weanswer@SkiPost.com

Best Town to Ski, Live and Work? 

Hello there,

I am a mostly self-taught classic skier who learned in Anchorage, which of course has a fantastic system of groomed (and lit!) trails. I can go skiing in the evenings after work since it's all of a 6-minute drive. So I've been able to ski frequently enough to "graduate" from beginner to decent intermediate (which I define as being able to do the Tour of Anchorage without embarrassing myself). But now I have a conundrum. It's possible we might leave Alaska at some point, and because all of my skiing has been up here, I have no idea where there are other communities in the Lower 48 with the same level of easy access.

In an extensive Internet search, I have yet to come across a community that has an equivalent in-town trail system, as well as a large enough population (Anchorage is about 300,000) to support a decent job market and at least some cultural activities.

Am I living in Utopia here, or are there other places in the U.S. where a classic skier can find true happiness?

Thanks for any info you can offer.

Sincerely, "Hooked on Good Tracks"

Ski Post readers,

Please email us your insights into your home towns

weanswer@SkiPost.com

Intensity

No matter how little time you are able to devote to training, you should always fit in one intensity workout every week to ten days starting in the summer. Maintaining that ability and feel of going hard throughout the year is important since it can be very difficult to regain once you have lost it. This is especially true the older you get.

Remember that an intensity workout can come in almost any shape or form. It doesn't have to be something done on rollerskis or involve skiwalking or bounding for a specific amount of time with a specific amount of rest. It can be as simple as going hard for twenty minutes in the middle of an hour long run or bike ride or even trying to mow your lawn in world-record time. I (Scott Loomis) personally like doing track workouts because I feel that I am able to get a lot of out of them. I am able to fit a bunch of short intervals into a relatively small amount of time and by the end of the workout I feel pretty tired. It is also a matter of convenience since there is a track right down the street from my house.

The point here is to periodically get your heart and lungs into hammer-mode......how you go about doing this really doesn't matter all that much, especially during the summer. It's not like your cardiovascular system knows what type of training method you are doing, all it knows is that it is working hard.

Why Tar in Kickers?

Because tar automatically adjusts its hardness 

with small temperature changes.   

Start Tar Based Kick Waxes: Auto Adjusting Kickers

For fine-grained, new snow when humidity is low.

New snow often results in changing snow conditions making it difficult to get kick.  New crystals are also sharp and therefore more prone to penetrate and then remain in any soft wax layer resulting in "icing".  Tar waxes are exceptionally suitable for new snow conditions, since the tar adapts its hardness with small temperature fluctuations, increasing the range of snow conditions in which the wax can be used while also decreasing the risk of icing because the outermost surface becomes harder than the underlayers. The tar wax mixtures are relatively soft, and invariably require a base wax to be used to increase durability and migration. 

In general Tars are easy to use because they automatically adjust to small temperature changes,    and they smell great!

Click here for Start Waxing Guide  

Last week I stated that this Finnish wax from the 20's was named after a skier named M. Suksivoide. Murtonmaan is the name if the skier who was the 50km World Record Holder. Suksivoide means ski wax in Finnish.

Start Reading the Product Catalog Now, Finish Faster!

The National Nordic Foundation (previously known as the National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation) was created to raise money to support key Pillar Projects in the Nordic skiing disciplines of Cross-Country and Nordic Combined. These Pillar Projects are specifically chosen to facilitate consistent long term athlete progression up the USSA Development Pipeline from local to international stardom.  The biggest developmental hurdle facing young American Nordic racers is gaining consistent access to quality coaching, training, and racing experiences.  Unlike their European counterparts, America's top athletes are spread throughout our vast country and live an ocean away from the center of Nordic racing in Europe.  Providing the next generations of U.S. Nordic athletes affordable and straightforward access to a progression of international quality experiences represents our nation's greatest development opportunity and funding need.  The National Nordic Foundation and its Pillar Projects General Fund exist to support these goals. 

Donate Today Here

NORTHSHORE ROLLERSKI MARATHON

IS SET FOR

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2011 at 8:45 am!

Duluth, MN

 START Pine Tar/Waxing Clinic & Pasty Dinner

OutThere Nordic Sports

 Rice Lake, WI

Friday, November 11, 2011 at 6:00pm

RSVP here

 Start Now, Finish Faster