race team Telemark

New Ski Season Ski Marking

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Athletes and parents Team Telemark’s race season starts in under 3 weeks.

  • For athletes planning on attending the National Championships at Sovereign lake there is a 99.9% chance you will need Klister skis. Klister skis are specialized with a higher camber to allow grip and glide in the soft snow.

Please ensure that classic ski grip zones are marked clearly.  This makes wax techs happy, especially those with old eyes…plus you run the risk of not having optimal grip and glide!  More importantly you do not want a grumpy wax tech that can’t find your ski markings…

If your skis are new to you, you have grown and/or gained weight, please use wax remover and a cloth or fibertex to remove ALL the old wax marks and any name other than the present athlete.

Once the skis are clean or if they are new then grip zones need identified.

Here is what we expect:

  • The athletes name clearly marked on the skis.
  • Whether the skis are Hardwax or Klister skis.  If you only have one pair then don’t worry about this.
Mark either Hardwax or Klister if you have both kinds of skis.
For our athletes with multiple pairs of skis an identifier on the skis (i.e. the last 3 digits of the serial number) written on the tips of the skis.

Go to your friendly neighbourhood ski store and ask them to help you mark your skis using a pressure gauge with the following procedure.

  1.  For the front grip zone: Apply 50%  body weight 8cm behind the balance point.  Use feeler gauges to mark .05mm, .1mm, .2mm, .3mm and .4mm on the skis.  These can be marked as .5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 beside the vertical mark.
  2. For the rear grip zone; Apply 66% of body weight 15cm behind the balance point.  Use feeler gauges to mark .05, .1mm, .2mm, .3mm and .4mm on the skis.  These can be marked as .5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 beside the vertical mark

Mark the skis grip zones with either a black or silver sharpie (for dark sidewalls).  It is an athlete’s responsibility to remark the lines if they are removed due to cleaning with wax remover (especially after a klister day).  

Ski wax zones clearly marked, making wax techs happy happy.
(BTW these are klister skis so the .3 mark is highlighted)

Marking the top sheet of the ski is a great idea to help remark the sidewall of the ski if they get worn off.

If you have any questions or need help be sure to ask one of your coaches! I know for a fact Head coach Adam loves marking skis…