Cross-country skiing has developed to become one of the most competitive winter sports, where a skier can win by fractions of seconds. Joint efforts between ski technicians and scientist have allowed the development of methodologies to prepare the ski surface, yet much of the knowledge up to date is based on the experience of the technicians.  In this sense, much attention is focused on the ski base, given that the friction at the base is an important factor that will define how fast a ski can glide. Ski base preparation is an extensive procedure, due to the several parameters that have to be taken into account. Much disagreement has risen regarding the best way to optimize the base. Thus, a complete characterization of the ski base can help to provide some clarity on the factors that affect friction.   This work presents the results of the characterization of the ski base through the preparation process by observing and measuring different aspects, using characterization techniques such as LOM, optical profilometry, contact angle, DSC and XCT. The results suggest that the mechanical machining of the surface can influence wax retention and hydrophobicity. Furthermore, it is seen that wax is present after the first waxing step, despite the constant brushing and scraping. No major changes were observed for the crystallinity. Finally, the amount of graphite on the surface was quantified. This is hoped to be helpful for ski technicians and athletes alike to improve the performance of their skis.

Rapporten innefattar hur en funktionsprototyp till ett vinterhjälpmedel för en rollatorutvecklats. Alla de väsentliga stegen i utformningen beskrivs grundligt, från det att idéerkläcks tills dess att prototypen är klar för tillverkning. Utifrån en idé om ett vinterhjälpmedelhar arbetet fortlöpt till en prototyp bestående av en konstruktion med skidor som enkeltmonteras på rollatorn. Arbetet berör ergonomiska analyser på användande av prototypen samtdimensionering.Stor vikt under utvecklandet har lagts vid människan och hennes funktion för att få en produktanpassad efter rörelseapparatens förmågor och begränsningar.En nyhetsgranskning över produkten har utförts där utfallet var positivt, vilket innebär attprodukten nu är i ett läge där en patentansökan planeras.Produkten lämnar utrymme för vidareutveckling. / The report describes how a functional prototype of a winter aid for a rollator is developed.The essential steps of the design are described in detail, from brainstorming the ideas to theprototype being ready for production. Based on the idea of a winter aid of some sort the workhas proceeded to a prototype consisting of a design with skis that are easily mounted on therollator. The report describes the ergonomic aspects, the analysis conducted on the prototypeand strength of materials.Emphasis during development has been on the man and his function in order to get a productadapted to the musculoskeletal system's limitations and capabilities.A news review of the product has been performed where the outcome was positive, meaningthat the product is now in a situation where a patent application is being planned.The product leaves room for further development.

Title: Specific roller skis' games and acitivities for young nordic skiers aged between 12 and 14 years Goal: Create and verify a collection of games and activities by experts on the rollers skis'for young nordic skiers aged between 12 and 14 years. Methods: A first method used in this work was available analysis of czech and international documents about games and activities. Then a collection of games and activities was made, which was customised for roller skis trainings. Furthermore, there was a verification of collection of roller skis'games and activities with the help of a board of experts composed of experienced and licensed nordic skiers'trainers and then nordic skiers'experts. An unstructured interview was made with them followed by a discussion about each game and activity. Results: In the first part there is a chapter about an equipment used collection created by us. The main part is made of a customised and verified collection of roller skis'games and activities for young nordic skiers aged between 12 and 14 years. Board of experts made a verification added their ideas and suggestions to specific games and activities in the form tips and suggestion. A new chapter dividing the collection was created as a result of a discussion with the board of experts was created at the end of a final...

The purpose of this thesis is introduction of Icelantic Boards, a ski producing company. This thesis will also provide information on carrier possibilities for company's export overseas and useful Incoterms conditions. In the final part, there is a close look at the company's products, on import variants and finally there are recommendations for particular type of shipping overseas, as well as possibilities for increase of sales of their products on European market.

<p>Modern ski-treadmills allow cross-country skiers, biathletes and ski-orienteers to test their physical performance in a laboratory environment using classical and freestyle techniques on roller skis. For elite athletes the differences in performance between test occasions are quite small, thus emphasising the importance of knowing the roller skis’ rolling resistance coefficient, µ_R, in order to allow correct comparisons between the results, as well as providing the opportunity to study work economy between different athletes, test occasions and core techniques.</p><p>Thus, one of the aims of this thesis was to evaluate how roller skis’ µ_R is related to warm-up, mass, velocity and inclination of the treadmill. It was also necessary to investigate the methodological variability of the rolling resistance measurement system, RRMS, specially produced for the experiments, with a reproducibility study in order to indicate the validity and reliability of the results.</p><p>The aim was also to study physiological responses to different µ_R during roller skiing with freestyle and classical roller skis and techniques on the treadmill as a case in which all measurements were carried out in stationary and comparable conditions.</p><p>Finally, the aim was also to investigate the work economy of amateurs and female and male junior and senior cross-country skiers during treadmill roller skiing, i.e. as a function of skill, age and gender, including whether differences in body mass causes significant differences in external power per kg due to differences in the roller skis’ µ_R.</p><p>The experiments showed that during a warm-up period of 30 minutes, µ_R decreased to about 60-65% and 70-75% of its initial value for freestyle and classical roller skis respectively. For another 30 minutes of rolling no significant change was found. Simultaneous measurements of roller ski temperature and m_R showed that stabilized m_R corresponds to a certain running temperature for a given normal force on the roller ski. The study of the influence on m_R of normal force, velocity and inclination produced a significant influence of normal force on m_R, while different velocities and inclinations of the treadmill only resulted in small changes in m_R. The reproducibility study of the RRMS showed no significant differences between paired measurements with either classical or the freestyle roller skis.</p><p>The study of the effects on physiological variables of ~50% change in µ_R,showed that during submaximal steady state exercise, external power, oxygen uptake, heart rate and blood lactate were significantly changed, while there were non significant or only small changes to cycle rate, cycle length and ratings of perceived exertion. Incremental maximal tests showed that time to exhaustion was significantly changed and this occurred without a significantly changed maximal power, maximal oxygen uptake, maximal heart rate and blood lactate, and that the influence on ratings of perceived exertion was non significant or small.</p><p>The final part of the thesis, which focused on work economy, found no significant difference between the four groups of elite competitors, i.e. between the two genders and between the junior and senior elite athletes. It was only the male amateurs who significantly differed among the five studied groups. The study also showed that the external power per kg was significantly different between the two genders due to differences in body mass and m_R, i.e. the lighter female testing groups were roller skiing with a relatively heavier rolling resistance coefficient compared to the heavier testing groups of male participants.</p> / Sporttech

The aim of this thesis is two-fold. My primary, theoretical aim is to present an alternative way for geographers to approach the study of tourist resort development. For over twenty years, resorts have been understood through the framework of evolutionary models, the most widely-used being Richard Butler's 1981 Tourist Area Life Cycle. I argue that the time is ripe for a more sophisticated approach which i) identifies the multiplicity of actors involved in the destination-making process and elucidates the interactions between them; and ii) situates the resort within a dynamic, capitalist economy, increasingly dominated by large corporations. I suggest that one way we can do this is to take particular moments in a resort's trajectory and examine the responses made by key players in the production of the resort. My starting point for my investigation into Whistler Resort, British Columbia is the merger in 1996 of its two ski mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb, under the ownership of Intrawest Corporation. A recent wave of consolidation in the North American ski industry has seen increasing numbers of once-independent ski areas coming under the control of four large corporations, Intrawest being one. My second aim with this thesis, therefore, is to shed light on the process of ski resort development in light of the recent industry reorganisation. In particular, I use my case-study of Whistler to interrogate the corporatisation thesis of historian Hal Rothrnan. Rothman's account of resort development in the twentieth-century American West leads him to view large corporations as extractive forces which pay scant respect to local communities and cultures, treating them instead as marketable commodities. The experience of Whistler, however, suggests a much greater degree of mterdependence and co-operation between the ski corporation and local stakeholders in the resort - a situation that arises because of its unique administrative, political and economic context.

The aim of this thesis is two-fold. My primary, theoretical aim is to present an alternative way for geographers to approach the study of tourist resort development. For over twenty years, resorts have been understood through the framework of evolutionary models, the most widely-used being Richard Butler's 1981 Tourist Area Life Cycle. I argue that the time is ripe for a more sophisticated approach which i) identifies the multiplicity of actors involved in the destination-making process and elucidates the interactions between them; and ii) situates the resort within a dynamic, capitalist economy, increasingly dominated by large corporations. I suggest that one way we can do this is to take particular moments in a resort's trajectory and examine the responses made by key players in the production of the resort. My starting point for my investigation into Whistler Resort, British Columbia is the merger in 1996 of its two ski mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb, under the ownership of Intrawest Corporation. A recent wave of consolidation in the North American ski industry has seen increasing numbers of once-independent ski areas coming under the control of four large corporations, Intrawest being one. My second aim with this thesis, therefore, is to shed light on the process of ski resort development in light of the recent industry reorganisation. In particular, I use my case-study of Whistler to interrogate the corporatisation thesis of historian Hal Rothrnan. Rothman's account of resort development in the twentieth-century American West leads him to view large corporations as extractive forces which pay scant respect to local communities and cultures, treating them instead as marketable commodities. The experience of Whistler, however, suggests a much greater degree of mterdependence and co-operation between the ski corporation and local stakeholders in the resort - a situation that arises because of its unique administrative, political and economic context. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

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Modern ski-treadmills allow cross-country skiers, biathletes and ski-orienteers to test their physical performance in a laboratory environment using classical and freestyle techniques on roller skis. For elite athletes the differences in performance between test occasions are quite small, thus emphasising the importance of knowing the roller skis’ rolling resistance coefficient, µR, in order to allow correct comparisons between the results, as well as providing the opportunity to study work economy between different athletes, test occasions and core techniques. Thus, one of the aims of this thesis was to evaluate how roller skis’ µR is related to warm-up, mass, velocity and inclination of the treadmill. It was also necessary to investigate the methodological variability of the rolling resistance measurement system, RRMS, specially produced for the experiments, with a reproducibility study in order to indicate the validity and reliability of the results. The aim was also to study physiological responses to different µR during roller skiing with freestyle and classical roller skis and techniques on the treadmill as a case in which all measurements were carried out in stationary and comparable conditions. Finally, the aim was also to investigate the work economy of amateurs and female and male junior and senior cross-country skiers during treadmill roller skiing, i.e. as a function of skill, age and gender, including whether differences in body mass causes significant differences in external power per kg due to differences in the roller skis’ µR. The experiments showed that during a warm-up period of 30 minutes, µR decreased to about 60-65% and 70-75% of its initial value for freestyle and classical roller skis respectively. For another 30 minutes of rolling no significant change was found. Simultaneous measurements of roller ski temperature and mR showed that stabilized mR corresponds to a certain running temperature for a given normal force on the roller ski. The study of the influence on mR of normal force, velocity and inclination produced a significant influence of normal force on mR, while different velocities and inclinations of the treadmill only resulted in small changes in mR. The reproducibility study of the RRMS showed no significant differences between paired measurements with either classical or the freestyle roller skis. The study of the effects on physiological variables of ~50% change in µR,showed that during submaximal steady state exercise, external power, oxygen uptake, heart rate and blood lactate were significantly changed, while there were non significant or only small changes to cycle rate, cycle length and ratings of perceived exertion. Incremental maximal tests showed that time to exhaustion was significantly changed and this occurred without a significantly changed maximal power, maximal oxygen uptake, maximal heart rate and blood lactate, and that the influence on ratings of perceived exertion was non significant or small. The final part of the thesis, which focused on work economy, found no significant difference between the four groups of elite competitors, i.e. between the two genders and between the junior and senior elite athletes. It was only the male amateurs who significantly differed among the five studied groups. The study also showed that the external power per kg was significantly different between the two genders due to differences in body mass and mR, i.e. the lighter female testing groups were roller skiing with a relatively heavier rolling resistance coefficient compared to the heavier testing groups of male participants. / Sporttech

Title: Comparison of internal loading on the organism by double poling and diagonal striding during the sprint on the roller ski Objectives: The aim of the diploma thesis is to compare the internal loading using the Cortex Metamax 3B and the SenzoStar GL devices in a two-hundred meters long section performed by the maximum effort between the double poling and diagonal striding about the 10.4% climb on roller skis. Methods: The diploma thesis is conceived as an empirical field research, the aim of which is to compare a double poling and diagonal striding in terms of internal loading on roller skis during sprint. The test subject will be a group of cross-country skiers and long-distance skiers. Results: Using the measured values of the internal loading and the measured time, we found differences during comparing the diagonal striding and double polling in specific values of SF, VO2 / kg, VE. the conclusion was that diagonal striding is faster than double poling to the uphill on roller skis. Keywords: XC-skiing, roller skis, Cortex MetaMax 3B, oxygen consumption, heart rate, lactate