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Ski Training Secrets from the WildSnow Cave

by WildSnoGirl September 16, 2013
written by WildSnoGirl September 16, 2013

Screening upcoming ski flicks has definitely stoked us to get in shape for ski touring season. One evening we took a break and watched the original 1966 Batman movie. Highly recommended! It inspired Lou to dive into his cave and cobble together a weapon to defeat his archenemy, the despicable Senectitude. Robin and Batman dropped by to observe.

Robin: “Holy heart failure, Batman!”

Batman: “He may be a backcountry skier, Robin, but he’s still a human being. Who knows, this strange mixing of mechanical monomania may be the greatest single service ever performed for humanity! Let’s go, but, inconspicuously, through the window. We’ll use our Batropes. Our job is finished.”

Esteemed WildSnow reader, Arnie, sent in the photos, below, of his rolling trainers:

Side view of Arnie's tool.

Side view of Arnie’s tool.

Arnie training tool.

Arnie training tool.

WildSnoGirl

WildSnow Girl is our pseudonym for gal posters who wish to remain anonymous, or use another name just for fun. Used for female oriented backcountry blog posts at Wildsnow.com, and also general subjects covered by WildSnow girls.

www.wildsnow.com
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27 comments

TimZ September 16, 2013 - 8:46 am

HAHA, no you didn’t mount tech toes to a fitness machine!

Ali E September 16, 2013 - 9:49 am

Hah, brilliant! What is that machine, I need one!?

Lisa Dawson September 16, 2013 - 10:25 am

You might be able to catch Catwomen now.

Joe Risi September 16, 2013 - 10:32 am

Praise ULLR! This is amazing!

Where is Duck Robin?

brad September 16, 2013 - 11:24 am

Tech toes on the elliptical, that is… just… COMPLETELY AWESOMELY GENIUS!! Hurry and patent that idea, before the NordicTrack folks beat you to it!

palic September 16, 2013 - 4:45 pm

😀 perfect! I would like to have such a system in my living room. I have just only expected much cooler green Dynafit TLT6 shoes 🙂

kyle tyler September 16, 2013 - 5:55 pm

OK—got me for a minute — put them on some old ski roller skis and you get to have some real fun—up hill on new pavement is like a new tracker skin on your skis and coming down puts a whole new definition to ” No Fall Zone “–thanks for the laugh !

Lou Dawson September 16, 2013 - 6:22 pm

Glad you guys are enjoying! Was fun creating the machine and vid. Seriously, it’s a fairly decent workout for skinning, but could be a bit more specific. Beyond that, can you think of anything better for a boot fitting shop? I’ll be using it myself to fit the TLT Six Shooters.

George September 16, 2013 - 9:21 pm

Holy Bats^!t Batman that is cheating!
How will the Joker hang on the uphill skiing?

Frame September 16, 2013 - 10:57 pm

Did you mount on the line of a few inches back?
Inserts or just drill straight in?

I’m 4 ft 11 and 240 pounds, should i dial up my RV all the way to avoid pre-release?

Arnie September 17, 2013 - 5:08 am

Kyle a bit like this? …Lou, how do you add photos?

Lou Dawson September 17, 2013 - 6:09 am

Arnie, if you need a photo in a blog comment, please email it to us. See contact link in menu above. Lou

Lisa Dawson September 17, 2013 - 7:41 am

Arnie’s photos are added to the end of the blog post.

Jay September 17, 2013 - 7:58 am

I have to buy my boots. Want too many snow cycles to use for only exercise shoes!
Cute though!

Lou Dawson September 17, 2013 - 8:06 am

Arnie, how well do the brakes work?

Pablo September 17, 2013 - 10:05 am

Wow! Arnie’s training guns are awesome!!
Would like to try them!

Maybe Arnie can make an invitational special post about how they work…..

Arnie September 17, 2013 - 1:18 pm

Lou,
The brake is simply a lever which acts directly onto the tyre. It’s held upright by a spring and in classic or skate it’s just there out of the way. When you want to slow down you advance the brake ski which pushes the lever back and it’s easy to keep balanced. They’ve got speed reducers on the front which add resistance and can be used as brakes. I’ve done some fairly long descents though nothing to steep, you can also snowplough after a fashion. They’re jenex V2 aeros, designed for xc practice, all I’ve done is mount dynafits instead of xc binding. Their website has some good stuff, Powerslide now do something similar.
Cheers for publishing them esteemed reader indeed!;)

Rob BJ September 17, 2013 - 3:31 pm

I see another brand around called skrikes that are designed for nordic trainimg. Also have ratchet gears for uphill and a brake system but dont require a ski boot of any kind and wheels will ride over rough ground like crushed rock so good for bike trails.

Greg September 17, 2013 - 9:53 pm

Rob – I can’t find those online, you know where those could be found?
Lou – Kind of wish I had my parent’s old Nordic track, it’d be interesting to see how well dynafits mounted on those boards 😀

Rob BJ September 18, 2013 - 5:30 am

Sorry Greg…Typo.. They are called Skikes.

Mitch R. September 19, 2013 - 7:52 pm

Annie:

I done a lot of roller skiing and have a couple of pairs, but have never thought of mounting downhill gear on them. You are definitely thinking outside of the box!

But, I can’t see the benefit of downhill training with your intriguing set up.

Can you parallel turn with them? Please tell us about how you train with them or are you just fooling with us to get us all worked up? 🙂

Thank you.

Gregg: if you want a Nordic track, check out Craigslist, where people can’t give those things away.

Greg September 23, 2013 - 7:17 pm

Ended up getting a nordic track from a neighbor’s garage sale for $20, now I just need a spare pair of dynafit toe pieces to mount on them, anybody have any leads on that? 😀

Lou Dawson September 24, 2013 - 6:44 am

Greg, if you do end up mounting binding toes on machine, you might find you need to do what we did, which was to mount the bindings in oversized holes on a rubber pad, so the binding flexes and moves a tiny bit. We found that screwing the binding tightly to the machine was too rigid of a connection and could possibly cause some repetitive motion injury. I only allowed a tiny bit of movement, but it seems to be enough to make it feel much more like being on skis with climbing skins. Lou

Mitch R. September 24, 2013 - 7:00 am

This thread has me viewing my old Nordic Track in a new light! Thank you.

Arnie September 24, 2013 - 1:36 pm

Mitch,
I don’t use them for “downhill” training although I do sometimes come back down on them! My original idea was more with breaking boots in, even with thermo forms I need time on my feet to get used to my boots again, after a summer in sandals they feel like feet coffins. I used to just go hiking but wanted something a bit more specific, I found references to roller ski training on camp2camp (mostly in French) and took it that bit further.
I have a few sessions/options: there’s a cycle track nearby which is fairly flat so do longish(60-90min) slow stuff concentrating on drills and technique, the downside of the set up is “perfect kick”, no matter where your weight you will get traction.
Then there’s also a couple of resevoirs in the hills behind my house with access roads of various steepness, so there’s a short, steep or a longer, shallower hill rep session which is where the speed reducers/brake/snowplough get used as I hurtle past the dog walkers. Tip..attach bike bell to a pole.
I also have some skikes which are just strap on skates really..not that specific but great fun…and if it’s bad there’s always the Nordic track or the turbo trainer.
Add in a couple of circuit training or gym sessions, a swim or two, and a long bike ride or ski gang (walking with poles)..sounds like a training plan. Bring on the snow.

Mitch R. September 24, 2013 - 3:00 pm

Arnie:

Thank you for the explanation. I thought that you were using them like a downhill grass ski and was very impressed!

I certainly like your Nordic track idea.

Thanks again for the post.

Mitch

Geewilligers January 16, 2017 - 10:20 am

Lou,

How has this setup stood up to the test of time? Do you still find yourself using it/would you recommend it to others?

Many thanks,

Raff

Comments are closed.

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