Hot waxing scales... pro tips!

[Woodserson]

ENOUGH

STOP THE INSANITY

SCREW THIS BALONEY

Today was insanely sticky. 6" of fresh snow, let sit a day, warm up to 46f/8c and then send in some scaled skis. What a shitshow. Maxiglide pre-prepped, worked until it didn't. Many reapplications. Upset. Slow skiing. My chi is off. RAIN COMING. No End In Sight. Frustrated.

I know some of you do this. I'm finished not doing it. Let's do it together! What's your technique and be specific on gear. When you say brass/copper brush do you mean TOKO/SWIX or that scary thing from the hardware store? Etc.

GO

[connyro]

LOL Woody. Sounds like you had a rough day!

Well-used skis, in my experience, tend to accumulate this type of sticky snow more easily due to the scrapes, gouges/hairs on the base that act as points for snow to weld onto and grow into a big sloppy problem.

As far as hotwaxing the scales is concerned, I am usually successful by applying wax by crayoning it onto the scales as generously as I have patience for, but only go with the scales when applying, not against so you don't accumulate wax in the scales. Then quickly run the iron with (not against) the scales to heat/melt the crayoned-on wax. Then, I'll brass brush (cheapo combo nylon on one side, brass on the other) the scales, again with the scales, not against them. I'll also apply paste wax in a similar way, but no iron.

[t-$]

so i'm definitely no pro, and have never waxed scales. but yeah, i hate that shit. it seems like nature will overcome sometimes, no matter what we do to stop her. but, if there's a few pine needles stuck in a glob of wax on your ski, isn't that just more for the kick??!!

skiing across the lake is the worst. you just tick along and things are fine, and then hit a patch of slush through the snow and a second later you have 2 pounds of ice on your skis and you feel like you're on stilts. uugghhh......

sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. and when it's good, it's like bliss, right? and when it's bad, it's hell.

[lowangle al]

That snow is the worst, very frustrating. Once you get it off you try to keep your feet moving so it doesn't form again. I've been paste waxing my scales the way conny does, but that's not a sure cure for sure for that snow.

t$ the pine needles work better if you bend them into little chevrons and point them towards the tips. I cleaned up skis from last year today and they had dog hair in the wax. Sad thing is I don't even remember hitting a dog.

That overflow water under the snow on ice is the reason you should have a scraper with you, even with no wax skis. When you hit that stuff when it's cold out it freezes on there hard. A scraper beats using a knife, credit card or a ski edge.

[Lo-Fi]

ENOUGH...

I know some of you do this. I'm finished not doing it. Let's do it together! What's your technique and be specific on gear. When you say brass/copper brush do you mean TOKO/SWIX or that scary thing from the hardware store? Etc.

GO

I’ve had success with my Koms following this guy’s method. Brush out (side to side and lengthwise) with a TOKO/swix brass brush.

[woodchuck]

In for hot tips, myself.

The snow in question was *particularly* troublesome. I skinned up Pat's on Sunday morning and I left tracks full of great honking divots, yet my skins (recently waxed) stayed bone dry. Many people were having trouble with their downhill gear. I encountered one guy who was hiking down the hill with his skis on his shoulder, saying "I've been skiing 40 years... never seen anything like this". Fortunately I had no issues on the DH (thanks Harris for tips in another thread -- it all worked! HF wax FTW!).

[Woodserson]

LOL Woody. Sounds like you had a rough day!

Well-used skis, in my experience, tend to accumulate this type of sticky snow more easily due to the scrapes, gouges/hairs on the base that act as points for snow to weld onto and grow into a big sloppy problem.

They were newer skis with very clean scales. Almost too clean-- I was thinking that regular brushing would maybe add some structure to the scales and cut down on the surface tension. I did not think about this other side of the coin of having hairy scales.

skiing across the lake is the worst. you just tick along and things are fine, and then hit a patch of slush through the snow and a second later you have 2 pounds of ice on your skis and you feel like you're on stilts.

Two rules for BC meadowskipping:

1. Keep your skis dry.
2. Always carry your scraper

That snow is the worst, very frustrating. Once you get it off you try to keep your feet moving so it doesn't form again. I've been paste waxing my scales the way conny does, but that's not a sure cure for sure for that snow.

It was pretty terrible. I usually never have problems with diligent paste waxing, prep at home, etc. There was no strategy here that seemed to work and the paste wax went into very limited duty-time mode.

The snow in question was *particularly* troublesome. I skinned up Pat's on Sunday morning and I left tracks full of great honking divots, yet my skins (recently waxed) stayed bone dry. Many people were having trouble with their downhill gear. I encountered one guy who was hiking down the hill with his skis on his shoulder, saying "I've been skiing 40 years... never seen anything like this". Fortunately I had no issues on the DH (thanks Harris for tips in another thread -- it all worked! HF wax FTW!).

I was blown away how at 9am when I was hiking up Cardigan it was fluffy and promised to be nice and by the time I was coming down it mashed potatoes in a way that I can barely remember. It was 31 when I started hiking and 47 by the time I got back to the car two hours later, a huge swing which really messed with them snow crystals. It was balling up on the plastic riser of my bindings. Pounds of snow.

[Woodserson]

I’ve had success with my Koms following this guy’s method. Brush out (side to side and lengthwise) with a TOKO/swix brass brush.

Thanks for this. I'll give this a shot.

On a quasi-scientific level my Fisher S98 outtrack crown (or whatever) pattern gave me MUCH LESS problems than the ski I was on that uses that omnitrax shape, the half-circle things. Both relatively new skis, prepped the same way.

[lowangle al]

sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. and when it's good, it's like bliss, right? and when it's bad, it's hell.

My version

Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and when it's bad, I go home.

I would have been that old guy carrying my skis down.

[Woodserson]

[
I’ve had success with my Koms following this guy’s method. Brush out (side to side and lengthwise) with a TOKO/swix brass brush.

The paper towel technique isn't working for me, I'm filling the scales pretty good.

How do you keep the brash brush from gumming up?