"How should I wax alpine skis for the best glide?"
"Can you get great glide without fluorine powder?"
"Is there an easy way to get good glide without too much work?"
Many people ask us how to wax alpine skis, preferably in a relatively simple way, but still achieve the perfect glide.
We wanted to find a good answer to these questions ourselves and took most of the products from START's range and with the help of their best waxers, we have conducted extensive tests in varying conditions and come up with the following, relatively simple, method. With years of experience and countless hours of testing, we can guarantee you an incredibly good glide if you follow these simple steps. Enjoy!
BEST ALPINE GLIDE - SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE!
Step 1. Start with a clean ski and apply this primer at the base, Start Race Glider Base. Then apply a hard durable base wax that protects the base very well against burning. Start's green Ultra wax is great for this purpose. (This wax is applied regardless of today's temperature. Temperature-specific wax comes in Step 2.) Brush out this base with a bronze brush with medium pressure, about 10-15 strokes. If you use a steel brush, it will be 4-6 strokes instead.
Step 2. Now apply Start's new liquid fluorine-free race wax for the correct temperature, apply it so it covers the base. Its alcohol-based solvent evaporates quickly, and you get a white film on your skis. Cork it into the base. We have discovered that it is also possible to heat this wax, which is easier and faster. The waxing iron should then be set to a maximum of 125 degrees. Heat slowly in one stroke from tip to tail, you can clearly see how the wax melts. Whether you cork or heat this in, it should now be brushed out with a medium-hard nylon brush. Brush about 10 strokes with medium pressure. Then polish with a fiber cloth.
Step 3. Then top this with Start RG Ultra Gel Finisher, which essentially replaces liquid fluorine. Very important here according to our tests is that both the ski and the bottle are at room temperature. You must cork this in, it cannot be heated with a waxing iron. Since it is water-based, it is corked while wet as it will not dry by itself, then wipe off the excess. Then brush it out first with a medium nylon brush or horsehair brush in 5-10 strokes and medium pressure and finally with a soft nylon brush in 5-10 strokes and medium pressure. Then polish with a fiber cloth.
Step 4 . If you really want to do everything extra, you finally add a super topping like Start RG Ultra Finisher Spray, which often doesn't provide any improvement over the topping in the previous step, but in certain special conditions, it can significantly enhance the result. It never causes any deterioration, so go all in with this step as well. Spray this on the ski's glide surfaces, spread it with your thumb and let it dry. Lightly brush out with a medium nylon brush or horsehair brush.
Advanced Course. As with everything else, there is an advanced course where two additional products are included :-) Snow crystals can vary in all their forms, and if it is really cold with abrasive snow, what we call squeaky snow, it is advantageous to mix graphite in step 2, then you use this product Start RG Race Liquid Glider Graphite.
The other special product is this one, Start RG Race Liquid Glider Molybdenum, which is advantageously mixed in step 2 when it is really coarse-grained, old, and dirty snow. Perfect for artificial snow that has refrozen in the spring corner!
Now you have unbeatable alpine skis that can give you many hundredths of a second to your advantage against your competitors!
A ski waxed in this way retains its fine glide for a very long time, exactly how long depends entirely on how aggressive the snow crystals are. The skis maintain the same fine glide for at least several runs in the competition slope, and it is not a disadvantage to take the lift with them and break them in for a run before the race. There is of course one exception, and that is if you have applied the super topping, we recommend a maximum of one run. Brush out one extra time before the start with a soft nylon brush for the best result.
We ourselves are a bit surprised at how far these liquid glide waxes have developed, and how easy they are to use compared to, for example, hard paraffins and fluorine powders.
Here are all the products you need to wax your alpine skis almost to perfection!
Basic Equipment:
Steel Brush (optional)
Bronze Brush
Medium/Hard Nylon Brush
Soft Nylon Brush
Waxing Iron
Acrylic Scraper
Cork
Cleaning:
Cleaning Paraffin
Base Waxing:
Start RG Race Glider Base
Start RG Ultra Glider Green -10 / -25
Glide Wax: (depending on temperature)
Start RG Ultra Liquid Glider Red +10 / -2
Start RG Ultra Liquid Glider Purple -2 / -8
Start RG Ultra Liquid Glider Blue -6 / -15
Topping: (depending on temperature)
Start RG Ultra Gel Finisher Red +10 / -2
Start RG Ultra Gel Finisher Purple +5 / -5
Start RG Ultra Gel Finisher Blue -3 / -12
Supertopping:
Start RG Ultra Finisher Spray +5 / -15
Advanced Course:
Start RG Race Liquid Glider Graphite
Start RG Race Liquid Glider Molybdenum