Thursday, March 10, 2005

reveries - marketing insights and ideas

reveries - marketing insights and ideas

I have been getting the Reveries Cool News of the Day free newsletter for years. 3 quick stories from the world of marketing, often culled first thing in the morning from leading newspapers. Quick read and always informative.

Monday, March 07, 2005

Classic XC Ski Race, aging athletes, and the power of the Internet to remove some of the mysteries of waxing

This past Sunday I raced a cross country ski race for the first time in about 20 years.
The race was the 50km Great Glen to Bretton Woods Nordic Adventure http://www.greatglentobrettonwoods.com/. Spectacular course which included 2 climbs of 500 and 1500 vertical feet with fast smooth downhills and some great views of Mount Washington before the snow started to fall. The Ibex Breakawy jacket (see my winter gear reviews below) was fantastic as with temperatures in the mid 20's, with long long sweaty climbs followed by very long fast downhills. I was always comfortable.

XC skiing is a great sport for aging athletes and particularily runners whose knees etc... can't take the pounding. I was amazed at the performance of the over 40 athletes including some of my old Dartmouth friends who out raced most of the youngsters!

Now to the waxing... XC ski waxing and particularily kick waxing has always been a mystery and a challenge. It still is but there is now lots of help. Internet weather sites and online wax wizards such as www.swixschool.no which will, with easy simple videos, show you how to prepare skis as well as another another swix page http://www.swixsport.com/waxwizard.asp?Lang=ENG&Sport=1 which will, based on the temperatures and humidity you found on the weather sites, give you specific instructions on which glide and kick waxes to use.