Early November ride in and near Fairmont Hotsprings BC.

Early November ride in and near Fairmont Hotsprings BC. The smell of spruce is so much nicer than the city.  :)
 

First Experiences with Skin Skis

 

First observations of an old ski racer/instructor on the new #NNN moveable #binding on new #Nordic #skin #skis. I did not buy the top of the line #Salomon skin ski, but one that still had the same racing base and a slightly heavier core. In a way this is ok, because I have had some racing skis in the past that I have compressed and then blown apart.

Three-day old snow and air temperature was -3C to -4C. Today would have been perfect for hard wax and it would have been fast. I had #Swix red #glider, 0C to -4C which was in the ball park. I used a deicer in the kick area on the skins. Of course it is realized that it will take many glide wax hot waxes to get the skis to glide faster.

It should be mentioned that there are special cleaning solutions for the skins as well as a special glider/deicer roll on to help with glide in  the kick area. Most of the major #wax companies carry something for skin skis.

I tried the binding setup at +2, 0, -2. I found next to no grip at +2 and next to no glide. At -2 I found good glide and fairly good grip. At zero it was ok. I did not try -1, which probably would have been ok too.

Around corners, I found the outside edge of the binding catching on the track. This almost had me tumble a few times. After skiing multiple times I still find the bindings catching a bit on the track.

At all times, the grip would not hook up solid, till my ski had moved back a few inches. I suspect you must have a lazier kick and not be so forceful, i.e. run on your skis more.

When you come out of the tracks the looser snow would catch and snag your skis a bit. Yes, the skin skis do sing in the right snow conditions too. The skin skis also catch leaves, twigs and grass a lot more then either klister or hard wax.

Wifey who has been on skin skis for over 2 years now, says it takes time to adapt your technique to the skin skis. She says that you must glide on your heels a lot more than a waxable ski, in order to have good glide and not have the grip area snag.

Well let me tell you I was sure wishing I was on my 25-year-old waxable skis which would have been rockets today.

However, I was out to test how these skis were, so I had to suck it up. I will certainly put in several more hours before I can make an informed decision as to whether I like them. Perhaps if the snow was a bit warmer it would have been far better against a waxable ski? I did ski in very wet conditions and the skin skis worked well.

In the future this ski will only be used when the snow is very wet, but it does have a place in my ski bag.

                                         Get outside in nature, keep your eyes open and enjoy!!

I talked to the young moose and said good morning in a nice gentle soothing voice which has worked with other moose that I have skied close to. The picture looks like I am close to the moose but I am a still a fair distance away.

                                 The moose can be seen far in the distance along side the trail.

     The moose has moved off the trail less than 30 feet away and already blends into the bush.

Be sure to leave your comments and experiences with skin skis. Thank-you

Cold Weather Waxing (Old School) for #Nordic #Skiing

These instructions are for temperatures below Minus 18C.

Glide Zone  

I clean the base with wax remover. Wait for a half hour.

Sand the glide area with very fine silicon sand paper (at least 320 grit.) 

Fibertex the base (30 passes) in the same direction. (why?, because, lol.)

Hot wax with Swix CH4 and scrape while still warm

Hot wax again with CH4 let it wait for an hour or so and then scrape, brush, several times. Put outside scrape brush, several times.

Hot wax some cold weather powder. Scrape, brush a few times.

Set outside to cool

Brush with a horsehair brush

Then I take some fiberlene and wrap in a cork and cork again (30 passes)  

Kick Area

Scrape what kick wax you can off. Then use wax remover. Sand with 120-180 (or lower) grit silicone sand paper. Cross-ways, angle ways, both ways, and then length ways. Fibertex, Clean with wax remover, wait a half hour.

Iron in some cold base wax

Then use some -10C to -30C kick wax. The first few layers you need to be very careful not to mix the kick wax with the base wax. 5-7 layers of VR30 

Swix is common around these parts but each brand have a complete line

Cold weather wax takes a lot of effort and elbow grease. Keep your mouth closed while scraping, lol. Yes cold weather skiing is strength training as it sometimes feels so SLOOOW!

Below are some blueberry pancakes with Chia seeds, Flax seed, and Hemp hearts, for cold weather Nordic Skiing recovery. o yah! 

Dry-land Diagonal Stride Tips

Points to remember for dry-land diagonal stride:

Keep hips forward, think of squeezing cheeks together (1 loonie>2 toonies), feel the hip flexors

Lean forward from the ankles until almost falling forward. (Have a short aww moment)

Weighted leg should land with a slightly bent leg (use bone support not so much the muscles)

Land on the ball of the foot

Weight shift, so zipper (belly button) lands over the foot. Push hip over toe.

Keep the head up and look down the track, to keep butt from sticking out

Use a quick knee dip and push off, forward not up(boing)

No bear walking. Arms and legs work in opposites.

Keep elbow bent, swing elbow forward and back with bent elbow

Drive elbow back, rotates from the shoulder. keeping arm at basically at a 90-degree bend

Keep elbows out from your side (chicken wing)

Never plant poles in front of the ankle, always behind

Use the lats/back to power the poling, rather than the triceps 

Poles help us to continue our momentum (on snow this will be pole assisted glide)

Poles are for push not for balance

Practice eating and drinking in class and in training, so when racing it will feel natural

Take your poles with you when you run, even if you do not use them.

GRAVITY, CORE, BODY WEIGHT, and then Muscle.

2019-2020 #Nordic #Skiing Season start

Well another fall season is upon us, as we wait for snow to come and stay. Dry-land training is important for the body and the mind, as most of us switch from summer activities to #Nordic #skiing.
Ski walking without poles was the first step.
Use a gradient to do this exercise


Some of the more important points that were mentioned:
-Using Gravity and falling forward from the ankles, bring your hips past the ankles, with a leaning forward straight back, before a short quick knee dip which would simulate the locking of wax into the snow
-your arms and legs work in opposites which means left leg right arm, and then right leg left arm. Sometimes this is confusing when you are trying to get the motion of the legs. (no bear-walking)
-movement of the arm with elbow flexed 90 degrees forward, is from the shoulder joint, and elbow drives back flexed as well
-each time you take a step you should feel your whole body go from one side to the other. Think about moving your zipper or belly button 15cm(6 inches) from one side over to the other on the forward leg
-your leg should be not bent too much when your mid-foot hits the ground. Bone supported not muscle supported is the key to not fatiguing the leg muscles as much. If your leg is flexed too much there is no ability to compress ski and wax into the snow
-your movement should be flowing with no rigidness
-Always keep your mind thinking about the movement. Do not go on auto-pilot!

Next you used your poles, which for some made your leg movements incorrect. If this happens, you need to go back to ski-walking without poles until the leg movement is mastered.
-a few exercises of just holding the poles in the balance point while ski-walking was the first step.
-then you let your poles drag on the ground with just your thumb and first finger controlling the poles just enough that it was not bouncing around. Each person's poles are a different length, so only you can really tell where the pole should be planted.
- do not swing your pole past your hand
-once again your elbow is flexed at 90 degrees both forward and backwards.
-there is next to no extension of the triceps, normally
-planting of the pole occurs with you thinking of driving the basket into to the ground with your elbow, not your hand, The hand is just there in front of the elbow, but the power will occur when you drive with the elbow.
-hands are shoulder width apart for men and hip width apart for the ladies
-elbows go straight forward and back
-some loading of the pole will also occur with the knee dip timing
-poles are for push not for balance

Keep your head up and look down the trail and watch where you step. This will help with knowing how to read the snow, once it comes.
Try to do your homework of 5 hours of ski specific training, with hopefully at least 10 hours of training a week.
Work on your core as much as possible
THINK THINK THINK!
GRAVITY, CORE, BODY WEIGHT, and then muscle.
There are 113 days left before the Birkie. :)

Mistakes you should NOT make before a Long Distance #Nordic #Ski #Race

-Decide to race long with no preparation

-Forget about your technique (do not think), go back to your old habits and ski on automatic pilot

-Buy new equipment and not test it out several times before a big race

-Not ski long several times every couple of weeks leading up to the race

-Get injured or sick and try to shrug it off and train hard anyway

-Go real long within the last 10 days or so of the race

-Do not be bothered to prepare your skis

-Try to fit too much training too close to the big race

-Not get enough sleep in the 48-72 hours before the race

-Donate blood within 3 months of a big race

-Eat strange foods that disagree with your body in the 48 hours before the race

-Do other activities that you are not used to 

There are many other mistakes that you can make but these are just a few that come to mind right away.

Notes for Monday ATG, Nordic ski class #3, #langrenn

We covered a lot of technique last night in class.

Double poling:

Hands hip/shoulder width apart depending on what is wider

Always gravity, core, butt drop which is a collapse at the knee, and maybe muscle at the end. 

Do not grab the poles, but loosely control the pole and pull down on a proper adjusted pole strap

Hands go down and back but not down to calf muscle. 

We do not bend so much at the back any more but stay in a more crouch position (like being in a tube)

Hands come up close to the face like answering the phone, elbows are bent outward like chicken wings but this will depend on your shoulder strength. 

Elbows should certainly be wider then the hands

The wider the elbows the more you use a strong core and there is a need for higher tempo.

When your hands recover at the highest position try to relax for a second as your center of gravity starts to fall forward.

Single kick double poling:

Timing is kick glide, pole glide

Do not just window dress the kick but try to plant that wax. Sneak the kicking foot ahead just few inches before your kick.

When your hands recover at the highest position try to relax for a second as your gravity starts to fall forward even if you are over just one balanced leg.

Herringbone:

Use your wax not an edge in loose snow if possible

Keep the hands hip/shoulder width apart

Do not let your feet go any wider then necessary and try to recover your legs under your hips somewhere.

Hands stay low around hip height on a steep hill with the power coming with elbows bent. Bent elbows forward  bent elbows back. Try not to use the triceps.

Keep the head looking up the hill

Try not to walk but keep up the run

If you can use the running muscles up, and not the adductor muscles of the leg it will be faster.

Step turns:

Outside ski with an inside edge as you are turning, un-weight the inside ski picking it up and placing it in the new direction before you weight the outside ski again. 

Keep the the hands low around hip height in the ready position unless your are double poling.

Try to take many quick small turns accelerating as you go. If you make it less steps sometimes the ski and or pole may disappear in softer snow.

Always be sure to brake to a speed that feels right for you before going into a series of step turns around the corner

Running Diagonal Side Step:
As demonstrated to you this move needs the tips to be pointed into the middle of the track and to the uphill side. You edge both skis into the hill as needed otherwise diagonal right on up the hill. You use this technique when there are people in the tracks and more people blocking up the herringbone area going up. You can skinny right on past. This movement also gives relief to the upper body and if your wax is a bit unsure the double edging allows you to not re-wax.

A controlled fall is always better then a wipe-out!

Try to get at least a 3 hour ski if doing the 31km, and a 5 hour ski if doing the 55km.