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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.

Tag: toko nordlite xcold powder

  • 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: $20 – $50

    2011 Holiday Gift Guide: $20 – $50

    Once again the FasterSkier staff has weighed in on their favorite gift ideas for the 2011 holiday season.  Today’s installment of the Holiday Gift Guide features items priced from $20 to $50.

    Previous 2011 Holiday Gift Guide Suggestions:

    2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Under $20

    FasterSkier’s picks for the top ten gifts between $20 and $50:

    10: Sauce or Skida Hat. Price: starting from $28.00.

    10: Sauce or Skida Hat. Price: starting from $28.00.  Whether you’re just looking for a little flair and individuality or a team looking to create an identity both Sauce and Skida have a selection of prints from which to choose. The FasterSkier crew prefers the fleece-lined option, but you make the call on that one. Available online at Sauce Headwear and Skida.

     

    09: Swix Garbage Bag Holder. Price: $40.00

    09: Swix Garbage Bag Holder. Price: $40.00. For the person on your shopping list who seems to have everything the Swix Garbage Bag Holder is a good choice. Tricking out your wax table is fun and helps you work more efficiently. This accessory just attaches to the edge of your work table, allowing you to just sweep the waste right into the bag. Available at your local ski shop or online at Boulder Nordic Sport and Gear West.

     

    08: Rubber Encased Dumbbells. Price: starting from ~$25.00.

    08: Rubber Encased Dumbbells. Price: starting from ~$25.00. It’s winter so the days are short and it is hard enough to find time to get out for a long ski, let alone find time to get to the gym. However, it is important to keep up with your strength work. A pair of dumbbells (or a few pairs) will let you maintain your strength though winter right in your living room. Once or twice a week, while you are watching your favorite television show, get up off the couch and do some lunges, overhead presses, rows, curls, etc. The hex shape will also allow you to do pushups on them… just don’t forget to change up your hand positions.

    These aren’t the blocks of rusty metal that you remember from high school. The ergonomically designed handle fits nicely in your hand and the weighted ends are encased in rubber incase you forget them outside. Available online here.

     

    07: Swix Iron Holder. Price: $30.00.

    07: Swix Iron Holder. Price: $30.00. If you have ever knocked your wax iron over while working on your skis then you will know why this is an important accessory. Just attach it to the edge of your wax table to give your wax iron a little nest in which to hangout while you work. Available at your local ski shop or online at Boulder Nordic Sport and Gear West.

     

    06: Toko Nordlite XCold Powder. Price: $30.00.

    06: Toko Nordlite XCold Powder. Price: $30.00. If you will be racing somewhere that has the potential of being really cold, then you should have some Toko Nordlite XCold Powder in your wax box.  This additive is used with your other cold glide wax to make it harder and more durable. Available at your local ski shop and at Gear West and Skinny Skis.

     

    05: Rubber Medicine Ball. Price: starting from ~$35.00.

    05: Rubber Medicine Ball. Price: starting from ~$35.00. Medicine Balls are probably the most useful piece of gym equipment for a cross-country skier. From kayakers to throw-downs to push-ups, they’re great.  Make sure you get rubber ones so you can use them outside in any weather condition. 6 to 8 kilograms is a good place to start depending on your strength. Available online here.

     

    04: SportHill Ranier Knee Tights. Price: $50.00.

    04: SportHill Ranier Knee Tights. Price: $50.00. There has been some debate amongst the FasterSkier team as to whether guys can/should wear these, but at very least these are a great gift for the ladies. They’re really nice for running and rollerskiing in fall/spring weather. Of course you could always just bust the rolled-up-race-suit look of a certain Team Homegrown skier… Available online here.

     

    03: SkiGo HF Kick Wax. Price: $25.00.

    03: SkiGo HF Kick Wax. Price: $25.00. If you haven’t spent time learning the SkiGo line of kick wax… what are you waiting for? Not that it is the be-all end-all wax, but it is good to have in your wax box because this stuff works.  Available online at BNS.

     

    02: Toko Digital Snow Thermometer. Price: 39.95.

    02: Toko Digital Snow Thermometer. Price: $39.95. It is easy to look at a thermometer and see what the air temperature is, but there are a lot more factors to determine the best wax of the day. What was the air temperature overnight and how quickly is the snow surface going to be warming up. A snow thermometer can help you answer these questions. There are other options to consider, but the Toko Digital Snow Thermometer is a good value. Available at your local ski shop or online at Skinny Skis.

     

    01: Foam Roller. Price: starting from ~$30.00.

    01: Foam Roller. Price: starting from ~$30.00. We recently had the pleasure of having the USST’s Liz Stephen take us through some strength exercises. She told us about how her and her teammates love these foam rollers and even travel with them in their ski bags when they are on the road. You can use them to stretch out different muscle groups or roll around on it to massage your sore muscles. Available online here.

     

    Bonus gift ideas:

    These items just missed our top ten and deserve an honorable mention.

    – Propane Torch: The person on your list might already have one, but it is probably covered in klister. Plus, they should have a backup because it might stop working right when they need it most. If they don’t have one… they should!  You can’t always rely on having electricity to apply klister or soften up base green. Available at your local hardware store or online here.

    – Body Stick: These are a great tool for injury preventing, working out lactic acid and increasing circulation to your sore muscle groups. They come in both a standard length and travel size. Available online here.

    – Toko Irox Fluoro: The Irox spray is said to offer the same resistance as tradition hot wax and at this price it’s totally worth a try. Available online here.

    – Holmenkol Pro Groove Scraper: This was in the Holiday Gift Guide last year, which is the only reason why it did not make the top ten this year.  f you already have one, get another for a backup. There are others out there, but this is the best one. Enough said. Available online here.

    – Erik Sports Snowman Junior Ski Set: This is just what the junior members of the FasterSkier team have (no, not Nat). They are an inexpensive way to introduce your future World Cup skier into the sport. Available online here.

     

     

  • 2010 FasterSkier Holiday Gift Guide: $20-$50

    2010 FasterSkier Holiday Gift Guide: $20-$50

    The holidays are coming up fast. This part of our Gift Guide series covers gifts between $20 and $50, taking some of the guesswork out of the equation!


    Buff w/Big Logo

    Buff (Original Buff) – MSRP: $20.00 “Skier’s cough” is the typical symptom from skiing on those super cold days. With Buff’s Original Buff, you can help prevent that annoying cough while staying cool and fashionable. They guard the wearer against sun and cold in a wide range of outdoor settings. In addition, Buffs are uniquely versatile as there are twelve different ways to wear one! This product is available here.

    Fast Wax Low Fluorinated Racing Wax – MSRP: $21.95 Great glide wax for training, and excellent for racing when the humidity is low. Fast Wax LF glide waxes come in four varieties too cover temperatures from 5 F to 50 F.  At 21.95 for 80 grams, Fast Wax delivers a lot of wax for the money. This product is available here.

    Fast Wax Slick Pro – MSRP: $24.95 When time is tight and speed matters, slap on this revolutionary paste from Fast Wax. The Slick Pro combines the simplicity of a fluorinated paste wax with the performance of a hot fluoro wax by tailoring the paste to specific temperature ranges. Ridiculously simple, yet so fast you’ll want to race on it. Simply rub it on, allow to it dry for a couple of minutes (while you look for a place to stash your keys), buff it, brush out and go for it! Once you’ve tried it, you’re hooked. This product is available here.

    Toko Sina Cap – MSRP: $26.00 Skiers can never have enough hats. (Or gloves, for that matter.) Toko’s finely woven knitted cap with an embroidered Toko logo is optimally suited for Nordic skiing. Plus, it comes in Fire Red, which will provide a festive flair to your ski outfit. This product is available here.

    Toko LF Dibloc Red – MSRP: $28.00 This is one of Toko’s most popular waxes.  It has a huge range and ski bases love it.  It is the ultimate training wax. This product is available here.

    Brooks Vapor-Dry2 Glove

    Brooks Vapor-Dry2 Gloves – MSRP: $29.95 Warm, lightweight, highly breathable gloves that help you stay visible when you walk or run. This product is available here.


    Swix Med. Bronze and Nylon Brush

    Swix Medium Bronze and Nylon Brush – MSRP: $27 Everyone loves a nice new brush that doesn’t have little bits of wax embedded in it. The Swix medium bronze and nylon brush is a great first brush. With the combination of stiff bronze and medium stiff nylon, this brush is all you need for your everyday waxing needs. This product is available here.

    Toko Copper Brush – MSRP $29 Ask anybody who owns a Copper brush and they will almost certainly tell you that they love it and use it all the time.  It does all the things that you want a metal brush to do (open and clean the base as well as remove wax), but not the things that a more aggressive metal brush does (create hair which slows skis and leads to sealing of bases). This product is available here.


    BootMate and BootBuddy

    BootMate and BootBuddy Combo Pack – MSRP: $29.99 We all know that our ski boots take quite a bit of wear and tear, especially on the soles. Once you’ve worn the sole down to the bar, it’s pretty much time for a new pair of boots. Skadin Nordic’s BootBuddies snap into the bottom of your ski boots to protect and prolong the life of the boots. (And they keep snow out so you don’t have to balance on one ski while attempting to poke out compacted snow with the end of your pole.) The combo pack comes with BootMate, which you can use to conveniently carry and store your boots. Available for both NNN and Pilot boots. This product is available here.

    Toko Irox Fluoro 250ml – MSRP $30 This is a revolutionary new spray-on hot wax. What is sprayed on the ski is actually paraffin. It can then be hot waxed and finished, or corked, brushed, and polished, or rotocorked and finished, or simply buffed in. Toko suggests corking, brushing and then polishing for best results: it is very quick and easy, but does a surprisingly good job. It is important is to hold the can about a foot away from the ski when spraying. This provides the cleanest application. This product is available here.

    Toko Nordlite XCold Powder 60g – MSRP $30 This cold weather additive makes skis slippery when snow is cold, dry, and slow.  It can be used by itself at a final layer or mixed with another wax to harden it up.  XCold has a huge following because it is the fastest cold weather wax available. This product is available here.

    STAR Map Black – MSRP $32 Graphite base wax for prepping and conditioning bases in cold and abrasive snow with a broad temperature range of -5 to -20 C. In cold, dry snow Map Black can be used alone or as a base layer for other waxes. This product is available here.


    Fischer Economy Ski Bag

    Fischer Ski Bag – MSRP: $34.95 What better way to transport your skis than in Fischer’s classy black ski bag? With its double zipper and handle straps, this lightweight bag is great for a day ski or a weeklong ski trip. This product is available here.


    Fischer Thermo Drink Belt – MSRP: $35.00 While standard water bottle holders are great, this drink belt kicks it up a notch. It carries 0.75L of water, has a wide opening that defies freezing (a great feature on those wickedly cold days), and an enormous top pocket to carry a snack, a couple kick waxes, and even an extra layer! This product is available here.

    Toko Digital Snow Thermometer – MSRP $40 Take the guesswork out of the waxing at least on the factors you can control. Measurement range from -40C to 200C. The thermometer can be switched between C and F, and has a min/max function. Nice, compact size – just 15cm long. This product is available here.

    Training with Purpose DVD – MSRP: $49.95 Get the most out of your training by using the drills, progressions, technique, and equipment that is proven to achieve the best results! This DVD gives you an inside look at the kind of technique, drills, and tools the CXC athletes are using to achieve success. Cross Country technique drills and progressions presented in this DVD may be incorporated into your warm-up and cool-down sessions; done on an “active rest” day; performed before, during or after specific and over distance workouts. If you are planning on running, you can add the dry-land activities. If you are planning on rollerskiing, you should take the drills in the technique you are choosing, and save the others for another day. This product is available here.


    Craft Performance Glove – MSRP: $49.95 Craft Performance Gloves are made from a lightweight wind protected shell fabric constructed of 80% Polyamide and 20% Polyester with Clarino fake leather on the palm for durability and softness. Lightweight with a good fit! This glove is perfect for any Nordic journey. Both men’s and women’s versions for optimal fit and sizing. This product is available here.


    Madshus Rifle Bag

    Madshus Biathlon Rifle Bag – MSRP: $49.95 For all the biathletes out there, this is a great rifle bag. The ripstop material helps it hold up under the heaviest of abuse. The zippered pocket is a great way to stay organized and the zippered Velcro opening allows for easy access. This product is available here.

    SportHill 3SP Base Layer Pant (Women) MSRP $50 SportHill’s 3SP Base Layer Pant features the new Feather Weight fabric, made from 100 percent polypropylene. According to SportHill, this fabric is ounce for ounce one of the warmest on the planet. The soft, plush elastic waistband can’t be matched for next-to-skin comfort. Flatlocked seams prevent chafing, design features left leg contrast stitching or color-blocking. This product is available here.