Often when we are away providing race service folks think we are on a ski vacation, or we are racing. This post is just to give some context to the service we provide when we are at events, and specifically the 2026 US National Cross Country Championships in Lake Placid Jan 4th – 9th 2026
I arrived in Lake Placid on New Years Eve and checked in at Masion d’Adirondack (better know as the apartment of the Chief- Per Hanson) After 1200+ miles of driving, 500 of it in lake effect snow east of lake Erie. Settled in to get ready for the week of racing ahead.
DAY #1
New Years Day, I headed south to Lake Placid then Mt Van Hoevenberg site of the 2026 Championships and home to the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. (Side note in 1932 family member Ole Hegge raced for the USA in the Winter Games, he migrated to the USA in post the 1928 Games in St. Moritz where he won the Silver Medal for Norway in the 18km Classic race) Once I arrived we checked in and got the keys for our Service Cabins and headed off to set up. This day I spent about 9 hrs getting things moved in and set up for service.
Day #2
Jan 2nd, headed to the venue at about 6am, As we were also contracted to run Race Service for SWIX and Kastle as brands at the event, I wanted to arrive early to get snow & atmospheric data at the venue and start building out our first round of test waxes for the day. Over the course of the day we tested close to 40 different waxes, got thru structure testing for Kastle and welcomed athletes to the venue to begin training. 11hrs at the venue.
Day #3
Jan 3rd was the first official training day, again arriving at the venue by 6:30am, getting the next round of data collected and prep skis for the day of testing. On this day we tested another 25 products, over 60 different application methods and skied lap after lap on the test track. We were providing service for 22 athletes from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and (Haiti, via Canada) so by the end of the day we wanted to have the skis prepped and with our initial wax selection already worked into the skis. 12.5hrs at the venue
Day #4
Jan 4th was the First official Race day at the event. This day was the Classic Individual start distance race. With light snow falling, this added an additional layer of work for the day. In classic fresh snow conditions you often get “Sheering”, where the grip wax is able to grab snow to generate kick, but the snow does not hold together, and breaks away from the tracks. With cooler temps this made the task a bit easier, so once we were able to find a solid kick wax and bump we could focus on enhancing glide. The advent of the colder, dryer snow limited the products that would perform. 10.5hrs at the venue
Day #5
A gradual warm up was on tap for this day. Since it was a training day for the athletes, it is a testing day for the service staff. Arriving a little bit later as the morning was starting off below 0F (-18C) and going to be warming to the low teens (13F / -10C) in the afternoon, we wanted to see what the snow was going to do with the change. Day #6 is to be the Freestyle Sprint day, so focus was solely on glide this day. With 5 rounds of testing over 20 products, as the day progressed we started to work on application methods and varying iron temps. 8 hrs at the venue
Day #6
Freestyle Sprint day! With nearly 700 athletes needing to get in their Sprint Qualifiers. With temps rising to near 40F / 5C this day, it kept us making sure we were on top of the change in the weather. Arriving at 6am we prepped the first of 5 rounds of skis for the day. Temps started at 16F/ -8C and warmed to 40F /5C over a 7hr period. Thankfully the snow temps & moisture stayed relatively stable, so changes were minimal. With the Open rounds early in the day and Junior Rounds in the afternoon, it kept us working all day. 12hrs at the venue
Day #7
This would be our last TESTING Only day. The next two days (to wrap up the weeks events) are the Freestyle Distance races and then the Classic Sprint. This day again was focused on the glide for the next days Freestyle events. As we now were dealing with air temps above the 32F /0C mark we had lots more products to vet out. As the snow was remaining very stable we were able to devote more time to application methods and varying iron temps to see what was having an affect. 9hrs at the venue
Day #8
This day had both 20km & 10km Mass Start Freestyle races. The 20km, had women’s & men’s fields in a single group, but the 10km for Juniors had such large numbers that they had to run two waves for each (Over 80 athletes per group) Multiple laps of the 5km course at Van Ho is very demanding on the athletes, so glide was a key, and even with good glide, skier fitness was paramount. Temps were above 32F /0C, yet the snow was dryer and colder. This creates for stable results in testing, but still keeps us checking about every 30 min to 1hr, to make sure they have been no significant changes. 11hrs at the venue.
Day #9
The last day was the Classic Sprints, and like all good Classic Sprint days, temps began just under 32F /0C, and to remain stable, but the Vibrant Red Sky at Morn, was a warning of the of the impending weather ahead. We again arrived at the venue early, testing began in earnest when the course opened at 7am. We were excited to find some great kick and glide options, but when that happens, usually something changes. 2h30 minutes later, it did! Rain, about 25min earlier our son Per texted that it had just started dumping rain in McColloms (about 20 miles straight north), we then looked outside to a black cloud approaching & the wind picking up. On cue at 9:30 it started dumping rain and the wind increased. We had one of the Junior skiers make the heats in the afternoon, so we were kept working on making skis grip to really wet snow. 10hrs at the venue
Travel Home
The Classic sprint day wrapped up with travel back to Per’s apt, a shower and great meal he prepared, then back in the van to travel back. At this point the rain was turning to snow and the temps dropped 20F degrees and the wind wax blasting over 30mph. There is one thing the ADK does a really good job at, and that is extreme weather. After two hrs, I pulled off in Watertown NY for the night. 5hrs later the wind and snow had let up, and there was a travel window. So 19hrs of driving later I was back at the shop.
Recap by the numbers:
Over 2700 miles driven
93 hrs in 9 days in the wax cabin / on snow testing
Over 100 different Glide Wax Products tested
150 Atmospheric & Snow data points collected
over 50 different application or Iron temp variations tested
Not enough sleep gotten.
Often when we are Off-Site providing Race Service, folks think we are on a Ski Vacation. Yes we often may be on skis for days, upon days in a row, but as you see, none of these days have listed “Went on a great ski by myself or with friends” because it just doesn’t happen when we are working. Just a little in-site into what’s happening when we are Out There!
Thanks to everyone involved to help create a great event, make great skis and keeping things going at the shop. All of the parties deserve a lots of rest, sadly it’s not April yet.
See you Out There Soon!
