Cross Country Skiing with Lee Borowski... I believe there are Simple Secrets to Skiing

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Note: Scroll down for short ski videos or to see more video clips of recent World Cup trends, click the Master Skier Articles Link on the sidebar.

Note: Scroll down for recent joint replacement feedback.

 Wisconsin Legislature Passes Extended Hunting Seasons
Fortunately, no hunting is allowed in the Lapham Peak Unit but wear your blaze orange if you plan on skiing over the Christmas week in the South Kettle. Click here for the complete deer hunting seasons in the Chronic Wasting Disease zones.

DNR Recommends Extended Hunting Seasons
The Natural Resources Board passed all parts of the extended hunting season. (See below for details.) Now, contacting legislators is the only way to prevent deer hunting on the sking, hiking and mountain biking trails during the prime outdoor season for these activities. How to contact your state legislator.

History of Hunting Proposals

This winter, in relative obscurity, a hunting committee was formed to make suggestions to solve the chronic wasting disease (CWD) problem in the deer herd of southern Wisconsin.  This group, under the Wildlife wing of the DNR, came up with some solutions.  But unfortunately, it did not get any input from the other user groups or even other arms of the DNR.  In addition to the traditional archery and Thanksgiving hunts, the following were proposed.

*Early firearm season:  Antlerless-only, October 16-19 
*10-day muzzleloader-only season:  December 1-10 
*Late firearm season:  Antlerless-only, December 11-14 
*Holiday firearm season:  Antlerless-only, December 26-January 4

I hope you agree that it would be very disturbing and dangerous to allow gun hunting for deer during the Christmas to New Years holiday and a foolhardy solution to chronic wasting disease... not to mention a selfish proposal that gives no consideration to other forest users.

The DNR Board meeting, on whether to approve or reject this proposal, is in Madison on April, 23rd. It is now too late to get on the agenda but board members can still be contacted before the meeting. How to contact DNR Board members.

For more information refer to the May, 2008 issue of Silent Sports or go to Lapham Peak Snowmaking.

Enhancement to the May, 2008 Q&A.

More Joint Replacement Feedback

Two more joint replacement responses came in since the last posting. The first is about a 77 year old skier, Bill E Reifenrath, who had very successful knee surgery. The second is an amazing story of of a barefoot waterskier, Jay Gilpin, who destroyed his hip while still in his 20s. Now at age 48, he is an avid crosscountry skier. But the beating he gave his hip after the first surgery is incredible, yet his replaced hip is still working very well. Note: Not a story for the squeamish.
Joint Replacement Feedback

Enhancement to the March, 2008 Q&A.

When I asked for feedback from skiers with joint replacements, I only expected a few replys. However, there were so many responses that there was much more material than I could adequately cover in a magazine article. Overall, the feedback was so positive that skiers with joint problems did not have to contemplate giving up skiing and biking as their joints wore out. And, as a skier with some knee deterioration myself, I knew those suffering would welcome all the information they could get. To read all the feedback, click below, but I'm warning you, get prepared for a long reading session or two.
Joint Replacement Feedback

The Future of Joint Repair without Surgery The following article gives a hint of what may lie ahead for younger skiers.
Self Healing Joints

The following just came in and I felt it is worth the special treatment, as it shows the progress in joint surgery. I met Joel (Patenaude) last week at Standing Rocks and he was nice enough to chat for a bit.  He told me about the upcoming article - thanks a lot for doing this for us bionic people.  Seriously, I would expect to be crippled by now if it wasn't for modern technology.  Since we corresponded, my youngest brother went in for the latest in joint therapy, hip resurfacing.  It is supposed to be much better for younger, active people.  My brother is 51 and a 1 handicap golfer.  In this technique, the ball joint on the femur is reduced in diameter and a synthetic ball is slipped over the end of the bone instead of cutting off the end of the femur and inserting the prothesis into the bone shank.  The socket technique is the same as regular joint replacement. His recovery has been MUCH faster than mine - he was doing stairs with a cane a week out of the hospital where I was 6 weeks on crutches.  We'll see what it has done for his golf game, though.
Dennis Sheehan

Enhancement to the February, 2008 Q&A.

In this issue we looked at modifications that almost all skiers must make to survive the long climbs of the Birkebeiner. These technique modifications are seldom seen on the World Cup tour as elite skiers are so strong, that even the hills of the Birkie would not slow them down much. However this season some of the early World Cup races featured climbs so long and steep that even the best were forced to adapt... and even resort to the dreaded flying herrinbone (diagonal V). And that is a boon, as they offer excellent visualization in the exact strokes used by the citizen racers of the Birkie. Note: Click on Master Skier Articles in the left sidebar for many additional sequences illustrating different aspects of technique - including more on upright skiing.

  • The following sequence was from this year's Tour de Ski Men's final, the 10K puruit at Val di Fiemme, January 1, 2008.
    a. Quicktime
    c. Windows Media Player
  • This is Lucas Bauer on the last climb of the Tour de Ski Men's final, which he won, where he exhibits the V-1 under steep conditions.
    a. Quicktime
    c. Windows Media Player
  • As good as it gets: This is Ole Einer Bjoerndaehlen, top Biathlete and perhaps the most efficient skater in the world; here he performs the V-1 under faster conditions.
    a. Quicktime
    c. Windows Media Player
  • The "Plop and Flop V-1": When you're so tired just fall/plop onto your poles and flop onto your skis, without much poling power or skate-off. This is survival mode.
    a. Quicktime
    c. Windows Media Player

Enhancement to the February, 2007 Q&A.

In this issue I suggested that upright skating was more efficient when a skier gets tired on long steep climbs, as those found in the Birkie. The skier pictured on the left is one of the female World Cup leaders up a long climb at Val di Fiemme, Italy. That climb was so long and brutal, that all of the skiers adopted a very upright skating posture - just to survive. This was also true in the men's race.

In fact, this climb was so long and steep that almost all these elite women had to resort to the flying herringbone at times, something that's rarely seen on the World Cup circuit. (Adjacent photo.) Again, this was also true in the men's race. This is a good lesson for the average skier who often finds himself/herself in a survival mode.
These two citizen racers (Mike and Jane Mandli) prove that "world class technique" is not out of the reach of the "normal" skier. This race (Illinois NIN at Kenosha, Wisconsin on 1/3/07) was held in temperatures hovering around 0ºF with wind gusts over 30 mph. Notice that both Mike and Jane, while skiing in an upright efficient style, are able to produce forward forces because of their complete weight transfer and forward lean. In upright skiing, forward lean is produced by flexion at the ankle. This is in sharp contrast to many average skiers who are very upright but "sit back" on their skis, so can produce little force in a forward direction. Photos by John Wrycza.

See video clips of World Cup skiers below, and with Master Skier Articles (click on Sidebar). Some of these clips illustrate an upright posture that is more efficient for the average skier... especially in long hilly races like the Birkie.

Enhancement to the January, 2007 Q&A.

In this issue I discussed the recent upright trend in skiing on the World Cup and how most citizen racers would benefit from such a style - especially those who are not in peak physical condition. Ironically we also discussed the posture changes needed for sprinting in the same issue. While sprinting the stance widens, the body becomes more crouched, turnover increases and the stroke becomes shorter. Note: Click on Master Skier Articles in the left sidebar for many additional sequences illustrating different aspects of technique - including more on upright skiing.

Enhancement to the October, 2006 Q&A.

I wanted to include some rollerski drills with this month's Silent Sports article, but unfortunately ran out of space. However, I had just completed an article for The Master Skier on this very topic: See Skate Like a Bullet. Click on Master Skier Articles (sidebar on left) to access a summary of this article with the moving (video) illustrations.

Enhancement to the July, 2006 Q&A.

In this article I discussed the advantages that bigger wheels have in rolling over an uneven surface. While I mentioned the V-2 Aero rollerski, with its 6 inch tires, the main focus this month was on the latest rage in mountain biking, the 29er. (The "normal" mountain bike has 26 inch wheels.) There is no doubt that the 29er rolls over rocks and other obstacles easier than the 26er; it's simple physics. So the larger wheels produce a smoother and safer ride. And for me that was the major selling point. However there are many who feel the 29er, if equipped with the right equipment (mainly wheels), is faster all around and therefore the ideal racing bike. There have been "studies" which back up this claim, yet on the other hand there have also been "studies" that gave the opposite results. Therefore I've included some links so that you can make an intelligent decision on your own. However the best way is to test ride one. But for safety and comfort, for me it was a no-brainer; that's why I went to the 29er this year.

  Click here to view the Bontrager article.

  Click here to view "Cheating Legally with a 29er"

  Click here to view article on the 2005 national 24 hour champion who rode a 29er.

  Click here to view general 29er info.

  Click here to view general 29er info.

  Click here to view comparison of a 29er and 26er with identical setups .

Enhancement to the June, 2006 Q&A.

Summary: In the June, 2006 issue of Silent Sports, I presented a short workout program for skiers of all ages, with a special emphasis on the older athlete. The following article is meant to enhance the June Q&A. It is a reprint from the July, 2004 issue of Silent Sports. In this article I contrast the extremes of training, from an emphasis on short intervals to predominantly easy distance workouts. After that comparison I present a balanced training program (in bold print) that I've found to be much more effective than either of the above.   Click here to view the entire article.

Note: To see video clips of recent World Cup trends, click the Master Skier Articles Link on the sidebar

This is a recent photo of Mike Trecker, one of our original "Banana Belt" junior skiers from the early 80s. While Mike never won a national championship, he developed a love of skiing which shaped his life-style. He was the assistant coach when the University of Colorado at Boulder won the NCAA cross country ski championship in 1991.

Mike is still active in coaching and his wife, Natalie Ward, has been one of the top women racers in the country. Now he has expanded his activities into announcing and writing. His other passion is bike racing.

I included Mike here partly because I love this photo and also because he is a transplanted Midwesterner. While he now lives in Aspen, Colorado, he grew up in SE Wisconsin, so is familiar to many Silent Sports subscribers.

But in addition, Mike's dad (Ed) had a great influence on cross country skiing in Wisconsin. He was the head of the DNR in the South Kettle and then moved "up." His influence and enthusiasm were huge factors in the growth of ski trails in SE Wisconsin. Unfortunately, Ed passed away at a fairly early age. The Trecker Lodge at Lapham Peak was named in honor of him.

A lot of progress has happened since his passing and I think it's appropriate to remember Ed's contributions. To see the latest developments at Lapham Peak CLICK HERE.
© Lee Borowski