I got myself a pair of new skis yesterday! I’ve outgrown my waxless hybrids which have been an endless source of frustration this winter when I’ve had people skiing past me left and right just because they glide is so bad. Enough is enough! So yesterday I did what I hope was the last trip on the hybrids, while my new skis were getting prepared in the shop. If I needed any proof that the waxless skis are inferior, then it was when a girl skied past me without appearing to have much of a clue about the right skiing technique. But from now on, if anyone wants get past me, they have to earn that by hard work. On the other hand, maybe I will start missing the hybrids after a while, because if a lot of people still ski past me, then I can’t blame the skis any more!

Today was the first trip with the new skis. I thought I had the right technique but oh boy was I wrong. I was slipping like crazy, the skis just wouldn’t get hold! They are waxed properly (done in the shop, I still need to learn) but I just couldn’t put enough pressure on the ski to press it down so the grip wax would do its job. It can’t be that the skis are too hard for me, because the tension was carefully checked in the shop when I selected the pair. So… if the grip wax is correct and the tension is correct, what’s left? Me.

When I was going up the big hill from Bruksvallarna towards Walles, I discovered that in an uphill I don’t actually need to press down that hard to use the grip wax. It’s not called ”grip” for nothing – snow actually stuck to it if I just lifted my foot instead of gliding, so was able to more or less just walk up. Once on top of the hill, a few heavy kicks to get rid of the stuck snow and the glide was great again. And I mean great – as soon as the trail went down even a little, I just needed to stand on them and enjoy the ride!

The stretch through Össjödalen wasn’t particularly funny when I was fighting a head wind and slipping skis. At the Össjödalen cabin I half considered going back the same way, but then I decided, let’s stick to the original plan and ski to Ramundberget and then to Bruksvallarna. If the waxing is correct and the tension is right, then all I need is to figure out the technique so I need the kilometres to practice. I tried to remember all I’ve ever heard and read about classic cross-country skiing technique and by the time I was skiing in the valley, on a perfectly prepared track (the track on the tundra was mostly covered in wind blown snow), I was getting the hang of it. Or, I was over-doing it – I was pretty sore in the balls of my feet by the time I reached my car, for pushing down so hard with every kick.

In hindsight, I should’ve had the grip wax can with me so I could have applied it a bit more generously to at least temporarily solve the slipping problem. I need to speak with some experts to find out where the problem is – the ski tension, the wax or my technique. But I’m not going back to waxless in any case!