Cross country skiing

[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.

[DebW]

I had a nice and very local ski yesterday. Started 1 mile from my house on the Reformatory Branch rail trail in Bedford, MA. Skied about a mile out the trail with a friend, then we headed off the trail onto some other paths through the woods. Followed a creek for awhile and ended up at the local farm, where we visited the sheep and goats in the petting area, browsed the farm store, and looked over Santa's Village. Then did some bushwacking on the way back, following blue blazes through the woods that weren't really a trail. It was beautiful to be out. I'd done some hard backcountry skiing in NH the weekend before, and a day of telemarking at Wachusett last Thursday, so yesterday was just a relaxing jaunt to enjoy the fresh snow.

[Kubla]

We started our season with an hour of getting our ski legs back. We're beginners at this sport, but we love it. Fortunately, my neighbor lets us use her open back yard, then we can cut some trails through the woods to make it more interesting.

Would have loved to stay out longer, but reminded myself that I need to be able to move tomorrow. I'll be sitting at my desk most of the day, which would stiffen up the joints even more.