West Yellowstone Ski Festival 15km
Supertour Nov 27th.
HSLF 20 Blue. Skis: Cold stiff ski with
a fine grind.
Finished 94th overall, 2nd in J1 age class.
The race was in the morning after a cool
night and the snow was dry, so I think having higher fluoros would have
slowed me down. Skis felt good and did well against other racers
on the downhills.
Nordic Combined Continental Cup Qualifier
Dec. 5th, Steamboat Springs, CO.
Wax: HSLF 10 Green. Skis:
Cold stiff ski with fine grind.
Waxing was a little bit tricky for the
race; low humidity, temp was about 22, but the temperatures were getting
well below zero in the nights before, so the snow in the shade was very
cold and the snow in the sun was significantly warmer. I waxed colder
because I decided being fast in the shaded parts of the course were most
important. I started this race in 18th (16th American) after a poor performance
in the jumping portion, and skied up to 14th American overall, with
the 11th fastest race time. Unfortunately, I was two places out from
qualifying to compete in the Continental Cup in Park City, Utah next weekend.
Preseason Physical
Elk River, MN Dec 13
Temp- low teens and
dropping
Andrew Schakel
7th Overall
HS - 0 White
Atomic
David Christopherson
8th Overall
HS-0 White
Rossi
Comments:
good skis, fast, hard packed on artifical
trail and soft in woods
Irondale Classic Temperature 0 to 5 F, Transformed
Snow
Katherine Himes
Race Champion
HS-0 White
Salomon
Andy Schakel
4th Place
HS-0 White
Atomic
Dave Christopherson
2nd Place
HS-0 White
Rossi
Crested Butte 10km Free
New Year's Resolution Race &
Chama Chile Classic
Clay Mosley
6th -- Crested Butte 10km Free (-15*F,
missed the wax on HF-Tan, as the weather had indicated a race temp of about
+18*F...not even close, but had no time to re-wax)
1st -- New Year's Resolution Race 10km
freestyle -- Los Alamos, NM (HF-Tan for race temp of 20*F)
1st -- Chama Chile Classic 13km classic
(HF-Tan for race temp of 18*F)
Twin City Championship Jan 2 and
3
Classic Mass start at Battle Creek and
Freestyle at Wirth Park
Cold below zero at night and a race time
temperature of 0 to 5 F
Transformed old snow, calm little to no
wind
Grant Nelson
Classic 9th Place
Pursuit 10th Place
HS-0 White
Toko Turqouise kick
Fisher
Elaine Nelson
Classic 9th Place
Pursuit 7th Place
HS-0 White
Toko Turqouise kick
Rosi
Andy Schakel
Classic 2nd age group
Pursuit 3rd age group
HS-0 White
Atomic
Dave Christopherson
Classic 1st age group
Pursuit 1st age group
HS-0 White
Rossi
Dan Meyer
Classic 7th age group
Pursuit 6th age group
HS-0 White
Atomic
John Stamm
Skate
HS-0 White
Fisher
Nordic Combined Junior World Qualifier Adam Lomis
I just got back from Lake Placid, NY yesterday,
after spending the week there competing in some ski jumping and nordic
combined competitions. Both of the NC competitions decided the remaining
two spots for the World Junior Championship team. Unfortunately I ended
up being third overall between the two days. However, being the next
man in line, I was chosen to compete in a Continental Cup in Eisenerz,
Austria in the first week of February.
Here are my results from the two races:
12/31/09 10K Nordic Combined Junior World
Qualifier. I started in 7th place after the jumping and finished in 4th
place. Wax: HS 10 as a base coat and HSF 10 on top. Skis: Stiff
skis with a fine grind. Weather: The snow had been very cold from
the last two days, yet the snow still had a fair amount of humidity in
it. The air temp was about 20 by race time, but it was a morning
race and the snow had not warmed up at all.
1/1/10 10K North American Junior Championships/Nordic
Combined Junior World Qualifier. I started in 5th place after a better
jump for this race and finished in 3rd place overall, with the fastest
race time. I had really good skis for today and was happy for
my result. Wax: HS 20 followed by a layer of Flite #11 powder. Skis:
Medium flex skis with a fine grind. Weather: Snow was still pretty
cold, but had warmed up a little and was soft and fairly humid, race temp
was about 25.
Hope you had a good holidays,
Adam
Pre-loppet, Wirth Park
Minneapolis Conditions: Low Friday night -15 F and
a race time temperature of 0 to -5 F
Mix of new very dry snow, wind calm
Dave Christopherson
1st Age Group
HS -0 White
Rossi
Andy Schakel
8th Place
HS-0 White
Atomic
John Stamm
2nd Age Group
HS-0 White
Atomic
Dan Meyer
4th Age Group
HS-0 White
Atomic
Katherine Himes
7th Place
HS-0 White
Salomon
For the Pre- loppet both John and I waxed
with HS-0 White and a second pair with HS-0 White with Fast Wax new arctic
cold fluoro. The race time temperature was between -5 and -9 coming off
a low of -15 clear no wind. The snow as a very fine dry powder will little
to no moisture. The skis tested about the same, both of us used the HS-0
white skis more for grind and ski flex. I could have really used my very
soft skis and the second part of the race was on trails that are not normally
groomed and were real soft with some wind blown snow. You had to search
around on the trail and find the fast sections.
Seeley Hills Classic 22 and 42 K
22 K
Paulette Niemi
Age Group Champion
Atomic
Katherine Himes
Age Group Champion
HSF-30 Salmon
Layer of VF50 + Rode Multigrage and Violet
Salomon
Josie Nelson
2nd Age Group
HSF - 20 Tan
2 layers Swix VF50,
2 layers VR45.
Rossi
I was
8th in the 22K race at Seeley and 1st in my age group! My skis were like
rockets.
I
had Salomon skis with Salmon. not sure about the grind. I used VR45 for
kick,
with a tiny bit of Rode multigrade and
violet.
HSF-30 Salmon - no Flite
2 layers Swix VF50, 2 layers VR45 1 layer
of Toko red.
Fisher
David used Fischer skis and Fast Wax Salmon
for glide with a binder, 2 layers Swix VF50, 2 layers VR45 and a last minute
layer of Toko red.
Josie used Rossi skis, and Fast Wax Tan
for glide with a binder, 2 layers Swix VF50, 2 layers VR45.
David raced the 42km classic and Josie
the 22km classic. David finished 1st in age, 24th overall Josie finished
2nd in age, 9th overall
Both of us were disappointed by our ski
speed. David's skis were tremendously slower on the hills than his
brother Grant who used the same wax with the addition of FastWax Flite.
"Obviously I should have made some time in prepping my skis better", David
said after the race.
Grant 10th overall
Elaine 3rd overall
We both were very happy with our skis.
We waxed with 2 layers of salmon & then a little bit of Flite over
the top. For grip we used Toko Green Binder with Toko red over
Toko yellow. The kick was a little draggy at first, because it was
much too warm for the conditions, but was still working quite well at the
end of the race.
Boulder Lake, 30 K Skate Conditions: Transformed grainy snow, very
soft with the 3 laps on the 10 K loop the snow turned to sugar - very soft
Temperature 24 to 28 F with broken clouds
and a light breeze. Ski Flex was key
Conditions: 33-35, drizzle, pretty hardpack
snow, with the exception of a few uphill areas and downhill corners.
Used: Bronze with Flight corked in over
yellow
Skis: Older Fischers that seem to do well
in these conditions. Skis felt fast.
Result: 3rd woman in the open category
Sun: 10K classic
Conditions: 35-36, corn snow, puddles
on the course, lots of dirt and debris
Used: Bronze with Flight corked in over
yellow and Swix klister VK40? It was for corn snow with a Rode klister
for warmy, icy conditions with wetness.
Skis: Salomon. Skis felt ok. Kick was
not awesome and the snow was pretty suctiony in places.
Result: 3rd woman in the open category
Pepsi Challenge Jan 30
Giants Ridge
David and Josie skied the 48km
classic, David used Fischer skis and Josie Rossis.
For glide they used Fast Wax Salmon
over Red with Flite ironed in on top.
They used Toko Multi-Viola klister ironed
in with Swix Universal klister torched in for kick. The track was
glazed with 1/8" or ice and temperatures were 30F during the race.
The kick seemed to work for about 5km and then ran out so it was herringbone
and double poling for the rest of the race. The klister was still
completely in tact on the skis but it just didn't kick after 5km.
"Thankfully our skis were really fast!", Josie said "otherwise it wouldn't
have been so much fun."
Josie 1st overall, David 2nd overall
Grant & Elaine did the 24km classic
Pepsi Challenge;
We both used Salmon with Flite & a
concoction of a bunch of klisters;
Conditions were glare ice in the ungroomed
track & somewhat soft in the skate lane; We over klistered up
to try & get kick in the track, but it caused our skis to drag quite
a bit; I think the Salmon & Flite was a good choice however;
Elaine 4th overall Grant 1st overall
Noquemanon Ski Marathon Jan 30
My race went great!
Hamstring issue was resolved with lots
of Ben Gay heat wraps and some other rub in stuff.
I used my new Atomic stiff flex skis with
Fast Wax HSO White, with Inari cold powder mixed in and my skis were rockin
fast. Temps were 1 degree at start warming to maybe 17 at finish.
We checked out snow conditions on Friday later afternoon whenwe got into
town and I knew going cold was the right choice. Trail was super
firm with old snow mainly, icy mix on most of trail. Trails
was of rough groomed-lumpy and bumpy, not the smooth cordoruy a racer would
like.
That's 3 races withHSO White this year!
Paulette
1/31/2010 Nordic Spirit 25 K
Freestyle (Duluth, MN):
15th overall, first in age class (current
Minnesota Skinnyski Series overall leader)
0 degrees, 80% humidity, new/granular
snow mix, hard track
Fast Wax White
Rossi skis, Finn Sisu “uni” grind
White was definitely the wax of the day;
I don’t think structure was much of a factor because the snow was quite
hard and granular.
William O Brien, Marine on the St Croix Jan 31 Temperature 10 F, Hard Packed Icy Trial
Dan Meyer
3rd Place
12 K Freestyle
HSLF 10 Teal
Atomic World Cup
Katherine Himes
3rd Place
25 K Freestyle
HS 0 White
Salomon
John Stamm
2nd Age Group
25 K Freestyle
HSLF 10 Teal
Atomic World Cup
Dave Nelson
13th
I did the 25K William O'Brien race yesterday
and placed 3rd overall. I used white, which seemed to not run as fast as
I would have liked on the downhills and flats. It was great on the uphills,
especially those that were in the shade, but dragged in open spaces. I
think the temperature was warmer than expected, so teal might have been
better? My skis were Fischers, with (I think) a finer grind, although they
do need a stonegrind. I talked to another woman who used white, and she
had the same comment.
HS 10 Teal was exceptional
Dan
Lake Placid Loppet Dave
Cahill Feb 6
Here's a quick wax report from the Lake
Placid Loppet 50km:
Weather at start: 5F, partly cloudy, ~60%
relative humidity
Snow conditions: tightly groomed fresh
snow which broke up into powder on 2nd lap
Wax used: Teal LF (two layers) over blue
hydrocarbon (1 layer)
Ski used: old school Atomic RS11, soft
ski
Place: 2nd overall (I got outsprinted
with 400m left...doh!!!)
Comments: my skis were the fastest in
the lead pack.
Next race: Mora 58k.
Dave
Sun Valley Feb 6 32 k Freestyle. 40th overall, 4th in
age group.
Snow was new, cold, and the track was firm.
A rather cold but beautiful sunny day for racing. Air remp was ~
9 at the start and warmed through the race.
My skis were gliding well with a layer
of HSF - 20 tan over a base layer of HS-LF-10 teal. Had Atomic WC's with
a fine universal grind.
Race note: The BMT is unique it drops starts
at Galena (Pass) Lodge and follows the Wood River Valley to the finish
north of Ketchum/Sun Valley a few miles with an elevation drop of ~ 1000
feet. I had lodging in Ketchum and left a thermometer out in the
snow overnight. At 6:30 am temp was a balmy 22 above. The forecast was
for a high in the mid 30's that day so in that context I shuttled bused
to the start leaving behind a "cold" pair of skis in Ketchum. When I was
testing skis on the squeaky slow snow at the start I was kicking myself
for not bringing those "cold" skis which had a layer of HSF-10 green over
base layer of HS-LF-10 teal and a very fine structure. I think they could
of been faster.
That being said the skis I did bring and
raced on worked fine. Chalk up another one for the broad range of Fast
Wax!
Don Polari
City of Lake Loppet 25 K Classic and
35K Freestyle Temperature 15 to 22 F Fine grained
new snow 65 % Humidity
Katherine Himes
3rd Age Group Classic
HSF 20 Tan w Flite Cold
Grip VF 30/40
Salomon
Josie Nelson
10 Place Classic
HSF 20 Tan w Flite Cold
Grip VF 30/40
Dave Nelson
5th Place Classic
HSF 20 Tan w Flite Cold
Grip VF 30/40
Grant Nelson
3rd Place Classic
HSF 20 Tan w Flite Cold
Grip VF 30/40
Elaine Nelson
6th Place Classic
HSF 20 Tan w Flite Cold
Grip VF 30/40
Andy Schakel
3rd Age Group Freestyle
HSF 20 Tan w Flite Cold
Atomic
Dave Christopherson
Age Group Champion
HSF 20 Tan w Flite Cold
Rossi
John Stamm
3rd Age Group
HSF 20 Tan w Flite Cold
Atomic
Pre-Birkie Saturday Feb13 Temperature, moved up rapidly from
a low of -10 F to race time of 10 F going to 20 F by the finish
Trail, hard tracked dry powdery snow
Hi Dan -
Here are some selected clips from the 42k
Pre-Birkie to show how fast my skis were that day. It sure makes
the race a lot of fun when you're riding on rockets. I was using
LF Teal with a cold linear grind on medium flex Fischer RCS skis.
Scot Brown
Paulette Niemi
Race Champion 42 K
HS-10 Teal
Atomic Stiff
Universal Grind
Scott Brown
13th Overall
HSLF 10 Teal
Fisher Fine Grind
Dan Meyer
5th Age Group
42K Freestyle
HS 10 - Teal
Atomic, Stiff,
Fine Linear Grind
My skis were extremely good compared to the
pack, I used the stiff ski with the fine grind
as the trail was hard packed, Second skis
were uni grind with HS LF 10 Teal and soft.
Mora Vasaloppet
Temperature 15 F to 20 F, Fine grained snow hard packed trail
Grant Nelson
4th Age Group 58 K
15th Overall
HS LF 10 Teal
Top Coat Flite Arctic
Fisher
David Cahill
5th Age Group 58 K
HS LF 10 Teal
Top Coat Flite Arctic
David Nelson
2nd Age Group 58K
HS LF 10 Teal
Top Coat Flite Arctic
Fisher
Elaine Nelson
Age Group Champion 58K
HS LF 10 Teal
Top Coat Flite Arctic
Dave Christopherson
Age Group Champion 42 K Classic
Rossi
Katherine Himes
3rd Overall
42 K Classic
HS 10 Teal
Grip VF-40
Salomon
Josie Nelson
3rd Age Group
42 K Classic
HS LF 10 Teal
Top Coat Flite Arctic
Rossi
Andy Schakel
2nd Place 35 K Freestyle
Atomic
John Stamm
2nd Age Group
35K Freestyle
HSLF 10 Teal
Atomic - Fine Grind
American Birkebeiner
Feb 27th 2010
Adam Loomis
2nd Place Kortelopet
HSF-10 Green
Flite Arctic Ironed in
Fisher stiff ski
Fine Grind
Dave Christopherson
Age Group Champion
Birkebeiner Freestyle
HSF 10 Green
Flite Cold Ironed in
Rossi Medim Flex
Universal Grind
Elaine Nelson
Age Group Champion
Birkebeiner Freestyle
HSF 10 Green
Fisher
Paulette Niemi
2nd Age Group
HSLF 10 Teal
Atomic Stiff
David Cahill
70th Place
HSF 10 Green
Atomic
Ultratune S2 grind
Katherine Himes
79th
HSF Green
Flite Cold
Fisher Universal Grind
Scott Brown
196
PR by 8 minutes
HSLF 10 Teal
Fisher Fine Grind
February 27 Kortelopet Adam Loomis Conditions: Old, cold snow. Wax:
HSF10 with a top coat of Flite 11 Arctic ironed in on stiff skis with a
fine grind. Finished 2nd overall.
The snow was fast for everyone, but my
skis were the fastest among the lead group that I was with. The only
times my skis were dragging was in the few later sections of the trail
that were in the sun. In part because of my fast skis I was able
to make a move around 18K and drop everyone but Scott Johanik. Scott
ended up beating me to line in what appeared to be the making of a photo
finish, until I tripped myself up climbing the last short hill to the finish
stretch and he went right by me.
Note from Dave Christopherson Skied are a pair of Rossi's that seem
good in all conditions
Seemed faster than average in the group,
several people commented on ski speed after race
Dave Cahill Skis were great until I broke ski still
finished 70th
Note from Don Polari Mixed outcome on my part. After bonking
horribly in last year's classic Birkie I was bumped back to Wave 1 in this
year's skate race. Let's just say that elite wave seeding is coveted for
good reason;) Because of my PBBTS (Post Birkie Bonk Trauma Syndrome) from
last year I skied very conservatively in this year's race planning to stay
at talking pace until OO and then trying to pick it up after that if possible.
I settled in to a group I was comfortable in after the powerlines and cruised
along through 00 skiing as efficiently as possible. After 00 a couple guys
glided away from our group and after a while I become uppity and bridged
up to them. At this faster pace it became apparent that my skis, though
OK, weren't as fast as they could have been. I was climbing easily with
the two skiers I was with but had to work hard to keep up with them on
the flats and was getting gapped on the downhills.
I ended up 190th overall and 17th in my
45-49 age group. My skis were Atomic WC skates and had a fine universal
grind on them. Wax was HS-LF-10 topcoat over HS-0 extreme.
Conclusions:
- My skis were waxed too cold and I needed
more fluors, I think HSF-10 or a mix of HSF-10 and HSF-20 would
have been better. Flite Cold or Arctic might have been the ticket
but I've no experience with those waxes yet and I'm very hesitant
to try something new at the Birkie.
- I was in good shape at the finish, too
good. I'm usually falling apart at the end of the Birkie so definitely
think I could have gone harder.
- Though my skis weren't the best they
certainly could have been much worse. My main goal was to work my way back
into the top 200 for next year's Birkie. Even though I missed the wax
sufficient glide still allowed me to accomplish that objective.
March 3rd Nordic Combined Junior Olympics,
Steamboat Springs, CO
Conditions: Cooler in the morning for the
jumping, but by 3pm at race time the air temp was in the high 40's.
However, much of the race course was in the shade and snow stayed fairly
firm. Wax: HSF 40 with Flite 11 Warm corked in on Medium skis with
a fine/medium grind and a linear rilling added. Finished in 3rd place
in the J1 (19 and under) class with the fastest race time.
After the jumping I started in 7th place
but worked my way up throughout the race. I moved into 4th place
pretty easily, but had to push to get onto the podium, finally catching
the skier who started in 3rd seconds ahead on the final stretch.
Skis seemed pretty good. We tested the day before and wax was pretty
clear, the only difficulty was finding the right structure. I think
other people went with a more aggressive structure and were dragging because
of it.
Snow Mountain Stampede
It was a very complicated waxing situation.
It snowed about 4" overnight at about 28*F, then very briefly dropped to
a low of about 19*F, then began rising rapidly to a high temp. of 46*F.
Start-time temperature was 29*F with a
fully cloudy sky. It quickly burned off and and got warm.
So, I waxed with a mix of HSF-Tan and
mixed in a little bit of HSF-Green for durability. I finished things
off with Flight#11 Cold. I used a medium flex classic ski with a
universal linear grind. In retrospect, I would have gone with straight
HSF-Salmon. I still had great glide, however, and that contributed
to my overall success on the day. Of all the guys on regular kick
wax, I had the best running pair of skis, and that included a couple of
big NCAA star skiers.
Like I said, I had good glide, but the
kick waxing was so complicated and my kick zone was dragging on the early
parts of the race with the fresh snow. As it warmed up after only about
15km, the kick wax quit dragging but I no longer had kick -- nor did anyone
else who didn't have fish scales. That's how it went for the rest
of the race. We skied as a front group until one guy with a pair
of Fischer RCS Crowns just pulled away from us. The rest of the day
was a major struggle with the kick situation. I ended up 3rd Overall
(1st Men 30-39) for the 42km classic.
Clay Mosley
Alpine Results
Zach Valen
Alpine Valley Salom Event 1-13-2010
Air temp was 27 degrees and steady the
humidity was 70 percent and rising. He ironed in HSF-30. Scraped and brushed
them out. He then crayoned on flite 11 and corked it into the base. He
brushed out the bases with a soft nylon and then a horse hair brush. He
was said the skis were very fast. He took first place on the first run
the skis still felt good before the second run. So all he did was brushed
out the bases. He took first on the second run also.
Zach Valen
Alpine Valley Salom Event 1-17-2010
First Place on Slick Pro
Zach raced last night at alpine. He waxed
the night before thinking it was going to be 28 degrees with high humidity.
He used HSF-30 and put flite 11 on top of that. When we arrived at the
hill the temp was 22 degrees with 80 percent humidity. He took a couple
runs and felt the skis were slow. He put Slick pro HSP-20 on before his
race. He took first on the first run. On the second run the temp dropped
a little more he left his skis alone and one the second run to take first
overall for the night. That slick pro is such a nice tool to have in the
wax box to use at the last minute.
Zach Valen
Alpine Valley Salom Event 1-20-2010
Zach raced last night at alpine it was
GS. It was 30 degrees with 75% humidity. He used HSF-30 and corked flite
11 on top. The skis felt good. He took first both runs to win the race.
Vickie and Zach raced Slalom
on Saturday at Mt. LaCrosse.
It was 34 degrees and raining. They both
had HSF-30 with flite 11 on their skis. They both thought their skis were
just ok. Vickie took a 8th on the first run and a 7th on the second for
7th overall. Zach took 4th on the first run and 3rd on the second for a
3rd overall. It got a little warmer for the afternoon race and kept raining.
Vickie took an 11th on her first run and a 8th on her second run for a
10th overall. Zach took a 3rd on his first run and a 4th on his second
for a third overall. On Sunday they raced GS it was 35 degrees and still
raining They had HSF-40 on their skis. Zach corked in flite 11 also he
said his skis felt better than Saturday He took 3rd on his first run and
a 9th on his second for a 6th overall. He had a bobble on his second run.
Vickie had a 4th on her first run and on her second she put on HSP-40.
She took a 5th for a 4th overall. They probably should have used
HSF-40 for both days. The snow was so saturated from the rain it was tough
to ski.
