Wax/klister help

Hi All,

I have zero experience with waxing for above-freezing conditions. On
Saturday is the Norwegian Birkebeiner and on cue, it seems the weather
is going to be difficult. It has been solidly below freezing for weeks
and weeks, and is forecasted to be cold for a while, but not on
race-day! On Saturday it is supposed to be a high of around 4-6C with
an overnight low of -9C or so. So the big question is what sort of wax
to use. I start late in the day and will take a while, so I expect to
be on the mountain at the hottest part of the day.

On some of the online forums, folks are saying that the real issue is
what the weather is like on Friday, as this will dictate the coarsness
of the snow in the tracks. If Friday is cold, the consensus is that the
tracks won't have enough time to get wet on Saturday, so the conditions
should be dry. But if Friday is warm, the snow will get wet and
granular.

So this is a two part question, I guess. What sort of wax is
recommended, and how should it be applied?

I have heard of putting dry-way on top of klister, but that doen't seem
to make any sense. Universal klister with Red Special on top? For
granular warm, wet snow? I have never used klister.

I also am contemplating going with no wax and doing the
sandpaper-herringbone thing if it is snowing and right around 0C.

Suggestions?

Joseph

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 16:44:51 +0100, wrote:

Hi All,

I have zero experience with waxing for above-freezing conditions. On
Saturday is the Norwegian Birkebeiner and on cue, it seems the weather
is going to be difficult. It has been solidly below freezing for weeks
and weeks, and is forecasted to be cold for a while, but not on
race-day! On Saturday it is supposed to be a high of around 4-6C with
an overnight low of -9C or so. So the big question is what sort of wax
to use. I start late in the day and will take a while, so I expect to
be on the mountain at the hottest part of the day.

On some of the online forums, folks are saying that the real issue is
what the weather is like on Friday, as this will dictate the coarsness
of the snow in the tracks. If Friday is cold, the consensus is that the
tracks won't have enough time to get wet on Saturday, so the conditions
should be dry. But if Friday is warm, the snow will get wet and
granular.

So this is a two part question, I guess. What sort of wax is
recommended, and how should it be applied?

I have heard of putting dry-way on top of klister, but that doen't seem
to make any sense. Universal klister with Red Special on top? For
granular warm, wet snow? I have never used klister.

I also am contemplating going with no wax and doing the
sandpaper-herringbone thing if it is snowing and right around 0C.

Suggestions?

Joseph

Mixing klister and dry wax is often a very good solution
With changing conditions like this i would prepare my skies with a layer
of SwixKR50 FLEXI KLISTER and Swix Red Special mixed togheter, a very
flexible solution that will work well from about -4C to +4C with changeing
snow conditions. Prepare the skies the night before and store them outside
overnight. This mix must be cold before you start to use it, you will
minimum need 2 hours the get them cold enough. Consider using a thin layer
of cold wax on top if temperature is low or a soft wax if it is warm. Be
prepared to re-wax your skies with a thin waxlayer during the race.

LASR

Professional waxers will wax your skis for a price.
With this process you cannot go wrong. They will know what trail conditions
will be like after the long climb to higher elevations after the start.

Why worry? Why stress out? Let the pro's handle it !!

JK

32 degrees wrote:
Professional waxers will wax your skis for a price.
With this process you cannot go wrong. They will know what trail conditions
will be like after the long climb to higher elevations after the start.

Why worry? Why stress out? Let the pro's handle it !!

JK

The problem is that the pro shops have early deadlines to be able to
manage the demand. The weather conditions are increasing the
possibility of having to make last minute changes, which the early
deadline makes difficult. The weatherman says 4C, but I think they are
grossly mistaken and everyone is going to be scrambling to sort out
their pre-ordered well-done, but wrong wax.

If the weather were stable and it was just a matter of having a pro
place do it so it would be well done, I'd have it done. But there is
also the contentious issue of what is to be done, not just how.

In other words I'd rather ski on lousily applied (by me) correct wax
than properly applied (by pros) incorrect wax.

Joseph

Had a friend ski the Norwegian Birkie a few years back. Warm klister
conditions at the start. Cold hard wax conditions at the top of the big
climb out 10km or so. Pro's waxed his skis perfectly with hard wax, a bit
slippy at start, but great for the rest of the race. Go Pro !

JK

Check with Swix or Toko at the race area. They should have updated wax
recommendations. This is what I do at races in the US and the
suggestions are usually dead on. The wax companies have a lot to lose if
their recommended wax does poorly so they put a lot of effort into
getting them right.
Ralph Thornhon

In article . com,
wrote:

32 degrees wrote:
he contentious issue of what is to be done, not just how.

In other words I'd rather ski on lousily applied (by me) correct wax
than properly applied (by pros) incorrect wax.

Joseph

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Wax for the climb and figure the rest of out later. If your skis are a
bit slippery at the start it won't matter because you won't be going
fast anyway (too many people). When I did that race a couple of years
ago the trail was lined with people trying to scrape klister off as we
rose up into powder towards the top of the course (I was one of them).

This raises an interesting question about long classic races - does it
make sense to plan, as part of your overall race strategy, a wax stop
halfway through the race? A lot of times the conditions change
dramatically over the course of the race due to warming temps or
changing elevation. So, if it were the Norway Birkie, you'd wax for
the climb, take the downhill on your climbing wax, and then touch up
for the rest of the race at the bottom.

This idea came to me while I was double-poling the last two UPHILLS of
the Great Ski Race in Tahoe a couple of weeks ago.....

bt

Joe, If you'd asked me this question a year ago, I might have launched
into a long description about how to carefully analyze the conditions
and pick some great witches brew of klisters. But instead, I'm going to
suggest you get a can of spray-on gel wax remover, and a package of REX
warm grip tape. I'm blown away. It works better than I could possibly
have believed, wears like iron if applied correctly, and does not
penalize significantly on speed. And BTW the temp range is huge. At
the high end, you may still need some violet or red klister to put on
late in the day, but not for the bulk of the race. Remember snow cools
slower, and warms slower than air.

Good luck,

Marsh


wrote:


Hi All,

I have zero experience with waxing for above-freezing conditions. On
Saturday is the Norwegian Birkebeiner and on cue, it seems the weather
is going to be difficult. It has been solidly below freezing for weeks
and weeks, and is forecasted to be cold for a while, but not on
race-day! On Saturday it is supposed to be a high of around 4-6C with
an overnight low of -9C or so. So the big question is what sort of wax
to use. I start late in the day and will take a while, so I expect to
be on the mountain at the hottest part of the day.

On some of the online forums, folks are saying that the real issue is
what the weather is like on Friday, as this will dictate the coarsness
of the snow in the tracks. If Friday is cold, the consensus is that the
tracks won't have enough time to get wet on Saturday, so the conditions
should be dry. But if Friday is warm, the snow will get wet and
granular.

So this is a two part question, I guess. What sort of wax is
recommended, and how should it be applied?

I have heard of putting dry-way on top of klister, but that doen't seem
to make any sense. Universal klister with Red Special on top? For
granular warm, wet snow? I have never used klister.

I also am contemplating going with no wax and doing the
sandpaper-herringbone thing if it is snowing and right around 0C.

Suggestions?

Joseph

"Marsh Jones" wrote in message
...
Joe, If you'd asked me this question a year ago, I might have launched
into a long description about how to carefully analyze the conditions and
pick some great witches brew of klisters. But instead, I'm going to
suggest you get a can of spray-on gel wax remover, and a package of REX
warm grip tape.

I second this idea.
It's what I'd do if I wasn't on fiscales for this race.
Bring a putty knife and some wax for the top plateau just for your piece of
mind.
BTW I never have used Rex, but have used Start grip tape and the range is
huge and it works well for me as long as conditions are not really abrasive.
Just use it in the klister pocket.

Gary Jacobson
Rosendale, NY

For my money, this is why God invented RCS waxless skis or any of the
very good high end waxless race skis. You'll have bombproof kick for
the climb and adequate glide for the plateau. And no chance of icing or
need to rewax. You may not have the fastest skis for any one section of
the race (though climb should be excellent) but you would probably have
some of the fastest skis for ALL sections added together,if that makes
sense.

Anyway, it's a great race. Have a ball and knock 'em dead.

Stuart