For several years now, Ski Classics events have been almost exclusively double-poled. But does this mean it is easier for the Pro Teams to choose which skis to race on compared to classic skis that need to be grip waxed?

“It has become more and more complex choosing double poling skis,” says Lager 157 Ski Team’s Pro Team Director Anton Järnberg.

It is time for the Swedish cross-country skiing premiere in Gällivare in just over a month. Another month remains until the Ski Classics Season XV starts in Bad Gastein, Austria. The skiers are training for the upcoming winter, but as you know, the skis they use during the season are also very important.

On Sunday, ProXCskiing.com will start to publish the Big Ski Test 2023. First out is the skin skis test, and next week, we will post the double poling skis test.

Double poling is, as you might know, almost exclusively used in Ski Classics. But what determines which skis Emil Persson and Karolina Hedenström are on when it’s time to ski between Sälen and Mora at Vasaloppet?

In this article, Pro Team Director Anton Järnberg, Lager 157 Ski Team, explains how they choose skis.

“We have been skiing on Fischer since 2018, and it is clear that the contacts with the supplier are invaluable. Every summer, we go to their factory to select skis for the coming winter,” says Järnberg to Langd.se.

Is the choice of skis easier for those of you who are “only double poling” compared to a pair of skis that need to be waxed with kick wax or klister?

“From the outside, it might look simpler, but it’s just as complex. It has evolved a lot. When I competed in cross-country skiing, I had two pairs of cross-country skis that I competed on regardless of whether it was seventeen minus or four plus. Now, there are many parameters in terms of temperature, snow type, and even course type,” says Järnberg.

A clear difference with double poling skis is that they all have the same length (slightly varying between different brands, but they are a few centimeters longer than 190 centimeters):

“So in terms of length, our women and men ski on the same ones. We have instead worked with structures, where we have given them the names green, blue, and blue-yellow. Simply put, a ski’s color depends on the ski’s height and how much ski is on the track. There, you can say that the colder it is, the more ski you want on the track, and the warmer it is, the less ski in the snow.”

For example, how many skis does Emil Persson have that he can race on this winter?

“We try to get it down to three skis ‘per type,’ so a total of maybe ten pairs. But then, during the season, there may be a ski in an ‘intermediate position’ that can beat out another pair. In tests before races, we work to make it ‘as simple as possible.’ So, we test the ski series straight away and put all skiers on the same series. So, if series 14 is the best at Marcialonga, most of the time all the skiers are on the same series. The fact that we test in this way makes it much easier for our waxing manager Marcus Laggar. We trust the production and that all skis in the same series are “equal” and in this way, we can test more waxes, grinds, and so on before the race than if Laggar would test each skier’s skis,” concludes Järnberg.

Read More: How to find the perfect skis