Looked up a pst I made ten years ago. Here's a cut and past:

Here's a list if some tips that might help some marathon skiers. The first
two I developed myself, but no doubt others have done the same.

1. Copy the ski race course profile and tape it to the top of your ski, or
shrink it and tape it to your pole,. Knowing where the hills, downslopes and
feeds are can help.

2. Carry your klister in a plastic bag under your hat. Works much better tha
aerosol klister which doesn't seem to last and requires a long dry time.

3. To keep your water bottle nipple from freezing, carry your water upside
down, and use cold water to fill the bottle. Hot water, I understand freezes
faster due to less desolved oxygen. [nb: this issue was discussed on the NG, and sceintists say it is not true that hot water freezes faster.]

4. Skip the first feed and use your own goodies. You'll pass a lot of skiers
and face better odds of not crashing due to another skier's mishap.

5. Cut your toe nails about 10 days before the race. I've suffered terribly
in some races, and bloodied my socks by either not cutting them, or cutting
them the night before and not testing the job.

6. If you need more kick, try switching your skis. Kick wax wears a lot
faster on the inside portion of the ski. Try to get to more then half way
into the race before you do it. (There are many wax hints for 50 km. plus,
and that could be another post in itself.... Harder wax inside, softer
outside is another wax tip.)


Gary Jacobson
Rosendale, NY