05Dec 2023 by The Daily Skier Editorial
ISPO tour of xcski related stuff

ISPO tour of xcski related stuff

Gear News
  For those who missed fhe message: Swedish Bliz has just been acquired by Essilor Luxottica, the global mastodon with annual revenue of some 25 billion dollars. More importantly for xcskiers, Luxottica owns Oakley too. One can argue about shapes and colors, but Oakley lenses are leagues ahead of competitors when it comes to snow tracks. That's why most athletes free of contracts habitually choose them. Bliz has its fans for the comfort of their frames. Therefore, the question the day is “ would Bliz get access to Oakley lens technology now?” Hestra, part of the Scandinavian Outdoor Group, that also owns such xcski- related brands as Alfa ( remember the boots?!), Halti and Thule, had Johannes Klaebo-branded gloves. Might be a new color - the model is the same…
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30Nov 2023 by The Daily Skier Editorial
Hello from the first real post-Covid ISPO Muhich! 

Hello from the first real post-Covid ISPO Muhich! 

Gear News
For those uninitiated or those who forgot: ISPO is the world's most important trade fair and industry event for everything & anything to do with winter sports. That's where bulk buyers, retail chain managers meet manufacturers and brands while brands meet future suppliers. In the last couple of years ISPO has been trying to make a pivot from being strictly B-to-B to modern B-to-С, but more on that later. ISPO is huge and you hear a hundred different languages spoken there at once. It's the only place where an owner of some uber-fancy Swiss ski shop could shake hands and chat with a padding maker from Myanmar. ISPO is different this year - for one thing, it was moved from traditional January to November last year, the organizers say “…
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19Feb 2023 by The Daily Skier Editorial
Are modern skis any better than those made 25 years ago? Two experts lean on the issue

Are modern skis any better than those made 25 years ago? Two experts lean on the issue

Gear News, Leaders
If  we were to pick a subject skiers like to discuss the most, it probably would be " are the best modern skis that retail for 1000 euros/ dollars any better than what was sold in the past ( often for half price)?" Now no lesser figure than a coach of Alexander Bolshunov and Natalia Nepryaeva decides to speak. In interview with a newsportal 7startov.com Yuri Borodavko does not mince his words: " The skis that were made 25 years ago glide about the same as the new Fisher Helium or 3Ds, which are advertised so heavily, or the new Salomon, for instance, who's makers say they employ the latest technology." Borodavko goes to explain that there is particular hill in one of the top ski centers in Siberia that's…
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09Dec 2022 by The Daily Skier Editorial
Russians – what gear do they use now

Russians – what gear do they use now

Gear News, Newsfeed
It was interesting to assess what gear the best Russian  skiers use these days. The western sponsors have abandoned them, they say. Or did they? We don't know  and we don't care. Nobody would tell the truth anyway for the risk of wrong kind of PR in these sensitive times. Let's assume that skiers pictured have spent their own hard earned euros to buy the gear they always wanted, shall we? Especially interesting to see who switched away from Swix. The Norwegian company used to have a rare team deal with the Russians, including Juniors. Which,  naturally, turned Russian skis into a total Swix-land, probably 10 out 10 top places in local championships were won on Triacs before.  Not any more though: Alexander Bolshunov is using KV+ Tornado Plus Titan…
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12Jan 2022 by DS News Team
C8 fluoro waxes would be legal in Beijing – unlike in Europe. But there is no point in using them, says leading coach on the ground in China

C8 fluoro waxes would be legal in Beijing – unlike in Europe. But there is no point in using them, says leading coach on the ground in China

Gear News, Newsfeed
The scandal around the use of ski waxes containing banned C8 fluorocarbons , at the Scandinavian Cup in Falun keeps on flaring. Perfluorooctanoic acid known colloquially as C8 is banned in the European Union , Norway and Switzerland to name but a few. Therefore using it in ski waxes is illegal as of 2021 - both in FIS and IBU competitions since those take place in Europe, almost exclusively. There are three problems with that: - C8s do give advantage in certain situations - at least that's what majority (not all) ski waxers are saying - Anyone who is anyone in xcskiing had amassed a lifetime supply of very expensive C8 lubricants and is not terribly keen to just throw it away - Most importantly,there is still no reliable detection…
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