Summer Skiing on Eagle Glacier Report

(Press release)

Reese Hanneman putting the TOKO Convertible gloves through the paces. The weather on Eagle Glacier is extremely variable and a versatile glove such as the Convertible is perfect for these conditions. We couldn’t have a better tester!

Many US elite athletes are currently training on Eagle Glacier in Alaska.  I thought you all might be interested to have some insight on what it is like waxing and training up there.  Here are some thoughts from Brian Gregg on last year’s camp:

Summer Skiing on Eagle Glacier Report
By Brian Gregg

I love roller skiing but it is no match for skiing fresh corduroy on a bluebird day, especially in the middle of summer. The Eagle Glacier south of Anchorage, Alaska is home to Alaska Pacific University’s Thomas Training Center. With a relatively flat gradient, only 5,200 feet of elevation and just a 5 hour flight to Anchorage from my home in Minneapolis the Eagle Glacier is the perfect destination for summer ski training. Even better is sharing it with the US Ski Team men and the Alaska Pacific University men’s team.

One of the best pieces of advice I received as a young ski racer is to wax your skis between every session. The faster your skis the more kilometers you can ski and the closer you will be training to race pace. Over the years I have become pretty good and it takes me about 5 minutes per ski for new glide wax. Wet snow tends to be real slow and so waxing each day on the glacier is super important. If possible waxing with either LF or HF can make a huge difference for some fast skis out on the snow. This is particularly true in warm and wet conditions. I find it best to just take a few minutes and throw on a quick layer of wax right after I return from my training session.

One thing that can really slow down the waxing process is removing and cleaning klister. Don’t let this prevent you from having great skis everyday. A great trick from Coach Igor Badamshin is take a regular glide wax scraper and file a 45 degree angle on to it. Use this scraper to take off as much klister as you can in one slow controlled stroke. I like the scraper better than a putty knife as you are less likely to damage your ski if you slip. I color the scraper red to make sure I don’t confuse it with my clean scraper. Toko Wax Cleaner HC3 can help you take care of the rest. I cut a small section of scour pad, add a little bit of wax remover and use it to remove any remaining klister. I like to make it a game and try to finish in under 3 minutes.