Monday, May 11, 2009
Prepairing skis for PPP
It is Monday May 11 and athletes are entering the last week before the Mt Bachelor Pole Pedal Paddle race. The bikes are being tuned, the boats are getting on the water and skiers are watching the weather forecast which as of right now is as follows:
Thursday Night: A chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26.
Friday: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49.
Friday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 48.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55.
This looks pretty good and should make for a quality snow surface. Last year it was very warm and sunny. The course had been treated with snow hardening chemicals and for the first few classes was very fast.
No matter what the weather brings on Saturday, you can begin to think about those race skis now. It would be good to start by cleaning the bases with a "hot scrape" of a warm wax. Apply a wax with a low melting point, Solda HC1 Yellow, Solda Performance Yellow or Solda Universal Base and scrape the wax off with a sharp plexiglass scraper while the wax is still warm. This will pull dirt out of the top layer of the base. Repeat this step until there is no more visible dirt in the wax scrapings. Brush the bases clean. If I were waxing now I would prepare with a layer of Solda F15 or F31 yellow and leave the skis until Thursday or Friday when the weather is more certain.
I skate skied last week on a day when there was about 2" of new very wet snow on top of the groomed trail. The temp was right around freezing, maybe 34F and going down. The center part of the trail had been skied out and the edges were still covered with the soft, wet, new snow. I had a pair of old Fischer RCS skis with an 88 flex, plus bases and a L25 grind from Zach Caldwell. The skis have a soft tip and a concentrated pressure zone close the the camber bridge. They have a fairly long camber bridge and a similar pressure zone in the tail. They are always fast in warm snow. I was waxed with Solda Performance yellow covered with Sold Fluor 100 to see how it was running in that snow condition. My skis felt great, even in the outside of the track. I had three pairs of skis to test and the old Fischers were by far the fastest. Remember that having skis with the right flex and grind assures that the good wax will run. Wait to add structure until you are finished waxing and know the probable snow conditions.
Enjoy the preparation. Be one with your skis.
Bert
Thursday Night: A chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26.
Friday: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49.
Friday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 48.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55.
This looks pretty good and should make for a quality snow surface. Last year it was very warm and sunny. The course had been treated with snow hardening chemicals and for the first few classes was very fast.
No matter what the weather brings on Saturday, you can begin to think about those race skis now. It would be good to start by cleaning the bases with a "hot scrape" of a warm wax. Apply a wax with a low melting point, Solda HC1 Yellow, Solda Performance Yellow or Solda Universal Base and scrape the wax off with a sharp plexiglass scraper while the wax is still warm. This will pull dirt out of the top layer of the base. Repeat this step until there is no more visible dirt in the wax scrapings. Brush the bases clean. If I were waxing now I would prepare with a layer of Solda F15 or F31 yellow and leave the skis until Thursday or Friday when the weather is more certain.
I skate skied last week on a day when there was about 2" of new very wet snow on top of the groomed trail. The temp was right around freezing, maybe 34F and going down. The center part of the trail had been skied out and the edges were still covered with the soft, wet, new snow. I had a pair of old Fischer RCS skis with an 88 flex, plus bases and a L25 grind from Zach Caldwell. The skis have a soft tip and a concentrated pressure zone close the the camber bridge. They have a fairly long camber bridge and a similar pressure zone in the tail. They are always fast in warm snow. I was waxed with Solda Performance yellow covered with Sold Fluor 100 to see how it was running in that snow condition. My skis felt great, even in the outside of the track. I had three pairs of skis to test and the old Fischers were by far the fastest. Remember that having skis with the right flex and grind assures that the good wax will run. Wait to add structure until you are finished waxing and know the probable snow conditions.
Enjoy the preparation. Be one with your skis.
Bert
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