Toko: Meet the World Cup Race Service Team

International Racing Service Manager – Steffen Hoos

Steffen is a former biathlon World Champion who after his ski career worked as a serviceman for the German team. From 2002 to 2011, he was in charge of Toko Nordic Racing Service. In the summer of 2011, Steffen was promoted to Toko’s International Racing Service Manager. Some Toko US eBlast readers might remember Steffen from his communication during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

Head World Cup Serviceman Nordic – Christian Schocher

Christian is a former Swiss Cross Country ski athlete who after retiring worked retail for 8 years, but always stayed involved with high end racing service as a member of the Swiss Toko Tech Team. In 2010, Christian was promoted to Head Nordic World Cup Serviceman.

Head World Cup Serviceman Biathlon – Torsten Thraen

Torsten is a former German National Team Biathlete who since retiring served the German team for 8 years as a serviceman. He became the Toko Biathlon World Cup Serviceman in 2011.

Event Service Manager – Christian Stalder

Christian used to work for the Swiss Alpine Ski Pool as a serviceman. Since 2001, he has headed up the Toko effort at World Loppet events as well as providing service at Snowboard World Cup and Swiss Cup events. Christian is also in charge of the international Toko Tech Team organization for all disciplines. Christian has great passion and much experience with providing service at all types of skiing and snowboarding events. Look for Christian at the Engadin Ski Marathon and other World Loppet events.

Bozeman SuperTour Report from BSF

Last weekend the Bozeman ski community was happy and ready to host several Supertour races, despite some meager snow conditions. Although some work was required to make the course race-ready, the races went off without a hitch! Thank you to all of the volunteers and race organizers for a great event.

The track conditions were cold, mixed snow (ice and new snow), and a bit dirty, so we knew we had to harden up the ski bases before applying any race waxes. It is our experience that nothing beats Toko HF Moly mixed with Toko Cold Powder as an underlayer. We prepared all of the skis for the race weekend this way. Although we did not use Toko as a base layer, we found that Toko JS Red block was running quite well as a top coat, even in the cold conditions!

For the classic race, the conditions were quite similar (mixed snow, although the ratio of new snow to ice was a bit higher), so we prepared the bases in the same way. The only difference was that, because the tracks glazed a touch, we applied the Toko Blue Hand Structure to the back half of the skis. As for the kick, we knew that the ice underneath the new snow meant that we would need some sort of binder in order for the kick to last the longer distances (15/10km). We found that the Toko Green Spray Klister worked great! It was easy and fast to apply, and it allowed us to cover it with a hard wax very easily. All in all, we were quite pleased with our skis last weekend and with our podium performances!

Bjørn Bakken, BSF