He posted the 4th fastest time on the climb.
“I am so thrilled and totally couldn’t believe it when I was standing on top of the podium,” said Babikov following the awards ceremony, who added he nearly didn’t’ even race today because of an illness rolling through the team. “Our entire men’s team has been sick and yesterday was so hard for us, but I have been looking forward to this uphill climb all year and told myself to pass as many skiers as I could today.”
The victory puts Babikov in some prestigious company. The only other Canadian male to win a World Cup cross-country ski race is Pierre Harvey who made three trips to the top step of the podium. Babikov’s previous best finish was a fourth-place result at the Alberta World Cup in Canmore, Alta. in 2005.
“A World Cup win is something you dream of,” said Babikov, who is a gritty, tough skier that specializes in long distances and challenging climbs. “Our team has been so strong throughout this tour and I am just so happy to be a part of a great team. I have been waiting for this final day and glad it happened.”
Babikov’s new team extends far beyond the sport of cross-country skiing. The
28-year-old Babikov received his Canadian citizenship nearly one year ago after emigrating to Canmore from Syktyvkar, Russia. Babikov, who now resides in Canmore, Alta. with his wife Svetlana and two-year-old son Sergei, raced for Russia at the 2006 Olympics and is competing in his first full season with the Canucks.
The victory marks the second podium appearance by the Canadian men during the seven-race Tour de Ski that was contested in three countries over the last two weeks. Devon Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont., won a bronze medal in the men’s 15-kilometer classic race at the second stage of the Tour in Oberhof, Germany. Battling illness which nearly forced him to the sidelines, the 29-year-old Kershaw sucked up the pain to finish 22nd on Sunday with a time of 35:11.8, putting him 21st overall.
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| Events/Clinics/Announcements |
Waterville Valley, NH
Saab Salomon Factory Team member Justin Freeman will be hosting two clinics
Jan 11 1pm at the Salomon demo day
Classic technique and training clinic on snow
Feb 15 at 10 AM (subject to change)
Skate technique and training clinic.
________________________________________________________
The National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation announces their 2009
fundraiser calendar. It is filled with high-quality images of the US Ski Team from
recent World Cup action and features photos and bios of the next generation of US
ski racers - before they become household names. The NCCSEF has granted over
$175,000 to junior racers in the last 12 years. They've funded every World Junior
Championship team since 1997 and every J1 Scando Cup team since it was initiated in 1999. The annual calendar is a major Component of the NCCSEF Future Fund and you can be a part of this great tradition with your purchase!
Calendars are arriving from the printer soon and will be available direct through Boulder Nordic Sport as well as from the NCCSEF offices in St. Paul, MN. Coaches and clubs are encouraged to purchase the calendars for 50% to use as a fundraising tool. Half of the $20 price of the calendar will benefit the local club selling the calendar and half will go to the NCCSEF Future Fund.
The NCCSEF is a membership-based non-profit organization founded to promote the development of cross-country ski racing through the funding of activities that broaden entry level participation, challenge youth to achieve higher goals, and
support efforts that will eventually lead to success in international cross-country
skiing competition by US athletes.
Contact Phil Bowen phil@andersonbowen.com or Reid Lutter reid@nccsef.org for more information and to arrange delivery of calendars for your team or club
fundraiser. Visit nccsef.org to learn about an exciting opportunity for the NCCSEF
to earn $50,000 to help U25 skiers - with your help!
________________________________________________________
Marquette General Health System Noquemanon Ski Marathon and mBANK Half Noque
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Marquette, MI
Updates:
Two small changes in the race course should be noted by racers this year. From the 24 to 21K portion of the trail, racers will be rerouted to a new section of trail (for this year only) due to some logging in that area. The reroute will feature a gentler, more undulating terrain. Also, we are happy to announce our completion of the permanent reroute around one of the two ponds between the 9km and 8K portion of the trail.
Race entries are still available by calling 906-370-RACE, picking one up at an area ski shop or visiting www.noquemanon.com. Registrations will also be accepted at the Ski Expo on Friday, January 23, from 5pm to 10pm at the Superior Dome.
For more information on the Marquette General Health System Noquemanon Ski Marathon and mBank Half Noque, contact Nikki Dewald at 906-235-6861.
________________________________________________________
CXC is happy to work with SkiPost in offering the following products to
help make this year faster than last! Your purchases and support will help
shape the future of Nordic skiing in the US.
TRAINING LOG FOR ENDURANCE ATHLETES. LOG IT! - NEW
Provides a template for recording daily training throughout the year, broken into 13 four-week periods, interspersed with photos and stories to inspire your training. Take advantage of the introduction to help build a plan for your season, then record and adapt your training over the year as your fitness progresses. The log is written by US Ski Team member and with forward by US Ski Team head coach Pete Vordenberg.
CXC ACADEMY (WEB BASED) – NEW
Training plans for high school, Junior Olympics, college, elite, masters and Birkie skiers with daily workout examples. Video of technique progressions, ski specific workouts, interviews and other useful materials.
“CXCAcademy.com is one of the best things to happen to XC skiing in the United States. Anyone who participates is truly rewarded with excellent training programs and technique examples”.
CROSS COUNTRY TECHNQIUE FUNDAMENTALS (CD-ROM)
This CD lays the foundation for both Classic and Freestyle techniques on which we can build a consistent technique program that will continue to develop great cross-country skiers for years to come.
WAKE UP! IT'S TIME TO TRAIN (DVD)
70 minutes of exclusive interviews with US National Team coaches, drills and
technique, fitness testing, sports physiology, core strength, training volume, intensity levels, race footage, and much more.
X-COUNTRY (DVD)
The inside story on one of the toughest sports around by top World Cup racers.
COMPETITIVE CORE TRAINING - REAL TRAINING FOR REAL ATHLETES (DVD)
Competitive Core Training provides the exercises and workouts that will help athletes of all ages, abilities, and sports develop a strong, flexible core that is essential to athletic performance and success.
Visit the CXC Store at:
www.cxcstore.com
and CXC Academy at
www.cxcacademy.com
_____________________________________
Ski and Tea
is a women's year-round ski-specific training group in the Birkie Trail area (Cable, Hayward, Seeley) founded by Linda Cook and Juli Lynch. Our group goal is to have every woman who comes "Be and Feel Successful and Proud To Be a Skier!" We are a mix of abilities and ages with a motto of "No Woman Left Behind!" Our first day of training together was January 4, 2008 with 8 women showing up. We now have over 104 women on the mailing list for our weekly newsletter.
The next clinics scheduled are:
January 18--Ski and Tea Hosting Clinician Heather
Zimmerman - More advanced Ski Technique for both Skate and Classic.
Location has been changed to the North End Warming Hut, Cable, WI. on
Randysek Road.
February 18--Wednesday before the Birkie - Ski and
Tea Hosting Clinician
Caitlin Compton - Race Strategies and Packed Snow Skiing Tactics.
Location will be 00 Warming Hut, Seeley, WI. There will also be
instruction for beginners, intermediate and advanced ski technique.
This clinic will be assisted by several CXC Elite Women.
Contact Linda Cook for registration information - lpcook@chibardun.net
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