Cross country skiing

[ridebikeme]

LPH, I'm not sure whether I'm following you about the "kuzmin". Could you explain it in more detail? It seems that the people who race here may put different textures in their base(s) or have multiple ski's. And although you obviously scrape wax off your ski's after you wax, I'm not sure that I am following you. Are you saying that you scrape down enough to be on the base material alone?

I worked today, and while I'm mounting ski's etc... I kept thinking about your email about this... didn't have time to email you before I left.


http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[lph]

I tried to find a link but it was a bit wonky. Anyway, the "scrape" (dammit, can't remember the word, works more like the thing you peel thin shavings off a piece of wood with, bevel?) is just a square piece of metal with four sharpened edges. Invented by Russian skier Leonid Kuzmin. He made 3, for cold, "medium" and warm temps, and they give slightly different textures in the base. The theory is that you scrape off the worn outer layer down to fresh base every now and then, but do not apply glider wax. You have to fix your skis in a clamp, then scrape the entire length with firm pressure, to avoid nicks or cuts. You apply kick wax as normal under the kick zone.

I doubt that really elite skiers use it, but the "Kuzmin scrape" has become very popular among both competitive and recreational skiers here, anyone interested enough to mess around with melting in different glider waxes in the first place. We just have the "medium" one, and so far the glide seems good.

And hey, it's a gizmo

[Crankin]

This is why I have waxless skis. I put the Swix glide stuff on every couple of times, especially if it's warmer out, but I would not be able to stand doing this kind of maintenance every time I ski.

[lph]

Maybe I was unclear - this is a lot less work than applying glider every few times, as you only scrape your skis once or twice a season, and it's a lot less messy. I haven't scraped my skis since sometime last winter, and we had way better glide today than our two ski enthusiast friends who use traditional glider wax.

Kick wax does have to be applied almost every time, unless the temperature range is the same as last time you were out. But that takes me less than a minute. The time it takes to pack my hipbelt and fit in all the little extras so I don't freeze to death waiting for the bus home is what frustrates me!

[ridebikeme]

LPH, thanks for taking the time to explain. NO, I haven't heard of anyone doing this, but perhaps I have missed it??

At present, I too, have no wax ski's. Although I will say that my next investment will be either backcountry ski's OR a wax ski. I've certainly waxed many snowboards over the years, although I know that is a bit different. I'd be interested in finding out where I can buy one of these? Any suggestions??

Got out for a quick ski today, Shanna(my chocolate lab) and I did about 4 miles. With the new snow, it was definitely slower and we needed to break trail for about a mile. Cold out today but was AWESOME to be out!!!

Crankin, how was the demo?



http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[Crankin]

Demo is tomorrow. I did a quick late afternoon snowshoe on my local conservation land trails I can access from my neighborhood.

[Crankin]

I went skiing!
The conditions at Windblown were outstanding. But, because of the EMS demo day, the parking lot was the most crowed I have ever seen. We had to park waaay at the top, where the different vendors had their booths set up, and pay for our passes there, instead of the lodge. I glanced at the Fischer booth and it was mobbed, so I made the decision to just talk to the guy later.
We skied down to the lodge, as I had to pee really badly! That went well, until I went down a little cut through trail that wasn't groomed and I started getting shaky knees, and I slowed down. DH skied right into me.
After that, we headed out on all of our favorite trails. For some reason, I felt slow and my stomach was not feeling well. But, I only had one "knee touch" on a climb, and did well on the descents. It was gloriously sunny and I could have worn a lighter mid layer. Didn't even keep track of the miles, probably not a ton, but I skied for 2+ hrs. We went to the lodge and had the outstanding home made apple-squash soup and the half a soynut butter sandwich I brought.

We decided to end it there, as I really didn't want to overdo my first ski. We skied back to the car and I talked to the Fischer rep. He showed me the new Silent Spider ski, and we compared the bottoms and edges to my Spiders, which are only 2 years old. He said the only way to compare is to ski with one of each on different feet. The small sized demos were out, and I was tired, so I made the decision that I really don't need new skis. My skis worked perfectly today and being slow was not their fault!
I need to not drink coffee before skiing; one cup of tea is better.