Go Faster lets ski stay flat, longer

Review

Thu, Dec  27, 2007 - By Kevin Brooker

I skied together with Stan in 3" of fluffy wet flakes over poorly groomed packed snow, me in Go Faster gear, Stan in traditional skating gear.

The groomer was new and left a ridge in the center of the skate area which made it a total pain to ski. It was good to see how well the Go Fasters handled the loose snow as my feet were always in the stuff (the tips of the skis just barely broke the surface). Snow did pack into the binding just behind the pivot and on the heel locater but was never an issue. I skied for about an hour-fifteen.

I spent a lot of the ski really thinking about the feel of a good push on the Go Fasters trying to set the nerve paths. While doing so I also noticed the flexible cuff allows the foot to ride flatter longer. Without a stiff cuff, when I tip my ankle the foot and the ski stays flat for a bit before beginning to tip onto the edge. A flat ski is a fast ski.

Compare this to Stan and his rigid cuffed boot: as soon as he tilted his foot the ski came off the base. This might not be much per stroke but even if it's 2" per stroke times several thousand is a lot of free distance.

Stan commented on how long the skate marks I made were as we climbed a pretty long hill. He thought I was in fantastic physical condition to get such a long mark and I replied a combination of that and the Go Fasters. He also noticed there was not too much snow on my boots from being higher on the ski.

I also noticed my stroke is more powerful and smoother if I lead a tad more with my hip and turn it a bit more than usual towards the new gliding ski. For some reason this makes the roll of my pushing foot much smoother. I believe the push is really forcing me to use good technique which is rewarded by the Go Faster.

You can ski fast with poor technique, but when you hit it the power is awesome. Finding the timing and changing the technique to ankling the ski instead of pushing it has made a huge difference.