Archive for February, 2011
Goldstream Sports Slideshow – March 10th, 6.30pm
by Joel on Feb.28, 2011, under News
Our March show brings us to the granite walls of Baffin Island, in the Canadian Arctic. Pete and his team spent nearly a month in 2005 working to make the first ascent of the Wilson Wall – a 2000 foot overhanging granite spire in a remote valley near Sam Ford Fjord. The story will bring us into the world of big wall climbing in a surreal yet hash landscape, and explore the motivations behind such irrational endeavors. As the team learns, anything can happen!
Pete Dronkers is an avid climber and mountaineer, and he has taken jobs of parking cars and washing dishes, among other endeavors, to accomplish his dreams.
As usual, there will be delicious food and beverages available at no charge. Come and be fed and be entertained! Who could ask for more. If there is someone you are really interested in seeing here, please let us know and we will try to arrange it!
Baffin Island Big Wall Climbing. Photo by Pete Dronkers
Rockfall Sucks! Photo by Pete Dronkers
Hanging out on Baffin Island. Phot by Pete Dronkers
After the pitches were led, I re-fixed the lines through this notch. Pete Dronkers photo
The right fitting ski is the first step to a happy skier
by Joel on Feb.09, 2011, under News
At Goldstream sports, we pride ourselves on our knowledge of skis. With over 50 years of expert experience between the employees, you can trust us when looking for the right ski for you. Our ski technicians take great pride in their work, and work hard to make sure your skis perform as well as possible to give you the best ski experience, every time!
But, if your skis are not fitting right, there is not a whole lot that ski preparation can do. Some things to look for in a good fitting ski include the camber. Performance skis are designed to have a specific camber based on the style of skiing, weight of skier, and even trail and snow conditions, and terrain. The camber of the ski is important in the performance of the ski, and your pleasure of skiing.
Camber too soft: In a classic ski if the camber is too soft, your glide will be minimal to none, and you will wear your kick wax off quickly leaving you with no real kick either. Touring skis do not need a whole lot of camber, and a soft camber in this instance is good, as you will get plenty of kick on uneven ground.
In skate skiing, a too soft camber will reduce your gliding and will even make your ski handling very squirrely.This is not fun when you are trying to ski in a particular direction and your tips have a
mind of their own.
Camber too stiff: In classic skiing, camber is really important. When you are standing evenly on your skis, the area that is not touching the ground (or fitting table in our case) is called the wax pocket. This is an area measured using different thickness feeler gauges. The different thickness gauges mark the limits for different kick wax such as binder, regular, and klister. Now, if your classic skis do not ‘close’ when standing on the ball of one foot, you can apply all the wax in the world and you might as well be doing the Looney Tunes run! Your wax pocket will not engage with the snow and you will have no means to propel yourself forward.
In skate skiing a too stiff camber wont hurt you as much as in classic, though you may be thrown around when pushing off.
Bring your skis in for a free camber test! We will use our professional fitting table and feeler gauges and let you know how well your current skis fit you.
Have fun on the trails!
Goldstream Sports Monthly Slide Show Presentation – Friday February 11th, 6.30pm
by Joel on Feb.09, 2011, under News
Our monthly slide show presentation series continues!
In February (Friday 11th), Adventure musher, rock climber, and school teach Ron Koczaja will speak about travels in the wilderness – long, remote, beautiful and dangerous routes – mushing, climbing, hiking. Ron’s presentation titled “Adventures of a White-Collar Dirtbag” follow him into the Alaskan wilderness by all modes of transport. Ron works as a math teacher teacher at Ryan Middle School (and has taught in remote Alaskan village schools as well), but as soon as school is out he takes off his teacher hat and puts on his vagabond hat, often venturing to the Alaskan Arctic, wilderness down by Denali, or as far south as South America for mushing and climbing trips and other grand adventures.
Don’t miss this great event! Free food, great entertainment, and a chance to meet a real white collar vagabond!
