How do you even go uphill?...

[fisheater]

Grip wax does not adhere well to glide wax. You will use a lot more grip wax if you apply grip wax over glide wax, as it wears off more rapidly

[JB TELE]

Since were on the topic of a lack of grip.

Last we night we had enough packed snow on the streets around my neighborhood to do an after work road ski. I got to try out my new transnordic 66 waxables for the first time. This is my first waxable base ski. It was dark and low to mid 20s F, snowing heavily. I used swix v40 blue. I put on about 5 or 6 layers and corked them in aggressively so that most of the wax disappeared into the ski base.

I don't have a snow thermometer yet but I assumed that would be the correct kick wax. I ended up with snow sticking to the ski. At first I assumed it was an issue of taking my skis out of a heated building and immediately putting them on snow, but even after letting them cool I was still getting snow sticking.

Is it logical that I needed a harder wax? Or is it possible that I did something wrong with the application of kick wax that caused sticking?

[fisheater]

If you were sticking blue was too warm. One reason why I like Rex Universal Tar, great wax for fresh snow, covers blue and green temperature ranges easily, and I like the way it smells.
Have you read Pinnah’s guide to waxing? The snow knows, I screw up the first time plenty. I don’t apply klister first, because I know that’s what I will need too many times, but I have!

[The GCW]

JB TELE,

It’s not like I know,,,

1st waxable ski? Good for You. Initially that sounds like it should’ve worked. But since it didn’t, here’s some questions / thoughts. -For snow to stick to Swix Blue, it’s gotta be much colder than the 20+° range.

*Did the snow stick to ski base but when kick and glide occurred, did the sticking snow become unstuck? Sometimes that occurs and depending on the terrain that can be good or bad or an indicator of which direction to go next…
*Were the streets warmer or colder before and during snow? Streets, especially asphalted can throw in a deciding factor adjustment.
*Was white color Swix ironed on the full base before grip wax? -and should that matter?

***You’ve seen both, LilCliffy’s and Pinnah’s (as fisheater mentioned) waxing threads, here? If not…

That temperature range is one of the easy ones; You’ll get it.

[JB TELE]

It had been snowing heavily for over 24 hours. I'm assuming the asphalt buried under 3 inches was cold??

I'm not sure if the snow was releasing or stuck on the entire time. It was dark and I didn't have a headlamp, I just felt the base of the ski with my hands a few times. The snow was compressed and hard to rub off.

The skis had old kick wax that I scraped off the best I could before applying blue. They were used skis that were just remounted and this was an unexpected outing before I had a chance to do a base cleaner strip and rewax.

Maybe it was colder than I thought. I forgot to make a note of the air temps before going out. Could have been teens. The only store in town with kick wax is sold out of green so I'll have to order some along with a snow thermometer.

I was still able to have a fun outing by adjusting my technique. I would throw one foot forward and glide on it rather than relying on a rear ski "kick" to push me forward. When shuffling I had to really focus on weighting one ski. Grip was surprisingly not that bad considering the stickage, but not ideal and slowed me down.

I've read both of those guides, very helpful. It's going to take time to learn. I have kicker skins as backup.

[JB TELE]

If you were sticking blue was too warm. One reason why I like Rex Universal Tar, great wax for fresh snow, covers blue and green temperature ranges easily, and I like the way it smells.

-1 to -25 C, That sounds too easy. What's the catch? Why would someone use 2 different Swix waxes over the Rex?

[The GCW]

JB TELE,

"was still able to have a fun outing by adjusting my technique"

Sometimes, when it isn't just right, it's good enough and That's really all You could ask for.

[fisheater]

I couldn’t agree more with the last statement by @The GCW

I was negligent in my response last night (Michigan football fan!)
A couple of inches over asphalt probably had snow wet and warmed by asphalt below. The compression of the snow probably brought up moisture that froze with cooler night time temperatures.
Sometimes it helps to crayon a colder wax over the softer wax. Gently spread the colder wax with your cork, do not rub hard and mix the wax. The cold wax prevents icing, and the snow crystals grip through the hard wax into the softer wax. It works really well…..sometimes;)

[FourthCoast]

If you were sticking blue was too warm. One reason why I like Rex Universal Tar, great wax for fresh snow, covers blue and green temperature ranges easily, and I like the way it smells.

-1 to -25 C, That sounds too easy. What's the catch? Why would someone use 2 different Swix waxes over the Rex?

It just started snow something like 12 hours ago and now you guys have me thinking about buying wax.

[tkarhu]

@fisheater Have you used skins on top of the Rex tar universal wax?