By Gary Carlson
Hey cross-country skiers, don’t let the lack of snow, icy or warming mushy conditions in town keep you from coming up for a ski.
Conditions at the 100 Mile Nordics 99 Mile Ski Trails are quite different from town or 108 Mile.
We have a good snow base and I expect skiing will be good going into April.
Skiing in spring-like conditions is quite pleasant with warm temperatures and bright sunshine. However, keep a few things in mind.
When the weather conditions are like they have been the past couple of days with freezing temperatures at night and warming well above zero during the day, the best skiing tends to be late in the morning and on into the afternoon.
By then the snow has had a chance to soften up. Early in the morning the trails may be quite crusty and hard.
Waxable classic skis need to be waxed with universal klister. Klister is sticky but works very well in crusty or slushy conditions.
Applying it is not that messy once you’ve done it a couple times. For a video on applying klister check out this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byns41vgFcc.
Non-wax skis (fish scales) don’t need to be waxed, but will have better grip after the snow has softened a bit.
Gary Carlson is a member of the 100 Mile Nordics executive.