Shhh. Don't tell anyone, but we didn't actually put the wax bench away at the end of last season. In fact it took DH several months to get round to removing the klister/pine needle mixture that was sticking to his classic skis.

Citizens' races are quite popular here and there are short ones too (wouldn't like anyone to get the idea that I am a hard-core racer). I'm trying to pick one big one though as our challenge for the winter, maybe the Engadine ski marathon as we did mainly classic last year, so this year skating would be good.

Do any of you train at night? I love skiing through the Bavarian countryside in the evenings - it's always so quiet.