Some of the questions posed over the past couple of days in the comments to the past couple of posts need to be addressed. I can’t comment on the specifics of the Davos races because I wasn’t there. I don’t know what waxes were in play, what combinations were tried, why hairies weren’t part of the equation, etc. What I do know is that the USST service staff is made up of three experienced professionals who take a great deal of pride in their work, and have had a great deal of success. There is nobody working domestically who is qualified to question their methods and procedures without a whole lot of specific knowledge. I include myself in that generalization.
World Cup waxing is a different thing altogether than taking care of your own skis. It’s important to note that World Cup fields are incredibly tight, and you can’t possibly comprehend the difference that bad (or good) skis might make on the world cup when you’re looking at and thinking in terms of domestic competition. To put it in perspective, Kris was the second North American on Saturday. He got beat by Devon Kershaw. If that race had been run in North America it wouldn’t have looked like the disaster that it was. He would have dropped from first to second (compared with the week before) instead of 5th to 50th. If Kris goes to US Nationals and wins a distance race by a minute, does that mean he has good skis or bad skis? Does it matter? He’s skiing at a level where there aren’t a lot of people poised to step in and take advantage of a mistake. Most masters racers might ride a great wax job a few places up the results list from their usual spot, or they might get beat by a few guys they usually beat when they’ve got bad skis. The racing over here is just not that tight, and this means that “good skis� can be “good enough� skis.
For a racer who is waxing his own skis and racing against domestic competition the best service scenario is to have a few pairs of skis that are totally known quantities. When you’re not going for the last few percent on the wax job you can afford to play it safe and not screw up. The same is true of waxes. For a self-supported racer on the domestic scene the best strategy by far is to learn a wax line and use it intelligently. You don’t need to have the best wax in the world, you need to be in the race. But “in the race� in domestic competition can be twenty places out on the World Cup.
Trust me, if the best approach to World Cup service was for each athlete to carry a few pairs of skis and be personally accountable for getting the wax right, that would be the model. But that model is simply not competitive at that level. It’s necessary to go for the sharp point of the pyramid – especially on days when skis make a big difference.
Going for a higher level of refinement means carrying more skis in more constructions and flexes. It means testing more waxes. It means judgement calls that most of the readers of this site are totally unfamiliar with. It means managing more variables than you’re aware of. Each waxer has his own ways of quantifying and managing those variables. When the going gets tough it’s important to have a handle on all those variables.
Davos was the first time that the new USST service staff had seen many of Kris’s klister skis. They were trying to integrate old skis – the skis that Kris knows and trusts, with newly selected and ground skis. But they’ve all got different flex markings and grinds, etc. In a perfect world the European based service staff would have had access to all the skis well in advance, and would have had plenty of opportunity to test them on snow. That’s why Larry is taking most of Kris’s fleet home from Davos to spend some time putting all the variables into his terms.
Kris will fly back after Rybinsk for a period of training and domestic competition. He’s coming back with five pairs of skis that he knows well. For US Nationals, that’s all he’ll need. US Nationals is not the World Cup. The best strategy at US Nationals is going to be to not screw up. On a great day he could potentially win a 15 distance race at Nationals by three minutes. On a lesser day he could win it by a minute. Nobody really cares whether it’s three minutes or a minute aside from the guys trying to get points behind him.
After Nationals Kris will go straight to Canmore to prepare for the World Cups later in January. Larry will bring the rest of his skis over on the 16th. I’ve just been in Canmore scouting conditions and courses. I’ll talk with Larry in the next few days and tell him what I know.Â
Rule number one of ski waxing is don’t screw up. Nobody is immune to getting it wrong – sometimes disastrously wrong – from time to time. When conditions are changing quickly and you’ve got to make a decision without the benefit of testing, you’re rolling the dice. In Davos Kris had bad skis – probably some of the worst skis in the race. Kris is not one to pull punches, but he’s smart enough to know when a bad decision is just a bad decision, and a not a break-down of the system. The rest of us would do well to keep this in mind.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I read the post on the Engineered Tuning site last spring (?) about Zach and Dave Chamberlain going through his fleet and figuring things out. As a practical question, what will Larry be doing to get to know Kris’s skis? I assume skiing on them, maybe putting them on a flex tester, regrinding — anything else?
December 11th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Thanks for the extended commentary on waxing, Zach. It can definitely be difficult for those of us following the WC world only via blogs like this to understand the details of racing and waxing at that level.
I certainly wouldn’t dream of second guessing waxing decisions from thousands of miles away (and many orders of magnitude reduction in waxing knowledge).
Following the recent posts, a question occurred to me, but I hesitated to post it, because of the tone that was developing, I didn’t want to sound like I was piling on. So please read this in the context of me wanting to know more about what works and what doesn’t at the WC level, waxing-wise:
Given the recent production of waxless “racing” skis, is it worth while, at such a high level, to simply have a pair of waxless skis glide waxed and ready to go at all times, just for those cases when the conditions suddenly change drastically only minutes before a start?
Additionally, I am curious if the additional staffing that other teams have allow them not only to change wax quickly, but to simply wax skis _in advance_ so that they have multiple pairs available for different scenarios? Is that done (preparing skis for a variety of conditions in advance), or do they use that extra staff mainly to process skis faster when the conditions do change?
December 11th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Both of these are questions I don’t have specific answers to. I outlined my process for evaluating skis with that post on Chambo’s fleet. I don’t know exactly what Larry will do, but I assume it will involve a fair amount of time just skiing on Kris’s skis. There’s no way to replace on-snow evaluation.
I don’t know what teams with large staffs do with all those bodies. I can think of a bunch of different ways to organize effectively, but I have no inside knowledge of how the Germans or Norwegians work.
Waxing skis in advance is, in most cases, impractical. Especially in difficult conditions, you need some time to work with wax and skis in combination. You want opportunities to adjust what you’ve got running. If you just have a bunch of different skis waxed up with different stuff you limit your ability to fine-tune the wax on any given pair, which, in the end, is probably more important. As for waxless skis - I don’t know how often a “pattern” ski gets used successfully at that level. I’ve heard the same stories as everybody else, but it’s not common - maybe once a decade or so. Hairies are more common, and those skis are generally available. But hairies are no panacea. In Soldier Hollow they work in practically everything, but that place is exceptional that way. I’m not aware of a competitive and reliable “no-wax” back-up at the World Cup level. Again, in a domestic race where the field isn’t too tight - or in a marathon with wildly varying conditions - the standard of acceptable skis is much lower and a waxless ski might represent a better risk than the wrong wax job.
December 11th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
In terms of testing and evaluating a fleet, how does a wax tech deal with skis fit for a specific skier? Kris is a pretty big dude, and while I don’t know about Larry, I’d guess there would be issues with fit? Is this something an experienced tester can get around?
Also, just out of pure curiosity, what percentage of the domestic skiers are doing there own skis? I’d guess it’s mostly coaches handling the waxing, like on the high school and collegiate level?
December 11th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Zach and Kris,
Many thanks to both of you for taking the time and energy to post this website. For as many critical comments as you receive, I suspect that there are twice as many of us sitting at our computers simply delighting in having access to such an insider’s view. This level of information is above and beyond the call of duty and I appreciate it.
Best wishes to Kris for standing on the podium in the near future!
December 11th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Getting more into the minutiae of World Cup ski prep, I have seen on some of the videos the skis getting stamped as the skier enters the starting area. I assume after you get stamped and enter, you can’t change your skis? Given you might be in there for a bit, conditions can change. There is also the example of equipment issues where skis are replaceable (IE Estil at Olympics with broken binding)? Sure there is a really big WC policy manual somewhere …
December 11th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Being able to read about Kris’ training makes me understand how much is required to become good at this sport. It is fascinating and inspirational to hear about someone who has the talent and dedication to see where the limits of their potential lies. This blog helps get me out of the door and training everyday.
I think some of your readership reacted so strongly to Kris’ bad races because they are such big fans. This blog opens doors to the world of elite ski racing and allows for readers to become invested in a way never before possible. It’s easy to get mad when people criticize Kris’ performance but you should realize that people only criticize things they care about.
When Kris finally gets on a podium it won’t just be him that is ecstatic, but everyone who has entered his world through this website.
Keep racing fast and keep keeping us informed. Like Greg said we all really appreciate the effort required. All of us are only hoping for the best, even if there are occasional criticism.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Thanks much and points well taken. I think it should be noted that internet communication is crude at best, innocent questions can be easily interpreted as being critical.
Some observations on Davos vs. Kuusamo. From reports it seems obvious that waxing conditions were significantly more difficult at Davos. Both were 15k classic and Teichman won them both.
For Kris:
Kuusamo - 5th overall, 9.84 back
Davos - 50th overall, 49.30 back
For Sami Jauhojaervi:
Kuusamo - 30th overall, 34.56 back
Davos - 3rd overall, 3.89 back
Given that Davos was a tricky waxing day I’d say that Kris 5th in Kuusamo was a more valid result than Sami’s 3rd in Davos.
Bottom line: Bad skis happen, Teichman will also have some bad skis days.
Cheers
December 12th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Guys, good discussion….but waxing is always going to be waxing. It’s a part of the sport and everyone has bad days. Kris had two in a row, and it is what it is. My one comment to Don is that you can’t say that Sami’s result is less valid than Kris’s because it was a tricky waxing day! Come on! That’s a bit ridiculous. A World Cup result is a World Cup result, and if anything it’s more valid on a tricky waxing day because it shows the entire service team/coach/athlete is working together well.
Don’t worry, Larry is a great service guy and I’m sure the others are. They’ll have their day. Let Davos be what it was, a bad World cup weekend for Kris and the US. Trust me that they will have more good than bad.
Cheers!
December 12th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Suge, Kuusamo was a straight forward wax day and Coach Vordenberg proclaimed it straight up test of fitness. Davos was a nightmare; my point about race result credibility is not ridiculous.
I’m in total agreement that Sami’s result is awesome and a World Cup podium under any circumstance is a fantastic achievement.
That being said, anyone who’s raced enough has been in races when the wax is a much bigger factor than in others.
Davos was one of those days.
Cheers
December 12th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Don there is no way to discredit Sami’s result. As Suge said a podium is a podium. No matter what it takes to be there it counts. Just because wax played a factor means nothing. Skiing isn’t just a test of fitness there is so much more to it than that.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Having spent 12 years coaching at the international level in biathlon I just wanted to throw my support behind what Zach and Kris are saying. I was involved in developing the US Biathlon Team’s current wax team almost 7 years ago. They told me just last year that they finally have the system dialed in, and you can see that the team had some pretty consistent results last year. I’m not sure exactly what the system looks like now, but I believe they have a full-time, year-round person who is working on putting each team member’s ski quiver together. There is extensive testing on Dachstein starting in the Spring. The USBT has an exclusive deal with a Ruhpolding, GER based ski grinder, and the wax team increases to 4 during the season (one is part-time during the off season) and is usually increased at the World Champs to 6 or more (Biathlon has a world champs every year).
This system is usually the same system that each gender has for the top European National Teams (ie. Germany’s Women and Men have separate and independent wax teams). These days the actual coaches do very little of the waxing. They are focused on training, the rifles/zeroing, and race prep. I didn’t race wax a ski in my last few years coaching (retired in 2003).
Keep in mind that there is no classical skiing in biathlon. Biathlon teams have much less to worry about than their Nordic counterparts. I can’t imagine adding classical waxing to the mix.
I would say it would be difficult for Larry to have it “dialed” after only a few World Cups. Additionally, there are so few distant WC’s these days, so the staff doesn’t get a lot of chances to be tested in a competition setting (ie. there are 32 Biathlon WC’s and only 12-15 Nordic distance WC’s; something that I would be concerned about if I was involved in the sport at that level). I would guess Larry is going to get better dialed in after his “time” with the skis over the break.
Finally, I have to say the wax tech job has to be one of the most difficult jobs period! The process of developing competitive skis for all conditions is huge and can take years. There are so few that are really good at it. I’ve found the best wax tech’s to be beautiful, fluid skiers who have the “feel” for what makes a good ski. They tend to be very creative and always thinking about how to make a better mouse trap. It’s a beautiful thing when it comes together, and no one is more proud of a good result or ashamed of a bad result than the wax man. I owe so much to my old crew and let them know it every chance I get. Make sure to hug a wax tech when you see one!
Best of luck Kris. It’s fun to watch your journey on this blog! Please don’t spend to much energy on the critics. Stay positive and give constant feedback to your wax team.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Sugs/Nuge,
If I could edit my original post I’d leave out my ill considered comment comparing Kris’ 5th to Sami’s 3rd. My main point was to illustrate how big a factor wax/skis play in racing and how KF and SJ flipflopped on successive weekend seemed a good example.
Though it’s what I did, in no way was my intention to discredit his result. Actually, I’m extremely happy to see Sami J. and V. Nousiainen being competitive - I’ve been following Finnish skiing with particular interest since the Lahti doping debacle decimated their program.
I eagerly look forward to seeing Kris and Sami duke it out for podium spots for many years to come.
Regards
December 13th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Zach,
Thanks for the extensive explanation regarding wax/ski selection at the WC level. We all appreciate you taking time giving us a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes. Kris may not have the time or desire to be a ski race “fan” at this time, but most of us are fans, or else we wouldn’t be reading your entries. Our emotions run up and down as we have followed how Kris’s and other’s training buildup and racing is going because we are fans. We also want to know if we run up that ski hill in 10 seconds less time, will it mean faster skiing come race season. Having one main USST athlete (”all the eggs in one basket”) competing at a race just narrows our focus.
As donpollari noted on his Dec 11 note, don’t take innocent curiosity as criticism. It’s difficult for a master skier to comprehend how choosing race skis/wax is difficult at the WC level, as we assume the wax team know all the skis intimately. For a citizen racer to lose 30 seconds due to slower skis means losing maybe one place in the results, where at the WC level may mean 30 places or more. I think we assume that with a whole wax team and numerous skis, there is little problem nailing the wax/ski combo. After reading your explanation, I realize the margin of error is narrowed and the consequence is magnified.
Please keep up reporting. We want the athletes to do well. Heck, we want your grinds to be successful. We are FANS.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Thank God for fans! I’m one too.
I’m pleased that you guy can swallow my diatribe without taking it personally - I certainly don’t want to discourage anybody from pitching in. I just don’t want this to turn into a free for all like some other comment sections, so I thought some serious nudging to keep things on track might be in order. Sorry if I was heavy handed.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:26 am
i think its super cool that you are all being so transparent about your race preparations, including the ups and downs. this is what makes this site such a useful resource for coaches and athletes to widen our range of experiences.
part of the challenge of competitive skiing in north america is the fact that the world cup scene seems so distant. skiers in scandinavia and europe arenèt necessarily faster, but there are more of them and that tightness from 1st to second to 3rd to 4th place carries all the way from the upper echelons down to well-developed club programs. reading about your racing success brings that possibility closer to all of our athletes. they are behind you because they want to be where you are right now.
good luck in the races in europe. looking forward to you crushing in canada.