Here is a quick update on JO’s from a coaches (jeff) perspective. The venue here in Presque Isle is really cool. It has a huge biathlon range, a really nice lodge, cool bridges over the trails, flags, wax buildings, and all of the feel of a world class, olympic type venue. The trails are very challenging, twisty, turny, icy, winding through thick stands of Birch trees. The snow quality is not what we get spoiled by in California but there is enough snow and the skiing is good. The event organization is great and the whole thing feels really cool to be a part of.
The first two races.
Hi it’s coach Jeff again. The first two races have been classic races and it has been klister for both days. One interesting thing is that the snow changes throughout the day here but the same klister seems to work for a long time here even though the snow gets wetter and wetter. The coaches have spent a lot of time testing different combinations of klister and i think Far West has had very good skis so far. For kick we have used various combinations of Rode Multigarde klister, Rode Rosa klister, Swix KR40 in the morning, and KR 70 mixed in the afternoon. For glide we have used Toko HF Red, Swix BD 6, Swix BD 8, and covered with different florocarbons including BS 7, Super Cera, and Toko Jetstream Moly. It is a very serious game among the divisions to get the fastest and best skis and we all spend a lot of time testing waxes. So that is more than you probably want to know about wax!
The racing has been awesome with some strong Far West results and the team spirit is really strong. The athletes are all getting along super well, like a big family and it really feels like when one Far West athlete does well then the whole team feels like we all did well. Things are good.
Now its off to the skate races on Friday and Saturday.
