BNS Wax Recommendation
Bozeman Supertour Dec 3-4 2011
The weekend’s races are a freestyle sprint prologue followed by a skate distance race on Saturday and a classic mass start distance race on Sunday. Due to a lack of snow at Bohart Ranch, the loops are short and will have areas of shoveled snow. New snow has fallen in the last few days including this morning adding to the variability of the conditions. Up hills are sugary from the shoveled snow and in some spots the trail has become glazy. There is spotty coverage on some parts of the course.
Weather –
From NOAA:
Friday Afternoon: Scattered snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 33. West northwest wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
Friday Evening: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 13. West wind between 5 and 7 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 28. West southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 15. West southwest wind between 8 and 10 mph.
Sunday: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 23. West northwest wind around 10 mph. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Recommendation
We recommend the following:
Base Layer: Ski*Go LF Graphite
Race Paraffin: Ski*Go HF Blue or Holmenkol Matrix Blue
Fluoro Powder: Ski*Go C105 Powder
Top Coat: TBD in the AM. BNS Test Partner Tom Nelson will be on site to assist with recommendations.
Structure: If needed TBD in the AM.
Testing-
BNS Test Partner Tom Nelson was at the venue testing Friday morning. Tom tested at Bohart between 10AM and 11:30AM. Air temp. was 28F and humidity was in the mid 50’s. Below are his notes from his tests, all based on feel.
Grinds Tested-
S1.0, S0.2, S1.3
- S1.0 was the fastest and most "free" on the entire course and sped up in comparison with the new snow.
- S1.3 ran second fastest and S0.2 was third. If the snow was not as warm, the S0.2 would have run better than it did.
Paraffins Tested-
Ski*Go HF Green, Ski*Go HF Blue, Ski*Go HF Violet, Ski*Go HF Blue/Violet 1:1 Ratio, Holmenkol Matrix Blue, Holmenkol Matrix Green
- Ski*Go HF Blue and Holmenkol Matrix Blue felt very fast and it was very close between the two.
- Ski*Go HF Violet was surprisingly fast, but when the new snow came in the last 15 minutes it slowed down compared to the HF Blue waxes.
- The new snow had a high amount of moisture and it was possible to make a snow ball out of it. Snow on the ground was aggressive and balanced moisture.
Powders Tested-
Ski*Go C105, Ski*Go C44, Holmenkol Mid, Holmenkol Mid 08
- Ski*Go C105 was very fast in all conditions. Holmenkol Mid wasn't as fast at the Ski*Go C105, or Mid 08, which was very close to C105.
- Ski*Go C44 was surprisingly fast before the new snow came in and felt equal to the C105 before the new snow.
CONCLUSIONARY NOTES – BNS will be testing top coats, hand structure, and kick wax at the race venue. Come by to get our latest test results and recommendations.
note: BNS imports Holmenkol and SkiGo waxes, and also sells waxes from Swix, Toko, Rode, Solda, Rex, Guru, Innovax, Magnar and others. We search for the fastest waxes for our customers and our testing is professional, objective and transparent. We make our best effort to test what we think is the best from each brand. However, given that we are testing more options from Holmenkol and SkiGo, there is a bias toward those brands. With this full disclosure, you can assess the legitimacy of our testing yourself. Visit Swix and Toko for their official recommendations. If you have any questions please contact us.