While it might be tempting to grind your skis based on the long-term weather forecast, which calls for a cold, wet and stormy La Nina season with lots of snow dumps, experience is the best guide.
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Technical articles, including how to guides, detailed information on equipment, and the science behind it all.
Rick Halling is the Nordic Director for Atomic USA Two things are going on when a ski shop measures the flex of a race ski for a customer. One, they are looking at the stiffness of the ski and making sure it is the right flex for the weight and ability of that customer. Two, the shop is making a final “quality control” inspection to make sure the customer is getting a ski of...
Changes in Ownership at Langrenn.com
Inge ScheveSeptember 27, 2010
Langrenn.com is now owned by Nilsen Support, while former co-owner and managing editor Trond Harald Sand and reporter Ivar Haugen formally left the company on September 1, 2010.
The Norwegian biathlon web site Strafferunden.no got their hands on the new Rottefella binding set to launch officially in over a week.
Ski poles with… zippers! Coming to a location near you.
The Golden Skis
Inge ScheveSeptember 3, 2010
The period from 1989 to 1994 is often referred to as the “golden age” in Norwegian cross-country skiing. During these years, Norwegian skiers hauled home buckets of medals, and the party culminated with the Olympics on home turf in Lillehammer 1994. What happened behind the scenes was determining for the results. Terje Olav Seim was one of the wax techs on the support team who groomed and polished up several golden pairs. There is no...
While the majority of cross country ski fans last February were plumping pillows on couches, clearing work schedules, and getting Andy Newell’s name embroidered onto a foam finger, Dirk Van Wijk was gearing up to make sure the cross-country race courses met the standards of the best skiers in the world. Van Wijk, as chief of course preparation at Whistler Olympic Park (WOP) during the 2010 Games last February, was the man responsible for battling...
Hunting Down The Golden Pairs
Inge ScheveAugust 17, 2010
This week, Norwegian wax techs and Head Wax Coach Knut Nystad are headed for the ski tunnel in Torsby, Sweden, with truckloads of skis and tools to find the optimal combinations. “Normally, the national teams have a training camp in the ski tunnel, but this year they don’t. So we decided to have a testing camp here on our own,” Nystad explains to www.langrenn.com. Testing and adjusting Although it is, as Nystad points out, not...
The Italian legend Hilde Pedersen are excellent examples of elite cross country ski racers who continued to excel at the international level into their 40’s. While continuing to compete on the World Cup circuit at that age may not be common, cross country skiing is known for its athletes developing later than in other sports. Top skiers often continue to be competitive through their late 30’s. In light of these observations, it is natural to...
Kris Freeman recently commented on his FasterSkier.com blog, “I am a serious contender for the most volatile and inconsistent skier on the world cup”, in reference to his disappointing races at the Vancouver Olympics. Every cross-country ski racer knows that you can’t always race at your best, all the time. Some days you just feel better than others. Often there’s an obvious reason (sickness, fatigue, overtraining etc.) but sometimes not. Racers work very hard to...
Whistler, British Columbia – A combination of relatively extreme weather and the ability to switch skis mid-race led to an interesting wax day in the women’s 30km classic. Wax techs were kept busy during the races testing skis, while racers were faced with tactical decisions of whether or not to take the time to switch. Skiers were allowed to switch up to three times during the race, and could do so only in the “pit”...
Waxing today was pretty simple especially as we have some superb glide waxes for the cold. If it is cold, the starting point is LF Moly/Blue mix as a base followed by HF Blue followed by JetStream Blue. This is what we at Toko call “Old Faithful” as it is always fantastic. If the snow is cold and slow, XCold needs to be mixed with the HF Blue. If it is extremely slow, it can...
JetStream Application There are three main application methods for Nordic racing. They are: Sprints and races up to 5k 1. Rub the JS on the ski lightly 2. Polish with Thermo Pad 3. Repeat Best way 1. Rub the JS on trying to get as much on as possible 2. Rotocork 3. Repeat step 1 right over rotocorked JS 4. Rotocork 5. Brush out with nylon polishing brush 6. Polish with Thermo Pad For long...
Swix Sport USA Director of Racing, Kevin Sweeney will be on the East Coast for a week of exceptional waxing clinics. Kevin returns to the East to share with you the most recent knowledge and product updates from Swix. Having recently spent 4 days in Lillehammer, Norway with Swix Racing Service, Swix Wax chemists and product managers, Kevin has some exciting and revolutionary ideas to share with you. Come join Swix Sport for an exceptional...
Thoughts on Binding Placement
FasterSkierNovember 20, 2009
Chris Hall is the Fischer USA Nordic Race Director and a former USST Head Wax Tech The mounting position of the binding on the ski is an interesting and underdeveloped topic that deserves some attention, given the many changes to ski camber profiles over the years. To beat everyone to the most obvious and humorous answer, yes the point where the boot connects to the binding should be closest to the tip and the point where...
Swix Technical Clinics
Matthew VoisinOctober 30, 2009
Swix Sport USA Director of Racing, Kevin Sweeney will be in the Midwest for a week of exceptional waxing clinics. Kevin returns to the Midwest to share with you the most recent knowledge and product updates from Swix. Having just spent 4 days in Lillehammer with Swix Racing Service, Swix Wax chemists and product managers , Kevin has some exciting and revolutionary ideas to share with you. Come join Swix Sport for an exceptional evening....
The Fischer Hole Ski was one of the hottest pieces of equipment to be released on the World Cup last winter… now you can add a pair to your ski bag. A PDF version of this press release is available by clicking on the following link:
Summer Ski Storage
FasterSkierApril 20, 2009
Kevin Sweeney is the Swix Racing Service Director. This article first appeared in Ski Post –