Saturday & Sunday, January 10, 11 

24 Hrs of Telemark  Cable, WI   Freestyle  10:00 
Stormy Kromer Pursuit Montreal, WI Classic and Freestyle

Friday  night lows 8 F. Saturday high 23 to 26 F  Saturday night low of 10 to 12 F Sunday mostly cloudy, 20% chance of light snow , light SE  winds, high 25 to 28F  
Best glide wax choice: 
HSF-20 Tan, 2 layers, scraped and brushed, over a layer of HS-20 Blue, scraped and brushed.  For optimal ski preparation, clean your skis by hot waxing with Base Prep and scraping while warm before applying wax of the day. 
Structure:  universal  structure medium flexed ski
Alternate wax choice: 
 

Sawtooth  Grand Marais, MN at Pincushion  15K freestyle & 15 K Classic 
Saturday night lows 10 to 12 F.  Sunday partly cloudy,, high 23 to 25F  
Best glide wax choice: 
HSF-20 Tan, 2 layers, scraped and brushed, over a layer of HS-20 Blue, scraped and brushed.  For optimal ski preparation, clean your skis by hot waxing with Base Prep and scraping while warm before applying wax of the day. 
Structure:  univeral  structure medium flexed ski

For more information about application of the waxes listed above, go to instructions  

Have a great race! 

 
Feature Product, October:  

Fast Wax Ski Wax BASE PREP 

You know skiing is more fun when you’ve conditioned your body before the snow flies...but what about your skis? 
For optimal ski performance, your ski bases need to be conditioned before you hit the snow. New or newly stoneground skis especially require some time at the wax bench. As Finn Sisu’s Tom Novak describes, "Stonegrinding removes the accumulated wax layer of the ski base, which requires you to prep the bases again as you did when they were new. We use Fast Wax Base Prep exclusively for this." Here’s how you can get your skis up to speed like the pros: 

1. Start with Fast Wax Ski Wax Base Prep 

Properly prepared ski bases accept and retain wax more effectively. Fast Wax Base Prep contains a microwax formula which penetrates the ski base more deeply than standard hydrocarbon wax. "Think of a forest, with standard wax as the trees, and Base Prep as the bushes," explains Dan Meyer, creator of the innovative Base Prep product. "The smaller, more widespread structure of the bushes allows them to fill a wider ground area." Base Prep’s smaller molecule structure also binds to your subsequent wax layers (the more durable "trees") to improve adhesion and extend wear. 

Fast Wax Base Prep is appreciated for its ease of use. Simply drip this soft wax onto your skis using a warm iron, melt it in with a pass of the warm iron, and cool. Scrape off and repeat, using a nylon brush to clean your skis after the last pass. The time factor? Ideally, you will do this at least 6 times on new or stoneground skis. Many area racers double that number. 

2. Progress to a harder wax  

Once you are satisfied with your Base Prep efforts, switch to a hydrocarbon wax such as Fast Wax Sport Wax. This provides the durable layer you need for snow. Start with a warmer temperature wax (Red Sport Wax, 22 to 32 F) and repeat the drip/iron/cool/scrape/brush process at least twice. You may want to stop here until you’re ready to ski; if your first outing is in this temperature range you’re ready to go! If not, move to the next coldest temperature range (Blue Sport Wax, 12 to 28 F) and repeat the waxing process at least once. If the weather dictates, go on to the next coldest temperature range(Green, -5 to 15 F) 

Most racers find that their new skis do not reach optimal speed until they have had the opportunity to wax with the colder waxes (Blue, Green) several times. The key is to keep waxing those skis as often as you can. 

3. Trusty "old" skis that have been waxed many times generally just need a cleaning. This is best done by melting Base Prep onto them, ironing, and then scraping while warm. The warm Base Prep lifts old wax out as you scrape, without drying your bases, and conditions them at the same time. Brush and apply the Sport Wax you will use for your skiing conditions. 

In addition to preparing ski bases, Fast Wax Base Prep is an excellent cleaning product as described above, and the perfect cover wax for storage and travel. It’s available in 80 gram packages, or in a convenient 240 gram Base Prep Kit that includes 3 bars of Base Prep, 2 bars of Red Sport Wax and 1 bar of Blue Sport Wax. All packages include waxing instructions. 500 gram Shop Bars of Fast Wax Base Prep are also available for shop or team use. 

Find more Product information, a Dealer list, or Waxing Instructions  

For more ideas about preparing for the ski season, check skinnyski.com, the premiere Nordic website of the Midwest. 

STONEGRINDING OPTIONS FOR PEAK SKI PERFORMANCE 

Most of the top racers today custom grind their skis for peak performance in all conditions. To help you select a pattern, here are some of the popular grinds used by area racers: 

Fine Grind and Fine Linear Grind 
Excellent in cold, powdery snow from below zero to high teens 

Universal Grind 
Probably the most popular grind used in the Midwest area. 
Works well in all mid-temperature conditions, from low teens to upper 20’s. 

Dyste Grind 
Fine Grind on the front of the ski and Universal on the back.  A good combination between the fine and universal grind. 
Works well in a little wider range than the fine grind; good in temperatures from the low single digits to low 20’s. 

Corn Snow Grind  
Aggressive Linear Structure with a Fine Grind over the top. 
Used on transformed or remelted snow.  Helps skis ride on top of the granular snow and dissipate the moisture. High teens and up; depends on the snow type and moisture in the snow 

Beste Grind  
Universal on the front of the ski and Aggressive on the back. 
Good wet snow ski for temperatures in the low 20’s to 30 F. 

Aggressive Linear 
Wet snow from the mid 20’s to mid 30’s 

Split Wet Grind 
Universal on the front of the ski and wet Linear grind on the back 
Good wet ski works well from the mid 20’s to 40 F. 

Linear Wet Grind 
Makes skiing in the slop almost fun. 
A true wet snow ski has a unique flex pattern; it may pay to own a wet snow ski. 

If you have a single pair of skis, one of the fine grinds or a universal grind will work well, and with a pressed-in rill can be used in warmer temperatures or wet snow. However, the best solution is to set up and grind skis for specific conditions.  A stone ground pattern that is cut into the ski base will provide your best results. 

If you have more than one pair of skis, set them up for different conditions and wax them accordingly.  Use soft wax on your wet skis and hard wax for the fine patterns. You will then have a versatile combination for all types of weather and snow conditions. 

With the finishing grind that the shops are using today, skis can be brought back up to top race speed almost immediately by following the Fastwax Base Prep recommendations (see newsletter article above.)