Nordic Skiing and Waxing Notes from last night.

Lets start from scratch. I have a pair of skis that has not been used or waxed in a few years.
The glide area did not have any storage wax on it. Oh no!! haha. (Do as I say not as I do.)

So use some ski wax remover, and clean both glide area and kick area. Use a plastic scraper to scrape wax off in kick area before using wax remover. There are many wax companies like Swix and Toko that show you how to do this, or find it on YouTube.

Roughen up the area under the kick area with some silicon 100+/- grit sand paper and clean the kick area again.
Make sure you wait 20 minutes for the properties of the wax remover, to evaporate.

Fibertex using several passes, from tip to tail on the glide areas. Hot wax the glide area area with the appropriate wax of the day, which was Swix CH4 last night. That wax is brittle, so keep your mouth closed and and kind of squish it down with iron till the wax is warmed up. Feel the top portion of the ski to make sure it is warmed up enough, which normally takes 4 or 5 passes. If the wax is smoking it is way too hot, stop and turn it down, though you will need the iron to be hotter then other warmer waxes.
Never hot wax the kick area, use polar wax if you are going to skate, in the kick area.

Let the skis lay in a horizontal position for at least an hour inside, as gravity does it work. Scrape the groove and side of the ski first.
After an hour or so, scrape the base of the skis, then brush scrape a few more times with a plastic scraper. Finish up with a nylon brush, though I like using a horse hair brush. There are combo brushes of various kinds that you can buy at the local store.

Now onto the kick area. Crayon some base wax like Swix VG35 or Toko Green and use a clean iron or hair dryer to warm it up and cork it in. It is a good idea to have some specific corks for klister, base wax, hard wax and soft wax. Apply the wax of the day, which in this case last night was green.

If you have new skis, I recommend hot waxing after every ski, as a base guideline for the first 8-10 skis. You want to get all the little micro holes filled up with wax. A wax box is supposed to do this as well, but I am not sure about that.

If you want, you can leave the skis outside, to cool before a final scrape/brushing as the cold will squish out a bit more wax as the base contracts.

Waxing can become, Very Expensive, if you let it. However around the #yeg area you can get away with a cost of less then a $150.
A few kick waxes, base binder, universal glider, universal silver klister, some baggies, ski wax remover, scraper or two, fibertex, some corks, a roll of blue paper towels, hair dryer and an old iron will suffice.

I can normally do my skis during commercials of a one hour TV program. :)

Not sure what wax to use? Read directions on the cannister or download the app from Swix, turn on the WiFi, and it will get locate you and the weather where you are, for simple or advanced waxing. The app now has the directions in English, though not the videos which are still in Norwegian.  snow
As a rough rule of thumb wax at least  4 degrees warmer as the thee snow gets old and the tracks get skied in.

Go ski a click or two and have your wax tested before class starts.

Go out and ski, and have FUN.

Nordic Skiing Class notes, Adding poles to Diagonal skiing

As you all know it was very cold, around -40c with wind chill, for the past few days with lots of snow.

Class temperature was fine with -18C, close to the trees, and out of the wind.
Last nights class was about a half hour of skiing, and then a wax clinic.

After reviewing last weeks skiing where you were classical skiing with no poles, you finally had the poles added.
Remember once again that "POLES ARE FOR PUSH, not for balance.
Your arms and legs work in opposites. (ie right ski forward, left arm forward)
Pull down on the pole straps and do not grip the pole handle tightly. Be sure to have the pole straps adjusted properly, which will vary depending on the mitts/gloves you are using.

Some of you had to be reminded that the pole baskets plant close to your weighted foot, and only about 10cm away from the ski track on the opposite side. At times I have put my pole tips into my skis, many decades ago, as I practiced keeping the pole baskets planting close. I still keep some nail polish(pink) in the wax kit, for filling in a ski pole hole or for marking a wax pocket. (LOL)

  Tripoding is wasted movement and energy, that is not all going forward. Hands should be shoulder width apart, with a elbows slightly wider, depending on how strong your rotator cuff muscles are. Be careful and gradually widen your elbows over time. Your pole baskets should NOT be planted really wide, the baskets do not swing forward past your hand, but should always be angled backwards when you plant.

 Look in the snow where the pole tracks are, and you will get a better idea as to where you are planting your pole baskets. Get a coach or friend to watch as well, if you want.

Your reach forward with the poles, from the rotating shoulder, as you bring the elbow from the trunk, forward, at around 90 degrees. Normally you can get at least a fist in between your chest and elbow, as you reach forward. After loading poles with a slight drop of body weight, your LATS come into play, driving the poles down and backwards, with elbows staying bent and the hands coming to about your hip bone, before it is time to reach forward again. You should feel a pull in the chest muscles as well. This is where all those pull-ups that you have done during the summer will be evident.  :)
There should be next to NO triceps being used.

Try to remember your pole assisted glide.
 Naturally all this arm motion will need to be coordinated, with well balanced legs. :)

If all goes well we will be doing the single kick double pole, which is hard to master, if you do not have the double pole and the classical ski, mastered well.

Till next time.

Have FUN, go ski.

#Nordic skiing and #waxing the kick pocket, of a classic ski.

During the last 2 classes we began to try and understand waxing.


Help what wax should I use, is always a question skiers ask one another. Flouro carbons, or hydro carbon kick waxes will be a decision you need to make. Dollars speak a lot in this area.

First you need to know the wax pocket, that has been suggested by those before you, from the factory, or if it was bought new from the store. We are assuming that the skis are a double cambered ski. Too stiff a ski and you will not be able to use the wax for grip, and too soft a ski it will drag and you will lose your wax.

Clean the wax pocket if needed. Adjust the wax pocket if wax is wearing off in the front or rear of the wax pocket. You will likely need to shorten the wax pocket, a couple inches forward ahead of the heel plate.
After using some sand paper in the wax pocket and cleaning it, its time to wax for the snow conditions.

What are some of the factors that will influence your choice of wax? Temperature, humidity, sun, cloud, wind, how old the snow is, hilliness of terrain, firmness of track, how skied in are the tracks, thickness of wax still on, length of ski, stiffness of ski, are just a few factors that you need to take into account.

Now lets check your wax after skiing for a km or so. Put all your weight on one ski without moving the ski and lift it up. You will see the snow sticking under the foot of the ski. Now take your gloved finger and try to brush the snow off. If it comes off too easy, then you either need a warmer wax, or another layer of the wax you just used. If you really need to brush the snow off hard, then  clean the snow off and put a slightly colder wax over top.

When applying wax you need to put the wax on in thin layers with no chunks or blobs. Now take your synthetic cork and cork it smooth. Nice long strong smooth strokes works well. Natural cork goes with natural wood by the way. You will likely get some wax in the groove and so smooth that out. Bring the wax from under the heel back into the wax pocket with your cork.
Make sure that there are no lumps or wavy wax under the kick area.

Yourself, significant other, friend or coach will need to learn your waxing preference. Some skiers like slightly slippery skis and some like a lot of grip.
Experiment as to how you like your grip.

Now get out there and have an awesome ski and be sure to have FUN!

Nordic Skiing Beginning Steps of how to #Ski Diagonal

For those of you that missed the last class, lets do a quick review.

We started with learning how to wax our skis. Reminder to put 3 or 4 thin layers and cork it out well between each layer. There should normally be no bumps or waves of wax, and you can see this by holding the skis up to the light of the sun, moon, or indoor light.
Most people last night used Swix V50 otherwise known as blue extra.

We did a few quick quick ski exercises of doing pizza/pie ie tips together/apart. This kept everyone moving while the stranglers joined the class. 

Once out in the open flat area, we started class with just your right ski on, scootering along on the snow for just a few minutes, and then switched to the left ski.

Next came a step, push, and gliiide on just your right ski. Body position had just a very slight lean forward all the time, with the left foot swinging up near the tip and push. While pushing with the left foot that had no ski on the right ski was momentarily lifted off the ground. You push and gliiide. Hold the trailing leg that has no ski on it, in a natural bent straight leg behind you while you are gliiiding. The trailing leg then swings down, plants and then pushes off again. This was done for several minutes. Switch ski again and try it again for several minutes with the left leg.

The next exercise began with right ski and right pole on. The pole is used to extend your gliiiide even further. Keep the forward lean and do not dab with your left foot to keep your balance, but hold the naturally straight trailing leg behind you when gliding.Then switch to left ski and left pole. Practice for several minutes on each side.

Normally about 80% of the time, skier's balance is better on the right side.
We also repeated the mantra, Poles are for Push, not for balance!!

Next exercise started with both skis on. We imagined that the left ski was the push ski, and the right ski was the glide ski. It kind of looked like a person with a limp, known as gluump! Switch to the right ski as the pushing ski and the left ski as the gliding. Practice each side for several minutes.

Next exercise consisted of skiing without poles. Each ski swings down near the tip or at least in front of the weighted ski. You should both hear and feel the wax grab under your foot.
This where those who are ski shufflers, and those with poor wax reveal their weaknesses.

There was one more exercise that was tried, and that was for skiers to stand in place running, with their skis on. The key to this exercise is not to lift the knees but to have the knee and leg go back naturally straight. You then start taking little steps leaning forward. Keep leaning forward and then run with a glide. This exercise results in some skiers naturally showing a good weight shift.

Then they went back to skiing with no poles.

Let's talk about the arms movement for just a moment. Arm swing is opposite to the other ski. Arm swing is from the shoulder with elbows bent at around 90 degrees both forward and back.

Class, came in and stretched and that was a wrap.
Those that wanted to, then drove 4 minutes or so and hit the local city hot tub, steam room and pool. :)

Nordic Skiing Fall and the first on snow ski class of the fall season

Finally the snow is here, but compressed, there is way less then an inch of snow.
We started with the very basic lowest gear that is normally done on skis, and that was the side step.

After the side step, a side step with a hop was the next exercise. When doing the hopping side step, both skis are in the air, for just a second.

Next up was the running diagonal side step.

From there the herringbone was used both going up on a flat ski and then on an edged ski. Remember an edged ski wears off wax quicker then a flat ski, only edge if you have to.

Next up in an area of about 5 metres wide, going up the hill in groups of 3; the exercise consisted of 2 people doing the running diagonal side and one person in the middle doing the herringbone side by side.

Next was double-poling on a slight uphill, and then double-poling with a hop uphill, with a strong concentration of bringing the hips ahead of ankles, crunch, drop and collapse at the knees, with next to no bending at the waist, hands shoulder width apart with elbows wider then the hands, and planting your ski baskets close to your skis.

On the downhill side we looked at side step downhill, then your body position  of downhill running in the ready position, and half a snow plow on very slight downhill slope.
And that was about it.

An excellent effort was made by all. If your core hurts, great. If your triceps hurt, then you did not do the exercise correctly. If your shoulders hurt, then your elbows were too high, be careful. If your back hurts, then you were arching your back and not falling forward onto your skis as your poles were planted.

Your homework before next weeks class, is to do at least 3-5 hours of ski specific training.

See you next week. Have FUN out there, and it is time to for another snow dance too.

Ski season of 2014-2015 almost upon some of us!

The snow has come for 24 hours and then melted again. Specific dryland training a person can do only for so long.

September and October are very important months for heavy duty training both aerobically and for developing strength. Your power to weight ratio will make it easier skiing, so now is the time.

Injuries are something that most of us have to deal with sometime in our athletic life. As we get older some of us think we are still young and we push too hard. Our bodies do not recover nearly as quickly as when we were younger. Older athletes tend not take the time to work into an activity. We try to push through and sometimes it bites us in the butt.

Mental discipline and mental strength are two key areas that the older athlete should be utilizing.

So whatever sport you are doing this winter always push hard but leave something in reserve for the next season and and the next year and the next decade. Be sure that the fun factor remains a key ingredient in your sport!

Nordic Skiing Observations of the New Technique of Arm Movement, in Double Poling, Skate or Classical

Another winter season is upon us.

Nordic ski technique is going to change even more as the fast moving youth of today, move up to the senior ranks.
Certain countries with older athletes, will have made a more obvious change in their arm movements, or be left behind.
The athletes that have done a lot of roller skiing on pavement, have changed their technique, from those who have not spent as much time on roller skis.
In order to get a better purchase into the pavement, they do several things slightly differently.
First they bring their hips ahead of their ankles and use gravity to fall on their poles. They then use a strong crunch of their core, before loading their poles even more by collapsing at the knees slightly. The drive down and back of the elbows assist in propelling them forward with hands shoulder width apart or slightly wider. However poles are for push not for balance, so not too wide.
The elbows drive back bent, to around the back of the trunk, before whipping the bent elbows forward again. There is now, not normally any extension of the elbow as this uses triceps, which is a smaller muscle. The bigger stronger lat muscles are used a lot more in the bent elbow position.
The core is strong or should be, and the tempo is increased to make up for the slight loss in push of the triceps.
The back does not bend to 90 degrees, but to around 45 degrees.
In a sprint there will be a higher core crunch turnover, with elbows very high, and in normal poling the elbows will not be as high.
In sprinting the poles are also recovered very high, almost head height or even slightly higher, before they slam down into the snow.
When you whip the poles ahead there is a slight period of recovery (I say float), before engaging the core again, as you are falling forwards.
Your poling action and recovery are straight forward and back with no excess movement.
There is still a period of time when you shift the weight to the heels and pull up on the toes of the boot when pushing back, and the hips are behind the ankles, to assist in the glide..

A few advantages will be next to no soreness in the triceps, or the back, if done correctly.
Your hamstrings if they are tight will be more forgiving.

*Word Of Warning*, please beware that your rotator cuff area, takes a real beating the higher the elbows are held.