Last Year’s and this Year’s Grip Wax Experiments

[Rodbelan]

Tried the Terva black. Very nice. In -17˚C, it was kind of grippy, but I suspect that I did put too much... Tried it last sunday -15; excellent grip, excellent glide. I need to further test that goo to figure things out...

So far so good...

Tar sent reminds me of my childhood, skiing with my family... we were using Jack Rabbit grip wax...

[riel]

This was totally awesome advice-- I know @fisheater has been banging the drum since he got his. I just had a good day to try the Oslo Start Violet with @riel in difficult conditions-- two/three day old fluff on a base that had been subject to a hard rain and then refrozen, with temperatures in the high 30's and low 40's. Slushy in spots, drier snow on top of granular groomed base in others, and the Oslo Start V just kind of worked. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't terrible either. Today would have definitely been either a scale/skin day or maybe a klister day (and even that in the shadows may have been a pain with some of the drier stuff in the shade that didn't see the sun.)

That wax worked a lot better than I expected given how tricky the snow was. Thanks for letting me be an unwitting part of your experiment!

However, next time I might try taking those ancient E89 class skis up Upper Osceola, and see what happens on the way down

[CwmRaider]

I went on a little XC track tour today. Air temp +2C, snow temp around 0, a bit crusty in places, slightly wet in sunny spots, powdery in yet others . I have absolutely ZERO experience waxing for such conditions but I was feeling braver than usual. I even took a tube of KN22 klister with me, although I ended up not needing it.

I was recommended Swix VP65 for tricky conditions at the shop, and the "griptip" "online advisor" from Swix reccomends the VP65 in many conditions around 0, and it seems to be the usual recommendation in the temperature range between Violet Special and klister.
https://griptip.skisporet.no/

Its a pretty gooey kick wax, and it is black (presumably from the graphene additive).

This is the description from Swix:

For new and new fallen fine-grained snow from 0°C to 2°C (32°F to 36°F).
Old/partly transformed snow from 0°C to -4°C (32°F to 25°F).
Red/black kick wax with extraordinary properties when tricky conditions around the freezing point.
Also brilliant on the cold side when high humidity and older/transformed snow.
The black additive speaks for versatility and great anti-icing properties.
VP65 works best on top of a couple of layers of a slightly harder wax. It also works great as a cover on top of klisters. Apply each layer thin – then smoothen the surface with a synthetic cork (T12). Applying the wax when it is cold will ease the application process. The VP-line is primarily designed for racers and ambitious non-racing individuals but can also be used by recreational skiers who wants the optimum skiing experience.

I made a mistake right off the bat: I put on 4 corked layers although the recommendation is 2 ( I did not read the instructions carefully and 4 is what I usually apply with blue extra). This resulted in some of the wax eventually oozing its way around the ski edges where they would render glide very erratic whilst snowplowing down. Ill pay more attention next time.

The good news is that both grip and glide were actually amazingly good, and I dare say I had more fun than I would have had with my other pair of XC track skis with integrated skins.

The Start Oslo violet seems to cover a similar range to the VP65?

[DoggParadox]

If I can add to the discussion I’d like to note that the Start Oslo waxes have been fantastic in my recent experience. Definitely not a fast wax but super reliable kick in varied conditions so a perfect BC wax for me. I’ve been supplementing Rode and Swix kick waxes with the Blue or Purple Start Oslo when conditions are tricky and having very good results. It too is not cheap but at the rate I use it it’s a very small investment. Here’s a good rundown of the product: https://enjoywinter.com/read-skipost/-w ... -kick-wax/

Has anyone tried Rex powergrip marathon purple and/or compared it to Start Oslo Violet? It seems like it covers a similar (tricky) range (although maybe more focused on transformed snow?). From the description it looks great.

[fisheater]

@Roelant @DoggParadox I have not tried anything but the Oslo Violet, and Vaughti Pure Pro white. The Vaughti is magic WHEN it works, fast, fast, fast. The Oslo Violet is magic BECAUSE it works. I might also add the Oslo scrapes off well, with the caveat I’m not the least bit concerned about some residual wax that doesn’t scrape out of pattern doesn’t bother me at all. I’m really bummed that this is manufactured in a warmer grade.
So for now, I’ll let you guys experiment. I am very happy to have a wax that I am confident will give good performance in conditions I had less satisfactory results in the past

[DoggParadox]

What is everyone's experience apply Start Oslo? Can you just crayon on and cork it in?

I know with Rex Powergrip Marathon (which I think is similar hardwax/klister mix) the instructions are:

Apply heat to the wax with a heat gun or waxing iron
Rub wax to ski base
Apply heat and smooth with a cork or thumb

I don't know how necessary those steps are for the Rex, but curious if you need to do something similar for Start Oslo.

[The GCW]

I used the Start Oslo Race Purple for the 1st time last Sunday on a route which starts out with some steepish parts for Nordic skiing when the trail was stamped down, icy crap with some snow off to the sides maybe.

Air (overnight low Maybe 15°( I forget) 28° and going up to eventually 43°. -Ruined from the day before's warm weather with the following freeze... -barely over 9,100' above sea level to start out with.

Went with SWIX Red / Silver and it wasn't happening.

I put the Start Oslo Race Purple on with the 1st swipe but recalled to push in down and twist it and lift it off & then buff with synthetic cork, so I did the remainder of it that way and recalled only 2 layers.

It worked, made the difference, I was happy. Later on that jaunt, getting away from the trailhead, snow conditions changed and changed in and out of shade, proximity to sun, on and on and at times I got no grip and sometimes no glide with all manner of in-between.

I like the smell of the tar involved. Nothing like when a tar truck is close, which is enough to gag a maggot.

Later, I could smell & taste the tar in the Ardbeg Uigeadial & 10 yr old, Port Charlotte Heavily Peated next to the wood burning stove feeling like I had a nice day. Thinking back, that was good.

But there's more. There's always more.

Prior to getting together with the Boys yesterday evening I scrapped off the tar / klister thickness with even some baby powder in hand, much more vigorously that when My babies were babies and knew I didn't get off all the quite dark evidence. That would be OK because We had another melt freeze thing happening but it was snowing & 34° to 32°, going down with some freshies as We spoke. The Swix Violet Special wasn't special enough (I tried it a few minutes before joining the Boys) & installed the usually and in this case dependable Red / Silver and with left over Tar / klister underneath I had kick and I had glide and made room for the beer to follow.

[FourthCoast]

It took me some time, but I found the post I was looking for. Wax!

Right now I have Swix Green, Blue Extra, Red and Red/Silver. This seems to be a good setup for everything except ice and very wet warm 'snow'. I wish I had more chances to use the Green. Those are fun skiing temperatures.

Is Start Oslo Race Purple a good addition to my wax kit? I see @fisheater talking about Start Violet. Is this different from Purple?

The description here makes me think it would be good for wet snow or maybe wet snow in the sun with dryer snow in the shade. Will it do anything on ice? If not, is there any hard wax that will work on ice? I am still scared of klister.

[fisheater]

@FourthCoast i stand corrected it is Oslo Purple and not violet.
Good luck if you try it. I like it, but sometimes it does stick a bit more than desired.
I’m ordering a tin of Blue Oslo this year, other than that I just be ordering to restock the waxes I use regularly.

[Woodserson]

The Oslo Start waxes are incredible. I don’t remember who first suggested them here (Fish?) but wow, they work great in that in between space where klister is too much and wax too little. Perfect for the days with powder in the shadows and wet in the sun, too.

Last year was the first season I never skied a non-wax/crown ski. A lot of that was because of Oslo Start, they mopped up the tricky snow problems.

The application technique is key, I find.