Kick Wax on Alpine Skis

[Robie]

Big John
I've got a little experience relating to your questions.

K2 Fours have quite a bit of sidecut and soft flex I've skied similar skis on 3 pins and plastic boots without problems. Probably a very liberating experience!
Kick wax on same ski for logging roads is also very doable.
I'm in the PNW cascades. We are always a bit closer to 32f Swix V40 Blue xtra works on very cold days. and Swix 45 violet special are the two I use.
I cork both right on over my glide wax. It's so nice not to have to put skins on for road work. Of course skins always are in my pack.

[lowangle al]

Kick waxing alpine skis was my thing almost exclusively before good quality no-wax alpine skis came along and global warming made for less than perfect wax conditions. You can do it, and your T4 is a great touring boot for K&G.

[fgd135]

Ha ha! Just remember to take off that kickwax if you plan to ride lifts with those same skis! Otherwise, the wax may stop you cold in the middle of the unload ramp. Ask me how I accidentally discovered this factoid...

[WildMidwest]

Any insight into the effectiveness of kick wax on alpine skis for this use case would be greatly appreciated.

I suppose I have a little experience now. You can absolutely use kick wax on alpine skis to move across the snow and up small hills. It also works OK on steeper hills if you have room to traverse up at a low angle.

This is one important thing: Kick wax does not stick to glide wax. Maybe it looks like it does, sort of, but don't try it. You will not get any kick. Strip all the glide wax off, put polar on the ski tip to tail and then put something that is right for the conditions on most of the base of the ski, starting under your toes.

LilCliffy shared all the secrets here:

LilCliffy's Nordic Backcountry Touring Waxing

Excellent link and discussion. I especially enjoyed Jurassian's comment on pg 10 to skiing the Mourne Mountains, and the video.

[lowangle al]

Ha ha! Just remember to take off that kickwax if you plan to ride lifts with those same skis! Otherwise, the wax may stop you cold in the middle of the unload ramp. Ask me how I accidentally discovered this factoid...

At least you didn't get too far, I hope you had a scraper. I forgot about my bases and had a couple draggy days out there.

[BigJohnS]

@BigJohnS Any of the later Voile 3 pin or Rotteffella Super Telemark bindings would be a decent choice. Go for the cable option if you find some in your price range. Definitely avoid bindings with the old wire bails. They were designed for lighter boots with thinner duck bills and will fail if used with plastic boots.

Thanks for the recommendations. The Rottefella Super Telemark with cables look pretty good. Is it true that the hardwires can be removed and replaced easily? If so that would be super helpful to improve kick and glide on the flats.

[BigJohnS]

Ha ha! Just remember to take off that kickwax if you plan to ride lifts with those same skis! Otherwise, the wax may stop you cold in the middle of the unload ramp. Ask me how I accidentally discovered this factoid...

Yeah, I will probably be sticking with my alpine set up when I ski at the resort. I might use this set up a few times at smaller rope tow or T-bar ski hills and I'll be sure to scrape off the kick wax if I do to avoid any sticky situations.

[jalp]

Thanks for the recommendations. The Rottefella Super Telemark with cables look pretty good. Is it true that the hardwires can be removed and replaced easily? If so that would be super helpful to improve kick and glide on the flats.

Pretty simple to remove and reattach the hard wires. I usually leave them attached to the toe piece and pop them on or off my heels as needed. I don't find that they get in the way for K&G, they just lay there flat against the ski. I don't like to do that with the Voile cables with side throws though, they get under my heels and in the way.

[fisheater]

Thanks for the recommendations. The Rottefella Super Telemark with cables look pretty good. Is it true that the hardwires can be removed and replaced easily? If so that would be super helpful to improve kick and glide on the flats.

Pretty simple to remove and reattach the hard wires. I usually leave them attached to the toe piece and pop them on or off my heels as needed. I don't find that they get in the way for K&G, they just lay there flat against the ski. I don't like to do that with the Voile cables with side throws though, they get under my heels and in the way.

The easiest cables to replace are the Voile 3-pin cables. The flexible cable bends and can be easily attached. That being said, when using that binding I usually took the ski off. The easiest to clip on were the Voile Hardwire, if you mount the heel riser far enough back to be able to engage the heel throw, on the heel riser in a manner that allows the boot to clear the heel piece when skiing. That isn’t hard to do, if you use a little care when mounting the binding. The most difficult cable to engage onto the binding is the Rotte Super Telemark cable. I think it would be impossible to engage without removing the ski. That being said, for leather boots, after skiing all three bindings it is my far and away choice for leather boots. While it is more difficult to engage it is very laterally stiff. I get that stiff lateral connection with only enough spring tension for the heel throw to engage. If I’m touring for turns, in rolling terrain, I don’t mind kicking along with that cable engaged in my Alaska 75 boots, although many times I may just ski without a cable. If I flail, I’m not too proud to hook it on. I think the cable with Alaska 75 is more efficient than my Ski March without the cable. The Alaska 75 with the cable is all I need in rolling terrain. If it’s deep or manky I go up to my Ski March boot, but I will still be using the cable.
If I’m not being clear, please ask. I will try to paint a better picture