Anikken Gjerde Alnaes Who Defies Conventions

Anikken Gjerde Alnaes Who Defies Conventions

Gear News, Newsfeed
The last weekend Anikken Gjerde Alnaes had her debute race at the World Cup - and finished 8th on her first try. Today she was 2d at the Norwegian Cup in Lygne in qualification - and that's nobody's secret that those Norwegian internal races often have stronger line-up than international ones. And, of course, earlier this month a 25 year old Norwegian won the Scandinavian Cup - all of that in sprint Alnaes is not exactly a household name yet and a few outside Norway and the United States where she studied & student raced until fairly recently, have heard it, The reasons behind any xcskier's progress are multiple and complex , naturally - but an aspect that caught our eye (and started a conversation with Anikken ) is this:…
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Equipment Update: What We Saw In Davos

Equipment Update: What We Saw In Davos

Gear News, Newsfeed
Davos is a special FIS World Cup stage because that's the place where bosses and key personnel of the top equipment producing companies choose to congregate at, year after year. We will have a separate little story telling you who's been around this year, but it's fair to assume that the captains of the industry are not just coming to breath that fresh Swiss mountain air - but to watch their latest gear being employed to win and to talk to athletes they sponsor. That's not to say that Davos has become the place to launch your latest & bestest, alas. We openly hope the day will come. But even the last week there were a few debuts or just relative rarities we saw - and will share with you.…
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New Rossignol X-IUM Carbon Premium Boots Spotted Testing

New Rossignol X-IUM Carbon Premium Boots Spotted Testing

Gear News, Newsfeed
Rossignol continues to test its newest design of X-IUM Carbon Premium boots that are supposed to replace the current flagship model in shops next year. Unlike Salomon that split its S/LABs offerings with Classic debuting last season and Skate version just spotted , Rossignol looks to be preparing to offer both C and S at the same time. As with all manufacturers of top boots, Rossignol employs an expertise of both in-house specialists - and top World Cup athletes in fine-tuning its next podium weapon. We doubt the boots will retain its black-on-black appearance in the final version - Rossignol's recent magenta look gained the French company a lot of fans. [caption id="attachment_13942" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Skate prototype looks like this and seen on the feet of Simon Caprini, the firm's…
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New Salomon S/LAB Carbon Skate Boots Are Here! First Proper Look

New Salomon S/LAB Carbon Skate Boots Are Here! First Proper Look

Gear News, Newsfeed
- When we say "they are here" we mean that the first pairs left a production facility and ended up on the feet of the very few selected athletes sponsored by Salomon who are competing in the World Cup. - Predictably, Salomon is not yet giving away much information about the new boots, neither technical nor price/availability. Some bits we were able to glean - and are happy to share here with you: - Salomon is officially supporting Pilot system for another few years, but with Jessie Diggins switching to Prolink this season, there are no Pilot-athletes left at the World Cup level. In other words - we seriously doubt there will be anything but Prolink. [caption id="attachment_13919" align="alignnone" width="1920"] New S/LABs are ably modeled here by Clement Parisse from…
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Clarification & Retraction: Fischer’s Air Core Is NOT Nomex

Clarification & Retraction: Fischer’s Air Core Is NOT Nomex

Gear News, Newsfeed
Our story about ski cores stated unequivocally that all the leading manufacturers except for Madshus use DuPont-made Nomex® honeycomb in their top-of-the-line racing models while using in-house made honeycomb in cheaper skis. That is factually wrong - and Fischer Nordic got in touch to object and to correct us. Says Tanja Winterhalder, Fischer Nordic's head of PR & marketing "Our Air Core is patented and made by Fischer. The Air Core is specially adjusted to our design and materials and as a result the power transmission is better". The Air Core ( together with carbon sheeting it's attached to officially known as Air Core HM Carbon) is underpinning Speedmax and , since a lion share of all ski competitions is being won on Speedmaxes, we have no reason to put…
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