Stories from the 2008 CSM...
- A brief history with a few pictures thrown in, by Parham Momtahan (Permanent Bib #166)
- The guys wearing the gold bibs are my heroes, by Chris Macknie
- An Incredible Event, by Bruce Mason
- CSM 2008 - Part 2, or `I've Entered - Now What Do I Do?`, by Paul Broadbent
- CSM 2008 – Part 1, or 'How I Decided To Do Something Crazy', by Paul Broadbent
- A 160km Canadian Winter Ski Marathon of Hope, by Canadian Ski Marathon
Feel free to pass on any tales of your adventures in this year's CSM and we'll post them here.
2008/02/08.. by Craig Storey
Looks like a beautiful weekend for the CSM!
Best of luck to everyone doing the CSM, you're in for a great weekend. Feel free to pass on any tales of your adventures and we'll post them here.
CSM Weekend Weather
Saturday... Cloudy with 40 percent chance of flurries in the morning and afternoon. Snow beginning later in the afternoon. Amount 2 to 4 cm. High -1°C (Morning Low -10°C).Sunday... Periods of snow. Low -4°C. High -1°C.
Waxing..
Rather than recommendations, these are guesses. Since I won't be on site to do any testing or watch as the conditions change throughout the day. The one thing that could get tricky is if it warms up above zero or there is humid snow around 0C - always a waxer's nightmare.
So without further delay..
Glide
I'll do the easy part first. Glide should be very straightforward. As the snow warms it will get faster, and with the temperature just below zero and light snow falling you shouldn't run into any slow conditions. So my guess here is..
Simple and Fast - 2 layers Vauhti Regular Blue.
Faster - 1 layer Vauhti Regular blue, 1 layer Vauthi Spektra Violet.
Grip
For the morning, it's a pretty simple call - Carrot! But, as the day goes on, it starts to warm up and thousands of people ski over the same course, grip could get interesting. If the Sun peaks out like last Sunday, it could get really interesting on South facing hills. So I'll break my guesses in half; a morning combo and a possible afternoon fix.
Starter - 2 layers of Vauhti Super Binder or Carrot heated in. 3-6 layers of Carrot (or as many as needed). If it's snowing already or the track is loose alternate Tar -1...-6C and Carrot. You can use either the regular or Fluoro Carrot. We find the Fluoro has more grip and glide.
Afternoon Fix Options - You've already got wax on your skis but it's warmed up and that wax isn't working. Here's some options to fix it. Vauhti fluoro violet is good when carrot stops working and the snow isn't too moist yet. Vauhti Red works well when the snow is moist or almost slush around zero, but will ice if there's a mixture of moist and dry snow which will be likely. The secret weapon might be Vauthi Aluminum in the mixture of slushy and dry. Layering is also a good idea, you can cover a warmer wax with Carrot to prevent ice from building up. Use thin layers of whatever you put on, better to stop and add more than to drag half the track with you for 160km!
"Jessica Spring - Illustration + Design"