Accidentally bought Fischer e99 waxing version. First time to wax. Should I keep them?

[ollie]

Hi all, I snagged a nice pair of Fischer e99s on Facebook marketplace and had them shipped to me. They came in really great condition with full-length skins. A little surface rust on the edges but I think I can deal with that.

I somehow got mixed up with another pair I'd been looking at and forgot to check that they were waxless. I've done a couple of cross-country trips to Norway and in 2019 did the Swedish Kungsleden all with rented waxless skis (Asnes Amundsen). These worked fine and I was very happy with waxless.

(Binding will be replaces with Rottefella 3-pin for Crispi Antarctic)

Now I'm preparing to ski the Hardangervidda in Norway in April and I'm worried that having to think about wax while camping etc with the pulk is going to be a total pain. I normally Google Translate fjellforum.no for such answers but it seems that as skiing is so culturally normal to Norwegians they don't even talk about wax!
Do you think being new to wax will be tricky on the trip? Can one apply skins on top of wax or do you have to remove and re-apply the wax every time? I'm finding it hard to find even elementary information about wax on a multi-day trip. Is 3 types of wax and some kind of wax scraper enough?
Any advice appreciated!

Kind regards,
Ollie, Scotland.

[Woodserson]

Ollie,

Welcome! Please come back after the trip and put up a trip report!

If I was going on a trip like this, it would be a "major trip of a lifetime" kind of thing, something I'd get to do once, maybe twice. I would make sure I had the right gear and spend the money, which in the end, would be a tiny percentage of the total cost of the trip and advance my enjoyment substantially.

That's me.

It's a GREAT ski. But do you want to run the risk?

Just my thoughts.

[lowangle al]

April can be a tough month to use kick wax, not to mention learning to do it. I would be nervous with waxable skis unless you had some local info that says otherwise. It could be done but it could also be a frustrating experience.

You can put skins on over hard kick waxes but I've never put them over soft waxes that you might need for wet snow.

At any rate, lucky you for being able to go on a trip like that, have a good time.

[bgregoire]

those are my favourite skis!!! Send em my way! April is a great time to ski in Norway. If I were you, I’d take a newer pair with half skin inserts. Skins might be required if you are hauling a pulk. It so wax or wax less might not be a relevant debate. Have you considered that?

[lowangle al]

I forgot to add that if you had to resort to the full length skins you may not be happy. Very slow and hard work compared to good wax or scales. I would keep the skis though. when conditions are right waxing is easy and perform better than even the best waxless skis out there.

[fisheater]

All of this is good advice. Especially looking into newer versions of this ski or Åsnes skis with the X-skin/ Skin lock option. If you stick with your current skis you will want to use red/silver, not red. This would be for Swix waxes. I live in Michigan, I ski in a lot of warm, melting snow. I don’t even put red in my pocket any longer only red/silver. As far as your wax kit, green, blue, red/silver, a cork, a Swix Nordic scraper steel and plastic. That sounds complete, but I think you should have a tube of Swix red klister (warm). If you need it you will need it. One last wax I would carry is Swix Polar white. Myself and many folks here use it as both a base and glide wax. Lastly have a little extra toilet paper. If you need to scrape klister, apply TP to base, let set, scrape.
While I think waxing is simple, I don’t advise learning how to do it on a wilderness tour.
Waxing Basic Theory:
Start at the heel and go forward, it doesn’t help grip by grip waxing behind heel.
Start by utilizing a wax on the cold side of current temperature. Put on 2 or 3 layers, in the wax pocket area. ( I estimate on the large end of the scale)
If you don’t have proper grip, extend wax all the way to the tip of the ski with the same wax that slipped.
If you still slip than utilize a warmer wax. ( there is no need for any scraping, just place warmer wax on top of colder)

If it sounds simple, it is.

Now what happens if you slip with blue, but red/silver sticks? Not a big deal, wipe a little ( one light layer, corked lightly) of blue over the red/silver

What if red/silver 3 plus layers from heel to tip slips?
It’s klister time.

As much as I like wax, I would want the kicker skin option for this trip, but klister does work. You will need to scrape klister or red/silver before applying skins.

[Xxyyn03]

Agree with the others, get half skin inserts! Especially nice for hauling a pulk. You can use a rub on glider on the skins to make them repell water and glide better.

You can also look at the Asnes academy prep and wax section. Could not see a translation to English on their page, so might have to use google.

https://www.asnes.com/asnes-academy/alt ... -sesongen/

[Leo Tasker]

Hi Ollie, I'm a Brit living in Oslo so hopefully can offer some advice! Those skis will be perfect for the Hardangerviddda, which is mostly flat, rolling terrain - however the easy skin version might be better for pulling a pulk. The weather in April can vary massively in terms of temperature, so a decent wax kit is a must. Look at at Lilcliffy's waxing guide on this site for some great tips. Putting on wax in a tent or outside is not that hard as long as you have prepped the ski well before the trip.

Be aware that as of now, Norway has banned entrance to UK residents unless you have a work permit, this is currently because of Covid, but Brexit will also cause a change of rules after Jan 1st.

Hopefully this will be relaxed in time for your trip, but I wouldn't book flights, accommodation, etc just yet...

If there's any other info I can help you with, just let me know!
Cheers, Leo

[Musk Ox]

Accidentally bought some skis, eh? That's right.

I've got nothing to add to the excellent and experienced advice here, other than it's completely usual to never take your skins off once on multi-day tours with a pulk. But that's short skins... I don't think it would be much fun at all to do the Hardangervidda with full length skins.

Properly grip waxed skis are one of the greatest pleasures there is, so I’d keep them, or give them to me, maybe. Waxing is much easier than many seem to make it appear, it’s just a dork magnet, like making coffee or cooking steak.*

The Hardangervidda maybe isn’t the time to learn, but only because short skins are really the appropriate choice here, so why stress it.

There’s a Norwegian ideal of stable April weather on skis with blue skis and white snow known as ‘påskefjell’ (‘Easter mountain’), which is theoretically quite easy to wax for, and with a bit of luck you’ll find that. It’s not uncommon. But if it’s like +1° C and fat, wet snowflakes, which is how it usually turns out in reality, you’ll be really glad for the skins.

I'm also really happy to help if you need advice on the ground, although I live a very long way from there.



*You cook a steak by putting salt and pepper on it and putting it on a hot pan until it feels right when you poke it. You can also dry brine a steak with a timer, sear it, finish it on indirect heat in a convection chamber and then let it sit under infrared lights with an anchoïade butter for fifteen minutes, and I salute you, I love you, but if you pretend this is necessary you’re actively putting people off steak and the rest of us are already drunk and on ice cream going "That steak was delicious!"

[greatgt]

Two thingers....Re read Fishes post....It's all there.....Waxable e99's NEED to be fast and wax is faster than scales....With speed the 99's come around like Telemark and powder....Have a blast, sounds like a dream come true...TM