Sunday, November 30, 2008

Four Days

There are only four days to go unil Lorris and I meet the rest of the Fast Trax Pro Team in Vernon. Despite an early set back due to an emergency appendix issue, Madeleine has had a phenomenal summer of training and I'm excited for the racing to begin.

Last week I spent an entire evening with Pierre Langevin and Geoff Thornell, from Fischer. We had a great opportunity to discuss the RCS line, including boots and skis, as well as the direction Fischer is going to be taking into the 2010 Olympics. Pierre was able to confirm a lot of what we already knew and provided some additional insights:

- Plus base (28) vs cold base (A5); really doesn't matter, both bases are excellent. Far more important to pick skis that are specific to the conditions you are dealing with.

- Tip splay on classic skis; don't get too worked up about seeing this. Soft tips are the goods in soft conditions and soft tips = tip splay.

- RCS boots; the most technologically advanced, high performane boots on the market. The Fast Trax Pro Team is proud to be rocking Fischer boots this year thanks to the support of guys like Pierre and Geoff.

Madeleine is starting a fairly easy week consisting mainly of zone 1 skiing and sharpening sprints. I, on the other hand, am starting an insane week at my real job in order to get ready to take at least a month off. There is work to be done in the office, meetings to attend, and tons of packing to complete. That being said, this is what my new office looks like:




Rumours have begun to circulate that Jack Cook may be joining the Fast Trax Pro Team in Vernon to assist as a serviceman. More importantly, however, there are rumuours that Jack will be starting the 15km classic race this coming Sunday. See the link to Jack's blog below!

Finally, huge ups to Devon Kershaw for his 5th place finish in the 15km classic in Kuusamo today. Also, huge ups to Stefan Kuhn for his 15th place finish in the classic sprint yesterday. The Canadians are off to a great start on the world cup already!

Stay tuned for further updates as this week's races approach!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

It Begins


Last night Lorris and I spent some time going through our wax boxes to take stock of what was there and replenish things that we used up last year. We leave for the first set of races in just eleven days and we have some significant plans for world domination.

Here are some of the tools we use:

Solda S30 – This venerable product from Solda brands itself a base hardener. As a result, it works super well in cold conditions. Hilariously, it also works super well in almost every snow condition you can imagine. You need to have a container of this in your box. Test it in conjunction with the wax of the day and 90% of the time it’ll make your skis better.

Solda Powdes – We use specific wax in specific conditions so why most people use general powders boggles my mind. Solda makes four different powders tuned to specific conditions. I especially like HP05 for cold snow that is warming and HP06 on cold days.

Solda F15 Blue and F31 Violet – Fast wax for cold to medium snow. The temperature range is just a guideline. For most of Canada don’t worry about Solda Orange (the snow needs to be heavily transformed), F31 Violet will cover the vast majority of warmer conditions.

Solda F40 Red – For new fallen snow in warmer, high humidity conditions. Sweet.

Ski*Go Ultima – The only wax for silky, cold snow. Test this every time you’re in Canmore.

Ski*Go HF Blue – When the temperature is low and the humidity is rising, this is our go to wax.

It’s time for the big show.

Madeleine is ready.
Lorris is ready.
I’m ready.

Are you ready?!?