Wax report...

[Ski]

I had my Thursday night corporate league race last night at Sno and figured it would be a good chance to try my Dr. D's FluoroMax Cold wax. Temps were around 10 degrees and, obviously, the course was on cold, dry natural snow.

 

Quick background: I race not necessarily to be competative, but as a learning process for coaching my youngest through her USSA career. So I don't want to spend a lot of money on high fluoro waxes, but still require something better than training waxes. I had come to regularly use Swix LF waxes, which are about twice the prices of hydrocarbons, yet much less than the high fluoros in their line. I've been waxing and tuning skis for many years.

 

Applying this 'cold' wax is very different than warmer waxes. It just doesn't want to melt. And it applies with an almost gritty texture. It seemed harder than either Toko or Swix. At normal iron settings it just kind of globbed onto the iron. So after coating the bases, I set my skis in a cold room for four hours, then scraped. It took about twice the usual effort to scrape. I followed this up with a quick brass, then nylon and horsehair brushing.

 

In the past, I've taken my training skis to warm up on, then only used my race skis for the actual race to preserve the wax/tune. But since I wanted to really test this wax, I took my warm up runs on a hill next to the course and tried to get a real feel for it.

 

Dr. D's FuoroMax Cold is amazing. I usually run a mid-teens NASTAR handicap at Sno. Like any mountain's NASTAR, there are tough days and there are "golden days". But in a race league, the pacesetter isn't apt to give away a golden day (meaning he/she skis a little slower and everyone's handicap drops).

 

Last night, I cut my handicap in half on both runs:

 

http://www.nastar.com/index.jsp?pagename=r...p&year=2007

 

And as much as I'd like to take credit for it, I skied exactly the same sort of line and tactics as the weekend before. The only change was the wax. Sno's course is a pretty good testing ground for these waxes, since it's long and has two headwalls that flow into long gliding sections.

 

A good wax makes you go "Wow" as you cross the finish line...and I said 'wow' twice last night.

[AtomicSkier]

Whoa, I would've been like a 3 handicap that night

[Ski]

Whoa, I would've been like a 3 handicap that night

 

Ha...it really was just hitting the wax just perfectly. Coach Jim and Dave are both a step up from me, so it's a great way to judge wax. The Sno course is all about gliding...and just for the record, Dr. D has never given me a comp and I've never asked. I just really dig that some guy in PA sells a better product than the two world-wide companies that I've spent countless dollars at over the years.

[RACEWAXdotCOM]

Applying this 'cold' wax is very different than warmer waxes. It just doesn't want to melt. And it applies with an almost gritty texture. It seemed harder than either Toko or Swix. At normal iron settings it just kind of globbed onto the iron. So after coating the bases, I set my skis in a cold room for four hours, then scraped. It took about twice the usual effort to scrape. I followed this up with a quick brass, then nylon and horsehair brushing.

 

My wax is not meant to be dripped on. Rub or crayon it in, then iron. I do one quick crayon, then a second crayon but touch the wax to the iron for a fraction of a second to soften it; this way I get a thicker coat. Then I iron.

 

I would not put skis immediately in the cold. Let them cool slowly then when at room temp put them in the cold if you like.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Who are you? I don't know what name you are on the results list.

[Ski]

My wax is not meant to be dripped on. Rub or crayon it in, then iron. I do one quick crayon, then a second crayon but touch the wax to the iron for a fraction of a second to soften it; this way I get a thicker coat. Then I iron.

 

I would not put skis immediately in the cold. Let them cool slowly then when at room temp put them in the cold if you like.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Who are you? I don't know what name you are on the results list.

 

Hey, Dr. D., I should have added that I was doing what we used to call a 'push job'---I didn't have much time and wanted as deep a coating as I could get, especially since I wasn't bringing warm-up skis. I assumed that as long as I didn't let it smoke, then I could heat it up. I repeated the same steps for a race yesterday with similar results, so I'm not changing a thing when we have these conditions. As to letting them cool, I left them on the vice for about an hour, then put them in my three-season room (about 40 degrees) for about three hours before scraping.

 

I've always found cold waxes a pain in the butt. That's the one good thing about global warming---soft waxes are easier and doing touch ups between runs isn't a hassle. Eh, for me anyway.

 

 

~cole

[RACEWAXdotCOM]

Hey, Dr. D., I should have added that I was doing what we used to call a 'push job'---I didn't have much time and wanted as deep a coating as I could get, especially since I wasn't bringing warm-up skis. I assumed that as long as I didn't let it smoke, then I could heat it up. I repeated the same steps for a race yesterday with similar results, so I'm not changing a thing when we have these conditions. As to letting them cool, I left them on the vice for about an hour, then put them in my three-season room (about 40 degrees) for about three hours before scraping.

 

I've always found cold waxes a pain in the butt. That's the one good thing about global warming---soft waxes are easier and doing touch ups between runs isn't a hassle. Eh, for me anyway.

~cole

 

I'm going to post this in my testimonials. If you have a racing picture that you don't mind me posting with it, that would be great. I am trying to spruce it up a bit with pictures.

 

Regarding the wax ironing. My waxes are meant to be ironed, its just that they don't drip, they get pasty when melted, so you have to crayon first.

[Ski]

AskDrD has an email from skiracekill@yahoo.com

 

 

Ha, compliments don't come out of me easily, Dr. D. But I've been a fan of your fluoro for a couple of seasons. In fact, just about every pocket in all my ski jackets are coated with white powder. My 6 yr old always complains that her Lifesavers taste funny.

[AtomicSkier]

There is a good picture of Ski in a newspaper ski racing...Don't know if he wants me to post that pic

 

As for your wax, I raced on your T4 today at MC, and I definatly chose the right one. They glided sooo nicely. Very fast!

[Ski]

There is a good picture of Ski in a newspaper ski racing...Don't know if he wants me to post that pic

 

As for your wax, I raced on your T4 today at MC, and I definatly chose the right one. They glided sooo nicely. Very fast!

 

Rockin' my Dumb and Dumber suit

 

Eh, no...

[sibhusky]

Was this the "$3 special wax"?

[Ski]

Was this the "$3 special wax"?

 

I don't know. This was wax I bought over the summer: FluoroMax Cold. I'm sure it wasn't his higher priced wax, like the stuff Jeff is using.

[AtomicSkier]

I don't know. This was wax I bought over the summer: FluoroMax Cold. I'm sure it wasn't his higher priced wax, like the stuff Jeff is using.

 

I use everything from his universal fluoro to his T series and they've all been great. I didn't have alot of time last night, so I did a quick universal rub on, using the softening technique DrD had mentioned, and it worked great...