How to trim skimo race skins!

There are two ways of ordering your skins, pre cut with the tip attachment installed or off a bulk roll with no tip attachment and not cut to shape. Buying mohair skin material off a bulk roll is normally quite a bit cheaper. Although bulk rolls of skin material are not common in North America, they may still be found. I'm going to walk you through how to prepare bulk skin material into skimo race skins.

Step 1) Order your preferred brand of mohair skin material. Three metres will do one set of race skis. I normally use 60mm or 62mm width.

Step 2) Cut your three metres of skin material in half.

Step 3) Make a trimming template. The trimming template helps you keep the tip dimensions the same on both of your skins. There's no exact science for making one, just copy the picture below!

Bulk skin material on the left, trimming template on the right.

Step 4) Trace the outline of the trimming template on the glue side of the skins.

Step 5) Cut off the extra skin material from the tip. Before cutting double check that you are putting the tip attachment on the right end of the skin. Think - is the finished skin going to glide in the intended direction?

Step 6)  Using a thick plastic that can withstand freezing temperatures, make two circle shaped stoppers (about the size of a toonie). Drill a small hole in the centre of the stopper just large enough for two strands of elastic cord to pass through.

Step 7) Fold over the narrow portion at the tip of the skin and sew it back to its self.

Step 8) Thread a piece of elastic cord through the loop at the tip of the skins. Slide the plastic stopper onto the elastic and tie a knot just above it. Tie another knot near the ends of the elastic cords. You've now finished constructing the tip attachment. When your skins are installed on your skis, the plastic stopper sits on the top of your ski to keep the cord from sliding through the notch on your skis. 

Step 9) Fit the skins on your race skis and trim them to length - any place between the heel attachment of your binding and a few centimetres from the tail of your ski will work. When trimming the ends of the skins, remember to round the corners of your skins to keep them from peeling off during your kick.

Step 10) Get outside and test them out!

This is one way of building race skins. Everyone has his or her own way of doing it, and you will have to experiment to find something that works for you. 

My South American Ski Trip - in photos!

I just got back from South America - what a great place to do some spring ski mountaineering! Here are a few photos from the trip. I will be posting some short trip reports from some of my favourite ski days in the coming months.

Looking off the back side of Cerro Catedral on the way to
Refugio Frey.

Lots of fun ski touring to be had from Refugio Frey.

Emilio holding the fort down.

The German town centre of Bariloche, Argentina.

Next, off to Chile!

First stop was Volćan Puyhue with its lack of snow.

A change of plans and we were off to
Volćan Villarrica and its steaming crater. 

Weather moved in on Volćan Villarrica
just as we finished skiing it.

Aimee on the way up Volćan Llaima in the early morning
light.

Lots of wind affected snow on Llaima.

Aimee skiing off the top of Volćan Llaima
in high winds and on styrofoam snow.

Volćan Llaima after a successful ski descent.

Monkey Puzzle trees grow all around
the lower slopes of Llaima.

Nothing breaks up long drives through Argentina like
feeding roadside animals.

There was not a lot of snow left around Bariloche
by the time we got back from Chile.

So we did lots of walking with skis on our backpacks...

But there was still some fun skiing at López Trees.
Can you tell?

Looking down on the town of El Bolsón
from the top of Cerro Piltriquitron.

Home-brewed beers at Refugio Piltriquitron after a fun run
down from the summit.

What the end to another great day in Argentina looks like.

Time to say goodbye and walk back to the road.
 I wish this guy could come with me.

We found a fun race for the last day of skiing in SA. 

Now that's what you call being in the pain cave!

The long trip home started with a 20 hour bus ride,
 but it all went well.

What an amazing place, I will be back!

Skimo Speaker Weekend in Squamish!

Get more info at Skintrack.com

Fall Ski Mountaineering training

With the ski season on its way, here are a few things I do to get ready.

Improving your uphill

Trail running is one of my favorite types of cross training for ski touring. Other than roller skiing, it most closely mimics the muscle groups used during ski touring. Long runs (3 hours or more) are ideal, but there's no need to start there. A few things that you can do to build up to long runs are
1) do a long 3 hour workout, but power hike the hills and run the flats and downhills; or
2) if this is still too much, go for a long hike with poles and push hard on all the uphills.

As you get stronger start running the flats and downhills and with some persistence you will get strong enough to run everything.


A tempo run once a week to work your top end is also a good idea. My favourite way of getting a good tempo workout in is racing. Doing some trail races in the fall will keep you motivated by giving you a short term goal to work towards and provide a good tempo work out at the same time.

Improving your downhill

A good strength class two to three times a week will go a long way towards to strengthening your legs and core, helping you have your best ski season ever. With stronger legs and core you will be able to ski longer runs without having to take breaks as often and you will be able to ski faster in variable conditions without crashing. My favourite place to train is Challenge By Choice. The advantages of going to a class are that you push harder in a group, the trainer will set up a class that is well balanced and works your whole body, and the trainer will make sure you are using proper form. Remember that you do not just need strength - you need strength endurance. Lower weight and higher reps are key.

If you put in some hard work this fall you will be rewarded with the fitness to push a little harder and be the first one to the top of the great powder run or the get in that extra lap at the end of the day. Get out there and get after it!

Summer update

Since I am going to be focusing on some other types of skiing rather than just skimo racing next winter, I have been able to be little more flexible with my training program this summer. Here are a few pictures from some of the longer trips I have went on this summer.

My longest trip this summer was accompanying my Dad and cousin for the first week of their ride across Canada. I spent a week riding with them and when I reached the Kootenays I turned around and started riding home.

Hwy #3 has some great vistas!

Danny with the first flat tire of the trip.

Paulson Summit, one of the many pass on Highway 3

Another fun trip I had was to Rogers Pass. I have spent some time skiing there in the winter but I haven't spent much time there during the summer. My wife and I climbed Uto Peak and then we climbed the NW Ridge of Sir Donald with our friends Michelle and Nick. We also did some trail running, and when the weather changed we headed home.

Making my way up Uto Peak.

Aimee and I on the top of Uto with Mount Sir Donald NW Ridge
in the back ground.

Making my way up Mount Sir Donald's NW Ridge.

Nick and Michelle looking for the easiest way down the NW Ridge.

The left skyline is the NW Ridge of Sir Donald and the route we climbed.

Beautiful trails for running in Glacier National Park.

I have been running lots this summer around Squamish and have entered a few trail races this year. The first was Loop The Lakes, right here in Squamish, where I was just able to hold off Nick Elson, a great runner and friend, to win. The second was the Kusam Klimb in Sayward BC. In that race I was no match for Nick's downhill speed and placed second behind him. The latest was the 23km at the  Squamish 50, which you can read about here.

Ski season will be starting in September for me this year (surprise!), so stay tuned to see where my next adventure will take me.

Squamish 50

Accepting my award from the race director
 Gary Robbins.

Last weekend I ran the 23km race at the Squamish 50 and had a great time. The race started at Quest University above Squamish, which is an amazing place to start a race with its great views, and ended in downtown Squamish by the farmer's market and all the atmosphere it brings. It is a pretty challenging course with 1000m of elevation gain over 23km on very technical trails.

When race started I was in the front pack right off the bat. I was trying to go out slow and ease into the race because I was anticipating it being about 2 hours long. But that did not last long, as a fast looking guy in a yellow shirt pulled up beside me and started pushing the pace. All I could think was that he seemed strong and that he was probably an experienced road racer. Once we hit the trails I was in front again, and by the time we hit the downhill after the first aid station I was by myself. This was 4.5 kms into the race and I would race by myself for the rest of the race.

The hardest part of the race for me (mentally) was the last 2.5km of flat running at the end of the race. I seldom run on flats because I do not find it very interesting and so I really have to work hard to keep my legs turning over. I ended up finishing in about 1:51, which was under my 2hr goal time. I think that I could have ran faster - it's hard to put down a really fast time without someone there to push you. A race where you have to fight to the end to win is also much more rewarding.

Results can be found here. Congratulations to Adam Campbell, who won the 50 mile race, and Eric Carter, who won the 50km race. Both of these guys are friends, and we all attended a pre-race pasta party at Eric's house the evening before the race. I think that Eric should cook for us more often!

A look at the last 4 weeks: Part 3 - Redemption

Whoops! I thought this got posted months ago. Well, here it is now. I have an exciting ski trip in the works so stay tuned for news on that! My blog has not been that active the last few months, but you can always get updates here and here. 

Part 3: Redemption

Photo courtesy of Lake Louise Ski area

After a few days of rest I headed off to Lake Louie for the Ken Jones Classic. It was both the final race of the season for me and the final race of the 2012-2013 Canadian circuit. With the start of the race at 8:00am, I was up at 5:00am to eat and get to the pre-race meeting. The temperature was eerily reminiscent of the Jackson Hole race in January, -20 without the wind chill. Right off the start race Eric, Peter and I were testing each other with small accelerations, and unlike the Dogtooth Dash the weekend before I was feeling fast.

Elite Men's podium - Ken Jones Classic
(Peter, me, Eric, Stano)

The race was lots of fun with great descents on steep terrain and well-set skin tracks. The three of us stuck together all the way to the end of the last climb, when I was able to put a gap into Peter and Eric. I finished first, followed closely by Peter and Eric. It was a close race! Check out a great race report here.

Following the race I headed up to the Columbia Icefield for some skiing. The first night my friend Marc and I slept in the parking lot in anticipation of our trip. We left early the next morning with the goal of making it to a spot on the Icefield commonly referred to as "The Trench". This is a common spot to spend the night before trying to summit Mount Columbia. We had a clear skies, but two -20 nights with no sleep took their toll and we did not summit. Other contributing factors were our lack of boot crampons and motivation. So after two days on the icefield, we skied out and went our separate ways.

Skiing off the Columbia and on to the
Athabasca Glacier

What an amazing winter of racing it has been! I have learnt so much about training and know that I have so much more to learn. There is something very fulfilling in working towards being the best you can be at something you love.
The journey to find my full potential is just beginning and this keeps me moving forward. Thank you to Millet, Julbo, my wonderful coach Jen Segger, my very understanding wife Aimee, and my great team members for all their help along the way. It's time to start working towards World Championships in 2015! But first it's time for spring skiing! Find something you love and start working towards your full potential.

Just hanging out on the Columbia with my best friend.
That's what skiing is all about!