Prepping new wax skis

[lilcliffy]

I don't have any issue with forest debris (i.e. leaves, twigs, lichen) with grip wax- and I ski through dense mixed forests every day. I keep my grip wax thin though...

Klister on the other hand- not a forest product- made for the track. In the woods, when you might need klister- use your waxless skis...trust me.

I completely agree about keeping it simple- very simple.

I ski on the groomed track in town during the week. My high-performance acquaintances are often a little shocked about how little fuss I make about waxing my track skis as well.

As stated above- if kept simple- this is literally a minute per ski exercise. There is of course a learning curve- but it is not only fun- it will make you pay more attention to your skis and the snow. You will end up taking better care of your skis as a result- and I honestly believe it makes me a better skier- it maintains and improves my observation skills and my sense of skiing.

The best fertilizer is the footsteps of the farmer- Chinese proverb.

Our culture has become so rushed, distracted and harried... Routine maintenance of our skis, and paying attention to snow conditions, and how are skis perform- this enriches the experience, improves performance, and durability. It will also save a skier money- the skis will last longer.

I too carry wax with me on tour- but I carry three in my little kit.

I do all my grip waxing outside with skis and wax at outside temperature.

[MikeK]

I bought three waxes to play with. Swix Green (which unlikely I'll use much but I want it for my waxless skis too), Blue and Violet Special. That should give me a full range of below freezing temps. I decided to go with the Blue glide as it's right in the meat of the temp range.

For the waxless I'm switching over to the Violet. Red was a little too warm IMO as I'll still be using these at a lot of different temps. I'll see if that has any difference over the 'universal' wax.

For the grip I think I'm going to actually prep the bases - sand, Blue grip wax and iron.

So I guess I'm wondering if I need to go down to Green, I just scrape any layers of Blue and Violet I may have and build it back up in say 5 thin layers?

It seems like I can start with a good base of Blue and then just add a layer or two of Violet if I don't have enough grip. Then I'd assume if they start sticking, scrape that and layer the Blue back on.

If that's the case, seems simple enough... we'll see...

[Cannatonic]

great discussion. Sometimes I do find it necessary to remove all the grip wax and start over clean. Last week I needed more grip and piled on Blue Extra when I should have used a layer of Violet Special (28 degree compacted snow). Now there's just too much grip wax on, the glide sucks, probably because too much grip wax and it's got dirt in it. I need to get the citrus-solve and clean it off.

I usually hot-wax Swix base binder onto the wax pocket and then crayon grip wax on over the top and cork. The tips & tails get universal/cold weather glide wax. In cold weather - Blue wax - you won't need to apply any more wax for a long time. Blue and green wax conditions are the best - you just fly along over the snow. But I've found Violet Special works well in trickier conditions near freezing.

[1EyedJack]

PSA: Tognar Toolworks


http://www.tognar.com

Great catalogue source for ski maintenance from waxing to "surgery tools", along with how-to and other great tips.
Extensive wax selection w/ descriptions. Their catalog is hardcopy and/or downloadable. No affiliation with them, just passing on some good information. A must for those long spells on the shitter...