Poster: A snowHead
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In previous years I've always used Toko All-In-One hot wax but this year I thought I'd get a bit more techinical and use a wax suited to the snow conditions. I've got some Toko System 3 Red/Yellow wax which should be suitable for snow down to -10degC. Assuming there is some snow when we go away at Xmas how do I know what the snow temp is? Should I mix it or use one or the other and hope for the best?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Marvel, And your second question is, how long is a piece of string? Take the waxses with you and wax in resort when you know the temp or continue with your all-in-one.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Marvel, remember to test the snow temp itself. It differs from the surrounding air temp.
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Marvel, can I ask what level of skiing you are at?
I ask because I wonder if an intermediate like myself would notice the difference between a waxed set of skis with the right temp wax on it and a waxed skis with the wrong temp wax on them?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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That's a good point Nick_C. I reckon most of us would notice the difference between a good and bad wax job more.
spyderjon will no doubt be along any moment now to sort this out for us!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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PhillipStanton wrote: |
That's a good point Nick_C. I reckon most of us would notice the difference between a good and bad wax job more.
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Totally agree with you there as I have suffered from a bad shop wax job and also had the benefit from a good job.
Thats why I do my own waxing now.
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There is emerging academic research which suggests that waxing skis makes little or no difference to ski performance. Within just a few hundred meters most of it scrubs off and the benefits are lost. The theory is unproven at this time, but there appears to be a growing body of evidence to support it.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Dypcdiver, I was hoping to get the waxing done in the comfort of my own home before I go. I'm sure the hotel won't appreciate me getting wax all over there carpets.
marc gledhill, how do I measure the temperature of the snow? Use a thermometer, or do they record it somewhere?
Nick_C, I'm a good intermediate and I think you're probably correct, I won't notice any difference anyway, but if a jobs worth doing.......
PhillipStanton, I'm no expert but can definately tell a good wax job from a bad one which is why I do my own.
ski, I used to use universal but someone told me it was sticky and proper stuff would be better.
Nick_C, agreed.
Whitegold, perhaps I won't bother waxing then.
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Whitegold, Maybe Head will ask Bode Miller If he would not mind racing with un waxed ski's as its not needed and they can save a few quid.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Marvel, yep, a snow thermometer. I was kidding though
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Marvel,
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ski, I used to use universal but someone told me it was sticky and proper stuff would be better.
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I think you'll find you get the best glide with a properly structured base, that has more of an effect than the type of wax.
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Quote: |
Whitegold, Maybe Head will ask Bode Miller If he would not mind racing with un waxed ski's as its not needed and they can save a few quid.
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I thought Atomic were looking after him........
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You know it makes sense.
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Kaiser, he changed this season.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Then he is something of a male chicken jockey. Perhaps that explains his performance in the slalom the other day (Although not the downhill!)
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Poster: A snowHead
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Marvel, Some hotels even have their own ski service benches for the guests to use.
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I'm sure the hotel won't appreciate me getting wax all over there carpets.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ok, so I've decided to go for the 0 to -5 degC yellow wax. I've put it on and scraped it off again but how much wax am I supposed to leave on the skis? Some of it or none of it?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Marvel, the wax is supposed to go into the base of the ski (which is made of a porous material), which is why it is ironed in. All wax should be scraped/brushed off the surface.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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That's good then because that's what I did. All we need now is snow.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Marvel, follow ski's advice & use a universal wax as us UK skiers are unable to wax for specific conditions. Depending on the manufacturer the soft/yellow wax you've used is usually for warm/spring skiing & for hot scrape base cleaning probably won't to too durable early season when the temps tend to be colder. However, this wax makes makes a great base layer & so you could put a another layer of universal wax on top.
The trick is to use a universal wax that has a wide operating temperature as some of the so-called universal waxes just aren't that universal.
For this reason I offer the Zoom universal wax from Dominator as I reckon it has the widest operating temp around. It's quoted at 0C to
-12C but I've used it at -15C in Kitzbuhel & it was only just becoming a bit sluggish on the flats. The only other uni wax I thought was pretty good is Holmenkol uni wax (-4C to -14C) which I don't sell but is available from Ski Bartlett or Anything Technical.
As rob says, scrape the bases & give them a few passes with a brush (a whole subject in itself ) to clean out the structure.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I use Datawax (hard wearing dryslope stuff) it helps reduce general wear on the bases, and if I've got time I then add a softer wax layer. Currently, I just use the hard wax as I don't race and the little extra glide speed isn't that important to me. I am more interested in extending the life of my skis.
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davidb, make sure you hot scrape clean regularly as Polar X, like all the Datawax products, is a flouro wax which can dry out the bases.
If you're in Utah you should be on Dominator wax as it's made on West Island Road in Morgan .
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spyderjon, I didn't realize that Polar-X dried the bases. I'll have to try Dominator wax.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Whitegold, Please tell us more about this
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There is emerging academic research which suggests that waxing skis makes little or no difference
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and where I can find it?
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Dypcdiver wrote: |
Whitegold, Please tell us more about this
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There is emerging academic research which suggests that waxing skis makes little or no difference
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and where I can find it? |
I'm trying to remember the source of that research but I recall the research was flawed due to the type of p-tex used in ski/board bases being different to that tested, ie not sintered etc.
It was either here on snowHeads (veeeight?) or on Epic but I'm not having much luck searching.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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spyderjon wrote: |
It was either here on snowHeads (veeeight?) or on Epic but I'm not having much luck searching. |
There was a reference here as I can vaguely remember commenting on it. I just tried a quick search but no luck finding it.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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If you want to do a search of JUST ski related sites (including snowheads and epic) try out gskier.com
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squawski, are you stealth-spamming gskier.com?
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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hyweljenkins, It is my site and I do have advertisers on the site but I honestly think it is a valuable resource to skiers and one that I work hard on perfecting. I also have yet to see any profit from the site. You do have a point though so I added gskier to my signature to make by affiliation clearer.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I was at a ski prep demo at Stöckli last night with their manager who's an ex WC tech. His view was that the all-in-one waxes are a bit like the equivalent of the one do-it-all ski and suggested just sticking to red wax - Swix, Toko or whichever - that goes down to about -12 degrees. The yellow he said only use in slushy spring conditions and the blue only if you know in advance it's going to be bloody cold and dry (e.g. Lake Louise in Jan), otherwise the red handles everything else as well as anything
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ok then, as I've used the wrong colour wax what will happen to it when I ski on the wrong temperature snow? Will it be slow and sticky or what? Should I scrape it all off and start again or wait till they're due for another waxing and use the right stuff?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Whitegold wrote: |
There is emerging academic research which suggests that waxing skis makes little or no difference to ski performance. Within just a few hundred meters most of it scrubs off and the benefits are lost. The theory is unproven at this time, but there appears to be a growing body of evidence to support it. |
Can you provide some references so that I can look these up please?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Marvel, IMHO you won't notice any difference. If your skis are 'sticky' then this is either because you haven't scraped enough wax off, or the skis have no wax at all. If you are racing, you'll notice a difference, but that would be by looking at a stopwatch, not by what you could feel.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I know what I'll do. I'm taking two pairs of skis with me, snow skis and rock skis. I've already waxed the rock skis with the wrong stuff which won't make any difference if there's no snow and I'll now wax the snow skis with the right stuff and hope there's some snow.
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