XC Waxing tips Part II

I happened to be in Kristiansand area and was recommended this tour area in Søgne parish, at Årstøl. Quite fantastic because it is up at a suprising altitude given it is probably less than ten klicks from the sea: 200m up!

It is a real pearl and probably a bit of a closely gaurded "open" secret for the ski club in Søgne, who could put up a sign with a bank account for contributions and corporates sponsorship.

Last week it was 15 km , 3 times round the longest loop there in new snow and wind, with most of the ski tracks filled in with new snow making it heavy going and pretty impossible for waxing. It was taken as stamina training, being more akin to 25km in effort. Waxless skis beckoned on the last round as the skis both cladded up then lost grip in the harder spores.

However last night the effects of spring and a strong sun meant for hard and often icey spor.

How to wax? Well my principle for late season is to avoid the mess of clister and opt for combination of layers and areas of different waxed in the kick zone.

First, I swear by green spray on base. Two layers, spread while fluidm, cooled below zero,  and corked and cooled again between applications. Entire kick zone.

Then I did something a little different. i took about 10cm in and applied there and backwards a layer of purple V45 swix. This I pyramided on thursdays new snow, with very thin layers cooled after corking before the next layer. 4 layers, 2 about 50cm as said with green "tips" and then 2 in the mid sole. Worked good, some still on later.

next time the same v45 with a special v50 round zero in the "pocket" ie under the sole, in two layers the last one only 12cm long.

This survived the punishment of 11km on hard and icey stuff, but to get a little more kick on the short hills which are 50:50 to fishbone or jog over, and this wored a treat with a new application, just in the pocket of the stickier V45 special lillac.

One other tip I got then from a fellow skier last night was to also NOT wax to the heal. Instead take almost 6cm in with glider instead! Well wax manufactureres wouldnt like us all using 10% less of the three waxes because glider for most is one type and once a year!

 So that tip doesnt appear on their web sites. You get better glide and less cladding at very little cost to someone with good kick, especially if you use the "pocket" technique where the thickest and maybe the softer of the days layer is just in the "pocket" where cladding is not a big issue down hill.

On the heel or infront of the toes ,cladding is bad news for that horrible face over as you duck into crouch for a down hill and realise you have tennis balls of snow on your skis still. In the pocket the contact is made at maximum pressure on the snow when the compression of the crystals needs to be matched by a softer wax for the temporary adhesion and adsorption we seek.

That is my tip!

MORE OVER: I wonder if the future of skis includes a partial patterned waxless , with the fish scale ONLY under the soul, and then a nanotech base layer either side of this in the kick zone replacing green base waxes and working in itself in the coldest conditions. You then apply a days wax in two lays either side of the "pocket" waxfree for milder days ( -7c and up over) and you then have a reserve of waxless for getting you home if your other wax wanes or is wrong for the conditions.