Board stick in cold weather

[transam617]

First post. I was at stratton on sunday and it was COLD!!! But I noticed that the wax I used (I assume) really made the board stick to the snow. I had to spend most of my morning shuffling over to the summit gondola because the board simply wouldent slide. I used some paste wax the night before but I guess I am dumb for doing so because it mustve been -10F outside.

what wax can I use to ride all season without the stickyness I got yesterday?

[RDY_2_Carve]

This guy has everything you need. (http://www.racewax.com)

I have tried his warm and cold waxes, both good.

I have some powder but haven't tried it yet. Not really skilled enough yet to need it.

Good luck!:D

[Todd Stewart]

the problem with most powders is that they only last one run (depending on where you ride). Some only last a few meters.

[outsider]

i find the solution to most sticky situations is just a good scrape. carry a small plastic scraper with you to take care of extra crud on your board.

[Gtanner]

Extra cold wax will take care of your sticky situation. A good wax is made by Kuu (Mach II Blue). The stuff is super-hard and has no fluoro...but that doesn't matter in the cold. This stuff works amazingly!!

Good luck,
Gord

[bobdea]

graphite wax works well it cuts down on the static or something at least thats the explanation someone gave me
does it work?
yes
also in warm weather graphite wax works well its helps to keep all that nasty spring gunk off of your base
in cold weather just go for the hardest wax you can find
my opinion about paste wax if the only place it belongs is in the trash can
a good alternative is using the ray,s way whizard stuff I got one this season and while I dont believe that it replaces a good hot wax it is the next best thing
its amazing that such a simple tool can work so well
http://www.alpineskituning.com/raysway.waxwhiz.htm

[bobdea]

if you use hard waxes a good brushing with a brass brush makes a huge difference

[CarvCanada]

When it is ridiculously cold, the tiny layer of snow that usually melts as your board rides over it doesn't melt, and it feels like there's quite a bit of friction.
Cold wax helps, a base structure really really helps, and of course you can always just go to the steeps.

[transam617]

yea that paste stuff worked really well when it was warm and slushy but man I have some real hard wax that I will use next weekend for sure.

thanks guys.

[BigJay]

Originally posted by CarvCanada
When it is ridiculously cold, the tiny layer of snow that usually melts as your board rides over it doesn't melt, and it feels like there's quite a bit of friction.
Cold wax helps, a base structure really really helps, and of course you can always just go to the steeps.


Part of the answer is in the sentece above.

The problem with extra cold temperature is that there is no moisture in the snow. The snow becomes cristalized and doesn't melt under your board as much as in regular temperatures.

What you need is ARTIC wax. It's made for snow below 0F. That wax is harder to melt and harder to get into the base but it works great!

And also, don't forget to scrape off the extra... Here's a few pointers:

1- Clean base with wax remover and let dry

2- Apply wax with iron but don't get it to smoke... as soon as the wax melts the iron is hot enough (normally 3/4 of it's range). You want to have an even coating of wax all over your board. If you clean you board before then don't mind putting more wax then needed. The pores of the base needs to be filled.

3- Let the wax set for an hour (cooling down). If you don't let it cool down, you'll scrape off too much of the wax that didn't get hard enough to stick into the pores

4- Scrap off all the excess with a PLASTIC scraper. Pretty easy thing... just run the scraper all along the board and remove all the wax on top of the base (remember, you're filling the pores!)

5- Texturing the wax. With a nylon brush (white) run it along the board's lenght. This will also remove the excess that was left by the scraper. Putting the structure (texture) into your wax channels the water from the friction from under your board, this will make the board a lot faster.

Having basically 3 sets of wax is best. You need one for above freezing temps (yellow), one for normal temperatures (32F to 0F) and one for Artic temperatures. This will work for 98% of the people on the slopes. A few years ago i got a great kit from Holmenkol that had 12 wax that you could mix depending on snow temp, texture and humidity... It was really too much work for nothing... Good for race day but other then that it's just too complicated for nothing!

Hope this helps!