Author Archive | Rosemary Shea-Cobb

Bogburn Wax Tip Update! and Course Maps

We just got some new intel from people who raced at Rikert today that hardwax is working well. But, you definitely need a binder. See the previous post for a gide recommendation.

For BKL: Regular hardwax binder like TOKO Base green or other cold binder. Rough up the kickzone with 150 grit sandpaper. Rub on the binder and iron in. Wax of the day can be applied on site.

For Masters & Juniors: Rough up the kickzone with 150 grit sandpaper. Then iron in either 1) a thin layer of klister binder (Toko base green, swix green, chola) or 2) a good layer of Toko base green or other cold hardwax binder. Cork smooth after ironing, let cool. Then rub on 1 or 2 more layers of base binder, corking smooth after each one. If your skis are very soft, you may want to go with the thin klister binder and less layers. If your skis are stiffer, go with they layered hardwax binder.

If all this sounds like Greek to you, don’t worry! We will have some spray binders, an iron, lots of hardwax, wax benches and coaches to help you get skis that work! See you at Rikert!

Also, course map:

Master’s Distance Weekend Ski

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb 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 Rosemary Shea-Cobb 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:

Front plank-
Side Planks L- (keep chest open and everything aligned)
Side Plank R -(keep chest open and everything aligned)
Bridge (push up legs w/shoulders on ground)
Bird dogs- (opposite arm & leg lift off floor)
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:

Band on ankles, step to side down & back
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.

Step ups on picnic tables (you can do this on a box or use two stairs)
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.
push-ups
burpee push-ups
medicine ball lunges- can use any kind of weights
dips- can do them between two chairs
balance on one foot- can try to touch floor each time
Russian twist or wood choppers w/medicine ball (or heavy log)
calf lifts on steps right
calf lifts on steps left

Masters First Week: Dryland, Strength, Skating & Racing

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb 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.

Masters Training Start-Up 12/05: What You Need to Know!

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb on 3 December, 2023 in Masters Blog

How to Get to the Range: Directions

* You will need to show your Driver’s License at the gate. When asked, you are with “MNC”.

*It’s important to go no more than 25Mph on the base. They do check speed & give out tickets!

Where to Park:

Please park in the big lot on the left just before the Grooming shed. If you can see the trails, range and Walker Building, you’ve gone a bit too far.

Lights & Trails :

The trails are lighted, but the parking lot is not. Bring a headlamp! Please do not go anywhere else on the Range. They do not want us walking or running on the roads. We only have permission to use the trails.

Walker Building:

A path leads from the parking lot through a tunnel to the trails and the Walker Building. The building is heated with wood stoves (we make the fires) and has bathrooms. You are welcome to leave your stuff inside here. On classic days, we usually apply kick wax inside the building and often coaches will just leave the wax of the day out on a wax bench.

How do I Find out Practice Plans?

Plans are posted on the Masters Training Doc, usually on Sunday night (sometimes Monday if it’s been a busy weekend!).

Masters Training Plan

If practice is cancelled, we will post it on the Training Doc and probably somewhere you can easily see on the website. It’s a great idea to get in the habit of checking the training doc before you venture out to practice.

We usually only cancel practice if the weather is quite bad (raining), road conditions are too treacherous, or if the National Guard needs to close for some reason.