Forecast
Click here for the latest NWS forecast
Structure and ski selection
Skis should not be a stiff pair, the course is in beautiful condition with plenty of snow and perfect grooming, it will most likely start to break down and turn towards the soft side as the race proceeds. For this reason a mid to soft flex will be ideal.
Grind/ Structure. It has been getting warm during the days this week: 32- 40 F. It will be well below freezing at race start but there will still be moisture in the snow that will need to be dealt with. Because of this a ZR1 grind should run well a finer grind like a CV0 or 1/1 will work but may require a fine linear structure to be pressed in over it.
Wax
Base Prep
Apply a layer of a hard LF graphite or moly, Ski Go! LF Graphite will work well but Rex RCF Graphite will work as well as Toko LF Moly mixed with a little cold powder. This will harden your base and provide better durability as well as help with repelling dirt.
Scrape and brush with a soft steel, copper or bronze brush.
Paraffin
Holmenkol Matrix Blue/Black Mixed 50/50 with Holmenkol Matrix Red/Black was the fastest HF wax we found. Apply with an iron, let cool, scrape and brush. If you dont have these our test results are listed below from best to worst. The regular Holmenkol Matrix can be substituted for the black versions.
Fluoro Powder
Apply Holmenkol Speedpowder Mid, then brush out with a soft nylon polishing brush. Other options that we tested are listed below from best to worst
Visit Swix and Toko for their recommendations.
Test Results
tests were run at 7AM Saturday morning on a zeroed test fleet. Test were run based on subjective feel.
Paraffin Test
- Holmenkol Matrix red/black, blue/black 50/50 mix
- Holmenkol matrix Red/Black
- Toko HF Red
- SkiGo HF Violet
- Swix HF 7 BW
Fluoro Powder Test
- Holmenkol Speedpowder Mid
- Toko Jet Stream Red
- Ski Go! C105
- Swix FC 78 Super Cera (tied with C105 for 3rd)