Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Misadventures in Waxing
We have been getting some good snow falls here in Iowa City. On Saturday we got somewhere between 3 and 4 inches and then on Monday afternoon we got another solid 4 inches. Tonight, we could see another 3 to 5.
With the solid new base I figured it was finally time to try out my new waxable classic skis. I glide waxed the tips and tails over the weekend, and that just left the kickwax. I watched the temps all day as the snow was coming down and it was mostly between 25 and 27, so I figured the Swix Blue Extra would do the trick. After watching lots of Youtube videos, I laid down five super thin layers, corking each one in. After I was done, I thought the skis had a nice finish, but were still tacky. Surely a good sign.
Out at the cross country ski course I was happy to see that they had already started the grooming. I zipped down the hill and glided into the newly laid classic tracks, did a couple of double poles, kicked, and went no where. Shit.
One of the videos said it could take a kilometer for the wax to work in. So I double poled around, periodically adding a kick to see if I could feel anything. Nothing. Luckily I brought the wax and the cork with me. So I stopped to apply more. I nice elderly gentleman with some sweet ski socks came by and we chatted about the difficulties of classic waxing. Surprisingly, he said he was using the same wax as I was. That could only mean opperator error.
After my second application, still not much kick. A little, but not much. I applied one more thick layer and set off to make at least one loop before calling it a day (I wanted to be recovered for the Iowa City Ski Time Trial on Tuesday).
Halfway around I found the Eppens and saw that they, too , had mis-waxed. We talked about kick waxing and all things skiing as we slid around the course. In addition to learning that I should have used a much softer wax, especially since the temperatures were actually warming even as the sun was going down (what?!), I also learned some good tips on "field waxing." Mostly that one should not do such a thing. Thankfully the Iowa City ski community is not that pretentious.
Tonight we are supposed to have our first ski race, but as I type this the temps are still around zero with a stiff north wind. Easier to wax for, but not as comfortable for working a race or hanging around afterwards. So it is canceled. Hopefully next week. There is nothing worse than having to postpone a race for no snow on one week and then postpone it the next week because there is plenty of snow but it is too cold.
With the solid new base I figured it was finally time to try out my new waxable classic skis. I glide waxed the tips and tails over the weekend, and that just left the kickwax. I watched the temps all day as the snow was coming down and it was mostly between 25 and 27, so I figured the Swix Blue Extra would do the trick. After watching lots of Youtube videos, I laid down five super thin layers, corking each one in. After I was done, I thought the skis had a nice finish, but were still tacky. Surely a good sign.
Out at the cross country ski course I was happy to see that they had already started the grooming. I zipped down the hill and glided into the newly laid classic tracks, did a couple of double poles, kicked, and went no where. Shit.
One of the videos said it could take a kilometer for the wax to work in. So I double poled around, periodically adding a kick to see if I could feel anything. Nothing. Luckily I brought the wax and the cork with me. So I stopped to apply more. I nice elderly gentleman with some sweet ski socks came by and we chatted about the difficulties of classic waxing. Surprisingly, he said he was using the same wax as I was. That could only mean opperator error.
After my second application, still not much kick. A little, but not much. I applied one more thick layer and set off to make at least one loop before calling it a day (I wanted to be recovered for the Iowa City Ski Time Trial on Tuesday).
Halfway around I found the Eppens and saw that they, too , had mis-waxed. We talked about kick waxing and all things skiing as we slid around the course. In addition to learning that I should have used a much softer wax, especially since the temperatures were actually warming even as the sun was going down (what?!), I also learned some good tips on "field waxing." Mostly that one should not do such a thing. Thankfully the Iowa City ski community is not that pretentious.
Tonight we are supposed to have our first ski race, but as I type this the temps are still around zero with a stiff north wind. Easier to wax for, but not as comfortable for working a race or hanging around afterwards. So it is canceled. Hopefully next week. There is nothing worse than having to postpone a race for no snow on one week and then postpone it the next week because there is plenty of snow but it is too cold.
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