Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

[fisheater]

Snow sticking to my wax is why I crayon colder wax over my warmer wax. It works

[Lhartley]

Thanks I'll try that, I have been stuck on the belief that colder wax won't bond to warmer wax

[tkarhu]

@Lhartley I think too much wax can also make snow stick, when weather gets weird. I normally put 3-4 thin layers or less.

[JohnSKepler]

Terrible wax day on Friday. Typical Northern Utah winter. A foot of perfect powder that lasts two days then the back side of the storm brings in warm air from the desert and temperatures goes up to 40º. We're really not high enough (4,500 ft) or north enough (latitude same as Spain) to stay cold. It's drizzling this morning.

I started learning waxing last year and went with the Toko system because it is very simple. Time to move past that. Ordered the waxes and klisters on Dave's list on Saturday, downloaded his chart, added a Fahrenheit column. If I want to be able to ski here when there's snow on the ground I need to learn to wax for soft, wet snow.

Never used a klister before but the general consensus seems to be that it is messy to work with. Advice welcome!

[lilcliffy]

Klister→ GO FOR IT. Magic.
And with either talcum powder and a scraper (out on the trail); or paper towel and heat (back at the ranch)- easy-peasey to remove.

Also- play with and test Swix Violet and Red elixers-

In addition- get yourself a couple tins of Rex Universal Tar- wow- especially wow on fresh, moisture-rich snow.

Regardless- for older transformed, and/or refrozen snow- klister will blow your mind...

[JohnSKepler]

Klister→ GO FOR IT. Magic.
And with either talcum powder and a scraper (out on the trail); or paper towel and heat (back at the ranch)- easy-peasey to remove.

Also- play with and test Swix Violet and Red elixers-

In addition- get yourself a couple tins of Rex Universal Tar- wow- especially wow on fresh, moisture-rich snow.

Regardless- for older transformed, and/or refrozen snow- klister will blow your mind...

Thanks for that! I've been avoiding the softer waxes because they're such a pain to remove but, I think the talc trick will reduce that to a more comfortable level of nuisance.

What kind of trail-scraper do you recommend? I have a cheapo plastic scraper, a couple of nice plexiglass scrapers, and I've ordered a metal scraper.

If I can ski on the stuff that's not ideal for the convenient waxes it will literally double my days!

[JohnSKepler]

Klister→ GO FOR IT. Magic.
And with either talcum powder and a scraper (out on the trail); or paper towel and heat (back at the ranch)- easy-peasey to remove.

Also- play with and test Swix Violet and Red elixers-

In addition- get yourself a couple tins of Rex Universal Tar- wow- especially wow on fresh, moisture-rich snow.

Regardless- for older transformed, and/or refrozen snow- klister will blow your mind...

Thanks for that! I've been avoiding the softer waxes because they're such a pain to remove but, I think the talc trick will reduce that to a more comfortable level of nuisance.

What kind of trail-scraper do you recommend? I have a cheapo plastic scraper, a couple of nice plexiglass scrapers, and I've ordered a metal scraper.

If I can ski on the stuff that's not ideal for the convenient waxes it will literally double my days!

Can you recommend any specific spreading tools, like corks? There are natural corks, synthetic corks, double sided corks with felt on one side, etc... Also, do I need separate corks for different grip waxes? I don't even know how to apply klister. Do you even use a cork?

[lilcliffy]

Can you recommend any specific spreading tools, like corks? There are natural corks, synthetic corks, double sided corks with felt on one side, etc... Also, do I need separate corks for different grip waxes? I don't even know how to apply klister. Do you even use a cork?

I like/prefer:
- natural cork for prepping grip/kick wax on a dry base (ie no moisture involved);
- synthetic cork for prepping grip/kick wax on the trail (ie moisture involved);
- a separate cork for hard grip wax and soft wax;
- a metal scraper for stripping wax

I generally use heat (iron) to apply very hard grip wax as base wax to shovel and tail-
but I use a cork to to touch it up on longer tours (and am testing a new cork for this- see link below).

(Swix and other sites have good videos on applying klister)-
I use my bare thumb to spread klister evenly on the base.

I drag on hard grip wax- dragging the wax in one direction (as opposed to "crayoning" it on- back and forwards).

I dab on soft-sticky kick wax- using twisting motions- in order to prevent it glopping up (and as stated above, I reserve a separate cork for it).

I am currently testing this extra-dense "friction" cork for prepping very hard grip wax (eg Swix Polar) as a base wax on the shovel and tail: https://skiwax.ca/products/red-creek-hand-cork-friction

Skiwax.ca has excellent "Learn to Wax" resources posted on their site:
https://skiwax.ca/

[lilcliffy]

I do not use a cork for klister.

[Krakus]

- a separate cork for hard grip wax and soft wax;

And, which wax do you consider soft and hard? Red is certainly soft, but eg. Violet Special?