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Show What's New in Ski Gear? Nordic by Nan ghalat Alpine by Matt Madsen There is one thing those Nordic skiers used to have going for them. They weren't equipment freaks. A couple or wooden slats, a simple one-size fits all toe piece and a pair of bamboo poles. Even dedicated downhill enthusiasts enthusi-asts tended to cast a wistful look at those bowling shoes nordic skiers called boots while they trudged across the parking lot in concrete chin high monster aberrations aberrat-ions of nigh tech. Like sports cars, new advances in downhill bindings made last season's equipment obsolete. obso-lete. Meanwhile, the cross country stuff stayed the same. Then the economy took a turn for the worse and more people realized that cross "" -"II II i Til PBHMMIMfH Much of the following information will give you more versatility in varied terrain, will keep you warmer warm-er and safer but please keep in mind - you can still do it in your own backyard in dungarees, dunga-rees, in hand-me-down boots and your little sister's skis, okayr For one thing, waxless skis are here to stay. According to Steve Erikson of White Pine Tourning Center the waxless bases are getting better all the time. Purists used to claim that fis'hscales were a poor compromise under any conditions but the introduction of teflon to the base material and improvements improve-ments in the fishscale pattern keep the new waxless wax-less skis gliding right along. A squirt of MaxiGlide (a silicone base lubricant) insures in-sures the waxless every opportunity to keep up with the waxables. cut, sometimes referred to as the waist of the ski. The RC4 has a double-sidecut. "The ski is wider in the middle" and according to its "manufacturer "manu-facturer this unique double sidecut gives the ski an exceptionally tight radius turn. Fischer calls this design reverse dual radius side cut (RDR). You'll have to see it for yourself. And the Fischer "Pro" is still alive with the conventional side cut. The Pre 1200 SP high performance slalom ski is new this year as one of Pre's racing services. PRE added varying layers of glass to the 1200 SP making it stiffer and they numbered the 1200 SP series "22 through 26" corresponding to its flexibility, flexibi-lity, the higher the number, the stiffer the ski. Also new is the Dynastar "omeglass equipe" a true racing stock ski. According to the manufacturer this slalom ski is thicker under the foot giving it more stability with a softer tip for fast sharp turns. The omeglass ome-glass equipe is a limited production model this year. Dynastar also produced the MV5 this year which replaced replac-ed the acraglass giant slalom ski. The MV5 is more damp than the acraglass resulting in less chatter durine turns. Atomic improved their GS model ski this year. It's called the Atomic Team Carbon and is considered a high performance recreational recreatio-nal ski. It's , lighter and stronger than last year's model? K2 came out with what they call their stretch series for recreational skiers; however, they don't really stretch. Thev crnf fhrir rmme hpranse This article is written for skiers and others who want to know what's new in ski equipment for the 1981-82 ski season, from the viewpoint view-point of one skier who is enthusiastic about skiing, racing and teaching the sport. I won't speak in technical terms for two reasons: 1) it might confuse the information informat-ion to the lay person who is not up on the science of ski equipment and 2) since I am one of those lay persons, I don't know all the technical terms myself. With this in. mind, let's take a look at what's new this year in skis, boots and bindings. I interviewed several ski mechanics at some of Park City's ski stores and with various ski representatives. Not all skiers are of the same ability and for each skier category there are suitable corresponding skis. With over a dozen major names of skis on the market and each of those offering different kinds of skis,, it's no wonder some of us get confused as to which type of ski is best for us. In general, I think Olin puts it best. They've selected three catagories of skiers beginning with the "recreational "recreat-ional group" naming novice through advanced skiers. According to Olin, recreational recreat-ional skiers prefer shorter skis that enable the skier to have fun without a lot of effort. The second group is the "performance group" including intermediate through experts who prefer longer skis .and third, the "racing group" composed of competitors, advanced through expert skiers who like to ski fast and technically correct. silicone base lubricant) m- v sures the waxless every . - n opportunity to keep up witn .!.. the waxables. ? : f- ' 1 s ' 4 f Sensing the ultimate acceptance accep-tance or waxless skis, Trak took the lead last spring by introducing a waxless metal edge ski. Erickson says, "It climbs in spring snow just like a skin. ' ' Anyone who has tried to get in a few turns in the backcountry knows the frustration of finding the right wax for spring corn, slush and ice. A waxless ski which also does the work that skins do on the climb up is almost too good to believe. By the way, there are new climbing skins on the market. mark-et. If vou didn't know before - those furry strips you glue onto the bottom of your skis to climb up the side of some irresistable bowl are probably probab-ly goat skin. If you have used them much, they are probably probab-ly going bald. Tne new skins, made by Pamoca are nylon (much more durable) and continuec country skiing was a pretty good deal. You could even pack your own lunch. The sport became popular and, as you might have guessed, it began to change. Maybe it's just not American Ameri-can to be satisfied with what you have. Anyway, marketeers market-eers noticed the increase in cross country ski sales and turned their technological madness upon improving the sport. Enter fiberglass skis with "poly" something cores, engineered bindings, aluminum adjustable poles and high nordic fashion. Thanks a lot. Nordic skiers are now welcome (and able) to speed down the runs and take the. lifts up just like alpine skiers. It is with a certain amount of skepticism and nostalgia then that we bring you this update on new nordic gear. y mumij"i-mi u'"ji.'w-'.mmiiii ' "!' )'- 1 LttVfefc' !! II - ...t 111- III I- I'llW..!.!. o . they come in varying "shorter" "short-er" lengths and due to their construction, ski like a conventional length ski. They are the K2 410 and 510 series. Boots The only new changes in boots this year came from Lange. Lange is loosing its reputation of having only ! HP-- Accepting these categories let's take a look at what's new this year in the ski itself. What may be of interest to performance skiers and racers rac-ers is probably the most radical change we will see this year. It's the racing ski made by Fischer, the ' RC4 superform". What makes this ski different is its side j page 17 continued from page 11 stiff boots by making the Lange XLT. The XLT has two distinct features: a built in cant-adjustment and a forward lean . adjustment. These adjustments are subt-ley subt-ley built into the boot so they don't stick out. The XLT. is recommended for aggressive skiers. Nordica's new Lady Polaris has a higher arch and a higher instep this year to more comfortably fit a woman's foot. Don't be surprised if all the various boot manufacturer's confuse you. Nordica alone makes 18 different kinds of boots. Bindings As far as bindings are concerned, only minor improvements im-provements were made this year except for one. The Marker top of the line SE3 with uni-directional toe re- - 1 -" iii irr ri - Hi m 11 - - - m -- ---i iiiiii' ir"" lease was incorporated as a safety feature. The heel piece is the same as last years but, according to Marker, the advantage with the SE3 is "it has an independently adjustable vertical toe release. ' ' ....... This means the toe piece not only releases laterally but releases vertically as well much akin to its competitor the Salomon 727 equipe. Without getting technical, the Marker toe is designed to "release its spring tension" when pressure is applied upward. Safety is important. If you're not sure of the proper tension setting on your bindings, it's advised that you see an authorized ski mechanic for proper installation of bindings and adjustment. Good luck and enjoy the coming ski season. |