WAX ON, WAX OFF
Waxing and caring for your skis are basic skiing fundamentals. Waxing skis is essential for performance on snow. Caring for your skis will not only to improve performance, but also to ensure a long ski life. Remember, you can always pay someone to do the following! Don't despair, if all of this makes your head spin, come on down to either store, let us explain it to you or simply buy a waxless ski: a bit less performance but a heck of a lot less work.

KICK IT!
First the general principle behind kick wax or klister: When you classical ski, you want your skis to be stuck to the snow under you when you put your weight on them, and when you weight the opposite ski, you want your ski to glide freely. This is achieved by applying kick wax (also known as grip wax). The wax will allow the snow to grip the bottom of the ski in certain parts to allow one ski to stick.

Kick wax or klister goes on the portion under the foot called the "wax pocket". It extends from the heel forward to about 12-18 inches in front of the toe. This is the area of the ski that does not touch the snow when we have our weight evenly distributed on both skis. We are gliding when in this position. The camber of the ski is keeping the wax pocket from touching the snow. When we kick or push off we shift all our weight to one ski. This drives the wax pocket into contact with the snow and develops the traction we discussed above. This all assumes that the skis are not too stiff or too soft for your body weight. This is known as ski fit.

You can get traction in two ways: One is to have the snow dig into the bottom of the ski so you can push off. The other is to have the ski stick to the snow so you also can push off. The first method is accomplished with regular kick waxes. The second is accomplished with "klisters". This second method is similar to the way waxless skis work. They stick or dig into the snow to develop traction for push off.

For regular kick waxing it's essential for snow crystals to dig into the wax to get traction. (Cold dry snow has hard sharp edges. Warm snow has softer rounded edges.) We only want the snow to dig into the wax enough to get us a platform to push off of. If it digs in too much you'll get lots of traction but too much drag (no good) as the snow crystals won’t release when we start gliding.

The colder and dryer the snow is, the harder the kick wax should be. As the temperature rises and the crystals get softer, rounder and wetter, softer waxes work better. Eventually the snow is so soft or wet that it won’t dig into what ever wax we put on the ski. That's when klister comes in. (Klister is basically glue) Klister causes the ski to stick to the snow surface and that supplies the required traction. Klister is not only used when it’s warm and wet but Klister is also used when the trails are icy.

GLIDE
Glide waxing is about adjusting the physical properties of the ski base to allow it to glide as fast as possible. Skis are slowed down by two factors: Friction and Suction. Friction is determined by how hard the ski base is relative to the snow surface and how much weight is on each part of the ski.

Proper pressure distribution is what ski fit is all about. Suction is a function of how much water is under the ski. Water develops due to the friction of the ski gliding over the snow. It may also be already present in the snow under warn conditions. The lower the friction and the lower the suction the faster the ski glides. Snow crystals will dig into the bottom of the ski and cause friction which slows the ski down. We can make the ski base harder by putting hard wax into the base. A ski base is porous. It will absorb wax and it’s hardness will change depending on the hardness of the wax we put in it. Wax manufacturers have determined how hard a wax is needed for a given temperature.

Select a wax for the expected snow temperature and apply it. Remember: The colder the snow the harder the wax. The warmer the snow the softer the wax. We also use a wonderful product called "Zardoz" More on that later. Suffice it to say that it's like lube for snow... super slick, super fast, universal in its temperature range.

At temperatures above about -10 degrees Celsius skis are basically gliding on a thin film of water. This water is created by the friction of the ski melting the snow. This is wet friction. Different waxes try to manage the production of water to produce optimum glide. Too much water and you get suction and the ski slows down. Too little water (dry friction) and the ski slows down. Dry friction conditions are generally slower than wet friction conditions.

At temperatures below -10 you can’t make enough friction to create any water. Under these conditions the smoother and harder the ski base the better the glide. That’s why we put on hard wax, have minimal structure and polish the bases when it’s very cold. So the simple rule is hard waxes for cold temps, soft waxes for warm temps. The extra water problems caused by warm or wet snow are handled by using fluoro waxes which repel water, similar to the way water beads up on a waxed car. By repelling water the suction is reduced. Ski structure is more important than wax when dealing with wet snow. Simple! (yes, we're kidding... not so simple)

BASE PREP
New skis or skis that have been just stone ground have no wax in the base. They need to be waxed and scraped several times before they will attain their glide speed potential.

Some my see the following steps as a tad involved, needing much time and effort. Keep in mind that this is a "I have no social life" scenario, dumbing down some of this will not cause blindness or serious injury.

Any new cross-country ski should be prepped before usage. This is done by removing all shipping wax or film and then applying base prep wax on the skis. The next step is to smooth out the prep wax with an iron and let cool for 20-30 minutes. Scraping off and brushing a moderate amount each time (see glide waxing) and repeat at least 5 times. The 4th time using red wax and the 5th time using blue wax. The goal is to progressively harden the base. The last step is scraping and brushing.

Next progress to a wax that you will ski on. Rex Blue for average conditions. Prepare the skis as described in the glide wax section. For the next several ski outings rewax after each session. Be sure to get some colder wax in the ski eventually as well. The skis get faster by waxing and skiing as apposed to just waxing over and over again. It’s also more fun.

You should prep your skis even if you are going to use paste waxes instead of hard waxes. It's good for the skis and the paste wax will adhere better and last longer. If you don't have an iron and all the tools, Bring it in to our tech shop, we'll take care of it for you.

CLASSIC WAXING
Classic skis have to be both kick waxed and glide waxed. Start by putting masking tape over the kick area when glide waxing classic skis to keep glide wax off the wax pocket. How often you glide wax your classic skis depends on how serious you are about performance. If you’re just a recreational golf-course tourer you can probably get by glide waxing with hot wax once or twice a year, especially if they’re not high end race skis. For training you should do it whenever there is a major change in the conditions or before an important workouts or road trips. Remember however that waxing your skis regularly does protect your ski bases from oxidation and wear. Alpine glide waxes (like Zardoz) are great for non-racing average folks like most of us.

In order to wax a classic ski you must first know where the wax pocket is. the wax pocket is that portion of the ski that is off the snow when your weight is evenly distributed on both skis. You can safely assume it runs from where your heel is to about 12-18 inches in front of your toes.

You can measure it by standing on both skis on a smooth level surface as if you were gliding and have someone slide a piece of paper forward until it stops. This is the front of your wax pocket. Mark it with a magic marker on the sidewall. Assuming your skis are fit for your weight you now know were the wax pocket is. Clean off any old wax using a ski scraper. Then remove the rest with mineral spirits or commercial wax remover and paper towels. If you haven’t roughened the kick area before, you can use 150 grit sand paper to roughen it. This makes the kick wax adhere to the base better. Don’t go beyond the marks that indicate you wax pocket.

BASE BINDER
Base binder wax will help your wax last longer. In general wax sticks better to base binder than to the ski base. Base binder is a special formulation of wax that sticks to the ski base better than regular wax. Rub the binder wax on the wax pocket and smooth it out with an iron to form a thin layer. If you use your glide wax iron don’t forget to clean the base before using it to glide wax. Use light pressure on your waxing cork for the final smoothing step. There should be no clumps visible. You can work back and forth with the cork.

KICK WAX
Select the wax appropriate for the temperature and rub it on the ski for entire length of the wax pocket. Kick wax works better in multiple thin layers instead of one thick layer. Use the flat side of the foam cork and with light pressure smooth out the wax so it becomes almost invisible. Then put another layer on and cork again. Use a light touch you don’t want to mix the layers. Put on at least one more layer and maybe more depending on how long you plan to ski. The end result should look smooth and almost invisible. This is easier to accomplish with the high tech waxes and with harder waxes. If you’re using a soft wax try putting it in the freezer for a bit to harden it up so it won’t clump when you rub it on. Put the skis outside to cool off. They are warm. If you put them on the snow they will melt the snow and ice up. Use ski binders to keep the wax from getting all over everything and/or dirty.

KLISTER
Put klister on by rubbing diagonal streaks of klister every inch or so along the wax pocket on each side of the groove. Don’t get any in the groove. Then with a klister spreader (small plastic spatula) smooth the klister out to cover the entire wax pocket. One layer is enough. It helps to see someone apply klister at least once before you try it. Some people spread out klister with the palm of their hand or fingers. It supposedly works good but I don’t know how you get it off your hand when you’re done. Again put the skis outside to cool. Don’t store skis with klister in a warm area. The klister will melt and run down the ski. Use ski binders to keep the wax from getting all over everything and/or dirty. Very important with klister. Personally, if klister is required, I use waxless skis.

ADJUSTING YOUR WAX WHILE SKIING
When skiing on a freshly waxed classic ski the wax may not work right away. It seems that it takes several kilometers of skiing for the wax to setup and start working so give it a chance. If after a few kilometers you are still slipping, rub on more wax of the same type but a bit further forward, (2 inches) Smooth it out with a cork.

When skiing you should always carry extra "wax of the day" and a cork. You may also want to bring warmer temperature wax just in case. (If after all of the above you are still slipping rewax with the next warmer wax)

Just take off your skis. Stick the tails in the snow. Get out your wax. Hold the top of the ski with one hand and rub the wax on with the other. steady the ski against your foot. Smooth it out with a cork. Don’t be too concerned with how pretty the wax job is at this point. Just rub it on and cork it a bit. You’ll probably have to rub fairly hard because the wax and ski might be cold. Sure, it's a bit work but when well done it's absolutely worth it.