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Junior Worlds Update

Coach Adam here, checking in from Whistler, BC at the Junior/U23 World Championships!

I am here as one of the waxing staff, as well as being assigned to some athletes as personal tech. In addition to general testing and prep duties, each coach on this trip is also set up with a small number of athletes to prep and handle skis for: in my case that’s Luke Jager (US Ski Team/Utah), Anders Weiss (MSU) and Ava!

It has been a great experience to learn from my fellow coaches about everything from waxing notes, to leadership styles and testing procedures. Everyone on this trip is a really experienced club or school coach and I’m grateful to be taking in and sharing ideas.

Wax room life! Basically spend every day in here from 6:30AM to 6:30PM

Need some kickwax options?

MNC alums Ava and Hattie have been absolutely crushing it, with top-30 finishes in every single race! In the classic sprint, Ava made the heats and after some tight head-to-head racing ended up 25th on the day. She followed that up with a 28th in a grueling 20km classic mass start on the Olympic courses.

Ava in the sprint qualifier, photo courtesy of Steve Fuller and FlyingPointRoad!

This morning Hattie lit the 10km skate course up with a blistering 14th place, including some time in the leader’s chair at the finish! The American Junior women in particular are skiing super strong and consistently at these championships, with Sammie Smith nabbing top-10 in every race, and UVM skier Haley Brewster scoring 10th in the skate race. Dartmouth skier and New England native Jack Lange was also a stellar 11th in the men’s skate race.

Speedy Hattie in the skate race!

Things continue with U23 skate races tomorrow, and then relay day on Saturday! Follow along and watch live (or catch live replays) at the official website below:

JWSC 2023 Site

MNC/UNH/DAR on the World stage! Photo from Steve Fuller/FlyingPointRoad

 

Arctic Foxes: Check your Poles!

We have an Arctic Fox Pole mix-up! Linnea Dailey left her poles behind at the range and picked up someone elses.  From memory, the ones she picked up (and we left in our MNC closet) are Swix Dynamic Jr 130, black with some red. If those are your child’s poles and you have Linnaea’s, let’s do a switch. See Coach Jim Adkisson and he will help!

BKL Practice Week of 1/31/23

Tuesday, 1/31/23: Classic at the Range

High in the mid-teens today- Bundle up!

Kick Wax: Mostly likely Swix V30 (Blue), Toko Red or Blue, Rode Blue

*Keep checking in as “EABC” this week.

Thanks to people who signed up to bring bathroom supplies too! We are set on TP for this week, but will need some for next week. Sign-up HERE

Thursday, 2/02/23: At the Range

Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes, Racers: SKATE

Hot Chocolate Day and we need some supplies and water: Sign-up HERE

Weekend Racers: Sunday 2/05: Frost Mt. Nordic BKL & Citizens Race (Skate)

Here is the MNC Sign-up.   (For any last minute updates and so coaches know who’s coming)
Plan to arrive one hour before your start time so you can ski the course and pick up your bib. Coach Rosemary will not be there (she’ll be in Waterville with the Juniors), but there will most likely be some parent coaches there to help and rally the troops.

Supplies Needed for Walker Building!

We supply our own bathroom supplies at the Walker Building at the Range. If you can bring some TP or soap, please sign up using this Sign-up Genius Link. *Note: We don’t want to keep a stash of extra this year because there are mice who tend to get into it in our supply room. Therefore, we ask that you bring it on the day you signed up for and immediately distribute it to the bathroom stalls. Thanks!

Craftsbury Marathon: Early wax forecasting

While we can’t know the full extent of conditions and weather on a Tuesday for a Saturday race, many are already starting to think about how to prep their skis for the Craftsbury Marathon this weekend! I will try to post an updated series of notes closer to race day, and it sounds like MNC will have some coaching presence to help out (in any case, it is suggested to utilize the indoor wax room below the gym, as wamer spaces make for easier kick waxing).

Overview

It’s great to finally have some snow base in VT, and temperatures that should help it stick around. Craftsbury is picking up a good coating of snow on Wednesday, and then a little more on Thursday. Cold temps at night should make things set up pretty perfectly!

Note that Craftsbury does NOT skimp on heavy grooming, so expect some amount of mechanical transformation in the snow by the time Saturday rolls around if there is not significant natural snowfall after Thursday.

There’s also still a heavy manmade base in the stadium area, so it may be worth testing wax a little further out on course to see how things are doing on all-natural snow without manmade mixed in. Chances are, if it works on the manmade snow, it’ll work well (maybe TOO well) on the all-natural snow.

Kick

A binder is an absolute necessity for a long race. Our favorites that are usually solid bets are Toko Base and Vauhti Super Base. Both of these should be available at Skirack! Iron in a layer of these binders onto a clean, sanded kickzone . Binder wax application video:

For kickwax, I always recommend testing before committing to a kickwax.

You don’t need a fancy fleet of test skis to do this…just get a pair of practice/training/rock skis cleaned, and try a different kickwax on each foot. I usually start too cold and work my way up…that way you have options already built in for potential cover-waxes that still may provide kick but enhance speed.

For example, with a forecasted temp of around 24 degrees on Saturday morning, I might have one ski with Swix VP40 and one with Swix VP45.

If the VP45 (Extra Blue) is working better, you could use a putty knife to clean off the VP40 on that ski and put VP50 on as a “next step up”. You could also cross brands too, such as Swix Extra Blue vs Toko Red or Rode Super Blue.

Overall, it appears that waxes in the blue/violet range will be good starting points, but keep in mind rising temperatures and tiring bodies! It can be best to aim a little warmer, such as Toko Red or Rode Multigrade, in anticipation.

Glide

Fresh snow and mid-range temperatures make glide waxing quite fair and simple. The simplest recommendation can be the best on big classic days, since it allows the focus on tweaking and perfecting kickwax.

I would suggest beginning with a layer of cold paraffin to harden the base. This could be Swix PS4, PS5, or Toko Blue with X-Cold…any green paraffin will do just fine.

For a race layer, a neutral mid-range paraffin like Toko Blue, Swix PS7, or Rode R30 Violet would be appropriate. When in doubt, err on the colder side.

For topcoats, simple solutions like Star Next Cold liquid, or Toko BP/HP blue spray should add speed without much risk. For Swix and Toko liquids, it is advised to apply them well in advance, preferably the day before, and allow them to “cure” overnight in a room temperature environment. Polish liberally with a nylon brush before skiing!

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