SKI WAX - 2 Types

Grip wax

Grip waxes are a variety of ski wax used for cross-country skis. The ski wax come in two specific forms, Hard kick wax and Klister. Klister is a very difficult wax to use due to its very sticky constituency and comes as a semi-liquid in containers very similar to toothpaste tubes. However, Klister is an excellent ski wax when used in very icy conditions or used when the snow is relatively warm and wet. Kick wax is in firm form coming in a small tin, similar to that of a tin of car wax. The best time for using Kick wax is when the snow is either new fallen or for old, cold snow when the air temperature is that of below freezing. Grip wax is applied to the kick zone of the ski which is the centre of the ski under the foot, gripping the snow allowing the skier to propel him or herself forward.

Glide wax

Glide waxes are a variety of ski wax used for Nordic skis, alpine skis and snowboards. Optimizing the thickness of the film of water between the ski and the snow is the ultimate aim and goal of the skis gliding property. Wet drag is caused when there is too much water between ski and snow and dry drag is caused by the opposite of having too little water between the snow and ski. For the perfect glide you need a balance between wet drag and dry drag. A high quality glide ski wax will help immensely to reaching this balance between wet and dry drag. To select the best glide ski wax you must know the snow temperature and humidity. Once knowing this you can select the perfect wax for the time by reading the manufacturers information on the tins. Glide ski wax is applied to the glide zone of the ski, which is the entire base of the ski.

Ski wax iron

Compared with normal household clothes irons, ski wax irons have more accurate temperature controls, with thicker and smoother bases. The reason for the thicker base is to help distribute the heat evenly over the irons surface.With a more accurate temperature control the iron greatly reduces the risk of problems with temperature drops or spikes. Because of its flatter base the iron is easier to maintain and clean reducing the risk of having a contaminated ski wax mixture.The biggest benefit of having a more accurate temperature control is that the ski wax application has the perfect temperature throughout the whole process.

Brushes

Brushes for ski wax are used to remove the last excess layer of ski wax gently so as not to damage the ski base or actually change the structure of the ski base. Of course there are many brushes out there in the market place. One must select the right brush for the right job depending upon the conditions and variety of wax that has been applied. The most popular brush types used are those of stiff nylon, soft nylon, horsehair, brass and copper. And of course brushes can be bought using combinations of any of the previously mentioned.

Corks

Coming in either natural or synthetic materials, corks are used for the spreading of the ski wax onto the ski.They are also used to apply fluorocarbon powders.The corks come in small or large block depending upon your preference or job at hand.

Profiles

These can be bought in different sizes. You can purchase portable ones or large ones which remain fixed to a workbench. They are used to hold the ski or snowboard in place whilst the waxing process is being performed. Basically they are just clamps used for support during the ski wax process.

WWW.SKIWAX.ORG

Ski Wax

The miners soon discovered that they would have an advantage over fellow competitors if their skies were smeared by some compounds on the base then they would have increased skiing speeds. The compounds they used were dopes brewed from vegetable or animal compound. The results from this were the introduction of the first ski wax such as Black Dope and Sierra Lightening. These first commercial ski wax did not actually contain any wax at all. They were mainly composed of sperm oil, vegetable oil and pine pitch.

Ski Wax-Tools Used To Apply Ski Wax

However some of the ski wax that was produced at around that time did use paraffin candle wax that was melted on to the base of the ski. These worked much better in colder conditions it was found.

In this present day ski wax has become a very complex pseudoscience with it’s advancement mainly motivated by ski racing and downhill slalom racing where one hundredth of a second can mean the gold medal instead of the silver medal. There are now many companies that produce ski wax and they spend a lot of time with research and have produced ski wax for virtually any temperature or condition in order to achieve maximum performance from the ski.

Ski wax was first used in the 1860s in America. It was during the period of the California gold rush that this took place by the gold miners who for entertainment held downhill ski races. However the ski wax they used in those days is nothing like the ski wax we use in the modern day.

In 1974 surfactants were introduced in to ski wax. This was one of the recent great advancements in ski wax and along with the introduction of fluorocarbons in 1986 ski wax reached a new level of performance. These surfactants and fluorocarbons increased water and dirt repellence with the result being that of increased glide.

By microencapsulating tiny micros of water salable surfactants in to ski wax the surfactants change and activate the structure of water when the base of the ski connects with the snow and creates the water through weight and friction.