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Bogburn Wax Tip

By on 5 January, 2024 in BKL Race Blog, Junior Blog, Masters Blog

The Bogburn is ON! Rikert has worked hard to create a manmade loop of 1.5k for racing, and some cold nights will keep things in good shape.

Prep glide zones by brushing with a metal brush and (if you have some) using a dedicated glide cleaner. Lots of these manmade loops, especially Sleepy Hollow due to the walk up from the parking lot, can be a bit dirty.

For a paraffin layer, I would suggest a neutral blue or mid-range option such as Swix 7 or Toko Red. BKL skiers racing earlier might choose Toko Blue or Swix 6.

For kickwax, expect abrasive snow. When the morning temps are cooler, it might be possible to race on a klister/hardwax mix such as Oslo Blue, or a spray klister binder with a hardwax application.

For later races, klister might provide the durability and kick needed to hold up over race distance in transformed snow…corners may get icy and bermed-up, and climbs might get sugary. Starting with a purple ice klister and adding in warmer universal options (like Rode Multigrade, Swix Universal, Guru 39) could be worth a try as the races go on throughout the day.

One option that seems “safe” would be to start with Swix KN33 Nero in the morning, and add/bump up to Swix KN44 Nero as the temps rise and the course begins to change.

Happy racing!

Master’s Distance Weekend Ski

By on 18 December, 2023 in Masters Blog
A good sized group of masters showed up Sunday morning at Craftsbury on a beautiful blue sky day for our Master’s long distance ski. A freeze up after the most recent grooming made for challenging icy conditions for the first hour or more. Lots of laughs (screams?) were heard as skiers navigated some hard to control downhills.  Surprisingly, ungroomed trails such as Dante’s and some of the open fields ended up being more skiable.
During the second half of the ski, things started to soften up a bit as the sun hit, and the conditions became friendly and fun. All agreed it was quite the adventure ski! Many clocked-in the longest distance skied yet this year 15K , 20K, 25K and more!” Good work to all the Masters!

Masters’ Strength Session Workout

By on 11 December, 2023 in Masters Blog

We did a strength session on Thursday to help us build strength for skiing. A strength session is great to include in your weekly exercise or training plan and will help your skiing immensely.  Strength usually peaks somewhere between your late 20’s and early 30’s and after that, it’s a gradual decline unless you do something to keep your muscles strong.  “Use it or loose it!” definitely applies here!  You can get stronger at almost any age by doing a strength program regularly, however, it just takes longer to build strength the older you get (but it’s totally doable!).

The Core Set: start at 30 seconds, build up to 1 min.  2- 3 sets:

  1.  Front plank-
  2.  Side Planks L- (keep chest open and everything aligned)
  3. Side Plank R -(keep chest open and everything aligned)
  4. Bridge (push up legs w/shoulders on ground)
  5. Bird dogs- (opposite arm & leg lift off floor)
  6. Bent knee leg lifts with back flattened to floor- (Right leg lift, left leg lift, both legs lift together, repeat)

Hip Bands: Do 10-15 reps 2x:

  1. Band on ankles, step to side down & back
  2. Band just above knees, step sideways down & back

*Use a resistance exercise band like Thera Bands

Circuit Set: set a timer for 30 -60 sec. and do the set 1-2 or 3 times (build up). Add and change it up to suit you and what you need.

  1. Step ups on picnic tables (you can do this on a box or use two stairs)
  2. Ankle/Arm weights in hands: hold in hands and lift out to side, down, then up in front, then down, repeat. Use 2-8 lb arm weights.
  3. push-ups
  4. burpee push-ups
  5. medicine ball lunges- can use any kind of weights
  6. dips- can do them between two chairs
  7. balance on one foot- can try to touch floor each time
  8. Russian twist or wood choppers w/medicine ball (or heavy log)
  9. calf lifts on steps right
  10. calf lifts on steps left

Masters First Week: Dryland, Strength, Skating & Racing

By on 11 December, 2023 in Juniors Training Schedule, Masters Blog

Masters Classic Warm-up

Masters’ Practices kicked off this past Tuesday with a fun classic warm-up and a hill bounding session. On Thursday, we time-shared the limited snow loop with BKL & Juniors and warmed up our no-pole skating, balance & V1 and then spent half the practice doing strength indoors. Some of our Masters kicked off their racing season too by skiing in the Kendall Memorial Skate Race on Sunday at Craftsbury. Congratulations to Steve Crafts, Daniel Schmidt and Sara Katz for getting out there and skiing hard on that very hilly North Course!

Sara Katz looking smooth as she heads towards the finish hill.

 

Steve Crafts hammering V-1 up Screamin’ Mimi.

 

Rodriguez Sprints/Kendall Memorial Wax Tip

By on 6 December, 2023 in Junior Blog, Masters Blog

For racers competing this weekend:

Craftsbury has a manmade snow base on the upper/lower fields and around the cabins, much of which is stored snow from last year. Other trails have fully natural snow that has been through several grooming cycles, without much precip expected before the races on Sat/Sun.

Cold nights and average days (mid-20s, low 30s) will be the pattern until Saturday, when things will warm up. It will still be below 30 for the qualifier, and expect snow to be fast! Things will warm up during the heats.

Saturday night temps do not drop below freezing overnight into Sunday, and there is a high of 47 with rain in the mix.

FOR SATURDAY (SPRINT) SKIS

Brush skis thoroughly with a metal brush. If you have a glide zone cleaner, use this to clean the bases.

Apply a colder glide wax such as Toko Blue, Swix 6, or Rode R20 or R30. Scrape and brush.

Apply a mid-to-warm glide wax such as Toko Red, Swix 8, or Rode R50 (Rode R50 is a yellow wax that can run cold). Scrape and brush.

Check-in with Coach Adam at the community wax room! Please try to bring skis at least an hour before your start. We will be testing spray and wool-applied waxes, as well as structure, and will put our winning combo onto all skis.

FOR SUNDAY (MASS START) SKIS

Brush skis thoroughly with a metal brush. If you have a glide zone cleaner, use this to clean the bases.

Apply a colder glide wax such as Toko Blue, Swix 6, or Rode R20 or R30. Scrape and brush.

Apply a warm glide wax such as Toko Yellow, Swix 10, or Rode R50. Scrape and brush.

This can all be done on-site at the Craftsbury community wax room, as Coach Adam will have tools and some wax on-site.

Check-in with Coach Adam at the community wax room on race day! Please try to bring skis at least an hour before your start. We will be testing spray and wool-applied waxes, as well as structure, and will put our winning combo onto all skis.

WHAT SKIS SHOULD I USE?

Universal skis or warm base/warm grind black base skis are probably best for Saturday’s qualifier. You can also bring and test dedicated clear base skis, which are more likely to be in play for the heats, if at all.

For Sunday, universal or warm base skis are in play. If you have clear bases, you can bring them to test against traditional bases.

 

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