FasterSkier

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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Author: Mr. Ski

  • Birkie Novel and Inca Trail Presentations at Midwest Mountaineering

    Walter Rhein will be presenting on hiking the Inca Trail with Olympic cross-country skiers Leif Zimmermann, Martin Koukal, and Roberto Carcelen this Saturday, November 17th in Minneapolis.  He will also be presenting on his well-received cross-country skiing memoir “Beyond Birkie Fever.” The two presentations will be approximately one hour in length and will feature a slide show of spectacular images from Peru as well as the Birkie.

    The first presentation is titled “Connecting the Lost Cities: Hiking the Inca Trail with Olympic Athletes” and will be on Saturday, November 17th at 10:30 AM in the University of Minnesota Hanson Hall, Room 106 (the address for Hanson Hall is: 1925 4th St. S, Minneapolis MN 55455).  This is the story of a six day journey in Peru from Choquequirao to Machu Picchu.

    The second presentation is titled “Beyond Birkie Fever” and will be a discussion of his humorous cross-country skiing memoir of the same name.  The book was recently featured in the Chippewa Valley Book Festival. This presentation will be on Saturday, November 17th at 2:15 PM in the University of Minnesota Hanson Hall, Room 105.

    These presentations are free to the public, and the author will be available to sell and sign his novel after the presentations.  For more information, click here.

    To pick up copies of “Beyond Birkie Fever” (pick up like ten and give them to your friends and family, they’ll love it!) click here!

  • How To Flex Test Atomic Skintec Skis

    At CyclovaXC we are super excited about the new Atomic Skintec ski. The Atomic Skintec is a performance, waxless classical ski with a removable base plate that allows you to quickly and easily switch out your kick zone as follows:
    The end result is a performance, race classical ski that you don’t have to bother waxing for kick.
    Until now, there has been some confusion as to how to actually fit these skis, so Frank and I spent last Saturday testing them out.  It took us half a day, but we eventually found a quick and easy tactic for getting a feel for these skis and ensuring a proper fit.
    Generally, fitting a customer to a pair of skis involves sliding a card backward and forward beneath the ski to see where the pressure distribution points are. However, the traditional method is ineffective with the skintec base because the skin engages and grabs the card. The result is that sliding the card back and forth beneath the kick pocket gives a result that doesn’t feel like any other pair of skis you’ve ever tested.
    The trick is that the skin only engages when you’re sliding the card from the tail of the ski towards the tip. It makes sense when you think about it, there is no resistance when you’re going with the grain (as you would gliding), but this resistance appears if you start going against it (as you would when kicking).
    It’s similar to thinking about petting a porcupine. If you run your hand from the head to the tail you’re fine, but if you go tail to head you’re going to withdraw a hand punctured with quills.
    So what’s the simple trick for fitting these skis?
    Only run the card one way, from tip to tail.  Going that way gives you a feel which is consistent with every other pair of skis you’ve ever tested. The second you try to reverse direction, however, the skin grabs and you get a confusing result.
    By running the card from tip to tail, you can see exactly where the pocket begins and ends and how it reacts when the skiers weight shifts. It’s a little more time consuming than conventional fitting, but the good news is you don’t have to mark the Skintec skis kick pockets.
    We found that the pairs we had in our shop had a fairly consistent feel with the minor variations that are typical of all skis.  All in all, we’re stoked to get out on this new technology this winter! I expect we’re going to sell a TON of these skis, so now would be a good time to come to the shop and get yours if you’re interested (also…it snowed today!!!).

  • A Review of Wild Shot by Andy Liebner

    Overcome the Obstacles and Achieve Your Potential
    Cross-Country skiing is more of a calling than a sport, and nowhere is that more obvious than in Andy Liebner’s skiing memoir “Wild Shot.” The book chronicles a period in Liebner’s life when he decided to throw caution to the wind and spend a couple seasons training and racing as a professional athlete in Europe and Australia. But this book is not just an athlete’s story, it is also a travel memoir and a very personal quest for self. Despite tremendous results in world class events, Liebner frequently struggles with self-doubt that threatens to overwhelm him. His ability to overcome obstacles, not the least of which are his own personal demons, is what makes “Wild Shot” a truly compelling read.
    For those of us who have dabbled in sport, the attraction is clear. Where in other pursuits the result can be tainted by privilege, prejudice, or money, in a race things are simpler. The best man or woman in the event is the one that crosses the line first.
    Period.
    There is something pure about the knowledge that, no matter what other obstacles people put in front of you, the race will always reveal the truth.
    However, in “Wild Shot,” Liebner shows how even the sanctity of the race has been compromised. Sure, once the starting gun goes off, the best competitor wins. But the race can still be rigged by not allowing some athletes to compete.
    Such is the case with Andy Liebner, an aspiring Biathlete who finds he has been unceremoniously dumped by the US’s governing body of the sport (the USBA). Annoyed by the bureaucratic tape, Liebner decides to travel to Europe to train and race with the best Biathletes of the world. However, even though he is supporting his own racing and training, the USBA will not grant him permission to enter international biathlon events, even if there are no other American athletes participating.
    Undaunted, Liebner finds his way into various high profile events, and as he racks up several podium finishes, he begins to achieve a stature that is beyond what the USBA can suppress.
    As an avid skier myself, I was extremely frustrated by Liebner’s description of what the “system” for developing cross-country athletes is like in the US. Cross-Country skiing is a fringe sport that needs champions to increase its popularity in the US. Based on “Wild Shot,” the USBA seems to be doing the opposite.
    However, Andy Liebner’s tenacious pursuit of his dream is inspiring to follow. Yes, he feels doubt along the way, sometimes even in the face of success, but it’s that tremendous human element that makes the book a rewarding read.
    If you’re interested in reading something that will inspire you to achieve your fullest potential no matter what obstacles are in your way, “Wild Shot” is the book for you.

  • Hands-On Wax Clinic—Mega Sale on Ski Related Item

    I don’t know about you, but every time we hit February, I start coming down with a pretty intense case of BIRKIE FEVER! Last weekend, Badger State games was the perfect prep, with finish line temperatures hovering at around 40 degrees. It was the type of day where the warm-up jacket was literally too hot to wear after the event!
    Fortunately, it seems like we’re getting a bit of a cool down, and the word is that the Birkie trail is in good shape. Many of us are going to find out exactly how good when we head up there to do the Pre-Birkie this Saturday (don’t forget, online registration closes tonight—Wednesday Feb. 8—at midnight).
    In celebration of the Pre-Birkie, Frank has organized our most ambitious wax clinic yet. On Thursday, Feb. 9th at 6 PM waxing guru and master of fast skis Jerry Slater of the Toko Tech Team, along with CyclovaXC’s master waxer Frank Lundeen, will present the inside scoop on how to prep your skis for the weekend’s Pre-Birkie. This clinic will include hands-on stations where you will be shown how to iron, scrape, and brush. Essentially, this is going to be the ultimate wax clinic for erasing all your lingering doubts about whether or not you are waxing correctly. It’s time to put those fears to rest and wake up on Birkie morning CERTAIN that your skis are going to be ROCKET SHIPS!
    Also, with the Birkie on the horizon, the ski season is wrapping up so we need to move our remaining inventory to make room for all the awesome bicycles we’re about to bring in. As a result we’re offering 20% OFF all wax and wax tools, and 30% off all skis, boots, poles and ski clothing (note that bindings are not included in this sale). This is a great time to stock up on the best equipment possible for this year’s Birkie and next year’s season! The sale begins tomorrow, so get in soon to ensure that you find a pair of skis that fits you properly!
    See you all up at the Pre-Birkie, and make sure you head up to Redberybooks afterwards because Walter Rhein will be there signing copies of “Beyond Birkie Fever” from 5 PM to 7 PM (check out his latest article about the Inca Trail here).
    Oh, and Tommy K, Greg and I will be doing some laps at Troll Hollow tonight starting at about 5:15. If you can make it, it’d be awesome to see you!
    It’s also time to start thinking about the INCA TRAIL with Martin Koukal. Roberto and I have set the dates as June 20th through the 29th, and you really need to make an effort to come down and do this spectacular trip with the Olympic medalist from the Czech Republic. I’m working on Roberto to get the price down a little bit, but check the details here!
    In case you missed it, here are some other recent articles you might enjoy:
    Good Luck at the Pre-Birkie!!!

  • Things You See on Foggy Drives to Ski Races

    Lindsley was a little late to Badger State because he had to pull over and destroy this Imperial Walker along the way.

  • Embarrassing First Birkie Photos!

    Actually this photo doesn’t embarrass me, but I put that as the title because I figure some people might look at it and be embarrassed for me.  But the way I look at it, all I need is a haircut and a shave and I’m a thin, 18 year old again (oh, and I’d need a new wardrobe too…but at least I’m not in some horrific all purple ski suit).
    Yup, my first Birkie was pretty low-tech.  But that’s because I didn’t have an awesome ski shop like CyclovaXC out there to design an awesome ski suit for me and otherwise show me the ropes.
    That first Birkie I skied on borrowed skis in borrowed boots.  The poles were mine…I still have those poles actually, they were the ones that required to you loop the straps around your hands in fifty different ways to even approximate proper function.
    The black beanie cap was probably a little too much warmth, as was the blue neck warmer thing.  The wool button up shirt was not a bad choice really.  The Khaki pants, on the other hand, not so much (actually those might be dirty blue jeans with oil stains, etc…I don’t remember).
    This was back in the days when I used to work the excavator for eight to ten hours, and then grab an hour or so skiing at “OO” on the way home from work.  You can read all about this in “Beyond Birkie Fever” (signed copies available at CyclovaXC).
    Yup, that was back in 1994, and I actually moved up from the 8th to the 6th wave that year (6th wave was the year I skied with a Dostoevsky shirt…training and everything, and only ONE person ever commented on it!).
    Anyway, I hope this inspires all of you to go and dig that old embarrassing first Birkie photo up out of your archives, scan it, and email it to bj@cyclovaxc.com.  Or, if you prefer, just drop off a copy at CyclovaXC and we’ll scan it for you and write your story.
    Please…please…please!!!!  I just love seeing those old 70s and 80s race suits!

  • Birkie Training on the Inca Trail Article on Silent Sports

    I occasionally have articles and short stories published in magazines. Silent Sports has been the best of them so far.  For example, they just posted a recent article of mine titled “Birkie Training on the Inca Trail.”  This is available both online, and in their print version of the magazine (I need to go and dig up a copy of that somewhere.
    Anyway, instead of writing a new article for “CyclovaXC” today, what I’d like to do is drive all of you loyal readers over to this “Birkie Training on the Inca Trail” article.  This article shows what I’m capable of when I allow myself more than the four or five minutes I generally spend on my daily “CyclovaXC” articles (folks, if I had more time, I’d gladly devote it all to writing, but alas time is in terribly scarce supply…as is money).  If you like what you read in this article, I highly suggest you pick up my novel “Beyond Birkie Fever” (about  20% of that novel started out as articles for Silent Sports actually).
    But if you’d like to help me out in a way that doesn’t require spending any money, just run over to the Silent Sports article, give it a read (you’ll enjoy it), and leave a comment on the bottom, or “share” it on Facebook.  If I can show these publishers I can drive 500 people to their magazine every time they publish an article of mine, it becomes a lot easier for me to submit articles and get them accepted.  So your participation and comments help greatly!  Don’t worry, I’ll check in later in the day and respond to comments you post on the Silent Sports page as well.
    So anyway, the article again is called “Birkie Training on the Inca Trail” and it’s different than the other Inca trail articles you might have read by me (in case you were wondering).  Thanks for your help in advance!

  • Photos From the 2012 Marine/O’Brien Cross-Country Ski Race

  • Upcoming Appearances of Jeff Foltz author of "Birkebeiner the Novel"

    Jeff Foltz asked me to publish is schedule of upcoming appearances in the area, and I told him I’d be happy to do it.  If you haven’t looked at “Birkebeiner the Novel” yet, check out an interview with Foltz here.
    Wednesday, February 15, 5PM to 7PM – Book World, 404 Ashmun Street, Sault Ste Marie, MI – 906-632-0559
    Friday, February 17, 3PM to 7PM – Book World, 136 Washington Street, Marquette, MI – 906-228-9490
    Saturday, February 18, Noon to 3PM – Book World, 522 Oneida Street,
    Minoqua, WI – 715-356-7071
    Sunday, February 19 – 11AM to 1PM – Minoqua Winter Park, 12375 Scotchman Lake Road, Minoqua , WI – 715-356-3309
    Tuesday, February 21 – 11:30AM to 1PM, Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church Mindekirkien series, 924 East 21st Street, Minneapolis, MN.
    Wednesday, February 22 – 4:30PM to 8PM – Book World, 10553 Main Street, Hayward, WI – 715-634-6007
    Thursday, February 23, 1PM – 9PM, The American Birkebeiner Expo, Hayward Middle School, 15930 W. 5th Street, Hayward, WI.
    Friday, February 24, 9AM – 7:30PM , The American Birkebeiner Expo, Hayward Middle School, 15930 W. 5th Street, Hayward, WI.
    Saturday, February 25, 4:30PM – 7:30PM, Redbery Books, 43455 Kavanaugh Street, Cable, WI, 715-798-5014
    Sunday, February 26, 1PM – 4PM, Book World, 1104 S. Stephenson Highway, Iron Mountain, MI, 906-779-1416
    Monday, February 27, time & campus location tbd, Finlandia University, 601 Quincy Street, Hancock, MI

  • CyclovaXC at the 2012 Sisu Marathon

    What a great time we had at the 2012 Sisu marathon!  First and foremost, it was great to make the arduous drive up to Ironwood and watch as the roads and villages became more and more utterly submerged with glorious SNOW!  In all honesty, I’ve been suffering from a few dents to my enthusiasm as this ridiculous brown winter continues to stubbornly PERSIST, but getting up to Ironwood gave me a good solid snow fix that will last me until the next big Wisconsin snowfall (which should be soon).
    I have to hand out some props to Mitch and Micah who came along to do their first ever ski race and acquitted themselves marvelously (which means they didn’t have a massive crash and stab each other in the kneecaps with their ski poles at the beginning of the race).  They both successfully completed the 21 k event, and I’m pretty sure we could have talked them into doing the 42 k, but that just didn’t seem like a good choice for a person’s first ever ski race.
    The above picture is Micah and I on the awesome bus that Sisu had for us to get to the start area at ABR.  My thoughts at this moment were that CyclovaXC needs a bus like this that we can use to take our intrepid skiers up for training days on the Birkie trail, etc.  I’m going to work on allocating some funds for that purpose.

    Here’s Frank and Mitch on the bus as well.  You’ll notice that Mitch is smiling here but he wouldn’t be smiling about 20 minutes later when he looked into his clothing bag only to realize that he’d forgotten his ski boots back in Frank’s car.  Fortunately, the 21 k didn’t start until TWO HOURS after the 42 k, so he had plenty of time to catch a bus back, get his boots, and come back out to the starting area.  Heck, he had so much time that he would have made it even if he’d been in the 42 k.
    That was the only thing that went wrong for our immediate crew, and since he made it back with ample time to spare, it was a totally acceptable problem to have.
    Here’s Dwayne and Frank in the ABR warming hut that I wasn’t even aware existed until they ushered us into it upon our arrival.  Dwayne had a great race despite the fact that he was running around frantically looking for his pole just before the gun (he found them with about 30 seconds to spare and kept the adrenaline pumping throughout the day I think).
    The start of the classical race.  I took this picture from a distance and had to zoom in for the skiers to fill the frame, that’s why it’s a little pixilated.
    More from the classical start.


    Dwayne beginning his 42 k race.

    Here are Frank, Allan and Adam.  I believe we had a total of 9 CyclovaXC skiers at the race.  Great turnout!  Just a little while after this image was taken, Adam and Allan would be laying at the bottom of a massive crash with Allan’s ski pole digging deeply into Adam’s knee (they’d both get up to complete the race, although Allan would go on to break a ski, and throw 30 of the 80 lbs of equipment he was carrying to the ground in disgust).  Nobody’s saying anybody was responsible, the only explanation that I heard was that Allan “hit a soft spot.”  Frank, anticipating that something like that might happen, had lined up about ten feet away from Allan, and thus escaped the carnage to begin his race free and clear.
    There’s me waiting for the race to begin.
    All and all I have to say that the Sisu marathon is a fantastic event.  The snow was a little bit slow and the trail was just a little bit soft which made for a tough ski, but it was terrific to simply be out on snow and getting some much needed k’s under the belt.  For those of you who haven’t done the Sisu marathon, it’s really one to put on your calendar.  The first half of the trail is extremely challenging with some fairly technical descents.
    If we don’t get some snow here pretty soon, we might all be headed up to ABR quite a big over the upcoming weeks.  Tomorrow I’ll tell you all about the hotel that you don’t want to stay at when you go there.

  • The Birkie Trail is in Great Shape!

    I snuck away on Saturday and spent the whole glorious day making myself suffer up there north of Hayward. I really should have spent a bit more time taking pictures honestly, but I was having too much fun skiing to properly document my adventure.
    I was coming up from Chippewa Falls, so I went straight to the fish hatchery trail head since I didn’t want to waste even one more minute driving.  Sure, “OO” is probably the most popular access point, but I figured, heck, I’d just pull into the fish hatchery and SKI up to “OO” (which I did).
    Back in the good old days of living in Spooner, fish hatchery was the spot we always drove up to anyway, so I thought it’d bring back some nice memories to ski that neck of the woods (besides…Bitch hill is down there and it’s good to hit that a couple times before the end of February).
    Folks, I was a little skeptical about trail conditions, but let me assure you that the Birkie trail is in GREAT shape!  Yes, I encountered a couple bare spots between kilometers 43 and 23, but only about 4 or 5.  There was only one that you had to take your skis off to traverse, and that was right at Mosquito Brook (so my skis were off anyway).
    Even on a day in the middle of January, the Birkie trail is a big festival.  If you go out and ski there, you’re likely to encounter EVERYBODY you know who is a skier.  It was amazing!  I ran into John who I have been rollerskiing with here in Chippewa Falls, Peter from River Falls, Laurie and Mary (who spent about ten minutes telling me how great “Beyond Birkie Fever” is…I told them to write me a review on amazon :), and was able to meet up with my Mom and Neal at the end of the day to help me kill my last 15 km.
    We finished up our ski and headed straight on over to Coops pizza.  After 40+ k I knew that hunger that only skiers know.  We dominated this meal:

    Hope to see all of you out there on snow or on the Birkie trail sooner rather than later!!

  • Wax Clinic Schedule for CyclovaXC (All Welcome, Free to Attend)

    Hello Everybody,
    At CyclovaXC we understand that the process of preparing your skis can be a daunting task.  For that reason, we have broken up the waxing process into 7 separate wax clinics.  We highly recommend these clinics for both novices and experienced skiers as the industry standard for waxing evolves every year.  Why cost yourself valuable minutes and energy in your races by persisting in waxing your skis with last year’s methods?
    These clinics are completely free and everyone is welcome to attend.  As an added bonus, you will have the opportunity to purchase wax and waxing tools at a 10% discount after the clinics!
    Come and join the fun folks at CyclovaXC and learn how to get everything out of your skis, your wax, and (most importantly) yourself!

    Clinic Schedule:

    Saturday, December 3 @ 6PM: Mike Lundeen of Toko and Madshus leads a clinic for all levels of skiers – from Olympians to first timers on glide waxing fundamentals. In this clinic, we will highlight the fundamentals of how to apply glide wax. It is more important to apply wax properly, than to buy the spendy stuff. Learn to make the most of the time & money you spend on glide waxing, by applying it properly. All are welcome and keep in mind that you will receive a 10% discount on any wax or tool purchase during this wax clinic! Additionally, we will soon be announcing some very special VIP guests for a never before seen presentation on XC Ski design and manufacturing. Stay tuned…
    Thursday, December 15 @ 6PM: Frank Lundeen on de-mystifying the art of grip (kick) waxing classic skis. The art of grip waxing doesn’t need to be a complicated mystery – and it won’t be if you attend this clinic. 10% off on any wax or tool purchase during this wax clinic!
    Thursday, December 29 @ 6PM: Dan Meyer, owner of Fast Wax, Polymer Scientist, and life long skier leads a clinic on fast skis with Fast Wax – made locally in the St. Croix River Valley! 10% off on any wax or tool purchase during this wax clinic!
    Thursday, January 12 @ 6PM: Frank Lundeen focuses in on ski prep for extreme cold conditions – such as those commonly found at January ski races like the Pepsi Challenge. Learn the keys to making your skis glide in those frigid squeaky January ski events! 10% off any wax or tool purchase during this wax clinic!
    Thursday, January 26 @ 6PM: Frank Lundeen zeroes in on advanced race glide waxing techniques. In this clinic, we will discuss and demonstrate advanced race glide waxing techniques used on the World Cup – tricks that will make real differences in your ski speed and race results. A few of the topics to be covered include application of flourinated glide waxes, synthetic hardeners, flourocarbons, layering of waxes, and application of structure. 10% off on any wax or tool purchase during this wax clinic!
    Thursday, February 9 @ 6PM: Waxing guru and master of fast skis Jerry Slater of the Toko Tech Team presents the inside scoop on how to prep your skis for the weekend’s Pre-Birkie and Mora Vasaloppet races. 10% off on any wax or tool purchase during this wax clinic!
    Thursday, February 23 @ 6PM: Frank Lundeen presents how to have your best skis ever at this year’s Birkie! Ski selection, structure, glide waxing, and grip waxing will be discussed and demonstrated.

    All clinics are at the CyclovaXC retail store in St. Croix Falls
    CyclovaXC
    125 North Washington St., Suite A
    St. Croix Falls, WI 54024
    (715) 483 3278


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  • Skiing the Sibley Ski Tour Back in ’95 or so

    I was just digging through some old photos when I came across this one from the Sibley Ski Tour from about fifteen years ago.  Frank and I are decked out in the original Riverbrook duds that we designed after a rollerski down at Lake Wissota Park.  This suit became known as the “icicle” suit since back then the sublimating companies couldn’t do a fade, so they just dribbled icicles on the fade areas (it was effective enough from a distance).  Oh, that was also a one piece suit which seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur.
    You know…the whole one piece versus two piece argument isn’t a slam dunk.  Sure, the two piece is a lot more convenient for things like going to the bathroom before a race.  But it’s like Mike says, when you zip up that one piece suit, you just feel complete.
    Anyway, I seem to remember this being a brutally cold race and the fact that we’re both wearing neck warmers seems to attest to that.
    Sigh…to be fifteen years younger again, oh well.
    But as you can see, Frank and I have been doing this ski thing for a loooooong time!

  • I’ve Just Been Named Ambassador to Inca Runners

    As most of you know, at some point CyclovaXC in association with IncaRunners is going to do an EXTREMELY EPIC trip down the Inca trail (I had to put that in all caps and I STILL didn’t convey how EPIC and LIFE CHANGING this trip is going to be).
    I did this trip last summer and wrote this article about the adventure (I also did a slide show which you probably saw at the grand opening).  The only thing that I regret was that I wasn’t in better shape.  Still, it was an amazing trip and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.
    According to Roberto Carcelen (Peru’s first winter Olympian and the trail guide for the Inca Trail), Martin Koukal (2003 50 km world champion) is psyched to do this trip again, and if all systems are go this summer, you’re not going to want to miss this opportunity.
    I’ve been in contact with Roberto quite a bit recently and he’s committed to coming up and doing the American Birkebeiner, so that will give all of you a chance to meet him and get a taste of his enthusiasm for running the Inca Trail.
    I’ve just been named an ambassador to Inca Runners, you can learn about that here as well as read a story about how the Inca trail is a great place to start your Birkie training.
    So, seriously, put the Inca trail on your list of MUST DO lifetime events.  I’ll be going to Peru frequently (a minimum of every other year) so if you want to travel with an expert, just get in touch!

  • The Birkie Is Filling Up, Register Now!

    Yes, this race is capped, so if you’re thinking of doing it, you’d better sign up now (click here for registration)! I remember the first time I did the Birkie back when I was 18, I was able to wait until the week before the event…but those days are long gone and if you don’t sign up before it closes, it’s VERY difficult to get in (I’d say impossible, but I’ve heard of it happening at great expense to the competitor, believe me you don’t want to go that route, just bite the bullet and sign up!).

  • The Birkie Is Filling Up, Register Now!

    Yes, this race is capped, so if you’re thinking of doing it, you’d better sign up now (click here for registration)! I remember the first time I did the Birkie back when I was 18, I was able to wait until the week before the event…but those days are long gone and if you don’t sign up before it closes, it’s VERY difficult to get in (I’d say impossible, but I’ve heard of it happening at great

  • Using the CXC Fitting Mat to Check Cross-Country Ski Fit

    First off, I’ve shipped out the order for our ski suits and Mt. Borah has told me they’ll be shipping the final product on December 16th which should give us our suits in plenty of time for the snow (and, more importantly, the early races).  
    In the meantime, I’ve finally found a second of peace to sift through my old photos and videos and start posting some of the things that happened on our

  • Using the CXC Fitting Mat to Check Cross-Country Ski Fit

    First off, I’ve shipped out the order for our ski suits and Mt. Borah has told me they’ll be shipping the final product on December 16th which should give us our suits in plenty of time for the snow (and, more importantly, the early races).  
    In the meantime, I’ve finally found a second of peace to sift through my old photos and videos and start posting some of the things that happened on our

  • Using the CXC Fitting Mat to Check Cross-Country Ski Fit

    First off, I’ve shipped out the order for our ski suits and Mt. Borah has told me they’ll be shipping the final product on December 16th which should give us our suits in plenty of time for the snow (and, more importantly, the early races).  
    In the meantime, I’ve finally found a second of peace to sift through my old photos and videos and start posting some of the things that happened on our Super Fit weekend at CyclovaXC.  For example, in the above image, we have a skier checking out how a couple of Salomon racing skis flex on the CXC Fitting mat.  That fitting mat was a pretty impressive piece of technology (you can see the flex pattern on the screen).
    Cross-country skiing is one of those kind of minimalists sports, but don’t be fooled, there is a HUGE amount of technology that goes into modern skis, boots, bindings and poles.  Don’t get me wrong, skiing is still one of the best sports for escaping the technological world and getting reconnected with the true reality of being a living being.  It’s just that the technology of skiing is kind of hidden in the background to magnify your experience.  The better your skis go through the snow and twist and adapt to the trail, the less you have to think about them.
    Which gives you the chance to think about more important things, or absolutely nothing at all!

  • My Rollerskis Exploded!

    Well…I guess that’s the last time I ski on rollerskis that I didn’t buy at CyclovaXC.  You see that section with the blue wheel and the bolt?  Yeah…that’s supposed to be attached to that big, gaping hole on the rollerski. For the record, these are a pair of Proskis that I probably bought about 15 years ago, and it’s pretty hard to calculate the total number of hours I’ve spent on them, but