Mansfield Nordic Club
Ski coaching, training and playing in the shadow of Mt Mansfield for all ages and abilities
Bring your skate skis, skate poles, classic poles, your sneakers, and wear your ski boots! We should be able to ski, but it may be limited and crowded, so we will probably do some activities on foot as well. We will also adjust our pole straps on both sets of poles and probably play some games with poles too! Think Snow!
We’ll be on foot for Tuesday’s practice doing some fun dryland activities and games! Penguins should wear warm snow boots, but all others should wear running sneakers with warm wicking socks (wool, synthetics- no cotton). Bring boots and extra dry socks to change into after because our feet may get a little wet. Dress warmly but dress in layers! Everyone will start inside the Walker Building today.
With high school teams, MNC juniors, masters, biathletes and up to 90 BKLers all using the Range, it’s likely that someone else will have equipment that looks a lot like yours and that your equipment will get mistaken and taken home by someone else. The solution? Labels!! Here are some ideas:
If you rent:
Get some Painter’s tape or masking tape that is easily removable at the end of the season and label skis, boots and poles with your child’s name in permanent marker.
If you own:
*Permanent marker on masking tape works. Permanent marker on skis & boots works well too but is harder to remove.
*Mailing labels. Sometimes hard to read because of small sprint, but so easy!
*Decorative duct tape especially on poles will make your child’s equipment easily recognizable. We take off our poles and leave them all together a lot so it’s important that your child can recognize their own.
If you are new to Nordic skiing, the lineup of waxes from a company like Toko can be daunting. That being said, Toko is actually one of the easiest systems to get to know! Most all waxes, grip and glide, are based on a 3-color system of Blue, Red, and Yellow. Using this as a guide, I put together a short video displaying some of the most useful products and “what you really need”. I will list those products, with informational links, below the video. At the very bottom I will also link a great series of videos from Toko displaying specific waxing techniques.
Note: to purchase Toko products at a great discount, visit the MNC Apparel Page below to download the Toko Order form. Email your completed order forms to Toko Representative Dave Boucher (davidnboucher@comcast.net)
MNC Apparel and Wax OrdersIrons
The most important tool here is an iron, which is NOT your typical clothes iron. Please only use a ski-specific iron for all waxes.
The Toko T8 iron is a great deal but you can find even less expensive options at Skirack and Amazon.
Swix North waxing iron via Skirack
Tuning Tools
After melting in and ironing wax, you will need to scrape and brush the wax. This requires 3 tools: a groove scraper, a plexi scraper, and a brush.
Things can get complicated with a multi-brush procedure, large oval brushes, and rotary brushes. The simplest way to think of it: the larger the brush, the quicker the job. But the smallest brush will be cost-effective and work just as well for 99% of skiers! If you purchase just one brush, a metal brush is recommended.
First, use the groove pin to clean the wax from the center groove of the ski:
Next, use the plexi scraper in a pushing motion (with two thumbs on either edge of the groove) to scrape the bulk of the wax off, tip-to-tail direction:
Finally, use your brush to finish getting the finer wax particles out. Mark an arrow on your brush, and only use it in that direction. With metal brushes, move tip-to-tail direction only.
Glide Wax
For the simplest wax purchase, I recommend sticking to only Base Performance/NF BLue and Base Performance/NF Red. These waxes will cover most conditions. You can also make life even easier by supplementing with a liquid glide was such as Express Wax. Once per week (say, on a Sunday) apply your hot wax with an iron and scrape/brush. Then, for the rest of the week, just run on a little Express Wax before each ski. At the end of the week, re-wax with the traditional iron method.
Grip Wax
Made easy again by Toko! For regular grip waxes, purchase a Base Green, a Blue, a Red, and a Yellow.
For klister (transformed and icy snow), grab one can of Base Klister Spray and one can of Universal Klister Spray.
You will also need a cork to apply grip wax.
How do I do all of this waxing stuff?
Toko has a handy resource of videos on their website, and at MNC we are working to also create similar content. Here are some recommended basics videos:
Ironing-in your glide wax and using the iron
Take note! Our annual Toko order is here…this is a chance for MNC members to get a great deal (30% off!) on almost all Toko products. You can find a link to the order forms at the bottom of the Apparel page right here:
MNC Apparel/Toko PageToko has changed some names and formulations of products.
NF/Non-Fluoro is now known as Base Performance
LF/Low-Fluoro is now known as Performance
HF/High-Fluoro is now known as High Performance
For all BKL skiers, please purchase Base Performance wax only as all BKL races (including the BKL Festival) are fluoro-free.
The Base Performance and High Performance waxes also come in spray forms in addition to traditional iron/scrape/brush methods. You cannot order the Base Performance liquid just yet, but you can order the High Performance. Both of these waxes are a form of paraffin, NOT a pure-fluoro topcoat. For those using liquid waxes, we still recommend re-waxing with a traditional ironed-in wax for every 3-4 applications of liquid.
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