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Show 2 (MOUNTAIN TIMES... It’s All Waxless Hundreds Cross-Country Skiing Reinvented far as cross-country skiing goes, anyway. This is the sad news explained by Riley Cutler at Wasatch Touring. “Once tele- | mark skiers started using climbing skins, that killed waxing,” he explained. “Waxing is a lost art.” Whoa, let's back up a minute. Telemark skiers use skins, so light-weight touring skis never used for telemarking don’t need waxing? It is the evolution of skiing in the West, says Riley. We used to take light-weight cross-coun- — try gear up into the steep Wasatch Mountains. But that has all changed. “A touring ski is not designed to turn. It is designed to go over the hill and through the woods,” Riley says. “A telemark ski is designed to turn. A lot of the qualities are taken from downhill skis.” That means that you’ve got to have at least two new pair of skis: one pair for light from skinny skis and go fat. As early as 10 years ago, people were fitting their old alpine boards with threepin bindings. Finally the ski companies got on board and now produce skis especially designed to hold a back-country ski binding. These new-generation telemark skis are as wide as downhill skis but modified slightly to respond to telemark technique in soft snow and crud, Riley explains. All that, of course, has spawned another revolution — this one in boots. Telemark boots are now plastic. In fact cross-country boots of all types are going plastic, including ones used for track skiing. “It's something we predicted years ago,” says Riley. “Plastic boots that flex.” Back-country skiers began modifying their leather boots in the mid-80s, adding things like plastic cuffs. The leather boots got < Xtra Dry Chain Lube $4.95 Ss Binding Tool $12.00 ; Fog Cloth $1.50 Snow Thermometer $12.00 First Aid Soft Case $10:95 Sewn Runner and Quick Draws $4.00 + up Gore-Tex Mitten Shells $33.00 Head Lamp $28.50 Lycra/Fleece Helmet Liner $18.50 Guide books, maps, ski tools, bike tools, packs, sportswear, goggles, sunglasses, cards, calendars, hats, gloves, gators, underwear, outerwear, equipment and accessories for alpine and urban exploration. Call, write or slop by for a free copy of our custom price/adventure gift matrix to help you find the right gift at the right price Wy SALT LAKE CITY, UTAN TO ‘ ; a oa reat | And Ea ae Free gift wrapping now till Christmas HE < 702 E 100 S ® Salt Lake City * 801-359-9361 La then, finally, like with skis, the manufacturers caught on and came up with | . hill — Zounds! What will they think of next? “You don’t have to stop on the +. hills and mess with wax or klister in the spring,” says Riley. “They are so $999 plastic back-country — ski boots. They actually bend at . the toe. “The plastic boots are more durable. They don’t get soft,” Riley noted. “Why get a leather telemark boot, at all?” But the revolution isn’t over. That’s right, all that ski and all that boot have Morris Inspired Solid Quarter-Sewn oak in cherry finish \ Voila, or is it Voile? Anyhow, heavy cable bindings are the newest piece of gear to go along with the boards and boots. So wait a minute. You say you don’t want to throw out all your equipment and invest in all new gear. Well Park City 645-7072 1890 Bonanza Dr. Mon-Sat. 10-6 then rescue some of that old stuff from the Dumpster and begin one piece of Salt Lake 467-2701 2970 Highland Dr. Mon-Fri 10-7, Sat. 10-6 equipment at time. Start with the boots. No, start with the skis. Is it even possible? Go ask Riley. @ PAGE Our entire Mission collection is sale priced! Morris style chair & ottoman in glove soft forest green leather to be held together by something bigger than a three-pin binding. And 9 a a 1 =) bigger and bigger for more , demanding telemark skiing. touring in the Uintas and one pair for back-country skiing in the Wasatch. And get this, neither pair needs waxing. So take that wax kit you spent the last 20 years building, and chuck it in the garbage, too. Touring skis are now, almost exclusively, waxless — meaning you can ski up or down hill without stopping to wax, or worse, scrape off the wax. After about 20 years of experimentation on waxless designs that just didn’t cut it, waxless skis actually do what you want them to. They will hold on the uphill and glide on the down- much easier to use.” aw {2 Mountain biker Backcountry skier { Telemark skier @ Track Skier Camper @ Climber (J Snowshoer ZH lee Climber @ Kayaker wonder it took 20 years for back-country skiers to get away =) Propelled abet been re-invented while you were in that Rip VanWinkle daze. You might as well go out to the garage, gather up all those skis you’ve collecting over the years — you know, the ones with layers of dust all over them — and huck them in the Dumpster. Yes, all 14 pairs. OK sure, they will probably still ski allright, but you have to wax them. And ski waxing is about to become a lost art. As | But the waxless part of the ski evolution or revolution is probably the least startling. The advances in telemark equipment are really dramatic. Oddly enough, it all goes back to a practice used before waxing was perfected. That is, it goes back to climbing skins. When you think about it, its a oe the sport has a Rowe: everything you used to now about cross-country skis? Well forget it, because k of Gift Ideas for the Self- |
