First off thansk to the peopel who responde to my previous posts.Hi
My son and I are doing a classical race next week in the tug hill region of new York.
The snow will probably be wet around freezing or warmer. The snow pack there is huge. Would please like some advice on how to prep our skis. I have some low fluoride toko yellow. would getting a high flour wax make any significant change.
We are not top class racers just citizen.
FasterSkier Forums » Waxing
Race prep for wet snow classical
(3 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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Hi. I would hold off on making a decision on wax until one or two days before the race. I usually start checking the weather (www.noaa.gov) about 4 days prior to the event to make sure that I have wax that falls into the ballpark temperature wise. Then, with a day or two left, I start looking at the predicted hourly weather graphs (at the bottom of the forecast page) to get a sense what the temps and humidity will be at the time of the race. For kick, I generally only put binder on until I get to the race site.
From the sounds of it, you may want to rill your skis. If you have a friend that has a riller, bring over a sixer and do this prior to glide waxing (unless it is a toko structure tool, which you do after glide waxing).
Waxing kick for these conditions is tricky and takes a lot of trial and error. If you are a novice, you may want to opt for waxless skis. If you choose to go with waxable skis, make sure you have clean skis and that you sand the kick zone lightly with some 100 grit sand paper.
Depending on the race, the tokous.com and swixsport.com sites have decent info. Keep in mind that these guys want to sell you wax. Frankly, it's just crazy that they suggest the use of pure fluoros for everything from marathons to Bill Koch League races, but that's another topic. To answer your last question, it depends on the length of the race and conditions. The lower the humidity, the less difference it makes. In fact, there are some conditions were a basic hydrocarbon paraffin wax will out perform the fluoros. If you have high humidity, a long race, and dirty snow, the higher concentration of fluorocarbon you use the better your glide will be at the end of the race. Hope this helps, good luck.Posted 1 year ago # -
LS52 - You are leaving out some detail, such as what your goals are, what is in the ski bag, what is in the wax box, etc. However, my guess is that you and your son are approaching this in a low-key way, which is very cool.
I'll second DV's many excellent suggestions. I'm from NE, and I know that NY got absolutely hammered from the last storm. I don't think you can go wrong w/ NOAA (my favorite online weather resource). As far as the LF/HF question is concerned, if there is a refrozen track on race day, I would suggest that for your purposes it would hardly matter. I think it is up to you to decide the 'significant difference' part, but based upon what I am hearing I would say not. Without knowing what else is in your kit, I would further suggest that if it doesn't include a good universal klister then you need to get some. I'll personally vouch for Swix and Rode, but I'm sure there are many others as well. I like the waxless ski suggestion. Not a decision I would have immediately made, but if you and your son have them, and the weather is wildly variable, then why not have them handy? Finally, take a look at The Wax Book at http://www.ernordic.com. This is a good, brand-neutral, on-line wax reference sorted by temperature, humidity and snow type that can serve as a good starting point. Best of all, they talk up many brands of wax so you aren't getting the corporate sales pitch from one vendor.
Best of luck...It sounds like you're in for a lot of fun...
Posted 1 year ago #
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