Michael's Domain

The fact that everything looks different doesn't mean that all has changed

Cross- and backcountry skiing around Utsjoki/Kevo

This page is intended to provide basic information for the first time skier.

Links to sites with information about the Utsjoki/Kevo national park
Basic Ski Techniques
- Classical vs. Freestyle
- Track vs. Off-track Skiing
Equipment
Waxing
Map of Utsjoki/Kevo and surroundig

Links to sites with information about the Utsjoki/Kevo national park

Finnish Ministry of Forestry

University of Turku (the maintainer of the Utsjoki/Kevo Subarctic Research and Weather Station)

Basic Ski Techniques

Classical vs. Freestyle

Two skiing techniques are used in cross country skiing: the classical (or traditional) style and the skating (freestyle) technique.

Classical is the traditional parallel stride technique that requires a predominantly diagonal stride or double poling. Classical style skiers must keep both skis parallel to the tracks except on bends or steep climbs where the herringbone or step turn is allowed. Classical technique is also the principal technique for off-track skiing.

Free or freestyle technique uses any ski technique including diagonal but usually is a variety of skating techniques. This requires pushing off diagonally from the inside edge of the weight-bearing ski. The technique is thought to have been first used by an East German skier; Gerhard Grimmer in 1971.

The skating style normally requires a wider trail that is packed down but may not have any tracks set in it. On occasion, the right conditions occur naturally and you can skate in many areas besides set trails.

What is the difference between skiing on packed trails and just skiing anywhere?

Depending on the snow conditions there can be a HUGE difference in terms of speed and glide between skiing on packed trails and skiing "off-track". Skiing around Kevo is off-track skiing. Off-track ski conditions are up to the weather and any previous skiers.

Sometimes you may have a beautiful experience with previously "skied-in" tracks or, particularly in the Spring, you may get to experience cruising on frozen "crust" stretching to the horizon. On the downside, off-track skiing can feature numerous obstacles (downed trees, swollen rivers, rock fields, etc.) and very inconsistent snow quality (everything from ice to 10 feet of powder).

There are no "packed surfaces" around Kevo. Packed surfaces are those tracks you find around skiing centers and which you can see used for competitions. A machine called "snow groomer" presses two grooves in the snow for the Classic skiers and to packs a nice flat "road" about 2-4 meters wide for the Skate skiers. The groomer also usually has a tiller which works the track just like a farming tiller working the soil. Tilling the snow breaks up ice and hard packed snow and leaves a great skiing surface even when the surrounding snow is virtually unskiable. On packed surfaces your skis will glide much further and with classic tracks, you actually have two grooved channels to follow. The only somehow "packed surfaces" you encounter around Kevo are the tracks made by locals using Skidoos (motor sledges).

But who wants packed tracks? At least half the fun in off-track skiing is in "breaking trail" to a certain destination, where nobody has been before (since last snow fall).

Be advised that off-track skiing or "touring" can be pretty tough work in deep snow and in hilly terrain. Make sure you have mastered basic techniques and feel comfortable in a outdoor winter environment before tackling any ambitious tour.

Equipment

How complicated are the equipment requirements? To go skiing you will absolutely need the following:

Skis with bindings attached
Poles
Boots

Skis

Skis can either be waxless/non-wax skis (meaning you just put them on and go) or wax skies. Waxless skis have a profile engraved into the bottom side of the center part of the ski whereas wax skies are flat on their downside apart from a central groove. The difference is schematically shown in Figure 1. Waxless skies are a little bit slower than correctly waxed wax skies, but they are much easier to use. Wrongly waxed skis are much slower than waxless skis!!! More information on waxing is available in the Waxing section. Skip it if you have non-wax skis.

Wax skies.

Waxless skies.

Figure 1.

LENGTH OF THE SKIS:

The thumb rule for the length
of the skies (applies to Classic
style skiing): As long as you
stretching your arm. Skis for
skating should be around 20 cm
shorter than classic skis.

Poles

LENGTH OF THE POLES:

Classic poles should be approximately 35 cm shorter than the skier. Skating poles are longer than the classic poles by 10-20 cm. The change came about because skating requires a stronger involvement with the upper body (40-60% of the push comes from upper body, compared to 10-20% for classic).

Boots

There are three major systems on the market which are mutually incompatible: 75 mm Nordic Norm, SNS Profile and NNN II. Other systems can still be found, mainly the (old) SNS and (old) NNN. Your boot has to be from the same system as the binding. The list starts with the ancient (but still widely used) 75-mm Nordic Norm and ends with the today mostly preferred SNS Profile norm:

System	aka	Description
Three-pin systems
75 millimeter Nordic Norm	NN (= Nordic Norm), Three-pin 75mm	A still very common type of binding, it usually consists of a metal or plastic plate that the front of the boot fits into; three holes in front of the toe fit over three pins on the plate, and the top of the plate (or a thick wire) locks down to hold the toe in place.
50 millimeter binding		obsolete
38 millimeter binding		obsolete
Integral systems
NNN (= New Nordic Norm)	standard NNN, old NNN	The three holes in front of the boot toe are replaced by a horizontal metal rod (pivot) which is locked into the binding by a lever. The NNN system has the pivot in front of the boot and looks therefore similar to the SNS system. Not popular anymore.
SNS (Salomon Nordic System)	old SNS	Like NNN. Not popular anymore.
SNS Profile	Salomon Profile	Nowadays it's the standard. It is similar to NNN or SNS, but has the pivot point under the toes rather than in front of the boot. It has one central groove in the boot bottom, that fits into the ridge of the binding.
NNN II (= New Nordic Norm 2)		Looks essentially like SNS Profile (also has the pivot point under the toes rather than in front of the boot. Unlike SNS Profile NNN II has two heel-to-toe grooves in the boot that correspond to to the two ridges of the binding.

The 75 mm Nordic Norm

75 mm Nordic Norm boot.	75 mm Nordic Norm boot attached to binding.
75 mm Nordic Norm boot seen from the bottom. Note the three small holes which serve to accommodate three pins from the binding to fix and align the boot properly.	75 mm Nordic Norm binding.

The NNN Norm (New Nordic Norm)

NNN boot. Note the metal loop sticking out at the front of the boot that is used to fix the boot to the binding.

NNN binding (without ski).

The SNS Norm (Solomon Nordic System)

SNS boot. Note the metal loop sticking out at the front of the boot that is used to fix the boot to the binding.

SNS boot attached to its binding.

The SNS Profile Norm

SNS Profile boot.	SNS boot attached to binding.
SNS boot seen from the bottom. The boot is attached to the binding via a metal bolt, that is flush-fitted into the boot. The difference to the SNS and NNN norm is, that the metal pivot of the SNS and NNN boot sticks out at the front of the boot and takes the form of a metal loop. Additionally the SNS boot has a pronounced central groove complementary to the ridge of the binding.	SNS binding.

Apart from the system boots differ by the cut. Boots for skiing in the classical style are low cut to provide more freedom of movement and skating boots are high cut, more similar to alpine boots, to provide greater ankle support.

Low cut boot. Primarily for classical style skiing.

High cut boot. Primarily for skating style skiing.

Waxing

There are 2 major types of wax: grip wax (used to provide grip on the center part of the classic ski) and glide wax (used on the ends of classic skis and the full length of the freestyle technique ski. Glide wax can be and is often omitted since the untreated surface of a ski glides generally well.

Proper wax testing requires 6-8 support staff to test 40 to 50 grip and glide wax combinations before a World Class classic race. Fuck it! You anyway won't be able to carry around 100 wax types, so let's concentrate on what is feasible for the occasional skier (I see the experts getting a heart attack). There is hard wax (which you buy as cylindrical blocks) and almost liquid klister wax (which you buy in a tube like toothpaste). Forget about the wax in tubes. It is a mess to work with and you don't really need it, at least not in Lapland (you usually need it for snow that became extremely amorphous by repeatedly thawing and freezing). The wax comes in different colors to indicate for what conditions they are suitable for. Wax for higher temperatures is softer than one for lower temperatures. The problem with the colors is that they apply to norm conditions. This means that the snow has freshly fallen and that the air humidity is between 60 and 70%. That is mostly not the case. Snow is aging and the snow crystals loose their sharpness, therefore older snow requires softer wax to maintain the grip. The table below shows the system.

Color	Temperature range
Green	-12°C to -6°C
Blue	-8°C to -1°C
Purple	around 0°C
Red	+1°C to +5°C
Yellow	+1°C to +5°C (wet snow)

Most companies offer a more fine-tuned assortment of waxes then the one shown in the table, but it follows always the same coloring scheme.

If you have chosen the wrong wax two things can happen to you:

You don't have enough grip. You glide well but you glide back as well as you glide forward. This means that your wax is too hard. You should try a softer wax, e.g. purple instead of blue.
You have too much grip, the ski is sticky. Pieces of snow stick to it if you lift it. Your wax is too soft. Try a harder wax, e.g. blue instead of purple.

How do I wax? Equipment required: Rag, wax remover, plastic scraper.

First you must get last year's crud and wax off! Clean skis glide better! If the bottoms are reasonably clean, a rag and wax remover may be enough. If you find old wax on the skis, you'll have to use a plastic scraper first.
Then smooth the bottoms: If the gouges are not too deep: polish with fine sandpaper, followed by a Scotch Brite scouring pad. Work in a tip-to-tail direction. Clean with wax remover. Deep craters can be filled in with a special paraffin, but it's not for a beginner.
Wax the skis. Crayon a THIN layer of grip wax onto the middle area (see picture). Smooth it with a cork, or better yet, use an iron. Let cool and scrape off the excess. You will need to wax again as the wax tears off with use.

At first it seems like magic: The ski has to glide very well, but at the same time should give you a good grip. This is achieved by applying grip wax only to the center part of the ski. The bottom of the ski is not flat, but the center part is elevated relative to to ground. In the pushing phase all the weight of your body presses this part into the snow. The snow crystals interlock with the wax and that's why you don't glide back. In the gliding phase the center part of the ski has only marginal contact with the ground. This force is not enough for the snow to press its crystals deeply into the wax layer and you are gliding. Ideally you should have a ski that is suitable for your body weight. If you're an anorectic supermodel, you'll never get grip with a ski that is made for a normal person! The crucial part of the interlocking ice crystals explains the mystery of wrong waxing in spite of using the "correct" temperature wax. The ice crystals are very sharp when they are new and interlock easy with the wax. If they get older, they loose their sharpness and they fail to interlock with the same wax. Now you have to use a softer wax to compensate for that.