Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web. We have fun here, come on in and be a part of it.
User avatar
gitrinec
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:56 pm

Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by gitrinec » Thu Aug 17, 2017 3:52 pm

Anyone ski in -20f weather with waxable skis, what's your recommended wax and application?

User avatar
lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
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: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by lilcliffy » Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:49 pm

The hardest (coldest) wax I currently use is Swix Polar (V05 Polar).

I use it as my base wax in the heart of my winter skiing- with Swix Green (V20 Green) on top if I need a little extra grip later in the day.

I apply the Polar from my heel, forwards, clear onto the glide zone.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



User avatar
gitrinec
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:56 pm

Re: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by gitrinec » Fri Aug 18, 2017 5:42 pm

lilcliffy, Do you do any sort of hot-wax, any favorite brands, toko, swix, hertel, etc



User avatar
lowangle al
Posts: 2732
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
Ski style: BC with focus on downhill perfection
Favorite Skis: powder skis
Favorite boots: Scarpa T4
Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.

Re: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by lowangle al » Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:44 pm

I also use the polar as a base wax and when it gets that cold I scrape off the softer wax on top and recork the base and I get crappy results. I would probably have better results starting with a clean base but when it's cold enough you might have to live with a slow glide.

My guess is that there is a hot wax out there that's better than polar.



User avatar
lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
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: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by lilcliffy » Sat Aug 19, 2017 8:36 am

gitrinec wrote:lilcliffy, Do you do any sort of hot-wax, any favorite brands, toko, swix, hertel, etc
My "preference " for Swix is solely a matter of convenience- it is what my local shop carries. The only other brand I have truly used (meaning over at least a season) is Toko- and that was 20 years ago...So- I can't really say I prefer one over the other...

Sorry if I didn't get your original post right- when you said "waxable" skis, I thought you were asking specifically about grip/kick wax.

As far as hard glide wax application-

I hot wax the glide zones of all my skis- including those with waxless scales (I at least seasonally hot wax even the scales as well).

If I am lucky enough to be skiing in a climate where the winter sets up and remains stable and cold, I have hot waxed the entire base of my waxable skis and then applied kick wax to the kick zone- forwards. When the season gets even colder (Jan-Feb) I then remove the wax, so I can start with a colder wax base.

I say "lucky" because for a decade I enjoyed a very stable winter. But- the last two winters the temperature has been a real roller-coaster, with a lot of abrasive refrozen snow. I am finding that kick wax does not stick well enough to hard glide was when skiing on refrozen, abrasive snow. So- I have begun to not put glide wax in the kick zone. I am also finding that the use of a base binder really does make a difference to kick wax retention- with abrasive snow.

If the snow is soft and non-abrasive I simply hot-glide wax the entire base, and then apply kick wax on top as needed.

As far as hard glide wax selection-

I use Swix CH6 at the beginning and last third of my season.

I use CH4 in the middle third of my season.

I do not race- so I do not worry about whether the glide wax is perfect for the exact conditions of the day.

I find glide wax very expensive, so I try and minimize the amount of hot waxing I do (I also have 6 people I have to wax for- plus visiting family and friends that regularly go skiing with us).

Hopefully, this better answers your question!
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



User avatar
gitrinec
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:56 pm

Re: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by gitrinec » Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:21 pm

So in my limited skiing knowledge, maybe I'm confused or something but I've noticed a lot of New Alpine touring skis have p-tex bases, is this a reverting back to waxing or am I missing something, if this is too off topic someone let me know.



User avatar
lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
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: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by lilcliffy » Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:59 pm

gitrinec wrote:So in my limited skiing knowledge, maybe I'm confused or something but I've noticed a lot of New Alpine touring skis have p-tex bases, is this a reverting back to waxing or am I missing something, if this is too off topic someone let me know.
Forgive me if I end talking about details that you already know!

Traditionally, "alpine touring" skis have always had completely smooth p-tex bases- with no waxless scales underfoot- traction for climbing being acquired by using skins.

As the traditional primary application of an "alpine touring" ski is to climb up a mountain, and then ski down- maximum performance comes from a smooth base that has glide wax ironed into the entire base- skins for the climb.

The addition of waxless scales to an "alpine touring" ski (e.g Voile Vector BC) is a relatively new idea- borrowed from Nordic touring skis.

Asnes for example has avoided adding waxless scales to their alpine touring skis- instead they have their integrated skins ("skin-lock").

When you said "waxable" in your OP, I assumed you were speaking of Nordic touring skis. In the context of Nordic touring skis- the term "waxable" refers to a Nordic ski that has a waxable base underfoot, requiring kick wax for kick and glide traction.

Regardless- for an "alpine touring" ski with a completely smooth "waxable" base, the convention would be to hot-glide wax the entire base and use skins for climbing traction.

In my big mountain skiing past, I always carried some kick wax for low-angle traverses/approaches.

As far as choosing a glide wax- they are all snow-temperature rated.

Which brand is best? No idea I am afraid.

What is your skiing context? Are you touring or racing?
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



User avatar
gitrinec
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:56 pm

Re: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by gitrinec » Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:07 pm

lilcliffy, Alpine Touring, Ski Mountaineering, ended up changing my setup to be able to use one pair of boots for Skiing and Mountaineering, I think I'm sorted now, I ended up ordering some Toko Universal Cold which is Hot wax for down to -22 , some Swix Polar kick wax for just in case, I've already got my full length skins for my Volkl V-Werks BMT94 skis. Unfortunately on those skis, you can't mount Tele bindings because of the way they designed them, so you have to use AT type bindings, they try to force people to use Marker bindings only but there are ways around it, lol

Thanks for the help again!!



User avatar
lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
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: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by lilcliffy » Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:31 pm

Cool man!

Sorry about my confusion around your OP.

The dual purpose ski/mountaineering boot is a serious advantage- if you are going to do some serious mountain climbing!

Even if you could get a telemark binding to work- I doubt your mountaineering boots have enough metatarsal flex for a Nordic binding.

Great to hear from you- have tons of fun, and be safe in them mountains.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



User avatar
Cannatonic
Posts: 983
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 9:07 pm

Re: Extreme cold weather ski Waxing, which wax?

Post by Cannatonic » Sun Aug 20, 2017 11:36 am

gitrinec wrote: I ended up ordering some Toko Universal Cold which is Hot wax for down to -22 , some Swix Polar kick wax for just in case,
this is what I use - I got some of the Toko Univeral glide wax on sale, couple packs of below freezing, couple packs of above freezing. That's actually high-end wax for me, I usually just grab whatever ski or snowboard wax is on sale. The kick wax makes a lot more difference. Swix seems good to me, I would use Polar. Rex wax incorporates Pine tar, it seems excellent, that's another option. I think only Swix specifally makes an ultra-cold Polar grip wax.

I start the season by cleaning the bases and ironing base-binder wax into the kick zone and universal glide wax to the rest. then you rub on the correct kick wax of the day (no iron) and cork it in. Trying to scrape off warmer wax to go back to colder never works for me either!

*edit, Toko makes an extreme-cold wax too - they cost more than Swix, maybe it's the fingernail-saving container:
https://www.toko.ch/en/wax-tools/grip-w ... ax-x-cold/
"All wisdom is to be gained through suffering"
-Will Lange (quoting Inuit chieftan)



Post Reply