How much wax do you need?
It takes about 12-15 grams to hot wax one pair of alpine skis, or one complete snowboard....which means a 100 gram wax pack is good for about 6-8 hot wax applications. If you don't hot wax, but rub on the wax (like a crayon) and cork it in, you'll get many more applications, but it will wear off your base faster. We usually recommend hot-wax applications of universal and hydrocarbon waxes (and low-fluoro waxes if possible) to create a base-layer 'foundation'...and then rubbing fluoro waxes atop these.

Why Wax?
Back in the early days when all skis had wood bases, skiers had little choice but to wax 'em regularly if they wanted to slide on snow. But along with the introduction of polyethylene bases (p-tex) came the assumption that skis no longer needed waxing. Wrong...p-tex is a thirsty plastic that needs frequent wax feedings. In no time at all, the number of skiers who waxed their skis flip-flopped from 97% who did, to 97% who didn't. And that's pretty much where it remains today... amazingly, only 3-4% of skiers or snowboarders bother to wax their equipment. The performance these folks lose because of this misunderstanding is significant...a waxed base is about 30% easier to turn, more durable and faster than an unwaxed base.

P-tex bases can easily lose their ability to absorb wax efficiently. The most common cause is simply neglecting to wax regularly. The high friction of snow acts like sandpaper to abrade the base, wear off wax and leave the p-tex dried out. Another cause is too much heat created by a poor stonegrinding, the use of excessive speed or pressure when rotobrushing, or, most commonly, from an improperly used or uncalibrated wax iron. About half the surface area of most sintered racing bases will absorb wax when new...these are call "amorphous" regions. Excess heat converts these to "crystalline" regions, which do not absorb wax. Furthermore, heating the base can increase its oxidation by atmospheric oxygen. Overheating a base also dries it out and results in the creation of more unwanted, drag-inducing p-tex hairs.

You can help thwart most of these occurrences in obvious ways. When hot-waxing, for example, use a decent wax iron that holds a fairly constant temperature (+ or - 8*F). Most household irons don't...they fluctuate wildly in temperature (in excess of 40*F). Secondly, calibrate your iron using one of the thermometers we offer. Third, apply enough wax to the base so you have a nice molten layer between the iron and p-tex. Don't let an iron come in direct contact with a dry base. Remember, wax...even the pricey fluoro stuff...is cheap compared to a new pair of skis or snowboard!

KEEP 'EM WAXED
Although all individual wax manufacturers insist that what they make is superior to their competitor's products, they all agree that any wax, regardless of the brand, is better than no wax at all. Subtle differences count when waxing for racing or training, but an application of any universal wax will give the average skier a noticeably better ski experience. Wax companies figure that approximately 96% of all skiers ski on unwaxed skis.
-Bill Tanler, Ski Tech Magazine

Hydrocarbon Waxes
Tthe foundation of most waxes today is paraffin...a hydrocarbon petroleum byproduct that boasts basic hydrophobic (water-repellent) properties. It penetrates deeper into p-tex bases and lasts longest when melted in using a hot wax iron. Less effective but convenient alternatives are to apply a thin layer of bar wax (like a crayon), then vigorously rub it in with a wax cork...or use a liquid or paste
formula (similar in texture to car or shoe polish) that you simply rub on, let dry, and buff off with a clean cloth.

ALL-TEMPERATURE (UNIVERSAL) WAXES
For the masses, the most basic and popular formulas are wide-temperature range (universal) waxes. These are versatile, inexpensive,
reliable and convenient for recreational riders, patrollers, guides, instructors and others who commonly encounter a wide variety of snow/temperature conditions, and simply need such basic wax benefits as easier turning, decent glide and base durability more than top
speed. These waxes are readily available in bar, paste or liquid form. All major wax companies offer paraffin-based hydrocarbon waxes.

TEMPERATURE-SPECIFIC WAXES
These waxes serve as the foundation for greater performance and racing...and should be the first wax layer you apply, preferably by hot-waxing. They are mixes of high-grade paraffins and other additives that offer greater speed in specific temperature ranges and snow conditions. Depending on your wax brand of choice (we recommend sticking with one initially to simplify matters), you can expect to find from three to five different temperature-range waxes offered by most wax companies, such as:

- Cold wax...for snow temperatures approximately 10*F/-12*C and below. This is a hard wax mix of paraffin and synthetic paraffins...hardening additives that make wax more durable, abrasion-resistant, and immune to scratching by sharp snow crystals (dry friction).

- Midrange wax...for snow temperatures between 10*F/-12*C and 28*F/-2*C. This is a medium wax formulated to counteract the effects of both moderate dry and wet friction.

- Warm wax...for snow temperatures 28*F/-2*C and above. This is a soft wax mix of paraffin and silicone (or similar)...hydrophobic additives that make wax more water-repellent to combat wet friction.

Fluorocarbon Waxes
Since their introduction in 1990, fluorocarbon waxes have proven indispensable at the World Cup level, where victories are increasingly determined by mere thousands of a second. Although the winning stakes aren’t as high for junior or master racers, they’ve likewise taken more interest in these pricey but prized speed potions.

WHAT ARE FLUOROS?
Unlike regular paraffin-based hydrocarbon waxes which are comprised of carbon molecules with neutrally-charged hydrogen atoms, fluorocarbon waxes are comprised of carbon molecules with negatively-charged fluorine atoms. Somewhat like Teflon, they repel water better by reducing friction (capillary attraction) between bases and water in the snowpack, plus help keep bases cleaner and faster in dirty snow by repelling dirt particles (which, like the fluorine molecules, are negatively-charged).

Fluorocarbon waxes are offered in a variety of universal and temperature-specific formulations that range from relatively inexpensive low-fluoro wax (2-3% concentration for low humidity snow), to mid-fluoro wax (3-5% concentration for mid-humidity snow), to high-fluoro wax (5-15% concentration for high-humidity snow), all the way up to expensive 100% fluoro overlays for top race speed applications.

Low-fluoro wax is best suited for dry, low humidity conditions (when it’s hard to make a snowball), mid-fluoro wax is for medium humidity (when it’s easier to pack a snowball), and high-fluoro wax is for wet and high humidity (when it’s easy to pack a wet snowball). Different wax companies have varying but similar standards of humidity levels:

Humidity      Swix        Toko    Dominator  Holmenkol
Low              0-50%       0-40%       0-25%       0-50%
Medium       50-65%     40-70%     25-65%     50-75%
High             65-100      70-100      65-100      75-100%

Since fluoro waxes are available in specific temperature ranges, you should always overlay them atop their hydrocarbon wax counterparts. Assuming that humidity levels warrant it (and your budget allows it...since fluoros become increasingly expensive), you should apply consecutive layers of increasing fluoro concentrations over your hydrocarbon wax...i.e.- apply low fluoro layer over hydrocarbon layer, then higher fluoro over the low fluoro layer, etc.

Finally, a coat of low-fluoro paste wax applied to ski or board sidewalls and tops can help improve glide when cranking ‘em up on edge for carving turns, as well as helping prevent unwanted snow buildup on topsheets.

100% FLUOROCARBON OVERLAY WAXES
These overlays are also offered in a wide variety of forms…including powders, blocks, liquids and pastes. A quick review of these top-end products can help you determine which are the most practical, safe, effective and economical to use.

100% FLUORO POWDERS
Powders were the first 100% fluoros to arrive on the scene. They require the greatest expertise to apply and are best applied indoors where wind won’t interfere. They’re sprinkled on and spread uniformly over the ski or snowboard base, then lightly tamped down using a hand cork, the palm of a clean hand, or with a heated iron. Then they’re melted into underlying wax layers (which, for best results, should include low, medium and/or high fluoro-concentrate waxes appropriate for your snow conditions) using either a hot wax iron or cork.

Using an iron to melt in overlays yields the greatest wax durability, but also requires very careful attention…especially since the temperature necessary to melt fluoro powders is hot enough to burn a p-tex race base, as well as potentially create lung-damaging fumes. Although traditionally utilized by experienced technicians for maximum wax durability on long icy World Cup speed courses and nordic races 25K or longer, it’s an unnecessarily risky application for most juniors, masters, coaches or parents to attempt.

A safer alternative is to use a hand or rotocork to rub and melt in overlays. Using a hand cork powered by elbow grease, or an electric drill to spin a rotocork, they create heat via friction to melt fluoros into the base. Although they don’t generate temperatures as high as an iron to yield equally durable results, corks effectively bypass the safety and health concerns of ironing while still providing the same fluoro speed benefits, which is ideal for juniors and masters who rarely race on courses as long, hard or abrasive as World Cup competitors.

Powders aren’t cheap. World Cup service techs use ¼ to ½ ounce on each pair of skis or snowboard, regardless if they iron or cork it in. At retail, this translates into $25-$60 per application…a hefty price for even top racers.

100% FLUORO BLOCKS
More recently, 100% fluoro blocks were introduced. These are 100% powders which are poured into a mold and compressed under extreme pressure (1000+ pounds). This process not only transforms them into solid form, but crunches fluoro particles into a smaller size which melts into bases at a lower temperature than powders.

Fluoro blocks are applied to ski or snowboard bases by rubbing them on by hand like a crayon. A thin uniform layer is adequate to melt it in with a hand or rotocork, whereas a thicker layer is needed for ironing to avoid the risk of accidentally burning bases.

For this reason, ironing in block overlays is advised only for long nordic races (25K or more) where maximum durability is required. Otherwise, hand or rotocorking is safer and equally effective for junior or master racers in all other events…and has likewise gained increased popularity on the World Cup, especially for technical alpine events.

Corking in blocks also allows for more convenient application, whether inside a waxroom or out on the course at race starts. Blocks are also less expensive than powders, costing about $10 per application when corking in a thin layer, or $20-30 when ironing in a thicker layer.

100% FLUORO LIQUIDS & PASTES
100% fluoro liquids and pastes are the newest potions on the race hill. They are usually the fluid equivalent of powders or blocks, at least when offered by the same manufacturer (although there are exceptions to this, so check to make sure). They contain fluoro particles smaller than those used in powders or solids, which, combined with an evaporative solvent, allows them to permeate into underlying base material and waxes without corking or ironing. They’re simply wiped on and allowed sufficient time to dry thoroughly. This can take 5 minutes or more depending on weather/drying conditions, and is critical for good results.

Although fluoro liquids and pastes can be applied directly onto base wax layers for economy’s sake, most World Cup techs apply them over fluoro powder or block applications…especially for very wet snow conditions…believing this improves their effectiveness and durability. The greatest advantage of fluoro liquids and pastes, however, is their ability to provide superior overall base coverage, since their fluidity lets them penetrate deeper into the recesses of aggressive base structures where powders and blocks can’t always reach.

There are numerous fluoro liquid and paste overlays on the market today, and their formulations, durability, and cost per application can vary from brand to brand. We’ve listed some of the most popular and proven products here, and suggest obtaining more detailed info about them at their respective websites.

Parting notes…
Always consult manufacturer’s recommendations before applying 100% fluoro overlays to ensure they’ll correctly match your race snow conditions…otherwise, you may actually end up spending lots, and getting less speed!

Fluoro overlays can be applied the night before a race if you’re confident of race day snow conditions, or the morning of a race. You’ll want to do any ironing or powder applications indoors (preferably at room temperature), whereas fluoro blocks or liquids/pastes can be applied by corking or wiping them on nearly anytime or anywhere…even at the race start if weather and drying conditions allow.

After applying powder or block fluoros by iron or cork, finish the job by making a light pass with a plastic wax scraper, rub the base with a felt pad, brush out any excess fluoros in the structure with a horsehair and/or fine nylon brush, polish again with a felt pad and give the base a final wipe using a clean lint-free paper or cloth.

Liquid or paste applications can be finished by buffing bases with a felt polishing pad, brushing with a fine nylon hand brush, and wiping the base with a lint-free paper towel or clean cloth.

These steps remain essentially the same for all gear…snowboards, alpine and nordic race skis…since most all their race bases utilize similar quality p-tex.

PERSONAL TIPS FROM WORLD CUP TECHS FOR 100% FLUORO OVERLAYS
“Remove any remaining fluoro waxes or overlays from steel edges after application, or they’ll feel slow in the snow.” –Pam Warman (current U.S. Ski Team/World Cup men’s alpine race service technician)

“A synthetic cork distributes fluoro powder more uniformly over a base than a natural cork…use it before heating powder in with an iron or rotocork.” -Ian Harvey (former member U.S. Nordic ski team, U.S. Olympic team, U.S. Biathlon team, and U.S. Nordic national champion; current Toko product manager and race service technician)

“When hand or rotocorking powder, spray a light spritz of water on splotchy spots if they appear to help smooth them out and blend them into the base.” -Willi Wiltz (former K2 race service technician & DH alpine ski development; Canadian national team race service technician; Olympic/World Cup race service technician for Tommy Moe/Dynastar, Bode Miller/Fischer and Dahron Rahlves/Atomic)

“Don’t rotobrush at the race start…it can create more unwanted static
friction which can increases drag.” -Randy Graves (former Rossignol U.S. Team & World Cup race service technician, junior program coordinator and alpine ski product manager; current Green Mountain Valley School teacher, coach and race service technician)

“Heavy pressure rotocorking may dull steel edges, as the cork invariably touches them unless your base bevel is unusually high…but this is not a problem on Nordic skis”. -Dave Peszek (certified race coach; Holmenkol brand manager and head World Cup alpine race service technician)

“To keep them clean, store any corks, pads and brushes used for applying fluoro overlays a marked ziplock bag. This keeps them from getting “contaminated” by any other waxes or dirt, plus allows 100% fluoros to build up in them for handy touch-up applications on the hill.” -Steve Poulin (Swix national sales manager)

“After racing, scour any remaining 100% fluoros from bases by simply skiing them off, followed up with hot-scrape waxing when you return to the workshop.” -Randy Graves (former Rossignol U.S. Team & World Cup race service technician, junior program coordinator and alpine ski product manager; current Green Mountain Valley School teacher, coach and race service technician)

“Fluoros bond best to fluoros. For best race performance and durability, start with a hydrocarbon base wax, then add at least one layer of fluoro base wax (low, medium and/or high fluoro) before applying 100% fluoro overlays.” -Tom Reinerth (former U.S. Pro ski racer; former Salomon North America race service technician; current Dominator Wax North American distributor and race service technician)

“Avoid ironing in fluoros whenever possible to avoid accidentally burning bases …I’m not a proponent of molesting race base material!” –Mike deSantis (former World Cup race service technician for Hillary Lindh & Volkl, cofounder/owner of www.precisiontuningcenter.com)

“I use clean old lint-free diapers to give my race bases a final polish and
wipe!” -Randy Graves (former Rossignol U.S. Team & World Cup race service technician, junior program coordinator and alpine ski product manager; current Green Mountain Valley School teacher, coach and race service technician)

100% FLUORO OVERLAYS
(listed by manufacturer for 2005/2006)
Dominator (www.dominatorwax.com)-Q Powder, Q6 or 65 Block, R6 Paste
Holmenkol (www.holmenkol.us)- PF Powder, Speedblock and Paste, Nanospeed Fluid
Swix (www.swixsport.com)- Cera F Powders, Blocks and Liquids
Toko (www.tokous.com)- Jetstream Powders, Jetstream Race Bloc, Helx Liquids

Toko E-blast Jetstream application

There are three main application methods for Alpine racing. They are:
Cold Rub On

1. Rub the JS bloc on the ski lightly. This can also be done with powder and a hand cork to spread it.

2. Polish with Thermo Pad

3. Repeat

Downside - not as durable

Upside - quick and easy

Rotocork

1. Rub the JS bloc on trying to get as much on as possible. This can also be done with powder and a hand cork to spread it.

2. Rotocork

3. Brush out with nylon polishing brush

4. Polish with Thermo Pad

Downside - needs to be done on a table

Upside - Super finish and quick

Iron

1. Rub the JS on trying to get as much on as possible (Powder application is best and easier to get more on)

2. Iron one good pass tip to tail at 300F taking about 10 seconds tip to tail. You can also do one pass on each side of the ski base.

3. Let cool

4. Brush out with Nylon Polishing Brush

6. Polish with Thermo Pad

Downside - need power and a table

Upside - most durable

Between Runs

Between runs, run the JS bloc over the ski base lightly and polish with Thermo Pad.

Rotocorking

Technique is critical in rotocorking. There are two general methods. One is to use high rpms and very little pressure. This is what most people do and works pretty well. The cork can skip around a little and it is necessary to go back and forth some which can create lines in the wax.

Another great method is to use very low rpms (don't squeeze the trigger all the way) with high pressure and just one pass from tip to tail. It is easier to keep the cork steady and flat and results in a better finish.

Rotocorking is easier on the base and is also quick. It is far more economical than applying a fluorocarbon by ironing as more is needed when ironing.

FLUOROCARBONS VS. FLAMES...BE ATTENTIVE
Many people associate fluorocarbon waxes with their highly toxic, reactive and ozone-eating cousins...chloro-fluorocarbons (CFC's). But the fluorocarbons used in waxes do not belong in this category...in fact one of their primary characteristics is inertness, or very limited reaction to other materials and compounds. Analysis and tests done on Swix Cera F, for example, showed that when used as recommended, it will not react with human body tissue or fluids.
The melting point of these fluorocarbon waxes is higher than most hydrocarbon waxes, but about the same as hard synthetic paraffin waxes. Use an iron with a surface temperature of no higher than 300 F. (150 C.) to create a temperature in the wax layer of 250 F. (120 C.). Or avoid the use of an iron altogether and cork fluorocarbons directly into the base.
But beware of very high temperatures and open flames with any fluorocarbon waxes. They start to degrade at 570 F. (300 C.), and will decompose at 930 F. (500 C.). During degradation, toxic fumes (so-called Polymer smoke fever) is likely to occur, which can blister and sear the lungs. High temperatures will likewise melt down p-tex base material.
We recommend the following precautions: Do not heat fluorocarbon waxes or powders with an open flame or waxing torch, nor should people be waxing in the same room with open flames. This includes space heaters, cigarette smoking, open fireplace, etc. Do not roll your own cigarettes or anything else if you are working with fluorocarbons, unless you've washed your hands real clean. Wear a respirator and always work in a ventilated room or tent, or even outdoors... waxing in a crowded room is never recommended if you can avoid it, since you never know how careful everyone else is with their waxing. This precaution can be applied to all waxes...hydrocarbon or fluorocarbon... since breathing any smoke is unhealthy

THE COST OF FLUORO WAX
There's no arguing that a bar of fluoro wax costs significantly more than a similar size bar of traditional hydrocarbon wax...after all, the budgets of some national ski teams competing on the World Cup have
jumped from $12,000 to over $30,000 a year! Fortunately, the impact on most of us is a bit less since we don't burn through truckloads of the stuff, plus the amount of fluoro wax actually needed for each
application is less than with hydrocarbon wax. Plus the resulting benefits in speed can sometimes be downright awesome.

HIGH FLUORO CONTRADICTION
It's common knowledge that high fluoro waxes usually work best in high humidity or wet snow conditions...but there can be exceptions to this rule. Snow resorts located in close proximity to the ocean (such as in Alaska, Japan or British Columbia) can sometimes receive snow with an unusually high salt content. This salt can soak up water, leaving the snow surface dry...even in high humidity conditions...which means that low fluoro wax might perform better than high fluoro. Furthermore, salt particles in the snow can make it more abrasive...which means that a harder, cold temperature wax might work better and last longer than a softer warm temperature wax you would otherwise choose based on snow temperature.

TO FLUORO WAX, OR NOT TO FLUORO WAX?
How many of you have heard the mythical statement, "Ski bases don't like fluoro!" Well, I'd like to give you a tip...they do! There are many questionable statements and theories out there in the racing communities pertaining to ski and snowboard preparation and this is one of many that I'd like to clarify.
All ski bases need some low fluoro wax in those reservoirs we have come to know as amorphous areas. What are amorphous areas? The answer pertains to race and high performance ski and snowboards manufactured with sintered bases. In sintered p-tex bases, there are complex molecular chains making up the ski base. An analogy to this composition is to think of a grouping of tennis balls in a glass box, all touching one another and these represent the molecules. The empty spaces in between represent the amorphous areas and this is where the wax resides after a good hot waxing.
Now let's get back to the fluoro issue. Except for extreme cold snow, anytime a ski comes in moving contact with snow crystals some form of water will be created. Why? A weighted object (your base) moving against another object (snow) creates friction...and friction creates heat...and this heat transforms some solid snow crystals into a liquid. The more liquid present, the more waterproof (hydrophobic) your bases need to be so these water molecules bead up and roll off. Since fluoro waxes are extremely hydrophobic, your glide speed can increase appreciably (compared to regular hydrocarbon waxes) when more water is present in the snow.
Keeping tabs on snow and air temperature, air humidity, snow crystal types, course preparation, racer speeds and weather forecasts will help you be better choose what fluoro wax to use.
My experience as a World Cup serviceman taught me to always be prepared...limiting my workload and trying to stay a step ahead of the weather. It wasn. t that ski bases disliked fluoro wax, I just wanted to be ready for the next race venue. So when the race was over and if I used high fluoros, my ritual was to immediately get back to my bench, clean out that fluoro wax from all my race skis that day and get them back to a "neutral" traveling state. This way when it was time to use those skis again at the next race venue all I had to do was choose high or low fluoro.
It's quick and easy to remove fluoro from your ski or snowboard, therefore preparing your equipment for your next race prep. Depending on the volume of fluoro wax used in your race mixture, hot scrape and brush 2 to 6 times using TOKO Dibloc low fluoro yellow and System 3 hydrocarbon red; alternating between the two and then travel coat with the System 3 red. Now you're ready for the next race and all you have to do is a race hill inspection, scrape, brush and choose your race wax mixture !
P.S. While at the World Cup Races in Beaver Creek, I visited all the wax "cabins" and submitted my reports to all the servicemen. They were amazed by what I recommended. For the speed events, they were using hydrocarbons on the first day of training. I agreed with them about the cold snow temperatures and low snow surface humidity, leading you to want to use hydrocarbon or low fluoro wax. But I told them about the frozen water present around the snow crystals, and with training runs and race time being 12:30p.m., you need to bump up to high fluoro. Well, by the time race start arrived, the call was for high fluoro wax with speed additives on top! The moral of this anecdote is that you have to consider all the variables that can help you stand on the top step!
-Tom Parks,former Volkl World Cup race technician.

REMOVING FLUORO WAXES
High fluoro waxes stay on your base longer than other waxes. This can cause problems (like increased drag) if snow conditions change from warm/wet to cold/dry. Remove fluoro waxes after racing by hot-scraping bases with a soft (warm temp) hydrocarbon wax, immediately followed by scraping and aggressive brushing.
-Dominator Handbook

Special Use Waxes
BASE PREP WAXES
New bases, or bases that have just been stoneground, are especially dry, dirty and thirsty. Base prep wax is a soft paraffin wax that, when heated, penetrates deeply into p-tex. It should be applied by hot-waxing numerous times before you head out to the slopes. Heat it in and scrape it off immediately (hot-scraping) several times until no more dirt or discoloration appears in the wax shavings. Then apply at least 2-3 more coats, allowing the base to cool completely before scraping and reapplying again. The base should now be ready for hot-waxing with your hydrocarbon wax choice of the day. Base prep waxes are offered by most major wax companies.

Base prep waxing

Base prep waxing is the essential first step in achieving good glide on your skis or snowboard.
Unlike most glide waxes base prep wax is designed to be extremely soft. This characteristic allows it to penetrate into the deepest recesses of a base where it forms a solid foundation for subsequent wax layers.
Base prep wax also encourages a base to physically “open up” and accept the comparatively harder glide waxes that follow.
It is recommended on new bases, bases that have been freshly structured or bases devoid of wax due to solvent use, that you first “hot scrape” the base to remove any remaining solvent, stone particles or old wax.
To “hot scrape” simply apply the base prep wax and scrape while it is still in the molten state, then brush with a brass or copper brush.
Following the “hot scrape” cycle at least 2-3 applications of base prep wax to assure maximum penetration, some techs cycle even more. A cycle constitutes - applying a layer of wax, allowing it to cool (at least 30min, longer if you can), scraping then brushing with a brass or copper brush.
If you’re looking to save some cash and time, it is also effective to iron a layer into the base, let it cool (30min -1hr), then run the iron over the wax again. This technique helps push the wax into the base and the results are readily apparent as more wax leaves the surface of the ski and sinks into the base with each pass. A couple passes are usually sufficient. Finish by scraping the remaining wax of the surface and brush with a copper or brass brush.
When you have finished cycling the base prep wax it is recommended that you apply a layer of hard(cold) wax over it. Choose a wax that is harder/colder than the hardest wax you intend to use, a blue hydrocarbon wax is often a good choice for this step.
Base prep wax is very soft which is good for penetration but bad for durability, layering a cold wax over the top will help keep it in the base where it belongs. When scraped the hard wax also helps to remove p-tex hairs left over from a structuring process, base prep wax alone is too soft for this job. (The one base prep wax that does not benefit from a layer of hard wax is the Dominator ReNew Zoom wax. This wax contains both ultra-soft and ultra-hard waxes that work together to penetrate and protect.)
When you have completed the steps above, apply your wax(es) of the day in the normal manner.

 

EXTREME COLD WAXES
Very coarse snow crystals, manmade snow and ice are especially abrasive and strip wax from bases quickly, which can create base “burn”...an oxidizing process that seals p-tex and diminishes its ability to absorb future wax. Extreme cold wax powders are made primarily of hard synthetic paraffins to combat this. It’s sprinkled on bases...or at least along edges where base burn risk is greatest...before dripping your
hydrocarbon wax choice of the day over it. The two are then melted in together. They are offered by most major wax companies.

GRAPHITE & MOLYBDENUM WAXES
Use graphite or molybdenum wax when humidity is low, the snow is fine-grained and temperatures are cold to enhance the static-reducing benefits of graphite bases. It also helps keep bases cleaner in old snow by reducing static "cling" that attracts and picks up contaminates such as dirt, ash, lubricants and pollen, as well as better equalizing heat build-up on bases that can increase suction. Rub on a thin layer of graphite/molybdenum wax (to better distribute the graphite/molybdenum particles in the wax more evenly over the entire base), then drip on
your hydrocarbon wax of the day over it and melt them in together.

Dominator Wax believes graphite wax performs best when rubbed on bases...as opposed to dripping it on with an iron. They say graphite particles in the wax may not be distributed as evenly across the base when dripped on and ironed in...rather, they tend to remain concentrated where the melted wax is first dripped on the base. Rubbing graphite wax on the base with a wax bar distributes graphite particles more evenly over the entire base...and then you can cork or iron it in without a problem.

We asked Dynastar tuner Willi Wiltz about this subject while he was tuning skis for the U.S. Team at Mammoth Mountain. He felt that, in the past, graphite waxes weren't formulated as carefully as they are now, and that he sometimes saw spotty blotches of graphite on the base after dripping and ironing graphite wax on. Nowadays, however, he thinks graphite wax is made better...the particles are more evenly distributed in the wax and a better concentration of graphite is used (too much can reduce glide speed). As a result, Willi didn't think dripping on graphite wax is a problem from what he sees now, but that he uses both application techniques on different occasions.

Swix and Toko basically echoed Willi's sentiments, and added that, with the more expensive fluorinated graphite waxes anyway, many technicians choose to rub (vs. drip) on wax because there is less waste, and therefore greater cost savings this way.

The application of graphite waxes...or rather, the need to apply more graphite wax to a graphite base is another interesting subject. We visited IMS, a company that manufactures p-tex base material in Switzerland. We toured their factory, watched p-tex being made from powdered polyethylene and other ingredients, saw samples of nearly every color and pattern imaginable, and talked at some length with IMS chemical engineer and R&D manager, Urs Geissbuhler. We asked him about the supposed "loss" of graphite that occurs from skiing on electra (graphite) bases. Urs said that, when making this base material, they add a certain percentage of graphite (about 15%...if more is added, it makes base material too brittle) to the recipe. It ends up interspersed fairly evenly throughout the finished p-tex base.
When you ski or snowboard, these graphite particles are, along with polyethylene material, abraded away by the snow...this is the graphite "loss" that technicians often refer to. However, as old material is being abraded away, both new graphite and polyethylene material is also being exposed. Why then have we so often heard that graphite wax needs to be re-applied occasionally to replenish "lost" graphite?
Dominator, Swix and Toko agree, that, although lost graphite is replaced with the exposure of new graphite, there is still a proven and measurable speed advantage from applying graphite wax at regular intervals and/or in specific snow conditions. Graphite in the wax gets distributed over all areas of the base (both graphite and non-graphite regions), thereby enhancing the heat-equalizing and static-reducing benefits of graphite in the p-tex.

Graphite decreases static friction, but, because it is less hydrophobic (waterproof), it has higher capillary friction from absorbing water. Dominator has developed a fluorographite polymer (specially fluorinated graphite particles) to solve this. Electra (sintered graphite) bases absorb about 15% less wax than a similar clear sintered base.

Choosing the Right Wax
Consider some of the following conditions before deciding on the best race wax of the day.
1) Snow Temperature - measure this with a thermometer inserted within the top 1/4" of the snowpack for accurate results...this will usually determine which temperature range wax to use.
2) Air Temperature - if the air temperature is fairly close to the snow temperature, don't worry about it. If it is significantly warmer than the snow temperature, it will tend to warm up the snow, which can affect your choice of wax by race start time.
3) Air Humidity - this will determine if you want to race using low, medium or high fluoro waxes...the higher the humidity, the higher you usually want the fluoro content in the wax to be.
4) Snow Crystals - if snow crystals on the race course are new and sharp, you need a harder wax to prevent crystals from digging into the base and creating drag. If crystals are rounder and wetter, a softer wax will provide greater water repellency and, therefore, faster glide.
5) Wind - if the air is dry, wind will tend to decrease moisture in the snow...whereas if it's foggy or moist, wind can add moisture to the snow.
6) Solar Exposure - if critical flat sections on the course are in the shade, wax colder...and if they're in the sun, wax warmer.
7) Miscellaneous - there's always more considerations you can factor in, such as graphite additives to combat static conditions in very dry snow, wax hardeners for very abrasive ice or manmade snow, etc. How far you want to take it is up to you...but at least pay careful attention to the first 3 or 4 factors if you want to finish in the running.

ALPINE vs NORDIC SKI GLIDE WAX
Is there really a difference between glide waxes for alpine vs. nordic skis or snowboards, for that matter? Some wax companies say no...these two disciplines don't vary enough to warrant different glide waxes. Other wax companies disagree, saying that alpine glide wax should be more hydrophobic (water-repellent) due to faster downhill speeds...whereas nordic wax should be more abrasion-resistant to provide greater durability. As a result, they might add a little more hardening additive to their alpine formulas, and call them nordic waxes. As for snowboard wax, they claim it should fall somewhere between these two formulas.
The bottom line? Your P-tex base doesn't know or care if it's on an alpine ski, a nordic ski, or snowboard base...but it does like and need to be waxed frequently. So we recommend that you focus more on waxing your skis regularly (after every day or two of use is best)...and use a wax that's formulated to best match your snow temperatures. The debate over alpine vs. nordic wax is much less important to most of us mere mortal riders (vs. World Cup racers, anyway) compared to these other considerations.

FRICTION
Although friction that occurs between the ski or snowboard base and snow is generally understood as a single entity, it is more accurately described as a sum of 4 components:
1) Dry friction...where dry snow particles touch the base
2) Wet friction...when a lot of free water is present, adheres to the base and creates suction
3) Static electricity friction...electric charged generated on base and edges through movement on the snow
4) Dirt friction...when hard dirt particles penetrate the base and snow simultaneously, connecting them and creating drag
-Dominator Wax
RACE WAX TIP
For super G and downhill events, it's wisest to choose your wax based on the most crucial section of the race course. This usually means a flat section along the course (could be at the top, bottom or anywhere in between) where it's most important to carry and maintain your speed. Don't focus on steeper sections where gravity creates more speed for you. This flat is the place you should go to check snow conditions, temperature, humidity, solar exposure, etc. in order to choose the best race wax of the day. At the world cup level, we try to find a section off the course that's as similar as possible to this one and set up our wax speed testing there, since we're not allowed to speed test on the actual course. If you can nail this crucial section in a race, your chances of landing a spot on the podium can only increase.
-Pete Patterson, Swix Wax Co

KNOW YOUR WAXES
Find out how a wax system works and then stick with that system. Race day is not a good day to test! Knowing what each wax in a system does to affect performance in every kind of snow condition you may face creates confidence. You need to be comfortable with a product line...if you put too many product lines in your box can create confusion.
-Mike "Cookie" Kairys, former Rossignol Serviceman for Picabo Street

COLD SNOW = SLOWER GLIDE
Cold slow is usually dry snow...in fact, somewhere around -20*F (-30*C), snow feels more like beach sand and bases are really slow...whether correctly waxed or not. Warmer temperatures usually create more moisture in the snowpack, which provides greater lubricity and helps the base slide...up to a point, since too much water creates suction that again slows your glide. Ideal glide usually occurs at temperatures just below freezing (28 to 30*F, or -2 to -1*C...depending on the moisture content). Tests conducted by the Ski Research Group at Eagle River Nordic in Wisconsin (using nordic skis gliding downhill through a speed trap on a 12* slope) produced the following results:
Snow Temp   Glide Speed    % Difference
28*F                  18mph               --
20*F                  17mph         5% slower
10*F                  15mph       11% slower
-4*F                   12mph       33% slower
-10*F                   8mph       56% slower

Wax Charts

HYDROCARBON WAX CHART - Choose Hydrocarbon Waxes by Temperature

 

 

 

 

 

FLUOROCARBON WAX CHART - Choose Fluoro Waxes by Temperature

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FLUORO OVERLAY WAX CHART - Choose Overlays by Temperature  

Hot Scrape Cleaning
Hot wax your bases clean using a soft, warm temperature hydrocarbon wax (such as a base prep wax). Then scrape the base while the wax is still molten or warm using a plastic wax scraper. Repeat this procedure until you no longer see any dirt or discoloration in the wax scrapings...this means the base is now clean. To finish this process, let the final wax layer to cool for 30 minutes, then scrape off excess with a plastic scraper. Brush out the base structure and you're ready for the application of your wax of the day. If you suspect oily contaminants in the base, you may need to use some wax remover to initially dissolve the residue...and then recondition the base using the hot scrape technique above.

Hot Waxing
WAX CONSUMPTION
When hotwaxing, it generally takes about 12 grams of wax (1/3 ounce) to wax a pair of alpine skis. It takes a bit less for nordic skis, and a bit more for snowboards. If you're not hotwaxing, but rubbing wax on and corking it in,  you'll use less than half this amount of wax.
As an aside...1 ounce is the same as 30 grams of wax.

P-TEX WAX ABSORPTION
For years, most folks in this industry (like us) have told poor unsuspecting blokes (like you) that sintered p-tex has pores or holes in it...and that, when you hot-wax a base, these cavities sorta suck-in and store wax better than regular extruded p-tex bases. Well, we lied...sorry! But we're not totally off-base (pardon the pun), because sintered p-tex does absorb and hold more wax than an extruded base by absorbing it.
Here's what really happens according to Mr. Urs Geissbühler at IMS (a large producer of p-tex) in Switzerland. P-tex is like a super-cooled, fluid-like substance. It's made up mostly of two different types of microscopic regions...tiny little freckles all packed together, if you will. One type is crystalline and the other is amorphous. The crystalline freckles are, as the term implies, hard crystallized regions that don't absorb hardly nothin'. The amorphous freckles are softer, more gel-like, and absorbent. Sintered bases are comprised of about 60% amorphous freckles and 40% crystalline (and a bit less of both of these if graphite particles have been mixed in). Extruded p-tex is just the opposite...60% crystalline and 40% amorphous.
When wax is applied to the base and heated in, it blends into the amorphous freckles... sorta like sugar being mixed into hot coffee. Then, when the base and wax cool again, about half this wax is expelled from the amorphous freckles, like sugar recrystallizing in cold coffee. This is why waxed bases should be allowed to cool thoroughly before scraping and brushing excess wax off.
Incidentally, sintered p-tex is used on about half the skis made today, but on only 10-15% of snowboards (carving boards mostly). Extruded p-tex is used for most snowboards because it costs less, plus has better clarity so base graphics can be seen more clearly.
P-tex is made in different hardnesses, and both are utilized on racing skis. A hard base is usually used in cold conditions because it can better hold up to the greater abrasion of the cold snow crystals. It also absorbs less wax than a softer base, but this is not so important in cold conditions since there usually isn't as much moisture in the snow. Softer bases are preferred for warmer conditions because snow abrasion is usually less, plus the base can absorb more wax...especially important since wax makes p-tex more hydrophobic (waterproof). This reduces the surface tension of water that's usually abundantly present in warmer snow conditions.
Pete Patterson, formerly a downhill racer on the U.S. Ski Team, does wax testing for Swix at the Olympics and World Cup races. To select which skis to use for wax testing, he starts out with about a dozen pair of Salomon skis (usually womens DH models because they're an easier size for Pete to travel with). He waxes them all identically, then skis each pair through the same speed trap. He then selects 5 pair that test at about the same speed (a .1 second variance or so, anyway), and uses these to do Swix's wax testing prior to DH races.

HOT WAX WARNING
According to the folks at Toko race service, the optimum temperature to heat a base is to 130°C (266°F)...this allows maximum wax penetration. But be very careful, because at 140°C (284°F) you can burn a base, effectively sealing it so it will not longer absorb wax. Most domestic irons lack an adequate heating element ...as soon as it touches the p-tex base it starts to cool quickly. This results in part of the ski or snowboard getting good wax penetration and other parts poor penetration. These irons can also jump up well past 140°C (284°F) when trying to reheat... so choose a good wax iron. We have tested all the wax iron models we offer in this catalog to insure safe performance in this regard. To guarantee correct waxing temperature, use a wax iron thermometer (we offer several) to accurately calibrate the temperature of your iron.

CALIBRATING A WAX IRON
Turn on your iron and give it at least 10 minutes to warm up, then check the temperature with a measuring device like our iron temperature platform, coverite thermometer, or any stem-type thermometer that'll read up to at least 300*F. When the heat sensor (thermocouple) in the iron clicks off, the temperature will drop (hopefully not more than 8*-9*C), then climb again (probably a few degrees warmer than last time), when it re-engages. After you see this take place 3 or 4 times, your iron has probably reached the maximum temperature for that particular thermostat setting. You may want to record both this setting and temperature for future reference.
By taking a reading whenever you change your iron setting and keeping a record of the melting temperatures of your favorite waxes, you'll be able to keep the iron at the safest optimal temperature to get the deepest wax absorption while minimizing the possibility of base damage. To be on the safe side, check your iron calibration periodically since the operating temperature will change as the thermocouple ages.
-Sun Valley Ski Tools

WAX ABSORPTION VERSUS TIME
Click here for a large version of the graph at the right.

HOW MUCH HOT-WAXING IS SAFE?
It seems there are as many opinions about how many passes you should make with an iron when hot waxing as there are snowflakes in a storm. Some claim that one slow pass from tip to tail is best, others. ll swear that numerous passes back and forth is much better, still others say to look for a pool of melted wax trailing the iron by 6" to 10". So what is the answer?
Well, there. s really only one rule we always follow when hot waxing...and that is to avoid too much heat. Excessive heat can cause big problems such as:
1) The depth and definition of your base structure can be changed (reduced, or even lost) if p-tex gets too hot.
2) The ability of p-tex to absorb wax can be greatly reduced if exposed to temperatures above 284 degrees F (140 degrees C), plus p-tex tends to become more brittle when subjected to such temperatures.
3) Epoxy and other materials used to make skis and snowboards can soften, warp, or melt...resulting in delamination, structural, and cosmetic damage.
4) Overheated wax creates smoke that is unhealthy, and in some cases, fatal to airbreathing creatures like yourself.
5) Overheated wax can physically break down and not perform as it was designed to.
With the increased use and price of fluorocarbon wax these days, some technicians are foregoing the use of irons more and more...choosing instead to rub on fluoro wax and heat it in with a cork, felt polishing pad (which can generate more heat than a cork), rotobrush, etc. Although the durability of such wax applications is not as good as ironing...such as for a long (50k) nordic race...it is plenty adequate for most alpine, snowboard, and shorter nordic races.

DON'T BURN BASES
Hot irons should never come in contact with unwaxed base material or you can seriously damage it. Drip or rub on enough wax before ironing.

WAX IRON TIPS
For cleanest waxing, hold a piece of fiberlene or base tex paper between your wax iron and base material after dripping or rubbing wax on. It will still heat wax into the base, but remove any dirt present in the wax, base or iron...plus leave a thinner wax layer that won't require as much scraping after the wax cools...which is especially handy when applying hard, cold-temperature range waxes!

Here's the latest Eblast from Toko
We tested the Toko T12 ski hot waxing Iron last week. We wanted to evaluate the consistency of the heat throughout the base, the accuracy of the temperature read out, and the tightness of the thermostat window. We used a PYRO Digital 250 series Digital Pyrometer (contact style) which is basically a fancy thermometer which in our case was accurate to .01 degree. We tested 3 different T12 irons. We tested with the temperatures set to 266F, 300F, and 320F. We took temperature readings toward the front, in the middle, and toward the back at each temperature setting. Spot checking the temperatures was not very practical due to the thermostat window. That said, the temperatures were pretty accurate (within 5 degrees F on average). It also depends on whether the iron is touching the base or a chunk of wax which cools it off compared to if it is just sitting hot without the base touching anything. We were able to establish that the forward part of the iron was hotter than the middle which was hotter than the rear part. This is because the heat element is toward the front. The base plate is thick enough that the heat is distributed pretty evenly, but there was about a 3 degree variance on average. Then we touched the sensor to the middle of the base, held it there, and watched the temperature variance. This was to establish the thermostat window. When an iron is set to a particular temperature, it heats up until it hits that temperature and then turns off. Once it cools to a particular degree, the thermostat kicks the heat element on and it heats up again to a preset temperature and again shuts off. This cycle is repeated again and again. The difference between the lower and higher temperatures is referred to as the thermostat window. One also has to take into account the fact that when an iron is being used, heat is lost through contact with the wax or the ski. If the iron is being tested without being touched to a ski or a block of wax, it will surely be warmer than if it were. We tested the thermostat window by touching the temperature contact sensor of the Digital Pyrometer to it and holding it there. This brought the temperature down (the first cycle was hotter as the base hadn't been touching anything previously). We had the iron set at 300F. The thermostat cycled the iron between 298F and 309F. Had the contact sensor been the ski base or a chunk of wax, the iron would have certainly been a few degrees cooler centering the variance on the desired temperature. So, we were very satisfied with the performance of this iron.12/2008

RETRACTABLE POWER CORDS
If power cords from your wax iron, rotobrush drill or other tools interfere with your tuning work, use bungee cords to get 'em up and out of the way. Thread in a simple eyebolt or hook above your workbench with one end of the bungee cord hooked to it...and the other bungee end hooked on the power cord. Voila...you have a semi-retractable setup. The cord is out of the way...but irons, drills or other tools can still reach all the way to the tip and tail of your gear.
-Jim Brown, Rochester, NY

AVOID TANGLED CORDS
1) Tired of dealing with a tangle of electrical extension cords in your workshop? Try suspending self-coiling extension cords from the ceiling...they' ll always be handy when you need them, and coil up our of the way when you don' t.
2) Do you have trouble keeping the electric cord of your iron out of the way when hot waxing bases? An inexpensive fix is to attach a door closing spring to the ceiling and the cord to the other end of the spring at a point where no slack exists when the iron is on the base. The spring then provides constant tension on the cord as you wax along, keeping the cord out of harm' s way.
-Duke Millington, Forest Lake, MN

DELAMINATION WARNING
When waxing skis or snowboards that have previously been repaired for delaminations, be especially careful not to overheat the base, since it may soften the epoxy you originally used for the repair and subsequently weaken or even it.
- Luke Onesti, email submission

READING YOUR BASES
I’ve used hot waxing to give me feedback on my skiing technique. I apply a very smooth and even layer of hot wax on my ski bases, but don’t scrape off the excess wax. After skiing, I examine my bases to see where the wax has worn off the most. If it’s worn off underfoot and mostly along the tails of my skis, for example, then I’m probably skiing with my weight too far back. Ideally, if you keep your weight correctly centered, the wax should wear equally along both the front and back inside ski edges, and widening underfoot from edge-to-edge.
- Edward Denner, Newburgh, IN

DON'T WAX COLD BASES
Make sure p-tex bases are clean and at room temperature (minimum 60*F) before waxing. If too cold, p-tex base molecules have less space between them to properly absorb wax...which can result in overheating and possibly damaging bases with excessive iron heat.

LONGER LIFE FOR WAX BARS
When your bar of wax is getting short and you don't want to burn your fingers or throw away the last bit of wax, just attach the hot molten end to your next bar of wax. No waste, no burned fingertips. This trick works to lengthen short pieces of p-tex drip candles as well. Also, you can sometimes measure the temperature of your wax iron using a wood or coal stove thermometer if you heat your house with one of these.
-Peter Duspiva, Merrimack, N.H.

GOOD VENTILATION
For good shop ventilation, I installed a through-the-wall ventilation fan about a foot above my workbench. It plugs into a standard 110 volt outlet. It requires no ductwork and can also be installed in a window using a plywood panel and cut-out.
-Don Yep, Alberta, Canada

HOT BOX
Jim Deines of Precision Ski in Frisco, CO recommends rubbing and corking on waxes, then placing them in a hot box (an enclosed box heated with light bulbs and usually used for curing epoxy in skis and boards after doing structural repairs). In many cases, the gentle heat in the hot box melts the wax deeply into the p-tex amorphous regions.

HOT BOX
If resurrecting mashed, delaminated, or exploded skis or snowboards is common in your workshop and you' re continually searching for a safe refuge for clamped and curing boards, a hot box may be just the ticket. It can also help a hot wax sink deeper into your p-tex base. Inexpensive and convenient, it' ll dry them before repair, reduce epoxy drying time, and put an end to random clutter of clamp-festooned weapons lurking about.
The box is made of 1/4" thick plywood and lined with a reflective material. Three regular 100-200 watt lightbulbs (no "soft" bulbs) create a dry climate that varies in temperature from 110-140 degrees F. A full-length hinged door provides easy access, and insulation helps retain the heat. Dimensions can vary depending on the size of boards and skis you repair, but it' s good to leave enough room to hold several at once.
Mount the box on a wall or over a workbench to keep it convenient but out of the way. It's outfitted with shelf brackets to hold boards or skis base or topside up, and slots on the bottom to hold them edge up as well. After hot-waxing, throw a board or skis in the hot box and let wax sink deeper into the base for longer lasting glide. The hot box requires little time or cash to build, and has endless uses from major repairs to keeping pizza warm!
Components
1/4" thick piece of plywood
2"x 2" framing and 2"x 4" slotted bottom rack *picture*
shelf brackets and removable/adjustable shelf
2 hinges and 3 door latches or hooks
foil-backed building insulation or aluminum flashing or foil (commercial grade)
3-4 light bulbs and fixtures junction box with heavy-duty
electrical cord
on/off switch
and pizza rack (optional)
-Chris Doyle, reprinted permission of Transworld Snowboard Business (c)Jan . 94

BETTER WAX PENETRATION
To fully saturate a sintered base (which will absorb up to 20 milligrams of wax per squre centimeter), it is necessary to iron the wax into the base at approximately 248 degrees F. (120 degrees C.) for approximately 3-5 minutes. Sintered bases that are not constantly saturated with wax will oxidize. Once oxidized, the sintered base loses almost all of its ability to absorb wax. To restore an oxidized sintered base, the surface layer of the base must be shaved or ground off to expose fresh un-oxidized sintered polyethylene. Use a Base Flattener to shave off old sintered p-tex, or you can have the base stone ground at a ski shop.
-Wintek Inc., Pembroke, MA

GRUNGE GUARD
I use painter's tape (1.5" wide craft paper with a sticky edge like a post-it notes) to mask the sidewalls on skis or snowboards before filing or hot-waxing. Attach it down the full length of ski or board along the sidewall just beneath the steel side edge (so you can still file or deburr that). When done, just peel it off. Bindings are protected from any filings and wax drips don't need to be scraped off your sidewalls. This tape fits any ski or board and doesn't interfere with ski brakes.
-Chad Ertola, San Francisco, CA

WAX IRON TIPS
If you have no choice but to use your wife's clothing iron when you hot wax, remember:
1) Don't tell her you're doing this
2) Set the iron for the lowest effective but safe waxing temperature
3) Wrap aluminum foil around the iron base to keep wax from going into the steam holes...otherwise your dress shirts will probably have hot-waxed racing stripes next time you get them back!

STEALTH WAXING
Maybe this has been said before, but here's a tip to help keep you outta trouble if you use your wife's favorite iron to wax your bases. After all, waxing is a lot more important than ironing clothes, isn't it? Anyway, after you're done waxing, but before you turn off the iron, set it face down on a pad of old newspapers for 3 or 4 seconds. Lift the iron and repeat this on more newspapers. Then do it one more time. The newspapers soak up the wax off the iron. Now, sneak it back into the closet before your wife wakes up or gets home and you're in the clear!
-Robert Lacy, Lake Oswego, OR

PLUG UP STEAM HOLES
Old irons with steam holes (found at garage sales, etc.) work great for hot waxing bases until wax gets in the steam holes and burns out the heating element. To solve this problem, plug the steam holes with small splitshot lead sinkers found in fishing shops. Find a size that is just a little bigger than the steam holes and press them in. Trim off any excess lead with a file or blade.
Also, I' ve used the plastic rings found on six-packs of beer or soda cans for base repairs. they are polyethylene and can be cut up and melted to fill in gouges.
-Eric Wahlig, Keystone, CO

OLD TOKO RESERVOIR IRONS
Here' s a tip if the little screens in the bottom of your Toko Magic Waxer ever get clogged with old wax...pry the screens out carefully, grab them with some needle-nose pliers, and heat them until they' re red hot with a propane torch or similar. The old wax burns up and disappears like magic. Then, for overkill, I throw them in some wax remover. I press them back into place and it. s back to jiffy waxing.
-Vilis Ozolins, Mammoth, CA

SKI-THRU HOT WAX?
Some resorts in the Swiss Alps feature coin-operated ski-through hot-wax booths on the slopes. You simply insert a few Swiss francs, ski into a covered glass booth, and pause about 60 seconds while the floor under your skis slides open and a wax impregnated brush applies a coat to your bases. Then it wipes off the excess and you slide out the other end and back onto the slopes. Totally mechanized and automatic. Heck of a deal when you're on the fly and your bases are dry!

KEEP YOUR WAX POT CLEAN
If you heat and mix waxes in a pot or reservoir iron, save your refrigerator magnets when they break, and put one in your pot. They'll collect and hold metal particles that otherwise can get in your wax.
-Larry Cohen, Allison Park, PA

HOT AIR WAXING
Instead of using an iron to hot wax, I just rub the base with a bar of wax, then take an ordinary hair dryer, switch it to low power, and hold it about one centimeter above the base. Move the hair dryer along, following close behind with a cork. As you see the wax melt, rub it into the base with the cork...this will ensure a smooth and fast base.
-Pat Perri, Pittsburgh, PA



Other Application Techniques & Tricks
X-COLD WAX POWDERS
To achieve greater durability, you can mix in x-cold wax powders (Toko, Holmenkol or Swix) with your preferred wax of the day. This technique proved successful at the US Alpine Nationals held last season at Jackson Hole where Toko tech whiz Will Goldsmith said they melted in a layer of Toko yellow for the snow conditions that day, then sprinkled some x-cold powder in the wet wax 'pool' that usually follows about 6" behind the moving wax iron. They then made another pass with the iron before allowing the bases to cool prior to scraping and brushing as usual. In this way, they enjoyed the full benefit of both the waxes...i.e.-good durability and water-repellency.

MORE "POWDER" TIPS
On abrasive snow, sprinkle some cold wax powder along the base near the edges, then use a scraper to push the powder in a row about 1cm from the edges. Iron it in carefully along the edges, let it cool to room temperature, then scrape and brush as usual.
The wax of the day is applied over this along the full base. For slalom races on icy or abrasive manmade snow, apply cold wax powder across the entire width of the base.

WAXING TIP
Rather than dripping on hot wax or rubbing a cold bar of wax onto ski or snowboard bases, I prefer to lightly heat a face of the wax bar with my waxing iron, then rub it onto bases. I follow up heating this in with the iron or rubbing it with a cork. It uses less wax and requires less scraping afterwards. Just be sure to rub on enough wax so your iron won't contact dry base material.
-Henry Young, Brooklyn, NY

SKI FAST FOR CHEAP
When using high priced high fluoro waxes, it is desirable to conserve wax as much as possible (if you are cheap like me). Here are 3 tips to help.
1.) Make sure your skis are EXTREMELY flat, Particularly if the bases are concave, your iron won't be able to smoothly heat your wax unless you apply lots of extra wax.... which will soon be scraped off.
2.) "Crayon" (Rub) high-fluro waxes onto your skis (instead of dripping them on) so that only a very thin layer is applied. If you have just finished 2 or 3 hot scrapes, the bases will already be warm, which will make this easier.
3.) Very hard (cold Snow) waxes are SO hard that it is dificult to crayon OR iron them onto the ski. Try this: while you are hot scraping, put your cold, hard wax into a ziplock bag (with the air sucked out) and place this into a cup of hot water. This will make the wax much softer and easier to apply. Enjoy!- John Ellis Bellevue WA

 

GRATED WAX
While applying some cold snow powder wax (Swix CH3), my son Tyler asked why Swix LF4 (also a very hard wax) wasn't available in powder form. Eureka! As a result, we now keep a small cheese grater in our tool kit for just this purpose.
-John Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada

THE FELIX PROCESS
Unlike traditional waxes, Zardoz NotWax is a liquid made from Dupont Krytox R901, originally designed to lubricate computer hard drives. It's inert (not affected by heat or cold), hydrophobic (water repelling), and stays liquid when applied to p-tex bases. It is not as durable or abrasion-resistant as traditional waxes, so it won't protect bases as well when used alone...but is quick and easy to apply on a daily (or more frequent) basis.
Zardoz suggests applying NotWax to a freshly cleaned and unwaxed base to get the deepest p-tex penetration, followed by ironing in a layer of traditional wax (usually a cold hydrocarbon wax like Swix blue), then reapplying NotWax after each day on the slopes. Called the Felix process, NotWax claims this will improve the wax durability as well as improve glide.

MIXING WAXES
Mixing hard synthetic waxes with warm conventional waxes is a good technique for certain conditions. They don't combine to form a medium wax, but each maintains its own characteristics to give you the best of both worlds...good durability and optimal glide.
-Ski Research News

TWO-TONE WAXES
Some world cup technicians wax the back half of ski bases warmer than the front half. They claim there can be as much as a 3-degree temperature increase on the back half of a ski base due to greater water build-up from friction there.

WAX PROTECTION
For dealing with abrasive manmade snow, I find hard (cold temperature) glide wax helps protect p-tex bases, especially if left only lightly plastic-scraped, and then brushed with a combo brush and lightly scotchbrited...or put it on under your regular wax of the day.
To avoid confusing special wax jobs applied to different pairs of skis in advance...use masking tape on ski tops marked with a crayon, or a wipeoff-type marking pen to identify the wax recipe you've applied.
-Bob Fisher, Conway, NH

BASE BURN TIP
For Super G and downhill races, apply a very hard glide wax underfoot along the inside edge on bases to help protect against base burn (caused by big G-force high-speed turns on hard abrasive snow).

SLOW COOL
Avoid cooling skis or snowboards too fast after hot-waxing by burying them in snow, etc...let them cool slowly to avoid any possible structural damage.

APPLYING NORDIC KICK WAXES
To improve the durability and effectiveness of kick waxes, carefully sand the kick zone underfoot with 100-grit sandpaper. The first layer of kick wax should be ironed in for best base penetration and durability. The longer the race, the more important this becomes.
-Swix Wax Manual

HARD WAX APPLICATION CHALLENGE
Dear Tognar,
When using a hard hot wax, like Swix CH4, I have trouble getting the wax to spread evenly across the base, plus it’s difficult to scrape off  after it cools. Is there something I can do to avoid these problems?
- Andrew Nelson

Hi Andrew-
To get more even spreading of a hard wax, use patience and care. Your iron will usually need to be hotter to melt the wax so it will spread well. Make slower passes down the base, but not too slow that you overheat the ski or board! For your last pass, use a sheet of Toko Base Tex paper, or a couple sheets of Swix Fiberlene paper between the base and iron to soak up excess wax...this will save time scraping off remaining wax afterwards.
Another option is to rub the hard wax on (unheated) like a crayon...then drip on a slightly softer wax over it and heat the two in together. This still gives your base the abrasion protection of a hard wax, while the softer wax protects the base from burn damage while ironing.
To scrape off excess wax after it cools, be prepared to use a little elbow grease since hard wax is tough to scrape off. A good sharp plastic scraper will work much better than a dull one (it will cut, rather than ‘chip’ wax off)...so sharpen your scraper first with a pansar file, or by rubbing the scraper edge against a piece of drywall screen (available at hardware stores). The steel cutting blade on the SkiVisions base flattener, or a Sandvik steel scraper can also be used...but only with light pressure and careful attention since these are sharp tools designed for more aggressive use (like cutting p-tex).

SPEED ADDITIVE TIPS
Rub Dominator Victory Overlay 65 on the base...you need less than you think. Set the wax iron at its lowest setting and make two quick tip-to-tail passes. The Speed Additive will melt and look very shiny, but the underlying base wax will not melt. Let cool for 10 minutes and brush thoroughly with horsehair. Then spray some water on the base and polish with white, non-abrasive scotchbrite or fibertex...the difference in speed is significant.
-Greg Guras, Speed Skiing Serviceman for Naga Kusumi

When using Dominator Victory Overlay 65, prepare your skis, wax and brush as usual. Rub it on lightly...you don. t need to turn your ski base white. Polish it in vigorously using nylons or fiberlene wrapped around a synthetic cork, then brush lightly using a medium-soft horsehair brush. At this point, put your skis on the snow and let them cool down for 15 to 20 minutes. Brush again more aggressively, using the same brush. Now run them in 200 or 300 feet. Brush lightly again and you. re ready to go.
-Peter Deese, Canadian Ski Team Serviceman for Kate Pace

FREQUENT WAXING OF SHAPED SKIS
Carving skis these days not only have wider shovels than traditional skis, but greater surface area as well. As a result, they are more wax and tune-sensitive. Wax needs to be reapplied after every full day or two on the snow...but only a small percentage of skiers understand this. Remember, wax helps protect bases as well as make them easier to turn and control.

BINDER WAX
To increase the durability of your kick wax on classic (diagonal kick and glide) nordic racing skis, first apply binder wax to the wax pocket of the skis. Take a binder wax or very cold temperature kick wax, crayon it into the wax pocket, then melt it in with one pass of the wax iron. For maximum durability, you can sand this area lightly with a 180 grit sandpaper before applying the binder.
-Doug Powell, Burlington, VT

IMPROVE NORDIC KICK
Classic nordic ski bases should be left bare of glide wax in the kick zone underfoot. Sand it with 150-grit, polish with scotchbrite, and apply a binder or cold hard wax (green). Two or three coats well ironed-in will provide a base that improves all hard wax durability.
-Ski Research News

GREATER WAX DURABILITY
-For greatest base protection, as well as better glide and turning ease, use a hard hydrocarbon wax as a base layer before applying your wax of the day. This hardens the base and helps prevent oxidation. For long races (such as a 50K nordic event), use numerous layers of hard wax before applying your wax of the day on top.
-For Super G and downhill alpine speed events, apply a very hard (cold temperature) wax underfoot along the inside edge on bases to help protect against base burn (caused by big G-force high-speed turns on hard abrasive snow).
-Re-using old wax scrapings collected from your workbench may seem to be a thrifty and environmentally-correct move. But beware...there are probably some impurities (dirt or even errant metal filings) hidden amidst those wax shavings, regardless of how carefully you work. Since dirt is a major enemy of good glide, you don't want it on your base. Instead, economize on wax usage (especially fluoro waxes) by 'crayoning' or rubbing it directly onto bases, then cork it in. Applying it in this way requires about 50% less wax than dripping it on with an iron.

SIDEWALL SPEED & MORE
To squeeze more speed out of skis or snowboards, apply a little Swix, Holmenkol or Toko low-fluoro paste wax to your sidewalls. Use a little wax remover to keep ski or snowboard tops clean and looking new. If you use a base edge file guide, then you might know that some models don't have any protective material on the part that runs along your base. To solve this, put a strip of electrical tape on the file guide there. Rubber soles are available in some ski shops to slip on ski boots to prevent toe and heel wear when walking around. These work great, but I hammer 1/4" nails into the rubber soles for better traction on ice and frozen snow.
-James Klumick, Manchester, VT

WORLD CUP TECH TIPS
After hot-waxing bases, apply a coat of low-fluoro paste wax to ski or board sidewalls and tops to help improve glide when cranking ‘em up on edge in carving turns, as well as help prevent snow buildup on the topsheets.
To clean bases on skis or boards before waxing, wrap a piece of 220 grit silicone carbide sandpaper around a true bar or file, and make numerous passes with this ‘sanding bar’ down the length of the base from tip to tail. This will clean away any grunge or leftover wax, as well as help expose the base structure.
-Pam Warman, U.S. Ski Team Technician

CLEAN TOPS
I use a little car polish to keep snow from building up on the top of skis or boards. I use the ‘no buff’ kind for added convenience.
-Daniel Park

TOP WAX
When I wax my skis, I sometimes apply a coat of wax to the top of my skis to help cut through deep snow and prevent snow build-up there. It’s safer to apply the wax by rubbing and corking it on, rather than hot-waxing it to avoid any heat damage.
- Michael Crist, Ohio

1994 OLYMPIC ALPINE WAX REPORT
The 1994 Winter Olympics held in Lillehammer, Norway, were marked by extremely cold temperatures during many ski events. The snow was also very interesting since some basic rules surrounding humidity were broken. In November, Norway had very cold temperatures prior to snow. Then it snowed often and remained cold. The continuous low sun angle meant that the snow surface was never affected by sun radiation. And the northern lattitude meant that the snowpack was not eventually warmed up by earthcore radiation as it is farther to the south. The result was a deep, frigid snowpack.
The air temperatures were about -16C to -21C with the snow surface temperature averaging about -18C. The humidity averaged about 87%, but it wasn. t possible to consider waxing warmer due to the high humidity. The courses in Kvitfjell faced north and northeast. The steep sections were icy and the flats were very fine-grained natural snow mixed with man-made snow.
As far as waxes were concerned, very cold mixtures of Extreme additives with low-fluoro waxes were required for alpine speed events. Both fluorocarbons and graphites played only a minor role, while synthetic paraffin was definitely very important.
Swix maintained a test track beginning in early February. The primary tester was Pete Patterson, former U.S. Team member and Olympian. The testing was very difficult due to the exceptionally cold weather. Ten to twelve runs were taken as quickly as possible during the same time period that the Olympic races would take place...this meant riding the lift back to the top of the test track without a parka or warmp-up pants. Approximately 150 runs were compiled.
For each run, speed into the trap was recorded (low speed acceleration), speed out of the trap (top speed), speed within the trap (overall acceleration), and total time.
In addition to the daily test results, Swix had a weather station located at the halfway point on the downhill course. It provided a printout at the Swix waxing cabin on a 24-hour basis. During the racing and training hours the printout was updated every two minutes...otherwise, every half hour. This information included air temperature, snow surface temperature, snow temperature 5cm deep, humidity, and net radiation.
Weather information, test track results, and wax recommendations were made available to all coaches and factory service technicians.
-Rob Kiesel, Swix Racing Service Team

MISCELLANEOUS WAX TIPS
Don' t melt wax bars together while dripping them on your bases...the results usually aren't consistent, even on one ski. Instead, mix your waxes ahead of time by melting them in a wax pot, then pouring the molten wax in a plastic mold (I reuse Swix plastic wax containers for this) to form pre-mixed bars. You can mix bars 1:1, or in finer combinations like 2:1, etc. They are also convenient for on-the-hill applications.
Make a stand to hold your wax iron upside down (bottoms up). Then you can use it to heat your wax pot (or a can of soup!). An aluminum camping cup makes a good compact wax pot.
Periodically check the base plate of your iron for burrs that might damage your bases.
-Scott Irving, Cape Elizabeth, ME

Scraping
Always scrape bases after hot waxing using a plastic scraper (not steel). Scrape all excess wax off the surface of the p-tex base before brushing (which removes excess wax from the recesses of your base structure). The idea is to put wax in the base...not leave it sitting on top. Only leave on a thick wax coat for storage or transport...and scrape off the excess wax when you' re ready to go ride again. Make sure your scraper is sharp and flat. Click for instructions on sharpening your scraper.

WAXING SKI/SNOWBOARD SIDEWALLS
Be sure to scrape all wax drippings off ski or snowboard side edges and sidewalls after hot waxing...especially for racing. Skis and boards are often up on their edges in a race course, and lumps of wax (as well as sidewall gouges) can slow your glide. I use the short ends on my plexiglass wax scraper to clean these wax drippings off...and not the long edge because it can get nicked and scored by the metal edges. For race day, after scraping and cleaning the side edges and walls, I rub the sidewalls with a bar of wax that I then polish with the white polishing pads you sell.
-Duncan George, Ontario, Canada

REMOVING HARD WAXES
If you usually ski or board in real cold weather and use real hard waxes, try this trick...take a plastic scraper and lightly scrape your bases immediately after hot-waxing. Taking off a little wax then will make it easier to scrape off the remaining wax later without it "flaking" off in big pieces.

CLEAN SCRAPERS
It' s easy to get rid of wax build-up on plastic and steel scrapers. Clean them with citric wax remover, then spray a little silicon binding lubricant on them. They' ll be a bit more slippery to hold, but wax will have a hard time sticking to them.

PLASTIC SCRAPERS
Keep your plastic wax scraper free of all edge striations...this can be done with a mill file or sandpaper. Avoid imparting too sharp an edge on it, too...just a nice, burr-free 90 degree angle.

IN THE GROOVE
I use old white bic pens (with the round shaft) to clean wax out of x-c ski grooves. Use the thick end for large single grooves, and the other thin end (with the ink cartridge removed, of course) for those narrow double grooves.
-Eric Hendrickson, Presque Isle, ME

CLEANING SKI GROOVES
I use the end of a fresh p-tex repair stick to clean wax out of ski grooves...it never damages the ski and when the stick becomes too dull, I use it for base repairs.
-Martin Van Pelt, Boulder, CO

Brushing & Rotobrushing
After hot waxing and scraping, use a brush to remove wax from the recesses of your base structure. Brush from tip to tail, moving the brush in one direction only. 15 to 20 strokes are normally needed.

BRUSH LIKE CRAZY
My secret for fast skis is excessive brushing. This allows the structure and the antistatic characteristics of the base to do their job. Waxing should provide a microscopic layer of lubrication, not clog the structure. I enhance a stonegrind using a special steel brush that really opens up the base and allows much better penetration for the waxes. This means thorough brushing prior to waxing. Then, after the skis are waxed and scraped, I again brush aggressively to remove all traces of excess wax.
-Mike deSantis, Volkl Serviceman for Hilary Lindh

BLEEDING WAX
Very cold temperatures (below 3°F or -16°C) bleed or squeeze wax out of p-tex bases. Some technicians recommend, after waxing, that you let your skis sit outside for at least 20 minutes to acclimate to the cold temperature, then brush the bases again to thoroughly remove any excess wax that will otherwise create drag.

ROTOBRUSHING
Over the years, rotobrushing has either been embraced or banished by coaches, racers or technicians. Used properly, however, they quickly expose and enhance the stone ground structure on your ski or snowboard bases...and can save lots of prep time. But remember, rotobrushing is not a substitute for finish hand-brushing that is required to produce fast skis.

First, anyone working with roto brushes should wear protective eyewear. Whether it's the combi brass/horsehair or the 4mm nylon brush, any of these can generate occasional airborne wax particles or brush bristles that might land in your eyes. So take a moment first and put on some protective eyewear. You should also use a control handle with the protective red plastic hood if possible.

The recommended drill operating speed for the various brushes is:
Copper- 800rpm
Cork roller- 800rpm
All other brushes- 2500 to 3000rpm

Keep in mind that all rotobrushing should be done in a "delicate" manner to avoid accidental overheating and possible damage to skis or snowboards. Here'smore guidelines for the Red Creek brushes...

1) Copper brush:
Used for post-stonegrind preparation and before waxing to pre-clean base. Can also be used for removal of cold waxes. Special tip: I used this brush prior to all work performed after the athletes returned from training and the skis were wiped down dry and warmed up to room temperature. The movement is back and forth at a medium pace with light pressure. There should be a tip-to-tail finishing stroke of two passes.

2) Rotodrum w/fibertex, or omni-prep pad:
Used for post-stonegrind work since they serve as excellent removal devices for base hairs created from stonegrinding. The movement is back and forth at a medium pace with light pressure. There should be a tip-to-tail finishing stroke of two passes.

3) 4mm medium nylon brush:
Used for removal of fluorocarbon waxes. It's also an ideal last touch race brush. The movement is back and forth at a medium pace with light pressure. There should be a tip-to-tail finishing stroke of one pass.

4) 6mm stiff horsehair brush:
Used for removal of hard cold-temperature waxes. Also acceptable for medium hard waxes. The movement is back and forth at a medium pace with medium pressure. There should be a tip-to-tail finishing stroke of two passes.

5) 7mm soft nylon brush:
Used as an all-around brush for basic wax removal of soft to medium hard waxes. The movement is back and forth at a medium pace with light pressure. There should be a tip-to-tail finishing stroke of two passes.

6) 10mm soft nylon brush:
Used for removal of soft waxes. Also good for base polishing. The movement is back and forth at a medium pace with light pressure. There should be a tip-to-tail finishing stroke of two passes.

7) 3mm medium nylon brush:
Used for finish polishing. Also good for speed additives as well as hard waxes. The movement is back and forth at a medium pace with light pressure. There should be a tip-to-tail finishing stroke of two passes.

8) Rotocork- CAUTION:
Used for corking in 100% fluorocarbon powder or solids. Due to the extreme heat generated by friction, reduce the time this roller is in contact with your bases compared with the other brushes. The movement is back and forth at a quick pace with very light pressure. There is no need for a finishing stroke, however you should finish with hand corking.

Remember that finish brushing by hand is vitally important to create fast skis. I write from experience, so brush, brush, brush, brush& & & .
-Tom Parks...former Volkl World Cup Race Technician, current Toko wax & tuning guru

MORE ROTOBRUSH TIPS
When you first start rotobrushing, there can be a tendency to apply a little too much pressure and use too much drill speed. The resulting friction can create a lot of heat that softens and smears residual wax around, rather than cleanly remove it from the structure. Don't overpolish the base, thinking it has to look shiny to glide fast...in fact, in wax testing, we find a slightly duller appearance glides faster, especially when moisture is present in the snow.
How can you determine the speed (in rpm's) of your drill when rotobrushing? A rough guideline to remember is that most cordless drills don't go above 1200rpm, whereas regular electric drills can reach 2500rpm. Use the sound of the drill (compared to how it sounds running full speed) to estimate your speed.
If you use a rotocork (or hand cork) to rub in fluoro waxes, try to use separate corks for cold and warm waxes. Any cork gets better as wax gets embedded into it over time. For best results, operate a rotocork at 1000rpm or less.
Rotocorks work best for melting in warmer (softer) waxes.
To install a roto omniprep pad over a 6mm or smaller brush, just wrap a regular piece of paper around the brush before sliding on the omniprep pad...then gently pull it out when the pad is in place. To remove, pull the omniprep pad off gently and evenly around the brush to avoid ripping it. Done properly, the pad and brush will suffer no wear during installation or removal.

WET VS. DRY BRUSHING
Some tuners believe that faster race results can be had by hydrobrushing...sprinkling or spraying some water on bases before giving them a final rotobrush polishing after waxing. They claim it helps reduce static build-up on the base when brushing and leaves a more polished wax surface. The controversy about whether to use water or not when brushing fluoro waxes after application continues...here's a few thoughts from Dominator wax guru Thanos Karydas.
1) Wet brushing results in more efficient polishing, exposing the structure, and a smoother low-friction wax layer.
2) Dry brushing generates static electricity, which creates friction...wet brushing may reduce it.

Factory race techs Randy Graves of Rossignol and Willi Wiltz of Dynastar concur that many technicians are still experimenting with this...even to the extent that they're debating whether one should use regular or distilled water or mineral water! Will Evian prove faster than Perrier, will dry brushing in high humidity beat out low humidity, and do you reverse the direction of brush rotation when you're south of the equator?

Wax Melt Temperatures

These are the approximate melting temperatures of the waxes we sell. They have been provided to us by the wax manufacturers. The melting temperature also depends on the air temperature and the temperature of the base (read below). The temperature of the iron should be adjusted so that with constant movement over the base a 1.5" to 2.5" (3-5cm) long trail of liquid wax appears and there is no smoke rising from the iron. If ya see smoke turn that iron down!

Bear in mind that the melting point of some p-tex bases is only 550 degrees F, and the epoxy resins used to construct skis and boards is about 580 degrees F...so be extra attentive if you are using high heat!

Wax Type	Tognar Item Number	Temp. F	Temp. C
Swix Universal	SWX-U2060, U20180, U2090 235 115	235	115
Base Prep	SWX-BP18, BP-90	265	130
Molyfluoro Base Conditioner	SWX-MB776	275	135
F4 Solid	SWX-F418, F490	275	135
Cera FC7	SWX-FC7	310	155
Cera FC8, FC10	SWX-FC8, SWX-FC10	300	150
Cera FC1S	SWX-FC1S	300	150
Cera FC2S	SWX-FC2S	300	150
Base Burn Powder	SWX-CH3, SWX-LF3	300	150
Extra Cold Waxes	SWX-CH4, LF4, HF4, HFBD4	300	150
Cold Waxes	SWX-CH6, LF6, HF6, HFBD6	280	140
Mid-range Waxes	SWX-CH7, LF7, HF7, HFBD7	275	135
Warm Waxes	SWX-CH8, LF8, HF8, HFBD8	245	120
Extra Warm Waxes	SWX-CH10, LF10, HF10, HFBD10	230	110
Toko Universal	TOK-9770, 0163, 0167	285	140
Base Prep	TOK-9879	265	130
Molybdenum	TOK-9315, TOK-9326	285	140
X-Cold Powder	TOK-9869	300	150
Cold Waxes	TOK-9324, TOK-9343, TOK-9313	300	150
Mid-range Waxes	TOK-9321, TOK-9340, TOK-9310	285	140
Warm Waxes	TOK-9318, TOK-9338, TOK-9307	265	130
Jetstream (all)	TOK-9036, 9037	300	150
Dominator X-Cold Waxes & Overlays	DOM-FX01, FX04, FX07, FG07, Q	250	120
Cold Waxes & Overlays	DOM-FX11, FX44, FX77, FG77, HX77, SRB11	230	110
Mid-range Waxes & Overlays	DOM-FX22, FX55, FX88, FG88, HX88L, SRB32C, Q6	210	100
Warm Waxes & Overlays	DOM-FX33, FX66, FX99, HX99L, 65, RNZ, RNZG	200	93
Zoom Waxes	DOM-Z400, Z400G, HZ40, RZ40, RZNS	210	100
Holmenkol Cold Universal	HOL-24070	275	135
Warm Universal	HOL-24060	257	125
Ice Wax	HOL-24149	300	150
Ultra Mix	HOL-24125	293	145
Beta Mix	HOL-24115	275	135
Alpha Mix	HOL-24105	257	125
Hybrid FX Yellow	HOL-24150	257	125
Hybrid FX Red	HOL-24160	275	135
Hybrid FX White	HOL-24170	285	140
Hybrid FX Blue	HOL-24180	293	145
Hybrid FX Green	HOL-24190	293	145

Note: If you're calibrating your iron to match the melt point of a particular wax, be aware that once an iron is set on a ski or snowboard base (that's at room temperature), its plate temperature will drop. In the case of many household or travel irons, this can be as much as 84*F (30*C)...whereas the Swix or Toko irons we carry will only drop about half that amount before their thermostats kick in to bring the iron temperature back up to speed. Set your iron temperature (or patience factor) a little higher accordingly. Also remember that if the ski or snowboard base is colder than room temperature, this fluctuation will initially be even greater...so exercise still greater patience and caution in this situation.

TEMPERATURE CONVERSIONS
Converting Celsius to Fahrenheit: Take the temperature in Celsius and multiply 1.8 - Add 32 degrees - The result is degrees in Fahrenheit

Converting Fahrenheit to Celsius: Take the temperature in Fahrenheit subtract 32 - Divide by 1.8 - The result is degrees in Celsius.

Other Wax Related Information

Historical Wax Information

EARLY WAX FACTS
Early waxes were all natural products such as beeswax, tars and natural resins. During World War II, the first synthetic paraffins were developed as by-products of lubricating oil refining. Over time, better sources of paraffins and microcrystalline waxes led to technical improvements made possible because better waxes were being produced for other industries. But the waxing success, particularly in racing, remained largely a matter of coming up with the right combinations of the existing waxes for specific temperature and snow conditions rather than the discovery of new technology or new materials. The most skillful technicians who prepared skis for the world's best ski racers were credited with near-magical powers and they guarded their waxing secrets jealously.

WHALE SPERM HAULS BUNS
A popular ingredient of ski wax (dope) in the 1800's was spermacetti. It's not actually sperm, but a waxy solid substance that comes from the oil found in a sperm whale's head cavity. Hmmm...would "brain lube" be a better term?

DOPES ON THE SLOPES
For over 150 years, the most skillful technicians who prepared skis for the world's best racers were credited with possesing near-magical powers and top-secret wax recipes. This perception may have been launched in the mid-1800’s, when Sierra Nevada miners and
mountain men hopped atop burly 13’-long wood skis and straightlined down slopes at speeds up to 80 mph. Formulated by “dopemakers” (no lie), the ski waxes they used were exotic and secretly-guarded recipes that bore names like Skedaddle, Breakneck and Catch
'Em Quick. The ingredients of Steward's Old Black Dope, for example, reportedly contained 2 oz. sperm whale oil, 1/4 oz pine pitch, 1/8 oz camphor, 1 tablespoon balsam fir oil and 1 tablespoon spruce oil. As time went on, waxes were formulated using other natural products such as beeswax, tars and natural resins.

In that time, all skis had wood bases. Left untreated, they’d soak up water from the snow like a blotter, not only dragging like a rusty sled, but icing-up when temperatures dropped below freezing and effectively stopping dead in their tracks. To avoid this, pine tar was heated in the base as waterproofing, and 97% of the skiers regularly waxed their bases.

TIMELESS WISDOM
I have been an alpine skier for 47 years and am still a competitive racer. Years ago we ski bummed the races at places like Howelson Hill, Ajax, and Sun Valley. We couldn. t afford a shop ski tune or, for that matter, a good file. Maybe my tuning tips are a little out of date, but I am submitting them anyway. Race day preparation went something like this:
1) Smooth out the scratches on ski bottom with the sharp edge of a broken beer bottle (use a 2" piece from the side of a brown 12oz bottle). Scrape until ski bottom is smooth.
2) Fill in deep gouges with melted plastic...suggest melting plastic rope from tarp on cartop carrier, or my favorite was my kid brother's toy car that he loaned me. Again smooth out with sharp glass from beer bottle.
3) File steel edges with a round stone knife sharpener...even low rent motel efficiencies usually had one. Work slowly because this is an important step when sharpening. Place ski tip in corner of room at floor with ski tail in your stomach. Draw stone towards you, then switch ends.
4) Mix wax over stove. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to one of those paraffin lids used to seal home canning jars. For some reason, the salt seems to extend the wax life. We may have also invented the first structured base this way.
5) Smooth the wax with a cork from a Drambuie bottle.
6) Dull the outside edges of ski shovels on a wooden snow fence.
7) If you use safety bindings, place a little motor oil on toes and heels and you are ready for the races.
-Bob Kearful, Amherst, NY

RANDOM SNOW FACTS
Snow on the ground varies in density anywhere from 3 to 55 pounds per cubic foot. Any denser than that and scientists call it ice.
Polar bears are well adapted to blizzards...unlike cows, horses and most other large animals, they have little windshield wipers on their eyes called nictating membranes that clear away snow so they don't go blind in a snowstorm.
Snow is studied in the field for many reasons. Avalanche forecasters study the mutation of snow to better determine slope stability, glaciologists study it to decipher millions of years of climatological history, agricultural hydrologists study it to predict the volume and timing of spring and summer runoff, and environmental scientists measure the level and type of atmospheric pollution by extrapolating from data microscopically observed in a snowflake.
Snow purity has diminished through the years due to air pollution, chemical additives used in snowmaking, oil and fluid leakage from snow grooming machines, and chemicals such as salt used to harden snow on race courses.
Albedo is the ratio of the light energy reflected by a snow surface relative to the light falling upon it, which determines how much energy it will absorb from the sun. Pure, dry, compact snow can have a high albedo of between 86% to 95% (meaning it is reflecting back most solar energy)... whereas slushy, dirty snow will be as low as 30% (meaning it's absorbing more energy and warming quicker). Albedo explains why a much-skied slope in the sun can be 'slower' than a lesser-skied but equally-exposed slope. Skiing 'soils' snow, which makes it absorb more solar energy...which makes it wetter...which makes it absorb even more solar energy....sometimes two or three times as much as an equivalent unskied slope.

MYSTERIOUS P-TEX RECIPES REVEALED
We also asked Urs Geissbuhler (above) about some of the special p-tex bases that IMS makes at the request of ski companies. He said that, for recreational skis, they make p-tex in many different colors, color mixes and special designs...in fact, they make up about 100 new p-tex designs
and/or color mixes each season! However, none of these bases are used for race skis since color pigment creates some drag in p-tex. While most recreational skiers wouldn't notice this, a serious racer doesn't risk using it.
For race ski bases, they experiment by mixing in different ingredients to the p-tex (which starts out as a powdered or granulated polyethylene). Graphite, of course, is the most common additive. Other additives have included silicon, salt, gallium, molybdenum and different fluorocarbons (including Teflon). Urs said that sometimes a ski company will just drop off a small paper bag filled with some unidentified powder, and ask that it be used to make up a special p-tex blend...sometimes he hears the test results, other times, not. Top secret stuff abounds within ski companies.
Most of these special p-tex recipes are used only for World Cup caliber racing...and only in very specific snow conditions. For example, a silicon-rich p-tex base for extremely wet snow, etc. The ski companies use only 3 or 4 basic p-tex bases for 99% of the skis they sell at your local ski shop...whereas they experiment with many more on their top-level race skis. According to Mike diCesaro of Dynastar racing, they used 28 different p-tex formulas for their World Cup race skis ten years ago...although now it's down to about 8. Rossignol used 23 different base materials, and so on. Imagine the incredible load of skis that the race techs have to lug around and keep tuned for the race teams during the long training and competitive season

WHAT REALLY MAKES SKIS FAST?
According to the Ski Research Group, choosing the best nordic ski for the snow conditions accounts for 5%-8% of your speed that day, correct structure is worth 2%, and the right wax is 1%. This adds up to about 10%, and you (the one on top of the ski) account for all the rest.

SWIX WAX SPEED TESTING
We do most of our wax testing in conjunction with Salomon and Rossignol ski companies. We test alpine skis at speeds of about 60mph, and nordic skis at about 15mph. Interestingly, we find that the results of these two different speed tests usually correlate with each other. We think this might be because the surface area on an alpine race ski at 60mph creates similar friction and heat as a nordic ski with less base surface at 15mph.
Slow speed testing may really be all that's necessary for alpine racing, but we're still doing high speed testing just the same because, at the World Cup level anyway, no one's screwed up quite the courage yet to completely trust slow speed test results for the big alpine races. But it may just be a matter of time before they do.
-Rob Kiesel, Swix Wax Tech

HOT WASH
To clean wax from wax brushes and scotchbrite pads, wash them out using hot water (about 180°F)...this will melt most wax away.
-Toko Wax Manual

BRUSH CLEANING
Former Dynastar tech Willi Wiltz recommends cleaning wax brushes by letting them stand (bristles down) in a shallow pan with base cleaner in it.

WEIRD SCIENCE...SKIS & SPOON-BENDING
Have you ever hot-waxed a pair of skis only to notice they've suddenly not only lost their original camber, but actually developed reverse camber? Or left your skis leaning upright against the lodge with the bindings facing the sun, only to come back after lunch to discover they had more camber than before? Have you wondered if maybe they'd been zapped with alien gamma rays, or toyed with by Uri Geller or someone else with mind-warping powers?
This strange behavior looks pretty freaky the first time you see it (especially if you've just re-mortgaged the house to buy those beautiful new skis)...but rest assured it's not uncommon, permanent or damaging to your gear.
The primary cause of this spoon-bending weirdness is Titanal...metal sheets that are commonly used in ski construction. They're often layered in skis just under topsheets or next to p-tex bases to provide greater vibration dampening and other performance benefits. When subjected to heat...either from a wax iron or sufficient sunshine...the Titanal sheets expand at a different rate than other ski materials such as wood, foam, epoxy, fiberglass, p-tex, etc. The result is a temporary change in the ski camber, which, besides appearing strange to anyone sharp enough to notice it in the first place (another absorbing thought for introspective or paranoid tuners to ponder), does no long-term harm since normal camber returns again when they cool back down.

RESPIRATOR FILTER LIFE
How often should you replace the filters in your respirator? Some folks claim 60 hours of use, but filter life can be shorter or longer...depending on the amount and density of smoke it's subjected to. Pro-Tec (the manufacturer of our respirator) recommends replacing filters as soon as you detect the smell of any smoke when wearing the respirator. Also, always store your respirator in an airtight ziplock bag when not in use to extend filter life.

KEEP IT CLEAN
Keep ski bases and waxes clean.  Dirt can reduce a ski glide by 5% or more. Always store skis in a bag when travelling and don't put them away dirty. Graphite waxes have greater antistatic properties to help repel dirt.
Also be careful about how you store wax after opening a new pack, or where you set it down on your workbench when hot-waxing...it's all too easy to let it get contaminated with steel filings, dust or other grit. One simple wax to keep wax clean is store it in reclosable ziplock bags.

SNAKE OIL?
Watch out Dr. Science...the black magic of waxing is still alive and well! A heavy thaw and extremely dirty snow conditions at the 1995 Nordic World Championships in Thunder Bay, Ontario had veteran wax experts completely baffled. Regular ski waxes didn't work since they let too much dirt build up on bases. Before one race, technicians went running to find alternatives. What'd they try? Automobile windshield washer fluid, 2-cycle snow-mobile oil (Esso was the brand of choice, we hear), car wax and diesel fuel! Ski bases still became so filthy that towels soaked in wax remover were laid down during the race in tracks to wipe away some dirt as racers skied over them. Question about the legality of this were ignored since all competitors did it. One ski manufacturer even drilled holes in the tops of their skis and poured wax remover into the core, hoping the solvent would seep into the sintered p-tex base and help remove dirt. Swix did more testing during the 1995 Nordic World Championships (over 2500 test runs through the speed trap) than ever before in history. Snow conditions were about the most bizarre anyone had ever experienced or heard of before.

WAX TEST
A quick way to get a feel for how fast your wax of the day is to simply "skate" uphill on your skis a short distance. The slow speed will amplify any drag for quick feedback. You can even wax each ski differently and compare one to the other simultaneously.

CLEAN & FAST
Wax bars, brushes and corks can easily get dirty sitting on a workbench or even in a wax box...so store 'em in a plastic ziplock bag whenever possible to help keep 'em clean.
In ski jumping, we have the opportunity to closely monitor in-run speeds. Time and time again, clean skis outperform those which haven't been hot-scraped clean recently.
-Robert Powers, Ass't Coach, US Ski Team

DA MORE DA BETTER
The more often a ski or snowboard base is waxed, the more wax it can absorb.
-Toko wax manual

QUIZ QUESTION
What other product does Toko make and sell very successfully in Europe? Shoe polish!

WAX BUFFING TIP
I'm an 18-year old snowboarder who can't always afford tuning equipment. If I'm out of wax buffing pads, I muster up some old pantyhose from my girlfriend and use those...they work well for buffing wax jobs.
-Bradley Middleton, Davidsonville, MD

CLEAN STORAGE
If you use a horsehair brush, foam cork or polishing pad to apply or buff in Cera F, Jetstream, Q, or other fancy speed powders, be sure to store these tools in a ziplock bag for cleanliness, and mark them 'Fluoro Only' , so they don't get used for any other work. This allows Cera F to build up in the tools for future applications and guarantees you'll be applying only pure, full-strength fluorocarbons to your bases for maximum performance.
-Lance Galloway, Elko, NV

OUT OF THE BAG?
One interesting innovation that turned up on the World Cup circuit last season was a Thermo Bag that Toko developed. In essence, this system heats up skis overnight so wax can penetrate deeper into the base, plus (with the addition of insulated ski "socks") delivers a warm pair of skis to the racer right at the race start. The reasoning behind this is that a warm ski will melt very dry snow underfoot more than an unheated ski...which, in turn, rounds off sharp snow crystals faster and creates more water molecules that can help reduce drag and improve glide. At this time, the system costs upwards of $3,000 and can only be used on one pair of skis per race. More time and further testing will determine the value of the Thermo Bag, especially in cold dry snow conditions. But if it is a success, then maybe we shouldn't be suprised if a "Polar Bag" appears in the near future that cools skis off to reduce drag caused by too much water suction in warm wet snow conditions?

SPEED TESTING
Randy Graves of Rossignol spends lots of time experimenting with base structures and performing glide tests. He told us that (similar to what we've been told by speed skier Jeff Hamilton) they test waxes and structures on racing skis at low speeds on a long track. There's several reasons Randy gives for this. First, acceleration of skis out of the starting gate in a race is as important, if not more so, than ski velocity on the course...and slow glide testing allows them to measure acceleration very well. Secondly, high speed glide testing is much riskier...there have been accidents and even a death recently while testers have been glide testing skis at race speeds.

WAX SAFETY TIPS
A piece of wax by itself is pretty benign stuff, but when heated can create some safety concerns. Avoid damaging your lungs or eyes by following a few precautions:
1. Wear safety glasses. If a little water is present when waxing, it can boil suddenly and spatter molten wax in your eyes. Having burn blisters on your eyes is not fun. Also, scraping and brushing (especially rotobrushing) can put fine powdered wax in the air that can irritate eyes...and lungs, too (see next tip).
2. When heated, wax tends to congeal into tiny droplets, which can work their way deep into lungs and impair breathing. Wear a respirator, keep your workspace well-ventilated, and make sure your iron is set at a temperature that melts wax but doesn't smoke.
3. Never heat wax with an open flame and don't smoke while waxing (especially hand rolled fags or joints. When burned, hydrocarbon...and especially fluoro-carbon... waxes may be transformed into smoke that can blister your lungs and even be fatal. Yeow!
4. If you're involved in a waxing frenzy, get some fresh air every now and then. Try not to smoke while you're getting "fresh air" for obvious reasons.
5. Unplug wax or p-tex repair irons before leaving your workshop so you don't set it on fire!
-Chris Doyle, reprinted permission of TransWorld Snowboard Business © Jan 96

SUMMER STORAGE TIPS
Before putting away skis or snowboards for the summer, do a quick edge deburring or filing to leave them ready for next season. Then hot wax on a nice thick layer of any soft (warm temperature) hydrocarbon wax and leave it on for the summer. Slip your gear into a ski or snowboard bag to keep out dust and dirt, and store 'em safely out of the way in a closet or garage...preferably not in an extremely hot or humid location. Next season, all you have to do is take them out, scrape off the excess wax you left on the base and go.

GLIDE WAX TEST
A good way to test the overall efficiency of a ski wax is to skate uphill...not downhill. The slow speed will amplify any drag and give quick feedback. Put skis that are waxed differently on each foot...then you can make a quick comparison between the two.

WAX SKI GROOVES
For a complete hot wax, round off the front tip or rear corner of your iron so it can slip in and hot wax your entire ski groove.

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS
Here are some of my tuning tips:
1) Ever wonder what to do with old shower curtains? They make great drop cloths for tuning and waxing when travelling.
2) Want to preserve the tops of your skis/snowboard or change their appearance? Strippable wall paper works great. Also, duct tape works well too.
3) Use the Hertel hot waxer to mix and lay an even coat of wax on your bases prior to ironing. This method eliminates the possibility of a hot iron coming into contact with a dry base and allows for an exact mix of wax.
4) When waxing, keep some fiberlene or paper towels handy to remove wax from sidewalls while it is still hot...this will help eliminate the need to scrape the sides after waxing.
5) Pour citra-safe wax remover in a small squirt bottle for applying to bases. With citra-safe evenly distributed along the base, use a scotchbrite pad to scrub off the base, and fiberlene to wipe off residue.
6) Old coat hanger sections make good ski brake retainers. Use a pair of snips to cut off about a 5" length and turn each end up and in towards the center...then place the hanger wire over the ski brake while in its up position.
-Joe Hunter Jr, Omaha, NE

CARPET CLEANING
A good method of catching wax drippings, scrapings, and filings is to place a piece of carpeting under the entire lenth of your skis on the workbench (make sure it. s not flammable!). This works especially well in motel rooms. It can be shaken clean and ready for next use. (Note: Beware of letting melted p-tex drip on the carpet. It can either ignite or burn right through it!)
-Gary Baud, Wakefield, RI

SLIP OUTTA TOWN!
Always lay plastic down in your hotel bathroom to catch wax shavings when tuning...or they' ll take down your name and ban you from the facility (amazing how fast you can clog up sink, tub, and toilet)!
-Todd Blackman, Pasco, WA

SPRUCE 'EM UP
When salvaging your older skis or snowboard for resale, rub down topside cosmetics with automotive polishing compound...and do the same for sidewalls. Ask your local ski shop for any extra plastic shipping sleeves they may have...it makes your presentation look quite professional. Put a coat of ArmorAll on the bindings.
-George Acker, Kalkaska, AK

TOP WAX
After tuning ski or snowboard bases, I use auto wax on the tops to remove surface scratches and shine the tops.
-Marty Silvernail, Arvada, CO

BOTTOM-WIPE BOX
Attention parents of kids in diapers who use those handi-baby-bottom-wipes. Save the plastic container with the tight sealing lid they come in to store your wax. Leaving wax bars on the workbench collects dirt, shavings and grit that you don' t want on nice clean bases. Also, when the wife lets you out for a week with your buddies (as long as that deck gets built first!), the containers double as a travel kit for pocket stones, 6" files, scraper, and other goodies.
-Michael Testu, Rockaway, NJ

WAX SALVAGE TIPS
If your workbench is anything like mine, you probably have a box full of assorted used wax bars dating back to 1973...and can' t remember what snow conditions and temperatures they're all for. To avoid this, I use a finishing nail to scratch the temperature range and/or snow conditions into the end of each bar. This helps identify those bits down to the very end, and comes in real handy when going on a ski trip where you can throw a few assorted bits into your bag for any possible snow conditions. Of course, remember to always melt the other end of the bar first to save these markings!
-Michael Pardo, South Salem, NY

SLIPPERY WORKSHOP FLOOR
If your workshop has a cement floor, be careful...all the wax shavings from my skis have turned the cement floor into an ice skating rink! Be sure to clean up those shavings every time you scrape your bases. Also, always be sure to clean the base of your warm iron off on a clean rag or other absorbent material before switching to another wax.
-Kyle Konis, Bainbridge Island, WA

CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO SPEEDINESS
Keep ski bases and waxes clean. Dirt can reduce a ski glide by 5%. Always store skis in a bag when travelling and don't put them away dirty. New wax additives from Swix and Toko contain antistatic graphite and other ingredients to help repel dirt.

PROTECTION
After working on my skis (and also after skiing) I put an old sock over the tip of each ski so they don' t get scuffed then I carry them around. Most of the p-tex gouges at the tip seem to occur after skiing and during handling.
-Scott Peer, Glendale, CA

BASE CLEANER TIP
A leading p-tex manufacturer advises that to help minimize any chance of reduced wax absorption after cleaning ski or snowboard bases, wax solvents should not be poured directly on a base, but rather sprayed or dripped onto a clean, lint-free cloth or piece of fiberlene or base tex paper, and the base cleaned with the cloth.

RECYCLING WAX
Re-using old wax scrapings collected from your workbench may seem to be a thrifty and environmentally correct move...but beware. There are usually impurities (dirt or errant metal filings for example) that inevitably end up in wax...especially the shavings... regardless of how carefully you work. Since dirt is a major enemy of good glide, you don. t want it reapplied to your bases. Instead, economize on wax usage by or rubbing it directly onto dry bases before heating with a wax iron. Applying it this way requires about 30% less wax than dripping it on with an iron.

WAXING 'WAXLESS' SKIS
To get higher performance from waxless nordic skis, I cover the waxless kick portion of the base (fishscale, step, chemical multigrade, etc.) with masking tape before hot waxing the entire base with glide wax. After allowing time for cooling, I scrape the excess wax off and remove the tape. Some folks who have chemical or multigrade bases can use this technique with a shorter length of tape to shorten the kick section underfoot for better glide.

AFFORDABLE FLUORO HOTWAXING
If you usually ski or board in an area where the snow has at least a minimal moisture content (something you can make a snowball with), and are looking for a decent all-temperature hotwax that packs a little extra kick without kicking a hole in your wallet...consider Swix F4. It's a universal low-fluoro block wax available in either a 180-gram or 900-gram block form that can be hotwaxed at a cost that's pretty affordable.
The 900-gram block, for example, sells for about $70...but is enough for up to 70 applications. That means it costs you only about a buck each time you wax one pair of skis or one snowboard...a pretty good deal, even when compared to many hydrocarbon waxes.

KEEP WAX CLEAN
Be careful how you store wax after opening a new pack, or where you set it on your workbench when hot-waxing...it's all too easy to let it get contaminated with steel filings, dust or other grit. One simple way to keep wax clean is store it in ziplock bags.

TOBOGGANING ON ICE
Dear Tognar,
I was hoping for help with a wax recommendation for our toboggan team. Team Kennebunkport.com will be competing for the third time at the US National Toboggan Championships. The course is a 400' iced wooden chute. Last year, we put polyurethane on the base of our 8' wooden toboggan. We evaluated 6 different runs from our 2 and 3 man events and found only a difference of 0.025 seconds between runs. Since weight didn't seem to be a factor, we assume that the remaining variables are aerodynamics and wax. What wax and application can you suggest for a polyurethane base raced on abrasive ice?
-Holly Cook, Cape Porpoise, ME

Dear Holly,
Geez, sounds like you're already on the fast track here! For the abrasive icy conditions you describe, we'd normally recommend extra-cold powder wax (sold by Swix, Toko or Holmenkol)...which is sprinkled on bases and then ironed in. It's formulated using super-hard synthetic paraffins that provide maximum abrasion resistance for ski and snowboard bases. But these use polyethylene (P-tex) bases, not polyurethane bases like your toboggan...so the bottom line (pardon the pun) is that we don't know for sure if this will significantly improve your speed..but it probably can't hurt. Hey, best of luck, and let us know how you do!

TOOL WARMER TIP
I've found a good way to make my fluoro polishing pads work better and with less effort...just place the felt face of the tool against a pocket hand warmer to heat it up slightly. It stores just enough heat to help melt and polish the waxed base to a fine finish.
-Eddy Abreu

ORGANIC BASE CLEANER
To clean ski or snowboard bases in a pinch, I use an orange peel. If you fold the pulpy part in and squeeze the citric "acid" out of the outer partof the peel, you can get enough to clean the base. Afterwards, clean the residue off with fiberlene or similar paper, and you’re ready to rock!
-Andrew Dorais, Portsmouth, NH

X-C RACE WAX INFO
A great source of up-to-date waxing info (and more) for x-c ski races can be found at www.skipost.com.

OLD SOCKS
A cheap way to protect ski bases after tuning or waxing is to use a pair of old socks. Slip on one sock over the tip of one ski, and slip the other over the tail of the other...then strap the skis together (base-to-base). Do this for storing or transporting skis, even in a ski bag or when carrying them from your car to the top of the race course.
- Paul Shimchick, North Bend, WA

 

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