Goldstream Sports Fairbanks Alaska

Cold new snow waxing requires bases to be very hard. Using the hardest waxes will improve glide. Most wax companies make hardeners for this purpose. Toko Nordlite X-Cold Power is Fairbanks favorite. Swix LF3 cold power also works well. They are used as and additive to waxes like LF Toko Blue or Swix CH 4. We find Toko to be much easier to scrape of you skis and glides better more often then not. Swix often does well with new snow and high humidity.

To apply cold powers you will first drip on and smooth out your base wax like Toko LF Blue, Swix CH 4 or Start Green. Then sprinkle on a layer of cold power and iron in together. You may need to tamp down the cold power on the first pass so you do not push the cold power off the ski.  Let cool 45 minutes and scrape and brush as normal. You will find a Toko Copper or Swix fine steel bush  take the hard wax off the skis much easier then a nylon brush.

What about scraping the skis warm when the wax is still softer? There are two problem with doing so. First the bases are very soft when warm and you will press out the base structure  and can easily round off you bases or scratch them if you slip.  Second the cooling process is when the skis are  soaking up the wax.

To get the wax off it is important to use a sharp plastic scraper. There are tools available to help you put a good edge on an old scraper. A block of wood as a guide and sand paper will work as well. I sharpen my scrapers allot. With CH4 I will even sharpen between skis. We used to use CH 4 bulk was in the shop because it was the cheapest cold wax available. We have switched to Toko Blue because it is so much easier to work with and save a lot of time.