XCSkiForum.com

Isn't this just an arm-machine? Isn't the Nordic Trak better? I'd think that a Nordic Trak plus max-strength elastics (for DP) would cover your bases just dandy. ...But then you can't race like you can with an Erg. I think I'd rather race with a rowing Erg than just use a poling machine. OK...I see ...

I'm not sure what they mean by the "lungs screaming" part -- I hear that, too. When I practice it, it seems like XC. Maybe bike racers are wimpy and an all-body effort shocks their delicate system? We still have a couple events, incl the State Champs, but in general it seems that if you get sucked i...

I posted about this on RSN but coz it didn't get any bites...I thought why not here, too... I bike in the summer. Not a ton. I get fit when it's finally autumn. So I thought to try this hot new fad of cyclocross. I've known about it for decades but now it's really rockin'. Beer in the park. Sounds l...

Yeah, so lots of kids are doing it even though it's not promoted. And no one is doing it in a group way. Those are two interesting things. It is indeed a very easy (low overhead in every way) activity to do and has no real need to be organized. It also has an innate appeal so it doesn't need much pr...

I wonder if MTU has an Outing Club. Those folks should have a dandy time XC skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, ice-skating, ice-fishing, winter camping, going out to a club cabin in the boonies each winter. I've known a couple schools that had generations-old cabins for their Outing Clubs. They were kin...

That's too bad about MTU having only a racing scene and not much touring. A long day tour is likely dandy training for racing ... and a person can learn something while doing it, can get to new places, see new things, can diversify their skills, can do it with a wide range of companions of varying s...

Students at MSU are starting a new XC ski club. First one ever! I went to their first meeting last night. About a dozen showed up with another 8 who couldn't make it but are on the email list. Only a couple kids know how to ski and have equipment. There's mostly a touring interest. Thankfully, there...

Shawn, those are good tips! Heck, you answered his questions even. : ) I have to chime in, too. It's not a FAQ but what the hey. I'll second the notion that groomed trails help with control. But a mellow (short-cropped) field or golf course works fine, too. Control is an issue for beginners, so star...

Fasterskier is for racing, right? I didn't notice any beginner info or FAQ like thing there. The xcskiworld link also wasn't really FAQlike. [Edit: But it does seem to cover a huge range of key topics. For beginners it was maybe a bit light: "set goals," "take a class." But if you wander around a bi...

A FAQ would be handy. Hard to believe it's not out there. If you find something, please post a link. I disagree totally about this "every skier has a different opinion" thing. There's agreement on the main key aspects and 90% of the rest and this info should be easily available to the public. Of cou...

But kick wax does stay off the snow when gliding on one ski. When you stomp on the ski is when the wax pocket collapses. It does? My hard-wax pocket is much smaller when I balance on a ski on one foot than the markings on it which were made via the two-foot paper test. I don't claim to know how muc...

The half-weighted info just seemed not so helpful to me, unless this just tends to correlate to more meaningful info. What I want is for my kickwax to be OFF the snow when I'm gliding on one foot and then for it to be ON the snow when I kick. In either case it seems like I have more than half-weight...

Well, sure it glides. Just not very well. I always notice when I kickwax an inch too far... Still, when you hit the wax right, it's a great thing. Wood ski folks will kickwax the whole ski. They also sometimes just use pine-tar! No wax at all. Seems a bit nutty. I ran into an older German lady this ...

I like the (obvious) idea mentioned (on RSN also) of waxing according to the wear-pattern rather than any sort of paper test. The paper test is rough but a wear-pattern will show you where wax is actually rubbing. Soft wax on an abrasive track should work to reveal the pattern --- as mentioned by Ra...

The usual way of approximately locating the wax pocket of a classical ski is to stand on both skis, equally, and slide a paper under them. Where the paper binds is the outer limits of the pocket. Official doctrine says the wax pocket keeps the kick wax off the snow when gliding or doublepoling. No, ...