Birkie

Covering your ski bases with a nice thick layer of "storage wax" is critical over the summer. It's that time of year again.  The snow is gone, we are getting warm sunny afternoons, but it's still chilly when you wake up in the morning.  However, the reality is that your skiing is probably done for the season. This means that it is definitely time to put storage wax on your skis - if you

Covering your ski bases with a nice thick layer of "storage wax" is critical over the summer. It's that time of year again.  The snow is gone, we are getting warm sunny afternoons, but it's still chilly when you wake up in the morning.  However, the reality is that your skiing is probably done for the season. This means that it is definitely time to put storage wax on your skis - if you

Back in the old days, I used to guzzle Gatorade like it was going out of style.  There was hardly ever a day that I didn't drink at least one or two liters of "Fierce Melon" or whatever other new ULTRA-TECHNO flavor name they came up with for the sake of marketing (seriously..."Fierce Melon?").  I know, I know, you're supposed to only drink water.  But for some reason, Gatorade just seemed to go

Back in the old days, I used to guzzle Gatorade like it was going out of style.  There was hardly ever a day that I didn't drink at least one or two liters of "Fierce Melon" or whatever other new ULTRA-TECHNO flavor name they came up with for the sake of marketing (seriously..."Fierce Melon?").  I know, I know, you're supposed to only drink water.  But for some reason, Gatorade just seemed to go

Here's a couple pages from one of my old training diaries.  I can't remember what year it was exactly, but it must have been pretty good because I was over 400 hours at week 43.   I don't know if all of you use training diaries, but I'm kind of of th...

Here's a couple pages from one of my old training diaries.  I can't remember what year it was exactly, but it must have been pretty good because I was over 400 hours at week 43.   I don't know if all of you use training diaries, but I'm kind of of th...

I stumbled across this ad for Fischer Revolutions the other day and it kind of kicked the old cobwebs out of my brain and got me thinking. Wasn't it the case that about 10 years ago Fischer launched a line of super short skis called "Revolutions?"  Is that what this is, or am I completely crazy? The thing is, I vaguely remember seeing people skiing up at the Birkie trail around the fish hatchery

I stumbled across this ad for Fischer Revolutions the other day and it kind of kicked the old cobwebs out of my brain and got me thinking. Wasn't it the case that about 10 years ago Fischer launched a line of super short skis called "Revolutions?"  Is that what this is, or am I completely crazy? The thing is, I vaguely remember seeing people skiing up at the Birkie trail around the fish hatchery

Books that deal with cross-country skiing in general, and the American Birkebeiner specifically come along way too infrequently for my liking.  That being the case, it's pretty much our duty as cross-country skiers to pick up novels like these when they do appear on the shelves (especially when they're being put out by a traditional publisher as is the case with "Beyond Birkie Fever"). Fun and

Jeff Foltz graciously sent me a review copy of his novel "Birkebeiner: A Story of Motherhood and War" back in November and I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm only just now getting around to a review. You might remember that I posted an interview with Foltz here that you might want to have another look at to give you some background information. In "Birkebeiner" Foltz essentially takes the famous

Jeff Foltz graciously sent me a review copy of his novel "Birkebeiner: A Story of Motherhood and War" back in November and I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm only just now getting around to a review. You might remember that I posted an interview with Foltz here that you might want to have another look at to give you some background information. In "Birkebeiner" Foltz essentially takes the famous

I've been messing around publishing articles on the Yahoo Contributors Network just to see if it actually makes me any money.  The good news is that it does...although it only trickles in, but that's always the case with writing. Anyway, when I write ...

I've been messing around publishing articles on the Yahoo Contributors Network just to see if it actually makes me any money.  The good news is that it does...although it only trickles in, but that's always the case with writing. Anyway, when I write ...

I know, I know...March is the best time of year for skiing. The temperatures are always hovering around 40, and the sun is high enough in the sky that you feel like you're baking out there on a 40 km ski (kind of). But we have to face the fact t...

I know, I know...March is the best time of year for skiing. The temperatures are always hovering around 40, and the sun is high enough in the sky that you feel like you're baking out there on a 40 km ski (kind of). But we have to face the fact t...