Any Day, Any Race

[tirolski]

Dude named Ripp won some national championships at The Ho in Lake Placid.

USCSA - Results

The Official Schedules for and Results of competition during the regular season of the U.S. Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association

www.uscsa.org

Looks like he won the sprint today too.

 

[Peter Minde]

Dude named Ripp won some national championships at The Ho in Lake Placid.

USCSA - Results

The Official Schedules for and Results of competition during the regular season of the U.S. Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association

www.uscsa.org

Looks like he won the sprint today too.

Ripp ripped it! And he's a Paul Smiths Bobcat!

 

[tirolski]

Ripp ripped it! And he's a Paul Smiths Bobcat!

Yup. Could be a contender.
Do they even make wax for those conditions? or a biodegradable soap?
Slushiest I ever skied was the bottom of the Basin in early June. There was running water on the trail. Was before wide skis. Had to pick the high spots where the streams weren't as wide.

 

[Peter Minde]

Do they even make wax for those conditions? or a biodegradable soap?

Nothing beats fluorocarbon in warm, wet conditions. The new fluoro free waxes waxes don't come close. So on a day like that, base structure and a ski that fits is key.

 

[tirolski]

So on a day like that, base structure and a ski that fits is key.

How so?

 

[Peter Minde]

How so?

Base structure: Let's remember that as the ski glides across snow, it creates friction and there's a thin film of water between the ski base and the snow. Technicians will stonegrind ski bases to reduce friction. Warm wet snow requires an aggressive stonegrind and possibly hand structure. Cold conditions don't need such an aggressive grind.

Zach Caldwell is prolly the dean of ski techs in this country. Here's his stonegrind menu.

Ski fit: you really want a ski appropriate for your weight. After that, you can go down a rabbit hole of different flexes for differing conditions, and I'm not super knowledgable about the subtleties. For example, for cold conditions you'd want a softer ski. When she was on the World Cup, Marit Björgen was said to travel with 60-70 pairs of skis between skate and classic.

 

[tirolski]

Zach Caldwell is prolly the dean of ski techs in this country.

Seems he knows something about bindings & boots to boot.

 

[Peter Minde]

Seems he knows something about bindings & boots to boot.

Yeah I saw that. A major move forward.

 

[tirolski]

Yeah I saw that. A major move forward.

Front of the boot FTW.

 

[Peter Minde]

Front of the boot FTW.

I'd be interested except that I bought Salomon skate boots a couple years ago. Zach is an amazing fount of information on ski design, waxes, structure, anything involved with skiing fast.