We’re going to the Birkie! As you’d expect, we’ve started getting emails and calls about Birkie wax and Birkie skis. With Tad living in the house and reviewing race video every evening to further hone his already sharp tactical acumen, the fever has pretty well set-in around here. Here’s the program:
Caldwell Sport Service for Professional Athletes
We’ll be at the Birkie with a full staff (Zach, Austin, Erik Mundahl). Our presence at the Birkie this year is funded by a coalition of professional athletes. We will be testing and waxing skis for Tad Elliott, Kris Freeman, and Brian and Caitlin Gregg (alphabetical by last name, then first name). Our waxing services are bought and paid for by these athletes, and we are not able to offer waxing services to any other racers – regardless of their wave, or brand affiliation, or personal spending history with Caldwell Sport.
All of “our” athletes are sponsored by wax companies. We will be testing wax from multiple companies, and we are not able to publish any claims about what goes on the skis for our athletes. Whatever we do for our professional athletes will be the best we can do, and we won’t talk about specifics, either before or after the event.
Caldwell Sport Race Wax Recommendations
We will, of course, be testing the products that we carry in our inventory. We’ll have complete inventory with us, and available to sell to our customers. We will publish wax recommendations and testing reports on our website and on facebook, and we can provide our best products to customers on site. We can sell in single-application quantities (pricing to be determined, but reflecting fair per-gram market pricing). But we can’t put the wax on skis for customers.
We will be arriving on Wednesday, and staying at Scott and Kay Wilson’s Cresthill Resort. We will be available via email (zc@caldwellsport.com), but not reliably by telephone.
Forecast
It looks as though this may not be a “typical” Birkie. We anticipate that conditions may be changing rapidly right before the race. We’ll be prepared to chase changing conditions pretty hard, but our ability to predict what skis and wax will run after a night without a freeze will be… well, human.
Race/Demo Skis
We are preparing a wide selection of race/demo skis. We will prepare these skis with likely race paraffins based on our season long testing on the Birkie Trail (conducted continuously by Jeff Tumbleson). These skis will be available for testing on Thursday afternoon, and possibly on Friday afternoon as well (the course closes at 2 PM on Friday). We will include a single application quantity of our recommended race top-coats as part of the deal (but once again, we can’t apply the wax for you).
Schedule
Tuesday – Depart VT in the Caldwell Sport Van with Austin & Izzy Caldwell, and probably Patrick O’Brien (designated night shift driver).Wednesday – Arrive in Birkieland. Conduct initial paraffin testing.
Thursday – AM, Full wax product testing, and initial athlete ski testing. PM – Race/demo ski testing and customer talk time at OO North (look for the Caldwell Sport van, and check back for final schedule).
Friday – AM, Full wax product testing and athlete ski testing. PM – Race ski preparation & supplemental product testing (in case of rapidly warming temperatures). Available to customers at Cresthill Resort.
Saturday – AM, Race. PM, pack, drive. Everybody else can have fun at the Sawmill – we’ll be headed home! Don’t plan to “catch up” with us after the race!
The last time I went to the Birkie I waxed for two winners. It might be hard to top 2012. I’ve already told this year’s crew that the bar is set high, and I’m prepared to fire some athletes if they don’t deliver.