Solda Wax Recommendations

It looks like the conditions for the Craftsbury Marathon will be excellent. The last time I did this race I seem to remember a start temp of -9F.

My best call right now, not being there is as follows:

Overnight low temp of 9F
Start time temp of 12F rising only to about 15F
Humidity 80% declining very little
Cloudy to partly cloudy with a slight chance of snow showers.

I would start with a pair of skis, not too stiff, with a cold base and a fine grind. A very fine linear rill could help.

Glide wax:
Start with clean bases and wax a base of SOLDA F15 Blue. If your bases are old or had been dirty, clean with a hot scrape and then crayon on a layer of SOLDA HC28. Cover this with a layer of F15 Blue ironed, scraped and brushed. Two layers is better (says the wax salesman;-). Now it gets trickier because we seem to be on the edge of temperature boundaries.

If the snow is colder than -10C (14F) go with a layer of SOLDA F40 Green and cover with SOLDA HPO6.
If the snow is warmer than -10C (14F) go with a layer of SOLDA F40 Violet and cover with SOLDA HPO5.

In new, natural snow conditions HPO6 actually runs warmer than the label says. Snow temps warmer than 14F I would go with HPO5.

Budget alternative would be base of SOLDA HC28 covered with F15 Blue and finished with F15Violet.

One of the advantages of using fluoro waxes is that they are more durable in a long race.

Kick wax should not be a problem. I would start with a thin binder ironed and corked. In the Rode line I would start with Rode Green -4 to -10C. If more kick is needed, go with Rode FAST Blue Special -3 to -7C under the binding. Swix VR30 could be good too. Test and adjust.

Have a good one,

Bert