Summer Ski Wax Recommendations from the Pros

By Published On: May 25th, 2018Comments Off on Summer Ski Wax Recommendations from the Pros

With summer fast approaching, it’s time to think about storing skis and keeping your bases clean after a long day on the glacier. Proper wax and storage is key to keep your skis in fighting shape, so we went to some of our friends in the wax industry to ask them: What are the must-have summer ski waxes for ski racers?

GRAHAM LONETTO
Alpine Director at Swix
Best Wax for Storing Skis Over the Summer: Swix CH10X
Why this product? This is a cost-effective, soft Hydrocarbon wax. It’s easy to work with and offers great protection for storage.

Best Wax for Hot Scraping:  Skip it. Generally, we don’t recommend hot scraping.  We recommend using a glide wax cleaner.  Hot scraping can easily damage the base material and core of the ski if performed improperly, which is very common.

Why this product? This product is not the Kick Wax remover that Swix is famous for. The glide wax cleaner conditions the base material to take wax more easily over use and time and cleans a top layer of wax and dirt from the base material of the ski. However, it will  remove wax that is deep within the base of the ski.

Best Wax for Summer Conditions in Mt. Hood: SWIX MB77 Moly Fluor
Why this product?  MB77 is a moderately hard, easy-to-work-with wax that contains Moly additive, which is a dirt repellent. It’s perfect for daily use on dirty glaciers.

DAVE HALL
Retail Manager at Race Werks
Best Wax for Storing Skis Over the Summer: SBC1
Why this product? I use this product for storing skis because of its incredible base conditioning properties. This wax is very soft with great base penetrating properties making it ideal for storage. One tip is to be sure not to have wax on your edges for storage, this can seal in moisture over the summer speeding up rust.

Best Wax for Hot Scraping: SBC1
Why this product? This is a very versatile wax, not only can this be used for storage, it is a hot scrape wax, too! This wax will condition your base like none other. If you see that your base has those opaque spots, it tells you your base is dry and needs some attention. SBC1 is like a conditioning lotion for your base. 

Best Wax for Summer Conditions in Mt. Hood: Race Service ZF3 + Race Service EGU3
Why this product? Summer conditions are a little more tricky to wax for because the surface can be rock hard frozen in the morning and slush in the afternoon. Because of this, softer or warmer waxes will strip off more quickly, so you want to wax for the hard morning snow. Start with a base prep wax like SBC1 then crayon on EGA3 to reduce the grabby aggressive snow crystals and drip on ZF3 for hard snow durability and iron them both in together. As the snow softens up in the afternoon, you can always crayon on Race Service SU/01 and cork it, then Race Service CF1 and cork it.

 

Image credit: GMVS

IAN HARVEY
Toko US Brand Manager
Best Wax for Storing Skis Over the Summer:
Toko NF Red
Why this product? Yellow is so soft it can be “eaten up” over the summer and fall. Blue is so hard it doesn’t “lock out” exposure to oxygen and doesn’t get into the base very well. Red is a good compromise between the two extremes of yellow and blue. It is soft enough to go well into the base and lock out exposure and it is hard enough to protect through the late summer and fall.

Best Wax for Hot Scraping: Toko Cleaning and Hot Box Wax
Why this product? Toko Cleaning and Hot Box was is extremely soft (far softer even than yellow). It has a very low melting temperature and thus can be made liquid with very little temperature. When a base is heated for a hot scrape, the base warms and thus gets softer. This has the effect then of having more base material (read: expensive stonegrind) scraped off along with any dirt. Best is to use as little heat as possible. For this reason, Toko Cleaning and Hot Box Wax is perfectly suited for cleaning by hot scraping.

Best Wax for Summer Conditions in Mt. Hood: Toko NF Black
Why this product? This is an inexpensive non-fluorinated wax that is a medium hardness–hard enough to be reasonably durable yet also repels water okay. The main thing about this wax is the Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) that it has. This is an antistatic shear lubricant that repels dirt and increases durability of ski wax jobs. It is also pretty hydrophobic. This is a great wax for when dirt and water are present in the snow. Of course, this is a non fluorinated wax, which makes it also affordable.

ALYSSA BAKER
VP of Global Sales and Marketing at Wend Wax
Best Wax for Storing Skis Over the Summer:  WEND NF Performance Base Prep/Saturation
Why this product? Our WEND Base Prep/Saturation will keep your bases conditioned and in optimal performance shape during summer storage.  This also has our exclusive Meadowfoam Oil, so when applying your top coat hot waxes the MF gives additional conditioning to the base. Pro-tip: Wax the bases & don’t scrape them until you pull them out of storage and do your winter wax prep.

Best Wax for Hot Scraping: Wend NF Performance hot melt/rub on- 120G Bulk 
Why this product? Our Performance wax is our most popular line of waxes, and they are excellent for hot melt or rub on. For hot scraping, our mid temp is the perfect consistency. Plus, we offer in bulk sizes so you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg just to clean your base before putting on the fancy stuff. The Meadowfoam Natural product in the wax penetrates deep into your base, helping you clean out as many contaminants during your hot scrape as possible. Follow with our MF Cleaner & Conditioner (also includes the Meadowfoam to deeply penetrate and clean the pores in your base, as well as condition to keep your base from drying out).

Best Wax for Summer Conditions in Mt. Hood:  MF Cleaner & Conditioner with Graphite
Why this product? Our MF Cleaner & Conditioner is designed to thoroughly clean the base of any contaminants like dirt, tree sap, etc.  This works great in the dirty summer conditions at Mt Hood.  If you use this in conjunction with our WEND Graphite, you’ll have the cleanest ski’s out there, hands down!

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About the Author: SR Staff Report