 |
Fischer cross-country athletes collected serious hardware at the 2007 World Championships, dominating just as they've done for decades. The final tally?
19 Medals: 3 Gold, 6 Silver, 10 Bronze |
Germany's Josef Wenzl stormed into the 2007/2008 season by winning his first career World Cup on home soil in Dusseldorf. Wenzl led the way on a weekend when Fischer athletes picked up over a third of the medals up for grabs, including 4 gold medals.
Marit Bjoergen, Anna Dahlberg, Thobias Fredriksson Charlotte Kalla and Bitta Norgren were the other Fischer athletes on the podium in the first World Cup of the season. |
 |
The Lowdown on the Fischer RCS Carbonlite
Everyone has heard so much about the new Fischer RCS Carbonlite skis, but what makes them the talk of the XC World? Fischer has always been on the leading edge of cross-country development and the unveiling of the Carbonlites in 2005 holds true to that tradition. The Carbonlites are the most sought after skis on the market, but why?
Fischer has done endless research with many of the top skiers in the World like Norwegian Marit Bjoergen and Swede Thobias Fredricksson, with the aim of making the Carbonlites the best skis ever. Fischer has taken the basic construction from their industry leading RCS’s and spiced it up a lot!
Starting with the core of the ski, Fischer has been able to improve their Air Core technology by developing a new bi-directional Air Core with the help of the multi-axial carbon fiber. This has allowed the Carbonlites to have a weight of less than 500 grams.
Fischer then added on a little more carbon, this time Multi-axial T300 1K to the skis tips, tails, and also as a laminate, making the tips and tails extremely tough while maintaining a very light weight. Fischer has also figured out how to minimize the oscillation in the ski when skating by the reduction of mass inertia (by the use of carbon), and optimizing the swing weight. This allows for skiers to save a little more energy and go that much faster.
Fischer takes quality control to a new level by testing each pair of skis with their Computer Flex Control (CFC), which has enabled them to minimize the differences in residual tension and camber pressure, thus allowing for exceptional climbing and kicking performance. With the help of this new technology Fischer has been able to construct skis in such a way that there is a considerable reduction in the pressure at the tips and tails. This creates unparalleled ski and glide in those always-tough conditions such as soft or wet snow.
The bases of the Carbonlites are finished off with one of two high performance grinds. For the cold RCS Carbonlite skate skis, the grind used is a fine and flat DTG cold structure produced by using a synthetic diamond. This makes the skis perfect for those cold and dry conditions. On the Plus RCS Carbonlite skate and classic skis, the grind used is a deeper and coarser DTG plus structure, made by the use of natural diamonds. This makes the skis ideal for warm and moist conditions. After grinding, all Fischer Carbonlites are coated with an infrared preparation with fluoride-content hot wax. This helps protect against the dirt and oxidation during their journey, and is completely unique among commercially available race skis.
For the icing on the cake, Fischer has joined forces with Rottefella to offer the Carbonlites with the NIS plate for the coming winter, providing skiers with the most efficient power transfer system ever made.
With the attention to detail that goes into the Fischer RCS Carbonlite skis, it’s no wonder they are so sought after.
The RCS Carbonlites Skate skis come in both Cold and Plus models, whereas the RCS Carbonlite Classic skis come in Plus models only. To purchase your Fischer RCS Carbonlite skis go to your nearest Fischer Retailer - and you better do it fast!
Find the Fischer dealer nearest you by visiting the dealer locator at www.fischer-ski.com/en/dealer_locator.
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
A Chat with Devon Kershaw Devon Kershaw was the first Canadian man to stand on the World Cup podium in over a decade two winters ago. Devon chose Fischer in his quest for more World Cup hardare, and we had a chance to sit down with him before he embarked on his 2007/2008 campaign. |
A skier of your caliber has the choice of any ski brand. Why did you choose Fischer?
The big reason I chose Fischer is the history of the brand, not just worldwide, but particularly in Canada. Besides the fact that so many top international skiers use Fischer and it’s clear they make incredibly fast skis, the knowledge of Fischer skis by the Canadian wax technicians is far better than with any other brand. The technicians I work with have over 20 years of experience with Fischer, so I have absolute confidence that I’m not only getting great skis but also working people who really know the skis. This means my likelihood of getting really fast is higher, and that’s the bottom line.
You are in a tough position this year in that you will be starting from scratch with a completely new ski bag. Going in with a fresh start, what do you look for skis?
My goal is obviously to have fast skis in every condition. That said, my priority is to have great skis in wet granular snow and wet falling snow, where the conditions often begin to glaze over. This is probably the most common condition we see when we’re racing in Europe, and it’s also one of the hardest conditions to find great skis for because the difference between a good and a bad ski on that kind of snow is massive. Fischer makes very good skis for that type of snow. I’m also putting a big focus on finding very good hairies skis (ed. note: hairies skis refers to a ski that is used with a rough, waxless kick zone in specific conditions near 0ºC). This is an area where I’ve struggled, but hairies conditions are becoming more and more common in Europe, and it’s vital to have good skis in that weather. I’m not too worried about cold weather skis because Fischer makes so many good skis for those conditions.
Switching to Fischer skis, what is the biggest difference you’ve noticed?
I’ve spent a bit of time getting comfortable with the different feel of Fischers and I still have lots of work to do there. The most shocking difference is just how light the skis are. Both the classic and the skate skis in the new Carbonlites are just unbelievably light. I never imagined a ski could feel like that. What I really like about my new Fischers is that the pocket on the classic skis is very forgiving, which suits the way I ski very well. I like to know that when I apply power my skis are going stick, and with Fischer I really have that confidence.
Finally, what are your plans and goals for the winter?
I’ll be following the World Cup all winter. I head to Europe on November 5th and my immediate mission is to get organized and educated on my new skis. To do anything well you need the right tools, and for me those tools are my skis, so I need to have intimate knowledge of them.
My goals for the year are to build on my strong performances from last winter and most importantly to build towards a higher level of consistency. Really, for me it’s about limiting my bad days, and really maximizing my good days. I also want to direct more of my energy into just racing fast, and I think the switch to Fischer will help me here because I’ll have a lot less ski stress on and around races days.
My big focus in terms of events will be the Tour de Ski at the end of December. This is a style of event that I think I’m really well suited to, and consistency will again be very important there. After that I hope to carry good form through the Canadian World Cups, which I missed because of injury in 2005, and the rest of the winter. I’m really excited to be coming home for the Canadian Championships at the end of March. It’s been a long time since we’ve had our top skiers at nationals, and I think that has to be a priority event for our best racers. It won’t be a side thought for me this year – I’ll be there to have a great time, inspire kids, and race fast.
Thanks for your time Devon. Have a great winter and good work in your first World Cup races in late November! |
|
 |
|
 |
|
