Old Stuff

Bert Hinkley is our in-house SOLDA Wax Tech and the newest member of our WebSkis.com team...

8/7/08 ROLLER SKIING IN OREGON

Most of Oregon is “chip-seal” pavement. A chip seal is an application of a binder (hot liquid asphalt) in the form of an emulsion or hot spray and an application of an aggregate (small stones) as close to single size as possible. Chip Seals protect and preserve, and extend pavement life. This results in a pavement that is better to drive on, look at and will cost less in the long run. However, it is not much fun to rollerski on. The vibration is uncomfortable on the feet and legs and rolling resistance is considerably greater than a “hot-top” smooth pavement. Generally new housing developments have smoother pavement. The more expensive the houses, the smoother the pavement will be.

Wherever you choose to ski, pick a time when the amount of traffic will be lowest. Often, early mornings before commuter time, or early evening after commuter time are good times to roll. Roads outside city limits are often pretty quiet after 6:30 PM. Early Saturday and especially Sunday are great choices.

Here are my current favorite places to rollerski in Bend, Oregon...

Bend is the place to ski! Amazing hill climbing up 9th street to Awbrey Butte, although the descent will put hair on your chest and take skin off everything else. Skyliners road, out and back, is an excellent up
grade on the way out, and pleasant, even exciting downhill on the way back. If you go to the end of the road it's about 16 miles. Or, you can ski up to Mt. Bachelor. It's best to do early in the morning as the road gets way hot later ( at least in the summer ). The total distance is 22 miles, but there are lots of places that make for great natural stopping points. You do need a shuttle, unless you want to ski down which means
real screamers. (Recommended by Stuart Craig)

Another good place, although a little short, is the Skyliner Ranch/Tetherow road system. Access this west of town from Skyliner Drive. There are nice wide, smooth roads and with the current slow housing market, no houses. There is golf course construction traffic during the day, but early evenings are nearly devoid of cars. There may be more walkers, some with dogs, than cars. The terrain is not exactly beginner friendly. There are significant ups and downs. Be sure to not ski through the few gates that are closed. Gates that are open are fine and provide enough distance and variety to get a good workout. Starting at Summit High School it is easy to get 80-90 minutes. The hills would be excellent for short, uphill intervals. (Recommended by Bert Hinkley)

East of town, near the airport is another low traffic area in which to ski. If you drive north, out Powell Butte Hwy, turn right on Larsen Rd, then park on a dirt island just south of the airport complex. You can ski out Nelson Rd, turn right or left on Waugh, go up and down it, then go right or left on McGrath, up and down it. Follow it out as it turns to Stenkamp. Cross Alflalfa Mkt where it turns to Bennett. Turn around at the Stop sign, or brave the rough chip-seal part of Bear Creek until you get to smooth, new pavement south of Hwy 20. But then you are far from where you started. (Recommended by Hilary Garrett)

About 18-20 miles east of Bend, north of Hwy 20 is George Millican Rd. It runs north through the desert with awesome views to the west of the Cascades. The pavement is new and pretty smooth. It starts with a significant climb, followed by a downhill that will challenge the best. The next few miles roll along and are mostly flat. One way, out to SW Reservoir Rd is about 12 miles. (Recommended by Bert Hinkley)

If you know of other good rollerski routes in Oregon, or any place, drop me a note.

Happy rolling!!

Bert Hinkley
SOLDA Wax Tech & WebSkis.com Sales

Bert Hinkley is our in-house SOLDA Wax Tech and the newest member of our WebSkis.com team...

5/28/08 SKI TO SEA RACE REPORT

Last weekend saw the staging of the Ski to Sea adventure relay race from the ski area at Mount Baker to the town of Bellingham, WA. The modern incarnation of the race began in 1973. It now begins with a difficult and technical 6.5 km cross-country ski course at the base of the Mount Baker ski area. The cross-country skier finishes the figure 8 course and passes the timing chip to the alpine skier who skis to the bottom of chair lift
#2 and then climbs to the top of lift #1. From here the skier skis downhill to the start area and passes the timing chip to the runner. The running leg is a brutal 8 mile downhill course on the Mount Baker access road. With throbbing squads and aching knees, the runner passes the chip to the road biker who then pedals 38 miles to the Nooksack river at Hovander Park in Everson, WA. Here the team of canoe paddlers takes off for an 18 mile run on the spring high water of the Nooksack to the waiting mountain biker. The nine mile mountain bike leg ends at Bellingham Bay and the final leg of the race paddled by the sea kayaker to Fairhaven Beach 5 miles away.

Over 400 teams entered this year’s race. The weather was sunny and mild. This was both a boon and a problem. Certainly it was great for the skiers, runners and bikers. But the warm weather caused the abundant snow pack to melt rapidly and the river level was too high to run a safe canoe race. This leg was dropped and all other legs were contested to the grand finish in Fairhaven.

SOLDA wax played a significant role in the success of the winning team sponsored by the Bagelry of Bellingham. Over 400 cross-country skiers lined up for a mass start at the Mount Baker base area. I loaned the old ’02 Fischer RCS “695” skis to my son Jed. These skis were the perfect choice for the slushy spring snow. Waxed with SOLDA F40 Yellow and Fluor 100 and rilled with a 2mm coarse linear covered with an interrupted pattern structure, these skis handled every part of the course. In 19 minutes Jed had covered the 6.5 km of steep up hills and screaming downs where he passed the timing chip to the alpine climber/skier in 3rd place. The alpine skis were prepped with a top coat of SOLDA Powerjet 5 that was polished and brushed just before the start. This helped the team to move to second place at the exchange with the runner. The team moved up on the #1 team and soon after the exchange to the bike they had a firm hold on first place. The Bagelry Team, waxed with SOLDA, finished the race in 5:29:40 in front of the favorite team timed in 5:31:29.

SOLDA F40 Yellow and Fluor 100 also helped me to 36th place in the XC race. I got the second best pair of old Fischers from ’04 with a Plus Base and aggressive rilling. Our family and friends team finished in 121st place out of 440 teams. Great weekend, great energy, great support and great wax.

That should be about it for the Webskis race reports for this season. The US Ski Team is coming to town for a training camp at Mount Bachelor in June. Participants have been in the shop making sure they had the SOLDA wax they would need for the warm weather skiing. Our new shipment from Italy will be arriving in October. Stay tuned for more tips on using SOLDA products.

Bert Hinkley
SOLDA Wax Tech & WebSkis.com Sales

Bert Hinkley is our in-house SOLDA Wax Tech and the newest member of our WebSkis.com team...

5/22/08 SKI TO SEA WAX RECOMMENDATIONS

The Ski to Sea race takes place in NW Washington this weekend. The race begins at Mount Baker with a 6.5km cross country ski leg. This is followed by an alpine ski segment, then an 8 mile run, a 36 mile road bike leg, an 18 mile canoe course on the Nooksack River, 9 miles of mountain biking and finishes with 5 miles of sea kayaking on Bellingham Bay.

The weather forecast for Sunday is overnight low of 25. Cross country Race time temperature should be around 38F, partly sunny, old snow, humidity 77%. Start with clean skis that have a good aggressive warm snow grind and layer SOLDA F31 and F40 Yellow. Scrape and brush each layer well leaving a clean, shiny, dry base. Top coat with SOLDA Fluor 100. Be sure to brush all layers well. Any excess wax will collect dirt and prevent moisture from moving away from the ski. When finished apply a 2mm coarse linear rill to the base and follow this with an interupted structure on top. Brush again.

Bert Hinkley
SOLDA Wax Tech & WebSkis.com Sales

Bert Hinkley is our in-house SOLDA Wax Tech and the newest member of our WebSkis.com team...

5/14/08 POLE PEDAL PADDLE WAX RECOMMENDATIONS

Waxing for old spring snow brings it's own particular problems. If you have been skiing lately you know that the snow is DIRTY. This dirt clings to ski bases very well. So, the first thing to do for PPP is to clean the bases. If you have been skiing this spring, it would be a good idea to use a base cleaning solvent. I use the SOLDA Eco 2000. Apply this with a clean rag or a sturdy paper towell. You may be shocked at the amount of dirt that you clean off. Wipe it dry with another cloth. Then apply a soft base wax to recondition the skis. I use SOLDA Universal Base. You can use any warm snow, soft wax. Scrape this while the wax is warm and brush it out.

Next step is to select a warm snow wax. The weather is forecast says overnight low of 41F and nearly 60 by 9:00. I am prepping my son's skis with a layer of Performance Yellow, scraped and brushed, followed by F31 Yellow scraped and brushed, followed by F40 Yellow, scraped and brushed. I finished with SOLDA Flour 100 powder. Sprinkle it on the ski. Use a cork dedicated to fluoro application to tamp and spread the powder evenly. Then, with a very hot iron, iron down one side of the groove. Take about 7-8 seconds. Repeat on the other side of the groove. Follow this with a lot of corking with plenty of elbow grease. When the poweder is smooth and evenly corked, polish wtih a felt polishing brush. Then finish with a horse hair brush.

Now the last step is to apply a rill to the bases. I am using a coarse, interrupted rill to handle the excess moisture available in the old snow. It depends on the grind on the ski base, but once or twice down the ski with a toko rilling tool seems to work pretty well.

Finish by brushing this out well until the base is shiny and dry and smooth.

Then ski fast.

Bert Hinkley
SOLDA Wax Tech & WebSkis.com Sales