Can you actually climb with kick wax?

[rongon]

Just a thought...

If you have the room to maneuver, you can switchback up -- traverse uphill at a low angle for a while, kick turn or whatever, then traverse slightly uphill the other direction, repeat until you get to the top of the hill. The idea is to always be going at least somewhat uphill while not exerting yourself so much that you dissolve in a pool of sweat (and then freeze on the way down). Note that I'm not talking about climbing any mountains this way. Hills.

Myself, if the trail or slope goes up without interruption for a long way, and especially if the road or trail is narrow, I'll use climbing skins. No use wasting a lot of energy climbing on kick wax if the slope doesn't ease for a quarter-mile or more. My thinking is that kick wax is meant for rolling terrain, not so much for truly mountainous terrain... In my opinion, of course. YMMV and so on.

And I will never use klister again. I hate the stuff. If red-silver won't grip, then it's climbing skins for sure.

[greatgt]

Been a great season for wax. Mostly green and a tiny bit of blue. As it warms up will use blue, extra blue then some pink then red. After that lots of traversing. Mostly who wants to go up steeply? Much rather travers my way up with decent wax and leave an easy uphill trail. On the down double camber is boss with very little grip in the wax pocket and the glider part of the double camber take the speedy load. Little mountain is a thousand up and what a ride down on different parts. i stayed at tele camp 2 while the boys did the deed up top. i caught some decent turns around telecamp and had a wonderful time. So yes wax will get you up....and wax breaks free on the down and it makes for easy sliding. TM

[wabene]

I agree with TM, if I'm doing laps I like a shallower up track out of the way, definitely don't want to mark up the sweet bits. May as well make the up enjoyable and not a total grind.

[fisheater]

@greatgt Glad to here from one whom has been skiing wax, longer than most have been around!
However the comments about warmer snow are correct. Sometimes scales are just easier.

[riel]

You can also stomp up some quite steep slopes on a good wax job.

Stomping is the way to go.

Kick wax works by grabbing some snow. If you are gliding and striding, the amount of snow your skis grab will (usually) be minimal.

However, if you stomp up a hill, without gliding, you can build up half a snowman under each ski. That gets you up much steeper slopes than you could by gliding up the hill. Just glide your skis on the snow again at the top to get rid of the buildup.

Conversely, if you're on flatter terrain, but the snow gets too sticky, you can change your kick and glide stride to do less lifting of your unweighted ski, and instead drag it forward to prevent snow buildup.

Sometimes "bad technique" can compensate for snow and wax conditions.

[greatgt]

Above a certain temperature, bones work well. Have some beat, really beat rebounds. Use them when the temp goes over the top. Just like Fisheater says. Use wax for most everything and use Red in the Spring. By that time ski in shorts and tee shirts. Raining and wet snowing at the same time now. Will see what happens but base should hold up as there is so much of it. Wax to the max! TM

[fatskinning]

My next project: experimenting with grip tape as a substitute for climbing skins or fish scales.

From what I've read, it's similar to kick wax, effective in temperatures from +5°C to -20°C, and potentially long-lasting.

My goal is to reliably climb 20-degree slopes (wish me luck!).

I stumbled upon an incredible deal on brand new Dynafit 107s, and I couldn't pass it up. So, I'll be conducting my experiment on them.

I've purchased a significant amount of grip tape and plan to experiment with various placements and coverage patterns. However, I'm bracing for disappointment – I suspect it won't perform as well as I hope!

If the experiment fails, I'll remove the tape and they'll become my powder telemark skis.

[fatskinning]

- Follow up

I was too eager to test the grip tape, so I borrowed an old pair of skis from a neighbor.

Same length as the TAOs, nothing scientific, the tape covers roughly the same surface (first picture).

The weather was a sunny -3°C.

Second picture, 17-degree slope, no problems going up, both skis behaved similarly - easy.

Third picture, 23-degree slope, I was able to go up maybe 20-25 feet before the skis lost complete traction.
Again, both were similar, but this required a lot of effort.

I'll test again when it's colder, but I can say grip tape (grip wax) certainly can climb!

[Mtlsam]

- Follow up

I'm loving the experiments and funky setups you're creating. I don't have the skiing skill set to apply the "science" to my use, but it's cool to see!

[fatskinning]

@Mtlsam
Reading some of your posts, you often mention your skill level.

I haven't seen you ski, but I can feel a strong passion present.

There's nothing like having a good foundation and practicing, but in some cases, I believe the right equipment choice can make a noticeable difference in gaining confidence.

You've already asked me where I ski. Do you ever come to the Laurentians?

You mention you like my experiments, If you have access to 75mm boots, soft or plastic, it doesn't really matter, I'd be happy to let you try one of my pairs of skis if the opportunity were to arise.