Waxing and Waning

On our Tuesday ski, Steve and I spent some time talking about wax. Apparently Brian E got some new skis and sent them in to get some serious wax work done to saturate the bases. The Rock says it can take up to a full day of waxing to really get a new set of skis going (and he's Canadian, so that has to be right). Other than easy application waxes, I had never put any kind of wax on my skis, and I could see the pasty white dryness on the bases. Not healthy.

Thankfully my wonderful parents helped fund my continually developing interest in all things nordic by contributing to my new birthday wax kit (tea not included).

Tuesday night was the first time I put it to use. I cleaned up my skate skis. Then I put a thick layer of base prep down,

scraped,

wiped, brushed, and wiped again.

Already I could see some improvement as the bases took on a dark sheen. So I then added a thick layer of cold blue wax (good for 21 to 10 degrees), completed the whole process, and followed that up with some purple (28 to 18 degrees). I figured any wax was better than what I had going, so I tried some exploring.

I had many reasons for my combo. Multiple layers would allow me to practice, and multiple layers of different waxes would prevent me from using up all of one type. I knew Wednesday's temps were supposed to be in the mid 20s, so I thought that the purple wax would be just right. The only problem was that we really didn't have much snow. We had more ice than snow. So I put down the layer of blue wax because it is a much harder (and hopefully sturdier?) wax.

I think the skis were the fastest they had ever been. And that was on some pretty awful conditions and with some iffy technique. The first skate session of the year with fast skis on icy terrain is not something I would recommend. But I only crashed once.

As it got dark I had some trouble seeing the super rutted out trail. So instead of skating some more I just worked on my double poling in the frozen classic tracks that people have been making all week. The new wax kept me sliding really fast, but just because it felt fast doesn't mean it was easy.

For twenty minutes I double poled back and forth along the nicest track on the course. As my triceps and abs burned all I could think about was a moment in Bill McKibben's cross country ski book Long Distance. On a trip near Yellowstone National Park, McKibben and a friend decided to ski over to some hot springs. I forget if they were 25 kilometers away, or 25 miles, but either way it was far. And the track was solid ice that provided no kick whatsoever. So the two of them double poled the entire way there, and the entire way back. I could barely last the twenty minutes I did, and I doubt I even covered 2 K. I am sure as my waxing improves I will no doubt be able to double pole amazing distances as well, but first I just have to get over some soreness.

Editors Note: The waxing pictures are a recreation of Tuesday night's waxing session. And the skis seen here are, in fact, Robin's.