Review: Best Ski Boots For Skating Right Now, Part I

Review: Best Ski Boots For Skating Right Now, Part I

Gear News, Newsfeed
On definitions: "best" means racing boots, those used by the world's elite skiers to compete & win. In 2019 those are invariably carbon-fiber soled - and, naturally, with carbon cuffs for ankle support. For all SNS fans: sorry, folks - the only athlete we know of still using once-dominant system is Jessie Diggins. Atomic, once a firm " SNS camper", stopped supporting it altogether - Salomon is still holding out but, likely, not for long. Most if not all producers follow a simple maxim: test with top athletes & win the first year of production - sell the next one. In other words, there is often a considerable gap between what you see on TV and what you could actually buy at your friendly local store. We have an issue…
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Jean-Marc Draeyer, Man Who Picked SLABs For You ( If You Are Maja Dahlqvist That Is)

Jean-Marc Draeyer, Man Who Picked SLABs For You ( If You Are Maja Dahlqvist That Is)

Gear News, Newsfeed
Meet Jean-Marc Draeyer, Salomon Nordic head of race ski production. " Production" means that Jean-Marc calls Altenmark im Pongau his home ( and not Annecy where Salomon Nordic's main unit is located) and makes sure that Maja Dahlqvist and Sjur Rothe along with other Salomon athletes get best gear to fight for the podiums. S/LAB Carbons and Redster Carbons are made on the same production line, by the same skilled workers but are very, very different skis, developed by two different teams. Moreover, the Carbons Sjur and Maja use and those you could buy in your nearest friendly Intersport or XXL are made exactly the same, from the same components by the same people. What's different is that Jean-Marc and personal waxers of the stars have a first peak of…
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Core Of The Matter

Core Of The Matter

Newsfeed
Know-your-skis Wednesday on Dailyskier.com This photo could have been taken at virtually any ski-making factory but happens to be from Atomic in Altenmarkt im Pongau, Austria. Meet Nomex ® honeycomb aramid core that is to be found inside virtually every pair of true racing skis ( except for Madshus- they use a different material ) Nomex is a veteran - DuPont started selling it at the end of 1960s, although back then it was used in fancy applications such an aerospace industry. It found its way into racing ski construction in 1980s and continues to dominate, as already mentioned: nothing provides comparable strength to weight ratio. True Nomex ® is expensive and is only used in top models - cheaper skis get similarly constructed knock-offs. It will continue to underpin…
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One Morning On Dachstein

One Morning On Dachstein

Newsfeed, Travel & Mass Sport
" Initiated" don't need to be told what Dachstein in October is about. For those who came here by chance, we just say that the Austrian glacier absorbs hundreds of skiers the world over, coming virtually from every xcskiing country there is in search of early groomed snowtracks On Monday , Ocr.07 the word " groomed" was not really applicable- although several PistenBullies were working non-stop: heavy snowfall and wind. So we shall show you how Dachstein looks in mini-blizzard
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Man To Watch: Irineu Esteve Altimiras

Man To Watch: Irineu Esteve Altimiras

Newsfeed
Irineu Esteve Altimiras won the Sportful Grand Prix race on weekend. And not just won: the list of competitors he managed to beat on 9.5k uphill distance reads like " who is who in men's skiing elite 2019" ( sans Norwegians, admittedly - they rarely run continental races in general) A 23 year old Andorran has decisively beaten such names as Alex Bolshunov, Francesco Di Fabiani, Denis Spitsov, Alexey Chervotkin to name but a few. It's just a rollerski training exercise, no big deal, many would say. True, perhaps. When Ireneu came third at 15k F at U23 in Soldier Hollow , right behind - guess who? Bolshunov, Chervotkin and Spitsov - many also called it a fluke and not a big deal. " We don't have enough space in…
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