This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web. We have fun here, come on in and be a part of it.
Nansen 190s arrived, bought Alpina 1600 from a shop here, waxed the skis this morning and tooled around with them for the first time, on my property and just briefly. Tomorrow will drive 5 min to the wilderness and ski the hiking trails for 3 hours or so. Initial impressions from someone who has only been on one pair of skis prior to this in his short skiing life: I think the 190 recommendation was good for increased speed, float, etc., but I have questions given my brief 30 min experience today--whether my technique is poor, or I dont weigh enough for them, or if it's wax or some combination. Contrary to waxing advice I received here, I took them to a shop and they glide waxed the tip and tail and used a binder in kick zone and some polar and green. I may have to end up redoing it following Gareth's old school technique of ironing polar into the whole ski, as Woodserson told me I would if I had a shop do it with glide wax, but I at least wanted to try this way first (and got a first hand demonstration of everything, which I find better than youtube). Anyway, I noticed I was slipping backward a bit, mostly going up hill (there's a fairly steep hill on my property and I am bad at judging grade but I am able to walk up it with the rossi ot65 in 185 with only a little slippage). Going down I was able to turn fantastically well compared to the old skis. On flats I was flying (soooo impressed with how much faster, easier and quieter they move compared to the rossi waxless) except even there on rare occassions I slipped a bit both sideways and backward (mostly in compacted snow from where I snowblowed a long path previously and where the dog walks and I have skiied the rossis as well; in the deep powder I sunk down quite a bit which surprised me, I thought there would be more float). So I put a thin layer of blue extra on top of the green. Grip was better, still zipped in glide, but snow was gathering in kick zone. Maybe I put it on too thick? Anway since they are brand new skis, after that I brought them inside and let them warm up, scraped off the kick zone and redid it with polar and then green, trying to do it as thin as possible. Also I went an inch maybe two past the skin inserts to see if that would give me more grip. Will find out tomorrow. Might need blue but not sure.
If anyone has any suggestions or comments I would love to hear, being a real newbie to this. Overnight low will be warm, 14F and I will head out in morning when its high teens and ski into the high of the day which should be 22.
I’ve heard the advice on this forum to go the whole length with polar but I think for your flat terrain glide tip and tails as the shop did for you is best - don’t sacrifice your glide, especially if you see any groomed or snowmobile trails!
I ski similar terrain to you in Minnesota on 210 cm USGI Asnes skis and glide wax the tips and tails and kick wax with binder. I agree that a good way to find the wax pocket is over wax and see where it starts to rub off, and mark those spots.
One thing that confuses new Nordic classic skiers (like you maybe) is that it is in fact “normal” for you to slip backwards on an incline while statically weighting one ski that is kick waxed properly. The diagonal stride is a very dynamic movement where the impulse of you “jumping” on the footfall compresses the wax pocket to compress the ski to engage with the snow.
It actually is very subtle and takes years to perfect. Watch videos or ask a local Nordic racer to teach you. You can’t stride up an incline greater than 10-15 deg even with proper technique; you herringbone. (Novice skiers may start slipping at lower angles.)
The icing / clumping issue is a notorious issue when kickwaxing fresh snow right around freezing. I suspect those were your conditions. Mohair skins are the solution for some, without them you can walk with zero glide OR scrape off all wax and pole
One thing that confuses new Nordic classic skiers (like you maybe) is that it is in fact “normal” for you to slip backwards on an incline while statically weighting one ski that is kick waxed properly. The diagonal stride is a very dynamic movement where the impulse of you “jumping” on the footfall compresses the wax pocket to compress the ski to engage with the snow.
It actually is very subtle and takes years to perfect. Watch videos or ask a local Nordic racer to teach you. You can’t stride up an incline greater than 10-15 deg even with proper technique; you herringbone. (Novice skiers may start slipping at lower angles.)
A million bucks of awesome kick and glide tips, right here for free.
Shorten the stride, get dynamic, and go! Experimenting will lead to results. Your heart rate is about to go up.
One thing that confuses new Nordic classic skiers (like you maybe) is that it is in fact “normal” for you to slip backwards on an incline while statically weighting one ski that is kick waxed properly. The diagonal stride is a very dynamic movement where the impulse of you “jumping” on the footfall compresses the wax pocket to compress the ski to engage with the snow.
It actually is very subtle and takes years to perfect. Watch videos or ask a local Nordic racer to teach you. You can’t stride up an incline greater than 10-15 deg even with proper technique; you herringbone. (Novice skiers may start slipping at lower angles.)
A million bucks of awesome kick and glide tips, right here for free.
Shorten the stride, get dynamic, and go! Experimenting will lead to results. Your heart rate is about to go up.
Went out today on the forest service road--2 inches fresh powder on top of jagged snowmobile tracks. The skis wandered a bit because of how uneven the compacted snow underneath was--any advice on how to deal with that? As for inclines and the great advice provided, I just need to remember good technique, since I don't yet have the muscle memory being new to this. So, 3 days on the Nansens now and loving it. Except I am already thinking about what to get next, haha. As I gain experience and better technique, would the Finnmarks be suitable for cranking out miles on gentle sloped snowmobile tracks? Do edges help with stability and tracking on that or are they mostly for downhill turns?
The skis wandered a bit because of how uneven the compacted snow underneath was--any advice on how to deal with that?
As I gain experience and better technique, would the Finnmarks be suitable for cranking out miles on gentle sloped snowmobile tracks? Do edges help with stability and tracking on that or are they mostly for downhill turns?
Practice, ankle muscles, it'll get better with time. This is part of BC skiing. The wider the ski the easier it is, the skinnier the ski, the worse it is. I like my Nansen's over my Gamme's for exactly this reason on snowmobile packed trails.
Edges help on hard snow, and to protect the edges of your skis. I generally detune my edges significantly except for underfoot. There are a lot of schools of thought on this.
