30Aug 2020 by DS News Team
Spine That Does Things Differently (But Finally Launches Its Website)

Spine That Does Things Differently (But Finally Launches Its Website)

Leaders, Newsfeed
Spine Sports is perhaps the oddest company there is in the whole of the xcski industry. Yet their market strategy seems to be working as more and more athletes and serious amateurs are being seen in Spine's marquee lapis-lazuli boots. [caption id="attachment_16860" align="alignnone" width="616"] Company is often defined by its boss - and Spine Sports offers proof of that postulate: Dmitry Vargin, Spine's co-founder and CEO, is mercurial and ambitious. As a man who built a multimillion dollar company from total scratch would be expected to be [/caption] Here's what makes them so different: - They are the world biggest cross-country boots producer by volume, churn out hundreds of thousands of them every year and operate large and well equipped factory in outskirts of the city of Yaroslavl in Russia…
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25Aug 2020 by DS News Team
Nejc Brodar: Slovenians Are Sporty Nation. People Put Heart Into It

Nejc Brodar: Slovenians Are Sporty Nation. People Put Heart Into It

Leaders, Newsfeed
Petra Majdič, Vesna Fabjan, Katja Višnar, Anamarija Lampič...how does the nation of two million people, where national sports are football, basketball and Alpine skiing, keeps on producing not just world-class xcskiers - but regularly medals in the most important races? We went to Pokljuka, where the country's national teams are summer-training and talked to the head coach Nejc Brodar: How does Slovenia manage to have not just one, but a steady supply of world class skiers? We are one sporty nation. People put heart into whatever sport they chose to practice. On the other hand, expectations are high. You qualified for the Olympics? It's not something you would brag about. Came strong 20th. or something? People back home would not care, media wouldn't even mention that. You have to be…
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23Aug 2020 by DS News Team
One Small Step For Apparel Maker, One Giant Leap For Mankind

One Small Step For Apparel Maker, One Giant Leap For Mankind

Gear News, Newsfeed
In 2020 the most important piece of gear for cross country skier is...not skis - smartphone! Assume you all agree that's an axiom and thus doesn't need proving: enough to look at the strength/ speed with which hitherto dead-tired young men and women rush for their phones once their race or training session is over. Sure, there a sect within the community that believes that skiing time IS the time to unwind and take a break from that "connected life" - but its numbers are rapidly dwindling. The masses roar:"Nothing gets between me and my smartphone - ever!" Jokes aside, unless you happened to be a world class skier who is nearly always accompanied by coach/ support personnel on car/ bike, you do need a smartphone - to play your…
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21Aug 2020 by DS News Team
Key Quotes From Petter Northug’s Presser :

Key Quotes From Petter Northug’s Presser :

Leaders, Newsfeed
Key takeaways for Petter Northug's press-conference in Trondheim on Friday: - have serious substance abuse problem, both drugs and alcohol - never took drugs or alcohol while competing - tried cocaine for the first time in January 2019 - wasn't under influence when stopped by police last Thursdsy for speeding, traces of cocaine were residual from using two days prior - in other times was driving at 200km/h while filming myself on smartphone. - police found around 10g of cocaine when searched home. - prepared to take responsibility but seek professional help. Screengrabs are courtesy of NRK and TV2 Norge
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18Aug 2020 by DS News Team
Injected Carbon Fiber VS Traditional One. Salomon And Alpina Disagree

Injected Carbon Fiber VS Traditional One. Salomon And Alpina Disagree

Gear News, Newsfeed
When Salomon Nordic rolled out their latest S / Lab Carbon Skate boots last year, there were some questioning looks: where are carbon fiber cuffs? They are there - except that are made very differently. Traditional carbon fiber is woven, laid up, and then “glued” together with resin that needs to be cured - a time/effort consuming process that requires considerable skill. The result is amazing, however: anything & everything where the cost is no object is being produced that way, from uber-fancy icepicks to intercontinental ballistic missiles. With injected carbon the process is far simpler and consist of the short, “chopped” carbon fiber strands being mixed with other thermoplastics at certain temperatures. The resulting product ( cuffs in our example) is significantly cheaper. But is as good as the…
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