Rollerskiing Safety

Published: Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:00 AM MDT

Today and the next week we will present a few articles covering safety, training and workout suggestions for those of you that are ready for specific training this spring. This is a reprint of a 2004 article.

The articles are presented by www.webskis.com, the distributor of PRO-SKI rollerskis.

Safety on Rollerskis
The most important thing to remember when rollerskiing is to ski safely. There are inherent risks involved with rollerskiing, but you can do your best to minimize them. As similar as rollerskiing is to snow skiing, there is one glaring difference: asphalt and cars are nowhere near as forgiving as snow and other skiers. Because of this, you'll need to take some precautions:

These are some tips to keep in mind out on the road.
Always wear a helmet and bright clothing when rollerskiing. It may be a good idea to include other protective gear as you learn to rollerski, such as elbow and kneepads. Wrist guards tend to make controlling ski poles difficult, but it is a good idea to wear gloves to prevent your hands from blistering. Standard cross country ski gloves are good, but gloves such as Yoko's rollerski glove offer the same performance without the unnecessary insulation.






When learning to rollerski, learn to snowplow and stop first.
Check your rollerskis before using them to make sure that the bindings are secure and that they work properly. Also inspect the wheels to make certain that they are firmly secured to the ski. The vibration created by skiing over rough surfaces for an extended period of time can loosen parts on a rollerski.
Don’t be so excited that you forget to watch for cars. When cars pass, pull as far over to the side as you can and either double pole (even if you are skating) or stop poling completely. Most skiers choose to ski on the right side of the road (with traffic), although there are others who prefer to ski facing traffic and step off to the side of the road when cars or trucks pass. Since there is no set rule, do what makes you more comfortable. However if you are skating, always double-pole when a car or truck passes--regardless of which side of the road you are on.


If you are in group, always ski single file.
Choose roads without a lot of traffic: bike paths, residential areas, back roads, etc. Don't be afraid to find one good section of road and go back and forth. Repeats can be a great workout. Since the carbide roller ferrule pole tip needs to sink into the road's surface for effective poling, rollerskiing is largely limited to asphalt surfaces. Any road with relatively smooth pavement and little traffic can be used, and bike paths also make for excellent training routes. You'll want to make sure that the roads you ski on do not have steep downhills, or intersections requiring you to stop at the bottom of the hills.






When in doubt about a downhill, take the skis off and walk.
It is not as much of a safety issue, but it is a good idea to sharpen the tips on your poles regularly. Dull tips are annoying and reduce the effectiveness of the workout, plus they become more difficult to sharpen the more dull they become. Use a regular stone for 1 – 2 minutes to sharpen the tips each time you go out skiing.

 

 

Reader Comments - Add Your Own Comment

Heidi Henkel - Brattleboro, VT, posted on Apr 19, 2007 Oops, the heading and text in the last paragraph do not match! I would say sharpening tips is a safety issue. I have seen someone fall when poling and their tip did not catch on the pavement. It is also pretty hard on your back if your poles keep slipping. I am excited you guys are making a series about rollerski safety! It is a complex issue. There are lots of situations when I am not really sure what is the safest thing to do. Particularly in places where I might encounter cars in various ways. Heidi Henkel - Brattleboro, VT, posted on Apr 19, 2007 I might add about being passed by cars, when one car passes you, there might be a second car or a string of cars. When you have just been passed by a car, do not start right back in rollerskiing normally. Look to see if there are any more cars first. You do not want to surprise the driver of the second car, by suddenly veering back out into the road. That second driver may not even know you exist, because their view is so obstructed by the car in front of them. When choosing which side of the road to ski on, I choose according to visibility anytime there is a big difference. I ski on the side where the cars approaching will see me from the furthest away. For example, if I am heading into a blind curve, I ski on the right, and after I have exited the blind curve I ski on the left. When crossing the road I use my eyes and ears to make sure it is safe to cross. I try to choose routes that have as few blind curves as possible, but in Vermont there are a few on just about every road. I also choose somewhat according to my speed. It is safer to be going with traffic if your speed is more similar to the cars. On downhills I always go on the right. On flats and uphills it varies. When choosing whether to walk a downhill, one factor is whether there are side streets where cars might pull out in my face. If so, I walk or use extreme speed reducers, even if it is an easy hill. Because having a car pull out in your face when you are zooming down a hill, is very difficult to handle safely. I find it pretty easy to choose routes that do not contain this type of problem though. If I were ever to be in a situation of a car pulling out in my face on a downhill, I would either crash into the back of the car and put my hands out, or veer off to the side and crash (if there is a safe landing spot on the side of the road). The difference in speed between a rollerskier and a car moving in the same direction, is usually actually small enough that crasing into the back of the car would not cause serious injury. I would not try to pass the car by going into the oncoming lane, unless I could actually see a really long distance there are no cars coming. Head on collisions with cars are bad because the difference in speeds is so huge. I cannot imagine ever being confident enough about going into the oncoming lane, to think it is wise to do it. Jan Gerrit Klok - Schiedam, XX, posted on Apr 24, 2007 I'm just getting to grips with Jenex Aero 150's for skating. I luckily got a brake mounted on the right leg one. It's a super efficient emergency brake (not speed reducer) and I cannot imagine even trying the sport without it. Rollerskiing must be a small sport because only 1 in 10 the rookies survives his first year? Also explains why most rollerskiers seem to technically capable. I just did a week of XC skiing classes, my first, and cannot get over how much easier it is to ski on snow. I pretty much skied right away on my first-ever day in the snow, but I can't stop crashing at walking pace with rollers despite some experience ice skating and on Crosskates. If rollerskiing were safer and less impossible to learn, it wouldn't be such a super-small sport. Invention of proper offroad rollerskis will be important for growing the sport, far away from traffic.

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