Solda Wax Recommendations

Glide wax recommendation for American Birkebeiner.

Weather Forecast:
Friday night low of 4 F with heavy cloud cover and high humidity.
Projected temperature at 8:00 a.m. is 6 F, warming up quickly to 12 F at 11:00 a.m.
and 16  F at 1:00 p.m. Their is a chance of very light snow falling from beginning
around 9:00 a.m., but not even a half inch is projected to fall during the
race. 

The new snow which fell yesterday and may fall between now and the race
start  will not change the consistency of this snow. Wax for transformed snow.
The  recent thaw and rain put a lot of moisture in the snow which has since
frozen  and is now being tilled up. The snow is very abrasive.
Cold temperatures and high winds on Wednesday took some of the humidity out 
of the snow as well so it will likely ski less humid than the air humidity 
reading.

The trail is fairly shallow and due to the tilling parts of it are going to 
be dirty. Based on all of those factors my recommendation is;

Solda FC27 covered with
Solda F15- Blue, covered with
Solda F40 SPECIAL - Green, covered with
Solda HPO5/S30 70/30 mix.

As should always be the case with cold/hard waxes iron the Solda F15-Blue  at
least 2 times. In other words, iron it into the skis, let them cool and then 
iron them again at least once. That will help the cold wax adhere to the base
more effectively. Do the same with the F40 Green Special.

Because the snow is going to be abrasive, put as many layers of Solda F-15 
Blue into your skis as you have time for. Combining the F-15 Blue with Solda 
FC27 in a one to one ratio will also be effective and add to the  durability.
If you do not have the Solda F40 Special-Green I would substitute the Solda 
F31 Blue. This is a wax that was made by Solda until a couple years ago.
In testing this morning it ran very well at similar temperatures as
predicted for Saturday.

A third alternative would be to finish with Solda F40 Green as the next to last layer followed by HP05-S30
mix 70/30.


If you do not have Solda HPO5/S30 70/30 mix, Solda HPO6 would be a very  fast
replacement.

For Kick wax, those of you on site will have a better idea than I do from here in Oregon.
With the transformed snow I would be inclined to start with a thin layer of a Klister binder. Follow this with
a very thin layer of a cold (blue) ice klister. Then cover with a couple thin layers of cold hard
wax. be careful to make these thin and cork gently and make it smooth.
 Later waves might go just a step warmer with the hard wax. Again, use your best judgment on site for kick wax.
Play with different combinations today.