FasterSkier.com

Skiing Downhill FAST
Justin Freeman
US Ski Team - Salomon Athlete Force
This Article comes to us from SkiPost

I should start off by saying that downhills are not my strong point. On the World Cup, I consistently lose seconds on downhill sections of the course. Even when drafting another skier, I often have difficulty skiing technical downhills. But I am improving, and I feel that the focus I have recently put on downhill technique makes me quite qualified to write about it.

My resolve to write this article comes from my recent participation in an Eastern Cup race in Vermont. I was amazed at how much time I, a mediocre downhill skier at best, could make up on the descents. For instance, I passed the skier who started 30 seconds in front of me just after the crest of the first big climb, a little over a kilometer into the race. The next kilometer was all downhill, and lacked any tricky turns, yet I was quickly 15 seconds ahead of this racer. While my skis were faster, this explains only a small part of the gap I generated. The rest was due to a number of small but important downhill techniques.

Skiing fast on a downhill sections starts while you are still climbing. It is important to ski hard and fast all the way over the top of the hill. Once the downhill starts you will generally need two to three double poles or skate strides to get up to speed. It is important to make these strokes strong and decisive-on a steep descent you have only a few seconds before you are going too fast for your effort to do much good in making you go faster.

After these few strides or poles, get into a tuck. A good tuck position has a flat or slightly rounded back parallel to the ground and elbows resting on knees. It is important to be aerodynamic, but in general a lower tuck than this is counterproductive-the strain on your legs is too much to justify the tenths of a second you might gain. It is also important to keep both skis flat on the snow-don't let your knees knock together, as this will put your skis on their inner edges, slowing you down. When tucking on classic skis, it is often best to keep your weight on your heels, so as to keep your kick pocket fully off the snow.

If there is a track set on the downhill, there is about an 80% chance that it is faster. I distinctly remember my first European World Cup, where I blew by the eventual race winner Per Elofsson (who had recently caught me from some ungodly number of bibs back) by skiing a downhill in the tracks while he skied outside them. I opened a wide gap that took him almost a kilometer to make back up. Even if the snow is the same speed in the tracks and out, skiing in tracks is more restful, and so you should take advantage of them whenever you can.

The trickiest aspect of descending is dealing with hard turns. Even here, though, there are only a couple of principles to learn. Always keep your weight low, your hands in front of you, and your feet moving. Keeping your weight low will keep you stable-the lower your center of gravity the harder it is to fall over. Keeping your hands in front of you, and pointing them where you want to go, will almost always get you around a corner safely. If your weight is low and your hands are leading you your weight will automatically be optimally distributed to make your turn. Finally, by keeping your feet moving you will prevent your skis from sliding sideways and thus shedding speed.

Proper body position isn't enough-you have to approach the turns properly. Always enter a turn as wide as possible, then cut to the inside to the extent that you can. If the snow is piled up in a berm, start the turn by riding the berm and cut inside as soon as possible.

You've probably heard most of this before. You probably believe at least most of it. Odds are, however, your body doesn't believe. Your instincts were not designed with the idea of sliding over snow. When you are nervous or unstable, your body stands up a bit, brings your hands back to your side, and ceases moving your feet. For millions of years of evolution, these instincts were good. For a skier, however, they are something that must be overcome.

Overcoming these instincts is a matter of persistence. Make a habit of focusing on speed and technique every time you ski a descent, even-maybe even especially-on easy days. Ski over the tops of hills, get into a good tuck, and ski the corners as fast and as technically as you can. This will add only slightly to the intensity of your ski, but over time will yield great dividends in your racing. If you ski every downhill and every corner well when you are out skiing around, you won't be able to help skiing much faster on race day.

SKI STORAGE
John Trainor
Here's a little info on how to store your skis over the winter. I took what was posted on the web and added a bit to it. If you want your skis to be fast next year, make sure you prep them properly for the off season storage!

For the parents and coaches of kids trying to get into the sport with only one pair of skis Andrew Gardner offers a brief intro on how to wax combi ski. As Mr. Gardner explains Combi skis are a compromise in performance. Remember a classical ski should be much softer than the skiers weight while an ideal skating ski needs to be stiffer then the skiers weight. Using a combi ski will make it very difficult for the skier get easy kick and will allow for slow glide and instability when skating.

Combination (Combi) skis find their way into the pantheon of ski-types in what can only be described by using a line from folk singer John Prine: they are ‘victims of a great compromise.’ Unlike their specific and decidedly more costly brethren, combi skis do neither technique at anything close to peak performance. Should you own combi skis, perhaps in a type of perdition-style period before you can afford, or are willing to acquire, better, more specialized equipment, there are tricks to maximizing performance from these jacks of both trades.

· Begin by changing the bumper in your bindings to the stiffest possible. Salomon profil systems have long used green colored binding bumpers. A stiffer bumper will allow more exacting ski control over the typical heaviness of combi skis.

· Wax the skis with glide wax from tip to tail. Use a medium temperature wax: Swix LF7 is my choice for ski cleaning and base waxing. If your combi skis have fish scales, they are not combi skis, they are classic skis.

· It is wise to use your combi skis for one technique for an extended length of time- skate on them for four or five days, change over to classic.

· The easiest way to classic wax your combi skis is what I’ve dubbed the snake skin method. Without physically abrading (usually with sandpaper) it is difficult to get classic skis to retain kick wax for a length of time. To combat this with combi skis, purchase a roll of Swix base tape (it looks like masking tape with “Swix logos” but I’m told it contains fewer adhesives and is thus removed more easily from a ski base) and cut a length of this tape roughly two inches shorter than your kick zone. Apply a layer of Swix V30 or Extra Blue wax over the entire length of wax unless conditions be especially cold, drop your base wax according to the temperature. Add the wax du jour and voila! You have a reasonably working kick ski.

· When you are finished with a few days worth of classic technique, peel back the tape and refer to the second bullet in this instruction.

Combi skis are the ski worlds equivalent of hybrid bicycles, they will never perform as well as the specialists. With a little love and care, they can perform at a level that will entice any lover of this sport to upgrade to specific equipment as soon as possible!

This all depends on where and how deep. Sometimes the ding is mostly just a press mark (like a rill), and will come out with repeated waxing. Always wax the skis several times before trying to repair a mark or ding, as it may come out. Start with several coats of a soft wax, such as STAR Uniblock yellow. Go ahead and put on a harder wax or the wax of the day. Use the skis. Wax 'em again. See if it makes any difference. If not, the added wax in the base will help if the skis need to be steel scraped. It can't hurt.

Should the skis be stoneground? Probably not. Take a look at the thickness of the base, or should I say thinness. Look careful, as often half of what looks like base material is really an underlying carbon fiber layer. Modern race skis are now 0.4 to .06 mm thick - that's about 1/50th of an inch. Almost nothing. The base needs to be at least 0.3 mm thick to hold wax. So how deep is the scratch? If more than a tenth or two of a millimeter, all stonegrinding is going to do is waste the remainder of the base. Live with the scratch.

Should the bases be steel scraped? Maybe. A very light peel - really just a shaving - will remove any raised edges around the scratch. The cut, or indent, itself will remain, but there will be no protruding base material to cause drag. Steel scraping is best left to a good cross country ski shop, but working on an old pair of skis is a good way to learn how to do this.

Can a cut be filled with "P-tex"? Yes and no. They do this on alpine skis, but they also don't wax those skis either. Modern XC ski bases are made from sintered polyethylene plastic, a process that allows for pores in the base. That's where the wax goes. Cheap skis - including many alpine bases - are usually made from extruded plastic that does not have pores and does not hold wax. Melting in base material ("P-tex" is a trade name for ski base polyethylene) will close the pores in the repair area, including the area around the initial cut. It doesn't matter if the base material is added with a P-tex candle or base-welding gun. The net effect is that this area of the base will never hold wax again. Therefore, the only time the base should be repaired by melting in new base material is when the gash itself is so deep and ugly that the loss of wax holding ability is outweighed by the increased drag caused by the open cut.

What about edge cuts? The problem here is that base material can only be welded to base material, not the underlying carbon or glass fibers. There are no glues that work either, other than the heat-catalyzed epoxies used in the manufacturing process. Small cuts should be sliced and smoothed off, larger open cuts should be welded together when possible.

Skis are a tool and will eventually wear out. Have fun skiing on them. Keep them in good repair and well waxed to maximize enjoyment. Eventually they will need to be replaced. Newer model skis do ski better than older models, especially after 3-5 years (about the span of technological improvements). But keep older skis for poor snow conditions, saving new skis for when there is good snow.

Any ski, skate or classic, must be properly sized based on your weight and a few other factors. Are you more or less fit than you were when your present skis were new? Do you ski more or less than when you purchased your skis? Has your technique improved or declined. Do you ski more aggressively now than in the past or now do you just go out and cruise? If any of this has changed you may need new skis to match the new you.

When I was racing fulltime I would enjoy and benefit from a much stiffer ski (both classic and skate then I do now). Now I ski a classical ski that closes at only 52% of my body weight. With these skis all I have to do is slightly shift my weight and I get tremendous kick with no compromise in glide. On my skating skis I would have raced on the new SkateCut at 125% of my body weight because I had a much more energetic weight transfer than I do now. I now ski on SkateCuts that are at 110% of my body weight. I transfer the same weight but I do it more gradually now and wish to just cruise through the trails. So my present skis need to be softer to match the softer and gentler me. If your present skis fit you then you need to determine if the new ski technology and fresh ski bases will make skiing more enjoyable for you.

If your classical skis are too stiff for your weight and technique, you will not be able to engage the bridge (kick wax or crown pattern) onto the snow during the push-off phase, and you will constantly slip due to lack of kick. If your skis are too soft for your weight, the kick wax or crown pattern will continually be dragging on the snow, and your gliding will be greatly impaired. If your skis are flexed correctly you will find that you will glide easily downhill and carry your momentum on the flats but with your slightest weight shift onto your kicking ski the bridge will close. This will allow your kick wax (or crown) to bind with the snow crystals and your kick to propel you forward. If you struggle getting kick or glide, your skis do not fit you. Most people have classical skis that are to stiff for them which makes going uphill very difficult and classical skiing very frustrating.

If you wish to conduct a rudimentary test of your classical skis place your skis together, base-to-base. Hold the skis on the binding plate. With one hand, squeeze the bases together as hard as you can. If you can force the bridge (kick zone) of the bases to touch with only one hand, your skis are most likely too soft. If the Kick zone remains apart with one hand then the skis are likely not to soft. Now try squeezing the skis together with two hands. If you squeeze the skis together as hard as you can with two hands and you cannot close the kick zone between your hands then your skis are likely to stiff. This is a simple test that will only work to expose skis that are way to stiff or way to soft. If your skis pass this test then they should be tested at a ski retailer with a perfectly flat testing board.

How to make sure your classical skis are not too soft or too stiff, with a testboard.

2. Stand evenly with a flat foot on each ski with the front of your toes at the skis balance point or your ski boots in their bindings.

3. Place the testboard slider under the ball of your feet. Test to make sure the slider can move back and forth under your feet. If it cannot move the slider then the skis are to soft for you and you need stiffer skis and this test is over.

4. If the slider does move feely your skis are not too soft and you need to make sure they not to stiff. Put all your weight on one foot and pretend to kick. For an elite racer this will mean rising to the ball of one foot. For a beginner this will mean a slight weigh shift to the front of one foot.

5. Try to pull the slider out from underneath the ski, if you can, the pair of skis is too stiff and you need softer skis. If you can’t move the slider than the skis are soft enough to get kick on.

2. Stand evenly with a flat foot on the skis with the front of your toe at the skis balance point or in its binding.

3. Move the slider forward until it stops; mark this point on the skis sidewall. Repeat this procedure moving from the balance point rearward. Between these two points is your wax pocket for hardwax (thin cold kickwax layers) conditions.

4. Stand on one foot with pressure on one heel, repeat step 3. This determines your warm wax pocket for thicker sticky (klister and soft hardwax) wax conditions.

Proper ski flex will greatly enhance your enjoyment of skate skiing by providing tremendous glide and stability in all snow conditions. If your skis are too stiff you will find yourself wobbling from edge to edge because your skis can only distribute your weight to a few inches of surface area at the extreme tips and tails of the ski. These stiff skis will be extremely unstable (and therefore slow) in hard snow conditions and very slow in soft snow conditions as they force there way through, rather than over, the soft snow. If your skate skis are too soft, you will flatten the bridge (or camber) of your ski. This will result in an unstable ski that rotates like a clock hand from under the ball of your foot. Without any residual camber (suspension) it is also a very slow ski that robs your energy as it is forced to bend over variations in terrain. A properly flexed ski floats over ski trail variations as it suspends the skier and absorbs the variations with its camber.

If you wish to test the flex of your skate skis, place your skis together, base to base. Hold the skis on the binding plate. With two hands, squeeze the bases together as hard as you can. If you can force the mid-section of the bases between your hands to touch, your skis are most likely too soft. It is very difficult to test if skate skis are to stiff because you need your skate skis to be stiffer than your body weight. But if with two hands compressing your skis the skis do not close anywhere near the back of your binding plate the skis are likely to stiff.

1 Place the skis on the testboard with the front of your toe at the skis balance point or in its binding.

2 Put all your weight on the heel of one foot. Move the slider underneath your foot. If you can not move rearward to near your heal the pair of skis is too soft and you need stiffer skis.

3 If you can move the plate freely from the near your heel to a minimum of 25cm in front of the binding the skis are within range of fit.

4 If the skis do not close anywhere near your heel then the skis are likely to stiff.

1. Place the skis on the testboard with the front of your toe at the skis balance point or in it’s binding.

2. With equal amount of weight on each ski stand on flat feet. Slide the plate back and forth and mark the front and rear locations. Measure the distance from the ball of your foot to each of these marks. For a proper fit the distance from your ball to the front mark should be twice the distance from your ball to the back mark.

3. Stand on one foot with the heel down. The pocket will now be shorter but should have the same ratio of twice the distance in front than behind. (2/3 of the total distance should be in front and 1/3 behind) If the ski closes under the heel the ski is to soft and you should select a stiffer ski. If it is near the heel but not under it, it is just right. If it is far behind the heel the skis are too stiff and the skis will most likely have less than the 2/3 to 1/3 ratio of distance needed.

To understand the SkateCut you must first realize that it’s two hourglass sidecuts are designed around the two glide zones that all cross-country skis (even skating skis) have. Only such a “cross-country” sidecut can maximize a skis speed and stability at the same time. With SkateCuts the edge and base pressure is applied through both sidecuts, allowing the longest edge and base contact. This results in improved glide, higher speed and increased stability. The dual sidecuts assist performance in all phases of skating. During the push-off phase the SkateCut provides for a more powerful and secure push-off due to its two long low- pressure contact zones. The soft tip (that is a design feature available by gaining stability from the skis two long and low pressure sidecuts rather then a stiff tip) allows the ski tip to flex easily and evenly over variations in terrain with no pressure points and loss of energy. During the Glide Phase the dual sidecuts provide unmatched stability by continuously centering the ski underfoot, keeping the skis flatter and offering two long low pressure glide zones to balance on. The resulting benefit is increased speed with less energy required for control. At the Recover Phase, the dual sidecuts and reduced swing weight eliminate mass in the critical tip area, resulting in increased tempo and higher speed. All in all the Skatecut is the only ski that gains speed with no compromises because it is the only ski that gains stability from a dual glide zone cross-country sidecut.

Fischer SkateCut’s selected at between 110% and 125% of body weight will fit the criteria as outlined under Fischer SkateCut fit recommendations above. This SkateCut technology also available on the SCS and LS skatecut models.

Different snow conditions call for different methods of kick waxing. Finding the kick zone and understanding the versatility of your skis for various conditions can aid your racing efforts and help you enjoy pure recreational skiing because you will know how to wax your skis so they perform optimally in a variety of snow conditions. Here we’ll cover the Swix method, a variation on the Fischer test board method, the eyeball method and the on-snow method.

The Swix recommended method of finding the kick zone requires a friend, a very flat surface and a piece of normal typing paper (they suggest A4, 60 gram paper, but any fairly normal typing paper will do). Place the paper under the ski and stand with the body-weight equally distributed on both skis. For all these tests you must stand with your feet on the ski where they would be if you were skiing on them – on the bindings. Have the friend move the sheet of paper towards the tip. At the point where the movement comes to a stop, mark with a pen on the sidewalls. This point represents the forward front of the kick zone for cold, dry snow conditions (hard kick waxes such as VR 40 or Extra Blue).

Next, fold the paper once and repeat the process. Where the paper stops represents the forward front of the kick zone on freezing point conditions (soft kick waxes such as VR 60 or a red kick wax).

Finally, fold the paper once more so that it is 4 times its original thickness. Repeat the process by moving the paper as far forward as possible. This time the stopping point represents the front of the kick zone when using klister.

The rear of the kick zone normally ranges from under the middle of the foot back to the heel of the boot. Very, very seldom does the kick zone extend beyond the rear of the heel. Often a klister kick zone will stop under the mid-foot while a hard wax kick zone will extend back to the rear of the heel.

Generally the length of the kick zone, using hard waxes, is approx. 55 cm, from the heel.

For klister it is slightly shorter, around 50 cm. Remember these are just initial, though often accurate, guidelines – see the on-snow method below.

All Fischer retail shops are equipped with a Fischer test board. The test board enables the customer to find not only the kick zone but also the exact right ski for their weight. While using the test board is the best way to do these things the way they measure the kick zone can be duplicated to some degree at home.

Again you’ll need a friend and a piece of paper and the flat surface (one reason the test board is so good is because few of us have access to a flat enough surface – irregularities in floorboards, tables, etc can lead to incorrectly marked kick zones).

This is not Fischer’s exact method, but a variation on it. Stand with your feet on the ski where they would be if you were skiing. First, to determine that the ski is not too stiff for your weight, stand on one ski with all your weight on the ball of your foot (you are standing on one leg) with the paper under the ski beneath the toe. If the paper can be moved, the ski is too stiff. If it cannot be moved it is not too stiff.

Next, to determine the kick zone, stand flat on the ski so your weight is on the whole foot (you’re still on one leg) the paper should now move, the forward most point you can move the paper is the shortest possible kick zone – for klister skiing. Repeat for both skis.

Next, stand on both skis with your weight evenly distributed. Move the paper fore and aft marking the furthest points of movement. This is your hard-wax kick zone. Again the rear of the kick zone should be near the heel of the boot.

The on snow method is a necessary step toward finding the right kick zone. Since it is easier to add wax while out skiing than remove it, start by waxing your skis only within the shortest kick zone – if you have used the Swix or Fischer method use those marks. If you have not used them then start with the eyeball method. Holding the skis base to base, grasp your skis on the bindings and give them a squeeze that is hard enough to get them to almost touch in the middle. sight down the space between the skis and note where the wax pocket appears to be (the space between the skis, where the bases aren’t touching). Start by waxing well within that zone – from the mid-foot forward.

For this exercise do not sand the kick zone and do not iron in any binder wax. Simply ski on your skis applying wax forward two inches at a time, until you are satisfied with the kick. Ski on them for a time and check the wax periodically for wear. If there is considerable wear then you maybe waxing too long (at least for those conditions). If there is little or no wear continue adding wax, until you reach the wear point.

All of these methods are only starting points to find the kick zone. Though these methods are often accurate, snow conditions, technique, experience and other variables make experimenting in a variety of conditions necessary. Don’t be afraid to bend or break the rules.

A good example of this was at the World Cup 15km two years ago in Heber City. After the race (After!) we learned that all the International Fischer racers, including the winners waxed well forward of their normal kick zones. Conditions were new, loose-in-the-track, cold, dry snow on top of warmer, wetter man-made snow. While many racers scrambled with warmer wax, which was too sticky, the top racers used colder wax layered far forward on the ski (Swix VR 40 was rumored to have been the winning wax that day – but how they used it was more important).

Summer Ski Storage
Here is a Swix wax tip for end of year ski care:
First brush skis thoroughly with a Fine Bronze brush. Then, clean your skis by doing a CH10 hotscrape. This is performed by ironing in CH10 and scraping immediately after. This will pull all the dirt and older wax out of the ski, thus preparing it for the long summer ahead. Next iron in a layer of Swix BP88, Swix Base Prep. Do not scrape, this will allow your ski bases to be protected throughout the summer.

Have a great Spring!
Roger Knight
Nordic Product Manager
Swix Sport USA
978-657-4820 ext 274

GLIDE WAXING FOR DIRTY SPRING SNOW
Because of all the recent snowstorms, most of the snow in the Sierra is fairly clean. However, as snow melts the water drops through the snow pack and leaves any dirt on the surface. Most of this dirt is from the trees - pitch, old pollen, and other waxy residue that likes to stick to wax on ski bases. You'll notice that the snow out in large meadows is clean, while in the trees the snow surface can get pretty filthy.

When the snow re-freezes each night, the dirt becomes locked up with the crystals. As the sun warms the snow, the gunk floats to the surface ready to latch onto passing skis. A ski with a dirty base glides very slowly. For better gliding skis in spring conditions, the goal is to keep the skis bases as clean as possible. Here are some tips:

a) Ski as early as possible. The more frozen the tracks (skating or striding), the less dirt there will be floating on the surface.

b) Use a fluorinated wax. Higher fluor content is best. Fluorocarbons are negatively charged, as are most dirt particles. Like charges repel. So fluor waxes work well in spring snow by both repelling water and by repelling dirt. The absolute best wax in these conditions is Star TF10. It can be covered with a pure fluor.

c) Remove all surface wax. Scrape the final coat of wax after it has cooled to room temperature, the brush well. If a roto brush is available, use LIGHT pressure with just the ends of the bristles brushing the ski. Do not bear down. Brush up and down the ski (rotation should be tip to tail - its OK to go back and forth), with 5 passes in about 20 seconds. That's enough. If a roto brush is not available, use the WHITE Fibertex (Scotchbrite) polishing pads. Polish back and forth along the base with a lot of elbow grease. Never use the green or other colored scouring pads as they scratch and ruin the bases. The white pads sold by Sierra Nordic are perfect, much better than the white sheet material.

e) Re-wax often. Start with a soft pure paraffin base wax. Just after the first coat turns liquid, wipe it off with a paper towel or Swix Fiberlene paper. Then apply a second coat, waxing with a cooler iron until the wax stays molten on the base. Wipe this layer off thoroughly. If the wax solidifies, scrape and brush it off the base. A carbon/graphite/molybdenum base wax for warm conditions can now be applied. Start MAP 200 is the best product available. Finally, apply one or two layers of the wax-of-the-day (such as Star TF10). All this waxing will not only keep the skis gliding faster this spring, but also will help to super-saturate the bases with wax and make them faster next winter. The more skis are waxed, the faster (better gliding) they become.

GLIDE WAXING FOR SPRING SNOW
After mid February, and especially at altitude, snow conditions after a storm are much different than in mid winter. The reason for this difference is the amount of solar radiation. The sun is much higher in the sky, which increases the strength of radiation that reaches the earth's surface. This is similar to morning/evening sun versus mid day sun. The days are also longer.

Increased intensity and duration of radiation results in more free moisture in the snow. Water molecules in a snow crystal go from a solid to liquid state, forming little beads of water on the crystal surface. Just a little water acts like a lubricant and the skis glide easily across the snow. But as the amount of liquid water increases, the beads coalesce into globs and these tend to stick to the base. The liquid water also adheres to the snow crystals and it takes energy to break the adhesion of the water from the ski or snow, or to split the glob in two, slowing the ski. The absolute best example of this, which every skier has experienced, is when skiing out of the trees into a sunny patch and having the skis come to a roaring halt. Face plant time!

New snow has smaller crystals that can be easily saturated with surrounding liquid water and "mush out". There is no place for the liquid water to go, as the small crystals are fairly dense in their "pack". The snow can almost feel sticky under the ski, like "skiing on mashed potatoes". After several freeze thaw cycles (caused by warm days and cold nights), the snow will reconstitute itself into larger crystals of granular ice. These "transformed" crystals allow the liquid water to drop thru the snow pack. Skiing is actually easier (faster, requiring less effort) on older loose granular snow.

A) Ski early in the morning. As long as the temperatures allowed the snow to refreeze the night before (dropped below 32 F), there should be little or no free moisture in the snow the first thing in the morning. Start off with trails that do get some morning sun to add just a little moisture for lubricant and to break apart any consolidated (icy) sections. As the air temperature rises, switch to trails in the shade, on the northern slope or otherwise out of direct sun.

B) Add structure to the base with a rilling tool. Structure is ski tech talk for texture, which causes the globs of water to drop off the base. Rills are grooves that run down the length of the base. The best tools ("rillers") add interrupted (broken) rills. These cause the water globs to be released from the base at the break in the grooves. The water is NOT channeled down the grooves and is NOT shunted out to the side by the V pattern. It is simply momentarily released from the base. Rills do come out with waxing because they are pressed into the base, not cut. This is a good thing, allowing the skier to adjust the amount of structure in the ski for different snow moisture contents. One pair of skis can be made to work in different types of snow. If wet snow is expected, rill after waxing, scraping and hand brushing, but before roto brushing.

C) Hot wax the skis using a high fluorinated bar wax. Now is the time to spend a little more money and move up from a low fluor to a high fluor wax. The fluorine atoms of the fluorocarbon molecules and the oxygen atoms in the globs of water molecules both exhibit a negative charge, and since like charges repel, fluorocarbon waxes repel water. These are also paraffin like molecules with very low coefficients of friction (meaning they glide well over the snow crystals). To get a higher fluor content does not necessarily mean paying a lot more money. Both Rode and Star have excellent waxes (equal or better glide and durability) that cost less than other brands.

D) Remove all the surface wax. After hot waxing, let the wax cool to room temperature. Scrape off the surface wax with a sharp Plexiglas scraper and a groove scraper. Next, hand brush using a soft brass, copper, or new stiff nylon HAND brush. Do not use a stiff (prickly) brass brush. Scrape and brush tip to tail. Brush with overlapping strokes and remove all the residual surface wax and expose most of the structure. Hand brush even if a roto brush will be used. A roto brush does NOT replace using a hand brush. Roto brush with very light pressure. Let just the tips of the bristles touch the base with little or no downward force. 5 passes in 20 seconds (total time!) is enough. If a roto brush is not available, use a WHITE polishing pad. Do not use the green or other color scouring pads! These will scratch the base. Polish back and forth (lengthwise) with lots of elbow grease. If desired, a pure fluorocarbon wax can be applied now. The solid pure fluor waxes work very well. Rub on a conservative amount, then either hand or roto cork. These waxes melt at low temperatures. The heat generated by corking is enough to melt them into the top layer of the ironed-in fluorinated wax where the pure fluor will bind and fortify the fluoro properties of the fluorinated wax. Use a soft hand horsehair brush to remove any excess wax.

* to receive Noel's e-mail newsletter send your request to info@sierraNordic.com with "Newsletter" in the subject line.

Rilling
brought to us by Subaru Factory Team www.dreamofit.com
This year’s Birkie was a heavy rilling race. Big structure was important for breaking the suction between ski and snow after about 15km where the snow was more saturated with water. Swix HF 8 and Cera 200 was the wax of the day, but a large grind and/or a big rill in the ski was necessary to have fast skis in the later portion of the race.

Rilling creates structure in the ski base that combats suction in wet snow. It is created with a rilling tool. Most rilling tools come with varying sized rill patterns for different wet-snow conditions. Basically the wetter the snow the bigger a rill one needs, but there are nuances to it. When the snow is new, as it was in the Birkie, and wet the snow is often slower snow than when the snow is old and wet.

Rills are not good in any dry snow condition. Skiers often rill before or through the second to last layer of wax (i.e. the HF layer –before applying Cera). To cut the rills into the ski, which makes the rills sharp and long lasting, rill before or after applying the last layer of wax. To press the rills into the ski, which makes the rill edges round and the rill less permanent, rill through the wax as it sits molten on the ski. It is fine to cut the rills into the base after you have applied the Cera layer. This is often done when skiers are unsure what size rill they will need come race time, and so they rill just before the start.

KICK WAXING FOR MIXED SNOW
by Noel Charonnat
I had an e-mail question this past week that is very relevant to upcoming Sierra snow conditions: covering klister with hard wax.

When new snow blows into and only partially covers old transformed snow, you need a kick wax that works for the old snow (klister) and also the new snow (hard wax). Klister alone would ice (new snow sticking to it), and hard wax alone would slip.

Put on the appropriate klister, usually a violet in these conditions. Thin coat. Set the skis in a cold place to harden the klister, like on the snow in the shade. Warm up the appropriate hard wax in a pocket or and. The "jelly" will harden and the "peanut butter" will be more fluid, so that the PB can be spread on top of the J! Rub and cork smooth a couple thin layers of the hard wax over the klister. Do not mix. You are protecting the klister from picking up the new snow. You want distinct layers.

Another good combination in similar mixed snow conditions, and usually with better glide, is to cover Rode Yellow hard wax with Rode Super Blue or Multigrade violet. This is a great combination. It gives a little cushion under the appropriate hard wax in mixed snow conditions.

SKATING LEG POWER
For an article by Lee Borowski, entitled I FELT THE EARTH MOVE UNDER MY FEET (The Source of Leg Power in Skating). Go to: http://www.sierranordic.com/Tech_tips.html

SKATING TECHNIQUE FOR NEW SOFT SNOW
by Noel Charonnat
When a lot of snow falls, the snow is often "punchy" for skating, meaning that the skis punch into the snow when pushing off. The poles also tend to punch into the snow, often disappearing 6 inches or more! This can be very frustrating, especially on the uphill.

In these conditions, try skiing uphill using the "Diagonal V" technique. This is also called "single stick", and is essentially a herringbone with glide. The poles are used to assist the push from ski to ski. The skate-off from leg to leg is similar to V1. Try to get glide on both skis while pushing off more gently with the legs. The push on the poles should also be with less force. Use finesse.

Try stepping UP the hill, not so much side to side, but do not over-step. Land with the knee slightly bent and with the ski already sliding. The ski should be put down flat to slightly on the outside edge, never the inside edge. Use the push from the opposite pole to extend the glide. Again, use finesse, not power.

Many skiers (even very good ones!) use this skating technique to get up steeper hills. In big races, like the Birkie, it is the way most skiers go uphill when in single file. It is an excellent choice for racers to use on "easy days" on hilly terrain because the heart rate can be kept lower.

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