Canadian Ski Marathon

Next weekend (11th/12 of Feb.) is the Canadian Ski Marathon, that wacky
event from Ottawa to Montreal. I'm doing it this year and wondering if
others have any insight as to conditions and any survival strategies!
Should be character building and even fun.

The CSM is a riot - you'll love it! I've done it the past 2 years and it was a blast both times. You didn't specify whether you're doing the coureur du bois or just a few sections, but if you're doing the whole thing, just be sure to eat & drink lots, stop at every rest stop (not for long!) and keep a good pace, not too fast or slow. The first year I barely made the cutoff with about 8 minutes to spare ... I underestimated my pace and ended up having to race to make it.

Your conditions this year should be fine. I know last year was very bad for snow around that time but the trail was still good all in all (little icy and thin at times). This years trail should be much better ...hopefuly you'll get a little snow later in the week to soften things up.

good luck, and enjoy!!

Steve

Originally Posted by Stuart

Next weekend (11th/12 of Feb.) is the Canadian Ski Marathon, that wacky
event from Ottawa to Montreal. I'm doing it this year and wondering if
others have any insight as to conditions and any survival strategies!
Should be character building and even fun.

Stuart wrote:
Next weekend (11th/12 of Feb.) is the Canadian Ski Marathon, that wacky
event from Ottawa to Montreal. I'm doing it this year and wondering if
others have any insight as to conditions and any survival strategies!
Should be character building and even fun.


The trails will likely be track set well, where the terrain allows it,
which is well over 80%. They now have top-notch equipment and a very
experienced trail crew. The snow conditions are getting better daily
with fresh falls of snow and colder temps. However, prediction is a
hazardous business, esp. of CSM weather ;-)

Unless you're a downhill specialist, think about going conservatively
down the hills, there's lots of them, especially the 3rd section of the
second day this year. You can waste a lot of time, warmth, and
confidence if you take many falls. If one comes across a real 'a**
breaker' hill, there's no shame in walking, so long as one
considerately walks on the side and out of the way of the skiers.

My mental strategy is to only visualize doing the whole distance of the
CSM before the event, section by section, and memorize the time windows
I want to be at each checkpoint, and then visualize the finish. Once I
start, I avoid thinking about the finish: it's just too far away. I
keep my focus on skiing well, attacking the next hill, finishing the
section I'm on. I also focus on having a positive attitude that says
I'm here to enjoy the scenery and the occasion with a sense of
camaraderie, as well as challenging myself.

Do your best to rest this week and get lots of sleep. Try to get a
really good night's sleep on Thursday, since most likely you won't
on Friday. If you sleep at a dorm, I strongly suggest you take earplugs
and eye cover...

For me a backpack works better (than a fanny pack) on the CSM since it
allows one to take additional clothing (e.g. change of hat, mitts,
balaclava, and socks), food, etc. which may be needed, especially if
there is significant temperature variation over the approx. 18-20 hours
you'll be on the trail over the two days, assuming you're attempting
Coureur des Bois. Be careful not to overdo the weight of the gear you
carry though (I'd keep it less than 8 lb for Bronze C des B.) If we
get a cold snap, make sure your water bottle has an insulation layer
around it and get it filled with hot liquids at the checkpoints. A
headlamp for skiing in the early morning dark is useful. I'd provide
nutritional advice, but it's an emotional topic on this news group ;-)

Good luck, enjoy, and say hi if you go by me! I'll have CSM # 166 on
the back of my pack and I'll be alternately humming and whistling 'the
Girl from Ipanema' - can be most annoying if you follow me :-)

Parham.

has anyone done this thing (160 km?) in one day? On the web site, I
could not find the info (within 10 secs b4 my ADD took over) on whether
you have to drive between sections or whether it's one continous
stretch. If it's one stretch and if it's reasonably groomed, should be
doable in 16 hrs or so.

..

Not so far as I know. It is one continuous stretch, however there are a
couple of major issues: they often cannot do the final grooming of the
second day's sections until Saturday night/morning. Also, for safety
and support logistics, the organization of it which is all volunteer
based, a 16+ hour period has been considered infeasible, so far. There
has been quite a lot of talk about introducing the
one-day-whole-distance category over the years, so never say never.

Parham (CSM # 166)

wrote:
has anyone done this thing (160 km?) in one day? On the web site, I
could not find the info (within 10 secs b4 my ADD took over) on whether
you have to drive between sections or whether it's one continous
stretch. If it's one stretch and if it's reasonably groomed, should be
doable in 16 hrs or so.

People (OK, two or three orienteering world champions! :-) have skied
trackless mountains from Geilo to Kongsberg in less than 24 hours.

This is 140 km as the crow flies, supposedly over 200 km along the best
trail.

Several groups had attempted this feat, but failed, before a combination
of near-perfect conditions (skare during the Hardangervidda crossing)
and world-class athletes came together.

Terje

--
-
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

Looking like a sunny weekend with firm lake ice for the weekend...

http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/p..._metric_e.html

Be ready for some cold weather skiing, esp. for the early morning
start, with temps in the -8C to -21C range. Fast tracks and cold snow,
looks like a mainly green wax CSM ;-)

Good luck and have fun!

Parham (CSM# 166)

Hey there....

Is it looking green hard wax or klister?? By the way, have enjoyed your
previous posts very much!

All best,

Stuart

Hey Stuart,
For kick: It's going to be abrasive, but I'm estimating that it's not
pure klister conditions when we start in Gatineau/Buckingham judging by
the conditions in Gatineau Park. So, I'm ironing Toko green klister
binder, as my base binder (having roughed the kick area with 150 sand
paper first) I'm then leaving the skis outside for the klister to
harden, then I'm bringing them in and corking 5 thin layers of Toko
mint, or similar -10C&colder type of wax. Then I'm waiting to see what
the temperature ends up being early Saturday morning before corking on
the final 5 thin layers of wax. I'll be taking blue klister in my pack,
just in case...
For glide I'm using Toko -10C-30C LF Blue with X-Cold powder. Ironed,
scraped, and soft brass brushed out three times. Of course doing the
glide waxing, before I do the kick.

Hope it all works. But at least we don't have to worry about the lake
crossings now, eh ;-)

Parham (CSM#166)

Personally, I think walking around the lakes is very unsporting and I
intend to swim. It just seems the right thing to do , you know? I have
very good wax for the water too...

Thanks for the good advice. Will there be waxing benches/sites at the
Chateau? Last time I did i waxed before and just threw on grip. Now I'd
like to add some colder glide wax. I will probably go with Solda, a mix
of s30, their cold powder and hp5, a cold fl. Could be nippy out
there...

I love the Green Klister as base too. I used some, believe it or not,
when skiing the last 100 km to the North Pole. It was more like walking
on skis and draging sled than real skiing, but the stuff held amazingly
well, day after day.

Knock 'em dead out there1! Hope to see ya...


Best,

Stuart