I literally jumped out of bed; like there was air between my ass and the mattress, my feet and the floor. One of those mornings where I could’ve completely forgotten to have coffee and been fine with it. A possible red-flag. I couldn’t remember ever having a decent night’s sleep before a ski race, especially outside of my own bed. But no time to get superstitious. It was 6:10 a.m. in Hayward, Wisconsin on February 23rd, 2019, and my duty to make mine and three friends’ skis fast before piling in ..read more

On a moody October day here in Portland, Oregon, Karl and I took to the roads to test out some of the latest rollerski technology. We used a short loop that included a nice variety of climbing, descending, and flats. Here are the results: *note: OMC does not stock all models included in this review; however, they are all available for special order. Links are provided for all models in stock. Skate (on a scale of 0.0--5.0): Harrison's scores and general feedback: Swix Triac Carbon ..read more

Rollerskiing Portland (Part 1)In 1979 I got my first pair of rollerskis.  (1979 Edsbyn)                                                                            (2019 IDT)Fast forward to today and I’m still using rollerskis regularly. The technology hasn’t changed nearly as fast as cell phone ..read more

For most of January, into February I was given the opportunity to prepare skis for the US Nordic Combined team. This blog will be a multi-part reflection on the experience, detailing the actual work of a ski-tech, the travel, the best (and worst) of European XC ski destinations, the life of an American athlete on the road, and more. The story begins in Austria, spends some time in snowless eastern Germany, makes a couple stops in Norway, and ends at the American Birkebeiner. Follow the journey w ..read more

To the OMCgear Community,As we all deal with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 virus, we wanted to give our customers and other partners an update on our response and plans going forward.We here at Oregon Mountain Community are closely following current CDC as well as state and local guidelines. As we are a strictly online only business, we will remain open for the immediate future. We have and will continue to take all precautions and have implemented policies to protect the health ..read more

Race day speeds, without fluorocarbons? Yep!For the entire world of ski waxing, the King is dead but there's no one in line for the throne. Long established as a crucial ingredient for top performance, the use of per- and poly- fluorocarbons in ski waxes is being phased out and in some cases outright banned. While there's general agreement that continuing to use fluorocarbon containing ski waxes in a personal stock is acceptable - ultimately that use disperses the material which is preferable to ..read more