Skiing on the web 2
- off-track skiing
Date first posted on eCommunity - 25
March 2007
For skiers of all levels, and of all persuasions,
there is a lot of
really excellent stuff on the web. You just need to know where to
look. On an occasional basis this group features sites that I've
found useful. Back on 12 November 2006 we looked at
www.nordicskiracer.com – a US site for, as its name suggests,
racers.
Today we look at a site, another North American one,
for "backcountry skiers"
Called "Dave's Nordic Backcountry Skiing Page ", this one is hidden
away at a URL that gives nothing away:
http://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/DirtbagPinner/dirtbag.html
"Dave" is David Mann, an enthusiastic amateur skier from New England
who has over the years been trying different kinds of kit,
experimenting with techniques, and working out for himself how best
to choose and tune skis, and then how to wax them for the fickle
conditions of the eastern USA.
His site is quite extensive (many pages, not just one, in spite of
the title) and is organised in four large sections:
- ski equipment
- ski and binding maintenance
- camping equipment
- miscellaneous
There is a good breadth of content, and a really good depth of
understanding, clearly gained from long experience. Here are just
two examples:
WAXING
Under "Ski and binding maintenance" there is a section on "Simple
kick waxing for touring". Print it out and you'll have eight pages
of really good stuff. First there is a listing of the contents of
Dave's wax-kit for touring (four hard waxes and one or two
klisters). Then there is a useful wax chart that you can print off
and carry when skiing. But the most useful part is a general
discussion of the ways in which waxing for touring is different from
waxing for racing. (Racing skis are cambered and flexed differently
from touring skis. Racers and tourers use different techniques, with
different degrees of skill. And of course racers ski on different
kinds of surfaces from tourers.) In practice this leads Dave to
recommend that tourers should consider waxing for GRIP using
slightly warmer wax than racers would, and that they should apply
grip wax over a longer kick-zone than racers, sometimes – as when
climbing long hills - over then entire length of the ski. And he
also recommends that tourers and racers should approach GLIDE waxing
in different ways. When touring he uses a cold grip wax (like polar)
as a glide wax, corking it into the entire length of the bases, and
ironing it in if possible. Not only does this seal and nourish the
bases and improve their glide, but it also provides a much better
foundation for the day's grip wax, than if he had applied a proper
glide wax. (I've used polar as base/glide wax for years, and it
works for me.)
There is also a good section on waxing for variable conditions, like
when it is warm and sunny on the open hillside but cold and shady in
the forest. Here Dave advises applying different waxes in layers –
even in some cases putting hard wax on top of a layer of klister.
(He presents this latter piece of advice as if it is very different
from what racers would do – but in fact they, too, often do this.
Just think of the old "Picasso" blend that used to be used by
classic technique racers in the Engadin Marathon, who crayoned blue
hard wax over alternating chevrons of a variety of klisters.)
SKI EQUIPMENT
There is a magically encyclopaedic section on "Nordic backcountry
skis". It would print out as 20 pages of dense type, and if you are
new to skiing you may find it too much. But if you've skied a bit
you'll love its comprehensiveness.
In this section Dave sets out "to describe the basic categories of
backcountry skis that have been made over the years". He opts for a
nine-category classification that he describes as follows:
TRADITIONAL TOURING
Typical profile: 60/50/55 or 65/55/60
Double camber for faster touring
Will work in tracks
OLD SCHOOL TELES
Typical profile: 68/55/60 or 73/56/63
Camber varies from double camber for touring to flat for turning
Still narrow enough to fit in prepared tracks
COMPACTS
Typical profile: 70/60/65
Shorter, "compact" length for greater maneuverability
More width for stability, but narrow enough to fit in prepared
tracks
CIRQUE CLASS TELES
Typical profile: 80/60/70
Touring performance varies depending on weight and camber
Too wide to fit into tracks
CLASSIC SLALOM
Typical profile: 85/65/75
Cheapest way to get into the backcountry
Touring performance varies depending on weight and camber
CATAMOUNT CLASS SKIS
Typical profile: 85/70/80
Double camber for some touring performance
Generally waxless bases for easy touring without skins
NARROW SHAPED SKIS
Typical profile: 90/60/75
New backcountry design
Mix of turning and touring
CLASSIC AT
Typical profile: 90/70/80
Turning oriented
Less touring capability
WIDE SHAPED
Tip Width: Over 90
Similar or identical to downhill skis for telemark or alpine touring
Typically have waxless bases
He gives a good overall description/discussion for each type, and
includes a very comprehensive listing of models within each type.
And he writes well and with authority. Here, for example, is a small
part of what he has to say about Old School Teles:
"Once upon a long, long time ago, telemark skis were all long and
skinny. Back in the late '80s and early '90s when this profile of
ski was common for tele skis, there was a very wide range of skis
produced in terms of their downhill performance. Some, like old
Chouinard Valmonte were built for touring. Others were built for
racing and will be totally unturnable at anything less than warp
speed. And still others were soft and noodly and perfect for powder.
The point here is that skis in this category can vary from each
other wildly. While I've tossed them all together in a single group,
one could arguably break this category into 2 different groups:
double cambered touring skis and flatter cambered telemark skis."
If you are an enthusiast for the backcountry you'll love this site.
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