Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

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fisheater
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by fisheater » Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:04 pm

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

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Lhartley
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by Lhartley » Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:08 pm

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



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tkarhu
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by tkarhu » Fri Jan 12, 2024 12:23 pm

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



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JohnSKepler
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by JohnSKepler » Sun Jan 21, 2024 10:37 am

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!
Veni, Vidi, Viski



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lilcliffy
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by lilcliffy » Sun Jan 21, 2024 7:16 pm

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...
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



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JohnSKepler
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by JohnSKepler » Mon Jan 22, 2024 12:49 pm

lilcliffy wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2024 7:16 pm
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!
Veni, Vidi, Viski



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JohnSKepler
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by JohnSKepler » Mon Jan 22, 2024 12:56 pm

JohnSKepler wrote:
Mon Jan 22, 2024 12:49 pm
lilcliffy wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2024 7:16 pm
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?
Veni, Vidi, Viski



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lilcliffy
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Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by lilcliffy » Tue Jan 23, 2024 2:14 pm

JohnSKepler wrote:
Mon Jan 22, 2024 12:56 pm
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/
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



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lilcliffy
Posts: 4146
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger

Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by lilcliffy » Tue Jan 23, 2024 2:15 pm

I do not use a cork for klister.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



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Krakus
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Re: Pinnah's Simple Kick Waxing For Touring

Post by Krakus » Tue Jan 23, 2024 6:48 pm

lilcliffy wrote:
Tue Jan 23, 2024 2:14 pm
- 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?



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