WebSkis Blog

Web Team Doings

2010-03-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about my job is that I get to hang out with and correspond with a group of active people who really add spice to life. Here are a few examples of what members of the WebSkis Team have been up to recently.

Pat Lanin

I took an hiatus from the Birke, and did the Korteloppet (a measley 23 km) classic. I did the same event two years ago under similar conditions, and was 6 minutes faster this year. Two years ago I won my age group, this year Marty Hall showed up and gave me a ski lesson, beating me by ten minutes!
This is the first time that Marty has beaten me.

On the glide I had Violet F15, covered with Power Jet 2, and a top coat of S-20. On the kick I had Swix VG 35 binder, covered with a very thin layer of Rex Power Grip Blue, and 4 layers of Rode Special Blue over. The kick was great, except for some of the South facing slopes in the last 2 km...even then not bad. I think the glide may have been compromised a bit, by a slight over kill on the kick. None the less, I still had great glide, and was out running about 80% of those around me. The temp was +10 F at the start and +21 F at the finish, a bit over an hour and a half later. The track and the snow was pristine. A fantastic day, all in all, Mr. Hall notwithstanding.

Byron Roe
Wendy and I were up at the Olympics where there was no skiing-OK, not within
2 hours anyways. But we do have some cool stories and images though....

Aaron Tarnow
Par for the Course II at Mt Bachelor

Skied on UF7, F40 Red, PJ1 Skies where a bit slow first lap, I think do to too much structure in base. By second lap skis where very fast on the up hill. I think good overall wax choice, wrong ski choice.

Dave Knoop
Another year another Birkie.
Skis were dang fast, could take a break for water or gels and easily pull my group back in a tuck down the next hill.
Conditions were cold and blue! Probably about 5f air temp at the start warming to about 20f by the end.
Hard track, old snow and little humidity. Pretty sure that snow never warmed up.

Wax Used:
A base layer of black carbon for durability on old abrasive snow.
Then Solda F15 Blue. A layer of Solda S20 then another layer of Solda S30 to harden the base.
Put Solda HP05-S30 50/50 on as top layer.
Grind was a cold fine grind with a little structure in it, i.e. Nordic Ultratune 615b grind.
Ski's: an old pair of Rossi's circa 2006 yet they had plenty of attitude or stiff flex.

Result: 113th overall, 3rd in old guys division.

Post race beer was Beck's.

Mark Nienstaedt
I skied well from start to finish in the Birkie Classic yesterday on good skis. For the third year running, I've made it into the top five of the 55-59 age group (187 strong this year) with a fourth place, 99th of 1,429 overall. Very fast conditions. 2:28:39.4 for the winner and 3:07:56.6 for yours truly, a half hour faster than last year. Ironically, the sting of missing an age group trophy by a place was reduced considerably by the fact that the 3rd place spot when to my good friend, training, and travel partner Jim Agre, a serious guy who flew out of the Twin Cities for Sweden hours after his finish headed for the original Vasaloppet.
My skis were good (you have the technical wax description already) but I'm always ready to learn more. I spoke to some Stevens Point, WI, skate skiers after the race (they saw my SOLDA/Webskis vest) who enthused about having used warm Fluor 100 successfully. I also know a good master skate skier who I race compatibly with who turned in a 2:31 skate race on a SWIX pure warm powdered fluor pair of skis. He had tested both a cold fluor and the warm fluor pair of skis pre-race and picked the warm fluor skis as fastest. This despite that the announcers noted the air temperature was minus 3 degrees as we lined up for our 8 a.m. start (just about as forecast). The snow was a bit squeaky and definitely abrasive. What else have you heard? What accounts for warm fluor success?
Thanks for your support. I ski a local "Lakeland Loppet" 25km skate at Minocqua, WI, Winterpark next Saturday and then the Great Bear Chase 50km skate on the 13th. And I'm always looking for the edge.

Dan Packman skied in the Masters World Cup races in Sweden and on the Vasa Loppett course.
Today I endured a new dimension of the nordic ski experience. 90k on the legendary vasa trail with new slow snow. I started wave 4 and passed about 4000 people the first 5k. I got in good small group and we motored along. After 65k someone said in Swedish, fertun, femtun, sixtun - 14, 15, 16, then in english - top 20! The group was down to a few guys the last 10k. I went with a fast move with 7k to go and we hammered hard, yet I had to let it go with 5k to go and paid dearly the last 2 k. Only the 2 guys I just dropped caught me, but man the last k was Painful.
5:55, good for 16th place. Folks said the best times today were 30-40 mins slower than typical. skis were great, 6 layers of blue hardwax over binder, f40 red glide wax with power jet 2. The long trip home is tomorrow.

Packman on MWC

Fun relay today. 5k is definitely not my thing but it was a beautiful day.
-12 C snow, sunny and slightly warmer than past few days. Jan Spurkland (ppp winner a few yrs ago, Jan and I did the Sapporo marathon in 2005) started strong putting us in 2nd after leg 1 behind the Italians. JD (US team director from Bend) pulled 5k worth of mojo out of his 'I haven't raced in ages but I ski everyday and can get on it'. I held 3rd, no one around me for 2 mins ahead or behind, so I just cruised it and Dennis from Missoula brought it home with a minute to spare over the German team, so we ended up with bronze. M5 USA team also 3rd. Now it is time to focus on the 45k Friday skate race. Still cold here, below 0 F in the morn, warming slightly the next few days with snowstorm predicted by the weekend.

There you have just a few of the good stuff being done by WebSkis Team members.

Have a good one too,

Bert

Birkie Pre Race Ski Prep

2010-02-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

Those who have been in Hayward and Cable, Wisconsin, have told me that the snow is abrasive and dirty. It snowed a little today, a very fine snow coming off the lake. The forecast from NOAA:

Tonight: Scattered snow showers, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -6. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 17. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around -12. Calm wind.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 25. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around -7. Calm wind.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 31.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 4.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 33.

So it looks to me like the snow will be cold and abrasive. If you want to start prepping skis do a hot scrape and clean the bases. I would pick a cold base ski with a fine grind and start with Solda FC27. Crayon on the FC27 and drip on Solda Performance Green, Iron, scrape and brush. I would then apply a couple of layers of Solda F15 Blue and wait to watch the weather. For those of you interested there will be some people at the Birkie testing wax. Walter Knight, from Boulder Nordic Sports will be testing lots of waxes. He will have a BNS shop set up in Cable. Chris Wheaton will also be testing Solda waxes. Look for Chris in the Red Solda suit. I will post the wax as the Solda Team sees it on the Solda Wax Blog. Top right on the WebSkis home page.

Masters World Cup update

2010-02-21T16:12:00.000-08:00

WebSkis and WebCyclery uber endurance athlete Dan Packman

is in Falun Sweden for Masters World Cup This is hot off

e-mail:

Report from World Masters- the 30k started well. I

skied in the 2nd group of 4 the first lap. 1 guy out

front, a group of 4 in sight and 1 guy between us.

The pace was hard and I wisely decided to ski with

measured panache; not smart going over the LT with

 20k to go on a tough course with very cold

conditions, 8 F and windy. Slipped a few places

yet finished respectably in the red group, top 15.

 The field is stacked with fast euro's. This was a

good result but not super. My skis were

good, xc01 very cold grind with Solda F40 green and

 Solda HP05-S30 50/50. Downhills were very few,

less than 1 minute the entire race of relaxed tuck

where you could take a few breaths.I had to work for

it all, pushing the entire way. Milan from

Traverse City, MI took the bronze in M5, just a few

mins faster than me today. 10k classic tomorrow,

the beatings will continue.

Morale is high and I am stoked to perform my best in the 45k

fri.   --  Mr. Dan Packman

Go Mr. Dan.

HP05 at Marcialonga

2010-02-11T15:49:00.000-08:00

I received a note from Luciano, the owner of SOLDA Wax. He was at the Marcialonga Marathon in Italy helping to wax skis for the Italian Teams. They also provided wax to other teams. Turns out that both the women's and men's winners, Oskar Svärd & Jenny Hansson had their skis waxed with SOLDA HP05. These Swedish team athletes had fast skis from beginning to end.

Other HP05 applications were fast at the Boulder Mountain Tour in Sun Valley. I was waxed with Solda F40 Red and HP05. I heard a rumor that some of the podium finishers were on Solda F31 Violet and HP05. I will try to confirm this and post more later. My skis were good at the start and in the last 10km of a 32 km race they were faster than most of the others around me.

At the Badger State games in Wisconsin HP05 - S30 mix was fast for the whole race. Mark Nienstaedt skied a strong race winning the men over 50 class and 4th overall.

Again, in cold transformed snow HP05 comes through as always.

Have a good next chapter.

No Quitting

2010-01-29T10:46:00.000-08:00

I met Dan Bulkley when he was 53 years old. I was dating his daughter and we were both teaching skiing at Mt Ashland in southern Oregon. Dan was the track and cross country running coach at Southern Oregon College and he was director of the PE ski program at the college. One day in May he said he was going for a run and did I want to go along. I was 23. In a short 5 mile run he pounded me into the pavement and I came limping home long after he did.

I married his daughter, Dani and then really got to know Dan. Now, at age 92 he is my assistant when I go to West Yellowstone Ski Festival to represent SOLDA ski wax. He skis for a while then mans my table so that I can get in some skiing.

Check out this article in the Ashland Daily Tidings from this year. There isn't much snow around the Ashland area so Dan is out rollerskiing to stay ready for the next race.

http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100120/SPORTS/1200312

Make the most of living if you're not prepared to die.

Bert

Winners

2010-01-27T10:45:00.000-08:00

I have been following the qualification for the US Team for the Winter Olympic Games. I also have the good fortune to know some of these athletes. Some I don't know, but hope to meet at some future date. Having known a few for many years and watching them along with my general interest in sports, I believe we have a team of winners.

They may perform well enough to come away with medals. But that is not why I am referring to them as winners. I saw a note to Johnny Spillane on a facebook page this morning. Johnny is skiing in his 4th Olympic Games. He was World Champion in the sprint event in the 2003 Nordic Combined Worlds. He is at his home in Steamboat Springs, CO to finish his final preparation for the Vancouver games. In the lodge at Howelson Hill he was hanging out with the little kids. He helped tie the laces of jumping boots. One little girl said that he was the best lace tier and she decided to go out and try the 25 meter jump. She said she nailed her tele landings and that Johnny had given her the good luck.

Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks are spending time supporting a "Fast and Female" program to encourage girls to get involved in skiing. They both are serving as excellent role models for all of us as we look for descent role models in sports. Kikkan has overcome significant health issues, recovered and gone on to become faster than ever. She could have used the health issues to stop skiing. Holly came late to nordic skiing from Seattle. She knew what she loved and focused and is now on the Olympic Team. She also spends time coaching in three different programs run by APU in Alaska.

Kris Freeman continues to seek excellence despite the fact that he is diabetic. Kris has had to deal with that and compartment syndrome and has twice undergone surgery. His getting smarter and faster even with the obstacles that have been thrown at him. Kris works at summer camps for kids with diabetes. Who knows which of these kids is touched by his story and goes on to fight the good fight.

Bill Demong recently attended a local race in Park City as he preps for the Olympics. Bill is a World Champion in Nordic Combined and recently on the podium in world cups in Europe. Bill takes the time to hang out with the little kids. He has been this way for years.

Torin Koos helps to coach a summer track program in his home town of Leavenworth, WA.

My guess is that other nordic skiers on the US Olympic Team exhibit similar personality characteristics. They may or may not be on the podium in Vancouver, but in my book, they are winners.

What we know and learn

2010-01-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I had a lesson. Luciano at Solda had sent me some super new wax to try. It's not on the market yet. Weather forecast was for new snow, 28F . So I waxed up my favorite pair of old soft Fischer RCS skis with the new wax. Dani's skis needed wax so I grabbed a small cube of Solda F31 Pink and put that on her RCRs. We went to Mt Bachelor and set out to recreate. My skis were good, but not great. Dani, on the other hand, shot past me on every downhill. "What's up with that" I thought. Turns out the new wax is not for new snow. The F31 Pink is the best in new snow. I knew it was for new snow, but this was a clear reminder to read the directions on the box.

The other thing I know and need reminding now and then, if you are the ski waxer in your household, it is always a good idea to take good care of your partner's skis. It makes them very happy and a lot more likely to go out to play in the snow.

White Mt Classic

2010-01-22T11:07:00.000-08:00

This is a 30 km classic race in Jackson NH. The NOAA forecast is :

This Afternoon: Sunny, with a high near 31. North wind around 10 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around -6. Northwest wind between 3 and 9 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 28. Wind chill values as low as -12. Light northwest wind.

Looks like transformed snow. I would prep a pair of cold base skis with medium to soft flex. If the track is glazed you might want to consider klister skis.

SOLDA Glide wax: On the glide zone crayon on a layer of FC28 and start with a layer of Performance Green scraped and brushed. If is stays cold, then go with a layer or two of F15 Blue. Finish with the HP05 S/30 mix. If it looks like it will be warmer at the start (22F) go with F15 or F31 Violet instead of F15 Blue and cover with HP05 S30 mix.

Kick wax: I am not there. Sounds like it could be cold on a glazed track. That could be an ice klister. Could also be a klister binder covered with a hard wax. In any case the snow is abrasive and will need a binder. The Swix VG 35 could work for aggressive snow. Testing today and tomorrow is a must.

DIFFICULT WEATHER

2010-01-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

Skiing has always and will always have weather as a variable in racing.
Last weekend at the Methow Super Tour it was magnified. To begin with, the
Methow Valley in north central Washington state has received very little
snow this year. Talking with the locals, seems it hasn’t been this bad
since the mid 1970s. Secondly, along with little snow and warm temps, it
has rained a lot. Last weekend a group of 11 Webskis adventurers traveled
up the road to Winthrop for the Super Tour. It was mild and cloudy and
sprinkling on the way up on Thursday. On Friday we went out to ski the
sprint course and found dozens of volunteers feverishly shoveling every
last transformed snow crystal they could find onto the 1.3km course. They
did a great job.

So, I had skied the course, found snow temps to be about -.5C and the
forecast was for 34F and chance of rain. I waxed for that condition only
to awake Saturday morning to find it 19F and sunny. As always, I had
hedged my bets and waxed three pairs of skis, one soft pair with F40
yellow and Flour 100, one medium pair with F40 Red and F40 Yellow mixed
50/50 topped with Fluor 100, and one stiffer pair with F40 Red and Fluor
100. At race time the stiff F40 Red skis were the best; they were good.
Another SOLDA athlete was on F31 orange with HP04 and it was running well.

On Saturday morning we sprinted ( and I have never been a sprinter) in the
sun on frozen snow. It was fun to see the really fast skiers going really
fast.

Fast Skiers at Methow Super Tour

Bert at start of qualifier.

Cynthia Engel at start.

Aaron Tarnow in qualifier.

After the race I went up to the trails at Loup Loup Ski Bowl
(because there was not enough snow in Winthrop for the 15km classic) to
ski the long classic course. By the end of the day it was 28F and snowing.
Good, back to winter I thought. I went home, checked the weather once
more. It was forecast for overnight low of 26, 100% chance of snow and
high near 30 the next day. Great.
When we arrived at Loup Loup it was already 34 and raining. Raining on 3
inches of new snow. It was one of those nightmares for kick waxing and
nothing I tried seemed to work. Even Rex Powergrip was failing me. Zero
skis were the choice if you had a pair. Some Crown skis were working. I
tried making “hairies” on my soft cold skis and they worked for a while,
but after a few kms I was herringboning every hill.

Glad the finish is in sight.

What did I learn? Not much. We all know how weather can change and how
unpredictable it can be in the mountains. If you have the time and place
to work, it is always best to glide wax when you are pretty sure of the
snow conditions. I know one guy who gets up about 4:00 to check the
weather and snow and rewax if necessary. On the World Cup the wax tech
guys get up at 5 or so on race day to do the last prep over a good base.
They also go with more than one combination and test to see what runs
best.
Hope you have good racing and are up for the intellectual and
organizational challenge of waxing skis.

Bert

2010 Methow Super Tour

2010-01-13T15:55:00.001-08:00

I am headed up to the Methow tomorrow. I checked on the snow up there today. It has good coverage and is wet. The forecast is fairly warm and wet. I am prepping skis tonight with SOLDA UF7. My guess is that the glide will be similar to last week at the Patagoina Pursuit. I had A+ glide on my classic skis with SOLDA F40 Red and F40 Yellow mixed 50/50 and topped with SLODA Fluor 100. This is my guess at this point on Wednesday. I am prepping both skate and classic skis in that fashion.

Kick wax? Wait and see. If it rains and then gets cold, probably a klister. If there is new snow I will probabley sticky up the kick zone under foot with a soft wax and cover with a colder wax. I will have to wait and see.

Patagonia Pursuit 2010 #2

2010-01-08T11:37:00.000-08:00

Here is my gut.

Best Glide: Base of SOLDA UF7 scraped and brushed. Mix SOLDA F40 Red and F40 Yellow 50/50. Scrape and brush. Finish with SOLDA Fluor 100 powder or spray.

Good glide: Solda UF7 base with F15 Orange and F15 Yellow mixed 50/50.

Budget glide wax: Solda UF7

Kick Wax: Still going with one pair with Rode Rossa klister and one pair with Rode Silver Klister. If it is snowing I will be ready to cover with hard wax.

Michigan Cup at Hanson Hills, Grayling, MI

2010-01-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

The race is a 15km skate race at Hanson Hills trail system near Grayling, MI.
The NOAA forecast for that region is:

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 18. Wind chill values as low as -3. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 6. West wind around 5 mph.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 26. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.

If you have a choice, pick a pair of medium flex cold base skis with a fine grind. Start by applying a base layer of SOLDA Perfromance Green, scraped and brushed. Then go with a layer of SOLDA F31 or F40 Violet and if you have it, finish with Solda HP05.

For the budget wax I would go with base of SOLDA Perfromance Green and finish with SOLDA UF7.

Have a great race.

SOLDA WAX FOR JANUARY 9-10 2010

2010-01-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

MICHIGAN CUP RELAYS
Saturday January 9
NOAA weather forecast:

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 1. Wind chill values as low as -6. North wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: Scattered flurries. Partly cloudy, with a high near 17. Wind chill values as low as -6. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 6. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 25.

Solda Glide wax for Saturday: Pick a pair of skis with medium flex, cold bases and a fine grind. Start with rubbing on a layer of SOLDA HC28. Cover this by dripping and ironing a layer of SOLDA F15 Blue. Scrape and brush. It wouldn’t hurt to apply a second layer to harden the bases more. Finish with SOLDA HP05/S30 mix 50/50. This is ironed in once with a hot (130C) iron taking about 8 seconds to pass the whole ski. Follow by corking by hand or with a roto cork and polish with a felt pad. Set the skis aside to cool. Finish by brushing the cool skis with a horse hair or soft nylon polishing brush.

Another choice for finishing could be to cover the F15 Blue with Powerjet 4 corked, polished and brushed.

Kick wax for Michigan Cup Relay
For this short race you may not need a binder. You could apply a binder of Swix VG30 or Toko Green Base. Iron it in, let it cool and then cork smooth. Let it cool and apply 4-6 thin layers of your favorite cold kick wax. Could be Swix V20 or VR30. Maybe Rode Green Special or Green. Carry a wax that is one temp range warmer. If your skis are a bit stiff or have a high wax pocket, try the warmer wax under foot to just in front of the binding.

NENSA BOG BURN, POMFRET, VT

This is and old style classic race at the farm. 13km of narrow up and down in the Vermont woods. Weather forecast is as follows:

Friday: Snow likely, mainly after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 20. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Friday Night: A slight chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 9. North wind around 6 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Saturday: Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 15. North wind between 5 and 7 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

SOLDA GLIDE WAX
Pick a soft to medium flex classic ski with a cold base. Cover the kick zone with wide masking tape. On the glide zone apply a base layer of SOLDA Performance Green or Techno Green. Scrape and brush. Next apply a layer of F31 or F40 Violet. Finish with SOLDA HP05.

Economy wax could be Performance Green and F15 Violet.

Kick wax: Swix, start with a thin binder layer of VG30 ironed in. Let it cool and cork smooth. Then apply 7-10 layers of VR40. Make each two layers shorter than the previous layers to achieve a “pyramid” of kick wax. Keep Some VR45 to apply under foot if you need more kick.

Rode: Try Rode Green -4 to -10 applied the same as above. Then have some Rode Fast Blue Special or Blue Super if more kick needed.

2010 Patagonia Pursuit at Mt Bachelor

2010-01-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

I am holding off for right now on a complete wax recommendation because the weather forecast is changing every hour on the hour. I am pretty sure it will be warm and wet. The question is rain or snow and when. Currently the forecast is:

Friday Night: Snow and freezing rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 28. South southwest wind between 8 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Saturday: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Southwest wind around 11 mph.

Just an hour ago there was no frozen precip in the forecast.

This is a pursuit or relay with the first leg 6km of classic and then 6km of skate.

Glide wax should not be too hard. I am planning on klister skis with probably a red or silver klister covered with a 0 to -2C hard wax if we get some new snow. For skate I would chose some fairly soft plus base skis. Then prep with a layer of SOLDA UF7 on clean bases. If new snow then go with SOLDA F31 Pink and cover with Fluor 100 either powder or spray. Could use SOLDA Powerjet 1. If it doesn't snow could use SOLDA F31 Orange or F40 Red and cover with Fluor 100. Economy wax would be just UF7. Finish the skis with the coarse structure using the Toko Structurerite Tool, interupted for the skate skis and linear for the classic skis. Brush well after pressing in the rill. This rill is best applied after waxing and prior to Fluoros. Also remember to let the skis cool after ironing and corking the fluoro before you brush

Kick wax is the current mystery. I am going to wait until tomorrow and hope the weather picture becomes more clear.

Have fun,

Bert

OUT WITH THE OLD

2009-12-31T13:58:00.000-08:00

I am not exactly sure where this entry is going. The flury of holiday activity, being busy at the shop, skiing with family, racing in the rain have all kept my attention. I have today off. Dani is at work and Erin, Adam and Corbin are at the supermarket getting the necessary fixings for New Years Eve. It is snowing in Bend. The house is quiet. My thoughts, like dust from a passing whirlwind, have a moment to settle.

Those of you who know me know that I am new to the world of retail. I have been a teacher pretty much since I was 12 when I was teaching the beginner swim lessons in Manchester, VT in 1960. I am enjoying learning something new and incorporating my skill set to my contact with many of you reading this. From my point of view there is a lot of teaching involved in retail. People have to have accurate information in order to make the right choice when buying skis, boots or wax. That is what I try to do.

At the end of the year with 2009 about to become history, I am looking back and examining the lessons I have learned. I could also use some help and perspective from any of you folks who read this and have had dealings with us here at WebSkis. Since I often hear the voice of my father telling me that any job worth doing is worth doing well, and since I am a relative rookie at business, I know that to do my job well I need to continue to learn so that I can do the job better.

I do know that even with a slow economy our ski business has been gradually improving. Looking at last year’s numbers, we have sold a few more pairs of skis, a few more boots, and our numbers of local customers for service are increasing. I have to believe that we are doing some things right. Not all sports equipment retailers are improving business statistics. So I have a pretty good read on what we have done. That is history. Now I am pondering the future. Sure, this is an undisguised commercial message. And we all know that when we are making money in our professional endeavors we pay the rent, the heat, the electric bill and shop at the supermarket. It all works to spread the wealth.

Now we have a pretty good inventory of top of the line skate skis and a few classic skis. I would enjoy being able to move the skis from the racks here at WebSkis to the feet of the right skier. Check the website for more information.

Thanks to all of you who have called with questions, come to wax clinics, looked at skis or shopped on-line. Think about what worked well for you. Consider suggesting what might work better. You could respond to this post or drop me an e-mail note at bert@webskis.com.

Oh, the family is back. Time for Corbin and me to play in the snow. Next year we can ski together.

New Years Relay at Mt Bachelor.

2009-12-31T13:44:00.001-08:00

The weather seems to enjoy throwing rain at the race days at Mt Bachelor this season. The current (1:00 PM 12/31/09) forecast for New Years Day is

Tonight: Rain and snow. Low around 28. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 24 and 26 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

New Year's Day: Rain and snow showers, becoming all snow after 10am. High near 35. Southwest wind around 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

The race is a relay of 3 skiers. The first leg is classic and the last two are skate. See the MBSEF website for more details.

Glide wax: Start with a fairly soft pair of plus base skis. Brush them well with a medium bronze or steel brush and apply a layer of Solda UF7, scrape and brush. Follow with a layer of Solda F31 Pink or F40 Red, scrape and brush. Finish with Solda Fluor 100. The spray would work well, or Powerjet 1. After corking these fluoro additives remember to let the skis cool before brushing. Use a soft horse hair or very fine/soft nylon to finish the job.

The economy wax would be a layer of Solda UF7 on a nice clean base.

After waxing you could apply a medium structure with the Toko Structurerite tool. Always brush again after applying structure.

Kick Wax: YUCK... I would start with a sticky wax under foot, maybe two thin layers one just a bit longer than the other and then cover with a slightly harder wax. If using Swix, start with a layer of VR 60 or 65 and cover with VR 55.You could also try straight VR 70. If using Rode, start with the Rode Red Extra 0 to +2C and cover with Rode Blue Super -1 to -3C. Good Luck. Remember there is also the Klister cushion. If using this idea probably best to start with a Silver klister and cover with a hard wax for around 0C temps. Klister must be cold when covering with a hard wax.

Good Luck

Par for the Course 09 Wax

2009-12-10T20:14:00.001-08:00

I skied 4 mornings this week. The snow has been very cold. Yesterday it was -20C (-4F). Today -18C (0F). Slow, transformed snow. Like sand paper.

Snow is forecast for Friday night prior to the race. Snow is forecast for race day. Overnight low of 23F is forecast and race time temp is forecast to be 26F. The weather forecast has changed every hour all day. Some models show mixed rain, sleet and snow for Saturday. Other models show just snow.

Here is my current view. Pick a pair of skis, if you have a choice, that are not too stiff and with a medium grind. If you need to add a structure, use a fairly fine interupted rill. Apply the rill after waxing and just before the application of the fluoro. I am going to condition the base with a layer of SOLDA Performance Green. I will follow this with F40 Red and finish with HP04. The Green is to harden the base a bit and the F40 red for good glide in the new snow.

Low wax budget? Go with layer of UF7 and follow with F15 Pink or F31 Pink. UF7 alone could be a good choice.

Should there be a significant change in forecast I will repost here Friday night.

Have a good race.

Bert

New from SOLDA

2009-11-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

What’s New from SOLDA

Just like ski companies, wax companies find themselves in a very competitive business. It is not enough to simply produce a product that enables skis to glide well when other producers are working to improve products and help skis go even faster. Since 1934 SOLDA has been a leader and innovator in the production of superior ski wax. This year is no different especially with the Olympic Winter Games in 2010 in Vancouver, BC.

Our customers also want to know what is new at SOLDA, so this summer the owner of WebSkis went to Italy to find out. Here is some of what we learned from the good people in Monte Belluna who make the wax we use and sell.

The highest level of fluorination is found in F40 Special. This wax comes in F40 Special Green, F40 Special Violet and F40 Special Red. When will we see F40 yellow? The chemists have been able to successfully bond the same fluorocarbon compound from HP05 and HP06 with the Green, Violet and Red F40 waxes. The combination of F40 Red and Fluor 100 has proven to be more difficult to make a hybrid hard wax that will give the same superior gliding properties as the technician application of F40 Red and then using the Fluor 100 powder or spray. Luciano has set this as a goal for the near future. For now in warm temps (snow -2/-6, air +2/-2) and plenty of available moisture, use F40 Red and finish with Fluor 100.

SOLDA has a new wax that has tested very well against other waxes in conditions found at the Olympic venues. In testing in Europe and Canada with conditions of 50%-100% humidity and snow temps 0/-9C this wax has proven superior to any other wax tested. The staff at SOLDA continues to test this in different snow conditions. It should be available next year. SOLDA will not release the wax until they are absolutely sure it is what they want to carry the SOLDA name. Watch for some very fast skis for the Italians and other national teams that get a chance to use this wax. We should have it next year.

A fluor Gel is being tested and used with success in some conditions. Look for this in the next year. I have a little sample I will be trying this year.

In the training wax line SOLDA has added a Performance Green to the highly successful Performance Red and Performance Yellow. These are economically priced low-fluor training waxes. The Green is a hard wax for cold training conditions. In prepping skis for a cold snow race with low to medium humidity, this would be a good choice as a first layer followed by F15 Blue and the appropriate finish of F30, or F32 or F40 Green and HP06 if it is more humid.

Some have asked about the plastic in the Marathon Water Belts and if it is BPA free. Luciano says, yes. This plastic should pose no health issues.

If you are headed to the West Yellowstone Ski Festival I will be there with my SOLDA Wax table and hopefully answers to your questions.

Hope to see you, and have a good one.

Bert

2009-11-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

WHAT’S NEW

R & D in the ski business is necessary these days. From a strictly business point of view, the competition is not sitting still, so neither can any other company. In the 80’s it was the adoption of synthetic materials and P-Tex bases. This year it seems to be reducing swing weight and improving handling. Here is a short piece on my impressions about new products at WebSkis this year.

At the end of last season and the beginning of this, there was a lot of talk about the Fischer Hole ski. Fischer decided to take their lightest ski, the RCS Carbonlite, and remove material from the tip by cutting a whole in it. This idea certainly is noticeable and the ski is noticeably lighter. I got a chance to ski on these in May and spent nearly 4 hours on them. While they are not intended as a ski for all conditions, on hard, transformed snow they are quick, light and have a nice familiar Fischer stability and glide. I liked the ski and so did a lot of World Cup skiers who tried and accepted it right away. WebSkis, now an official Fischer Race Center, has a good supply of 192cm Fischer RCS Carbonlite Hole skis. They are only made in stiff flexes.

The other new product from Fischer is actually a new version of an old friend. Skiers have long recognized the superior glide and feel of the good old RCS in soft and cold snow conditions. This year Fischer has introduced a Carbonlite version of the RCS they are calling the RCS Carbonlite Soft Track. It is a ski with Carbonlite construction (lighter than the old RCS) and the camber profile and flex characteristics of the 610 RCS. It excels in all the soft snow conditions that I skied in at MT Bachelor in May and June this year. No hole, but a light, stable, fast glider that is a stand out on steep uphills using V1.

Not to be left behind, Madshus has a new ski that I had talked to the reps about for a couple years. This is a stiff version of the ski they used to call the Nanosonic SC (soft condition). A couple of things make this a ski a winner. It has a super stable platform from which to push to the next skate stride. That is the result of the stiff flex and the nearly straight sidecut of 44-43-44mm. It is solid, predictable and light. To decrease the swing weight of this ski Madshus has removed a significant amount of material from the tip. The new look is a lower profile and blunter tip giving the ski the nickname the 186 “Stubbie”. The 186 is the stiff version of the SC and the 196 is the more familiar soft flex variant. WebSkis is one of the few shops that has any of these new skis. (so new we don’t have a good photo)

Maybe the biggest change made in any of the skis we have is in the new Salomon Equipe 10 skate skis. Even though Salomon has stopped its support of the “Factory Team” I think that you might see more of these skis on the feet of winners this season. In appearance the ski has a wider tip than the 08/09 version. It also has a layer of carbon fiber that goes farther forward in the ski that produces a more even pressure distribution. To me they felt more stable and had better glide per stride than the Equipe 10 last year. I liked the ski. The grinds on both the warm base and the cold base skis look better to me than before.

Something else should be noted about these products. Supplies are EXTREMELY LIMITED. Preseason orders were conservative and the companies chose not to over-produce their lines. If this is your year for new skis don’t think there could be a big liquidation sale at the end of the winter. I suppose that could happen, but based on the way people have been responding to these boards, I wouldn’t count on it.

Have a good one,

Bert

Teach Your Children

2009-11-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

I feel blessed, at the moment. True, there are a couple of nagging little things, like some irregularity with my credit report and my tight hamstrings (not related). But I am enjoying a number of things now. It is 50 and sunny outside; not a typical gray, damp, blustery November day. I got a 90 minute ride this morning before work on my cyclocross bike; some street and some trail. And my kids, age 30 and 28, who are good buddies and both working, have invited and paid for my wife to fly to Denver for a family visit. I get to stay home and work, but I also got to see my daughter and grandson a couple weeks ago when I went to Bellingham, WA for the last kayak slalom of the season.
Ah those kids. It wasn’t long ago in my mind that they were just learning how to ski. When Erin was 6 and Jed was 4 they were skiing the whole mountain at Mt Ascutney in Vermont. At ages 8 and 6 they were involved in the Andover Outing Club Nordic program in Andover, NH. We all looked forward to winter days when we could ski together. Erin continued to race alpine on the high school team and Jed pursued Nordic Combined, jumping and cross country. Sure, it meant we were often stretched in different directions on weekends and juggled the homework, housework, competition schedule. It was an investment in their health, personal growth, positive identity. The kids grew. So did the dust bunnies under the couch.
I have to add that my wife and I met when we were both young ski instructors. My father-in-law was a ski instructor. He is 92 and still Nordic ski racing. He came for a visit not long ago with scratches on his hand and face, from a fall he took rollerskiing.

And now, here comes winter. We can’t wait. It means that we can all come together and share a life-long activity, get exercise, build stories, laugh. Last year we rallied on a cold December day, got grandson Corbin bundled into the Chariot and headed into a trailside shelter for lunch. Nobody burned their nylon pants on the stove and we had a great day. It meant we could indulge without guilt in a big meal at home.

For us, skiing is not just a luxury. It is an essential part of who we are as a family. We end up not spending money on other things so that we can spend money on skis. We taught our kids to ski and it has helped tighten the bonds. Our priorities were to spend what little money we could spare on skis, boots and wax and not on lawn care or house upgrades. In my opinion it was a wise investment and lessons well learned.
I hope to see you out there embracing winter. Have a good one.

Reminder

2009-09-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

This post is directed to those who, like me, are training without a coach and do many of your workouts alone. There is nothing new here. I just find, especially at my age, that I need a reminder every now and then, of the things that I know. This came to me yesterday as I started a 12 mile uphill rollerski workout.

Reminder # 1: Get up at least 3 hours before your event. I was up at about 6:45 and went through my normal early morning routine. Grind coffee beans and get the java going and then about 20 minutes of loosening my back and hips so I can move in a somewhat human like manner. Since I was eating alone at this time Sunday morning, it was just a couple English muffins with peanut butter and jelly. I drove to the top of the route and locked my bike to a tree off the road in the woods and drove to the bottom. So now at 9:00 I am ready to start, I thought.

Reminder #2: It takes a long time to warm up. The temp was about 50 and it was sunny. I decided that it would be hot soon, since the sky was clear and there was no wind. So I started out wearing shorts, tech-T and my obnoxiously yellow, high-vis vest, helmet, gloves. Boy, did I feel awful. What was up? I have been rollerskiing all summer and it felt like the first time. My rhythm was off, struggling for balance and O2 . I tried no pole skiing, tried double poling, and then after 30 minutes everything came together. I had worked up a sweat, all physiological systems had been started and all of a sudden I felt good. The balance was there and the V2 was just as smooth as could be. I forget how long it really takes to get warm and how much better I ski when I am warmed up. I have to remember this on race day.

Reminder #3: 1 water bottle for every hour of workout. Some people go for long rollerski workouts where they can stop at a store. Between Sunriver and Mt Bachelor there are no stores, nothing but trees, road, sky and sun, and uphill slope. I was right about it getting warm. My one bottle of water with HEED was not enough. I got on my bike at the top wishing I had more fluids for the 45 minute ride back down to my truck.

I was pretty wiped out by the time I arrived back at the house where my wife was expecting me to build stone walls for next spring’s garden beds. That was my afternoon strength workout. Reminder #4: Don’t plan strength workout right after two hours of rollersking and 45 minutes of spinning on the bike.

Older and hopefully a little wiser.

Have a good one,
Bert

The Hoppett

2009-08-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

09 Kangaroo Hoppett

The 09-10 nordic racing season is open and in full swing. Recent events in New Zealand and Australia have kicked off the competitive year.
On Saturday, August 29 Oceania’s best Nordic skiers will be contesting the Kangaroo Hoppett. It is anticipated that the Kangaroo Hoppet, the Australian Birkebeiner and the Joey Hoppett will be held on modified courses using the Sun Valley (7km) and Heathy Spur (14km) loops. The decision on the actual course layout will be taken on Friday and will depend on the expected weather conditions for Saturday.

My WebSkis Team sources on the ground in Australia have submitted the following weather forecast:
The way the weather is looking you'll need a water ski wax! 20mm of rain is forecast for friday night with 5 degrees C and 45km/h NWerlies on Saturday!
There has been some new snow over the last few days, but it looks like the winter cold weather is on the way out to be replaced by some winter mild weather with rain. It looks now that the temps at race time will be around 3 to 4 C with a good chance of rain. Rain off and on all day Friday.

SOLDA WAX recommendation
Start with a good hot scrape using a warm wax such as SOLDA Performance Yellow or SOLDA Base Universal. This should be done twice and brushed well
Start with a layer of SOLDA UF7 scraped and brushed. Cover this with SOLDA F31 or F40 Yellow also scraped and brushed. Finish with an application of SOLDA Fluor 100 powder ironed, polished with felt pad and brushed with horse hair brush. Now apply a good structure in the ski base. A good tool is the Toko Structurite tool using the coarse interrupted structure. After the structure application, brush again. The last wax layer could also be SOLDA Powerjet 5. Whatever wax you use, be sure to add structure to deal with the abundant moisture forecast.

Have a good race,

Bert

Rollerskiing in Oregon

2009-08-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Most road surfaces in Oregon are “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.

Corvallis Oregon : has stellar roller skiing. Oak Creek Dr. Several miles round trip. Nice pavement. Wide shoulder. The bike path to Philomath. Perhaps 15 miles round trip. Lots of good, paved farm roads. Rob Root
Bend: 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. 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.
Submitted by Stuart Craig

Near the Central Oregon city of Bend is another good place, although a little short. It is the Skyliner Ranch/Tetherow road system. Access this west of Bend from Skyliner Drive. There are nice wide, smooth roads and with the current slow housing market, very few houses. There is a little construction traffic during the day, but early evenings are nearly devoid of cars. There may be more walkers, some with dogs, and bycycles than cars. The terrain is not exactly beginner friendly. There are significant ups and downs so your "snowplowing" skills should be sound. 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 cover the whole road system in 80-90 minutes. The hills would be excellent for short, uphill intervals.
Submitted by Bert Hinkley

East of the city of Bend, near the airport, is another low traffic area in which to roll. 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 Alfalfa 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.
Submitted by Hilary Garrett

About 18-20 miles east of Bend, north of Hwy 20 is George Millican Rd. To find this venue drive east on Alfalfa Mkt Rd to the junction with Millican Rd. It runs north through the desert with awesome views to the west of the Cascades. The pavement is new and pretty smooth. From the junction you can go south or north for an out and back workout.
Bert Hinkley again

One of the best routes near Bend is the Sunriver Road, also known as Road #45. Start just west of the resort community of Sunriver and roll west and north toward Mt Bachelor. The road has a wide shoulder and is quite smooth. Views of the surrounding buttes and Mt. Bachelor are great and the traffic is fairly thin. Early morning is best for the traffic and the sun. Most of this road is out in the sun. From the junction of Rd #40 to Edison Butte sno-park it takes about an hour at a moderate pace on skate rollerskis. From Edison Butte to the Mt. Bachelor Rd takes another 40 minutes. If you are feeling more ambitious you could continue on up to Mt. Bachelor. It is about 2.5 miles from the junction Sunriver Rd and Mt. Bachelor highway up to Dutchman’s Sno-park. The whole route is uphill.

If you know of other good rollerski routes in Oregon, or any place, drop me a note. Happy rolling!! bert@webskis.com

DOMS

2009-08-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

DOMS

Any of you who have engaged in training for anything have probably experienced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, DOMS. It is soreness that develops in muscles 24-48 hours after stressing the muscles to a significantly greater degree than they are accustomed to. Holy Wow, do I have it now! With the plan that developed for last weekend I was pretty sure that it would happen.

I have been spending way more time sitting and typing than training. On Friday a plan developed, with the aid of friends and WebTeam members, to climb South Sister. It is a new mountain (100,000 + - BCE) that is Oregon’s third highest peak. At 10,358ft above sea level the summit is 4,900 vertical feet above the trailhead. The trail is 6 miles long from car to summit. Up and back, that sounded doable. The plan then expanded to include rollerskiing on the Sunriver highway on Sunday and paddling kayaks at Crane Prairie Reservoir Sunday afternoon. Hmm, this is getting close to the over-doable.

Back to DOMS. Why the muscles get sore like this is somewhat of a mystery. Exercise physiologists have been studying the phenomenon since the early 20th century. Some things are known. It happens to all, trained athletes or off-the-couch athletes. It was once thought to be the result of the build-up of lactic acid in the muscle cells due to excessive activity. Problem with this theory is that nearly all lactic acid is processed after about 60 minutes and the muscle PH is back to normal. Others hypothesized it was small tears in the muscle fiber. But the repair of torn muscle fiber takes way longer than the couple of days the DOMS lasts. There is some evidence that it is the result of lack of coordination of the firing of muscle neurons in untrained muscle fibers. Because all neurons are not getting the muscle fibers to fire at once, there is some damage to the cell membranes between fibers. It is this damage that causes the pain. Nobody is sure at this point.

DOMS most often occurs with extended bouts of eccentric muscle contraction. This is where the muscle bundles are lengthening against resistance instead of getting shorter (concentric contractions). The best examples of eccentric contraction would be running (hiking) downhill. Lowering a heavy weight, such as in squats, will do it too or lowering weights slowly after a biceps curl. The absolutely best way to get it is to descend South Sister at a rapid pace.

Relief is natural and happens in a couple days. If the cause is damage to cell membranes or connective tissue between muscle cell bundles, it begins to heal right away. Seems that vitamin C is essential to the synthesis of new connective tissue. Supplementation of about 250mg/day should do it, along with eating brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Remember that aspirin interferes with the uptake of vitamin C, so don’t take it for pain relief. Ibuprofen with food and water would be better for pain relief. Remember, the DOMS will go away on its own in a couple days. Fish high in omega-3 fatty acids will also aid the body in producing new and repairing damaged cell membranes. But you probably already know all this stuff.

Other methods of gaining relief from DOMS would include ice bath right after the episode of overload. Easy, low impact exercise as soon as possible can help. This might be bike riding on flat to easy rolling terrain. Gentle massage can provide some relief. Studies show that DOMS comes on more quickly as we age (damn). This is partially due to the fact that most of us loose strength and muscle mass as we age. Then we do something silly like 7 hours of fast hiking gaining and loosing almost 10,000 ft elevation. The good news is that after a bout with DOMS we usually see a gain in muscle strength. This is the way our wonderful bodies adapt. When they are stressed they respond by getting stronger. That is if we listen to them, stress the right amount, rest the right amount and eat the right stuff.

Anyway, I can assure you that if you go up and down South Sister (or Mt Washington or Camel’s Hump) and rollerski a couple hours uphill and paddle for a couple hours, you will hurt for a while. It is already getting better and almost time to start planning for another weekend of adventure.

Have a good one,
Bert

August Pain

2009-08-11T11:30:00.001-07:00

I encourage WebTeam members to submit entries for this blog.

Here is one from Dan Packman (alias Stein Lager). I feel his pain.

Stein is enjoying a working vacation in Wisconsin, taking stock of the
countless orange construction cones and abundance of overweight
mid-westerners. Curious and bored, he checks the local run race
calendar, which is brimming with local events. Alas, there is a full
moon 5k this evening, just a stones throw from the hotel. Having not
run 1 step since November, Stein knows he will be in for some pain.
The ski training running routine must start somewhere, so he lays down
a $20 in exchange for a race # and goodie bag. Eyeing the hordes of
frothing high school xc runners, Stein lines up near the front and
sets off. Mile 1 goes by effortlessly in 5:25,at his best 5/10k pace
when he run trains. Stein eases off the gas to a pedestrian-like 6:00
pace and cruises in with the 3rd woman at a sub-6 pace. Not too bad
for his 2009 running debut. Stein hobbles the 1k back to the hotel for
cold bath and a colder beer.

--
Mr. Dan Packman