Waxing less than Lyrical. Tips on "Klister"

Today I have sore lungs from base cleaner and "klister": toxic solvents and UHU like XC ski wax respectively.

"klister" is the necessary evil of spring weather or unexpected mid winter thaw backs. Most people apply it when "red" fails out on the track and thus it is usually both on an unstable base AND thickly applied. Some even recommend having klister in the groove as a reserve. However, top wax experts show the way of the pros which applies for the long events on mixed conditions where running on glue gives the widest range temperature and forer which can be tackled. The awful stuff is best applied as a film if you like.

With the "biggie" 50k in xc "freestyle" ie skating, and the two-point-fours not being keen on outdoorage today, I put on the recommended green spray base to just about all the skis I could lay my hands on. I cleaned off everthing first, all from the rubbishy klister with grass on some old fell skis from a jumble sale, grass-heather-an'all, up to my own new trail tourers. The latter had layers of prudently laminated wax abruptly whipped off with aforementioned lethal solvent with lemony token environment degreaser.

So on with two layers of "green" spray base: a pretty 'tacky" affair once dried and even after 'corking', but recommended as the simple fix for a hard wearing underlayer for the dreaded klister.

All skis corked, klister in oven 50'C.

Despite the tips on youtube on being very thin, using your spatula and then only fingers to end, the stuff came out the tube a bit fast and although more maleable at 50 plus, it was still too much. I ended up going "south" of the bloody heel even.

Ski no.2 got a better treatment of the thin, film like layer.

As it turns out, the conditions were the hardest I have ever been out on; sheet ice in the tracks. The klister lasted about 4 km, and was more or less off at the end of the small tour of 7-k. Also I fell on my rump steaks a couple of times.

Klister is not a perfect solution: it is like UHU glue but tackier and is just shitty to work with and take off.


Taking off:

1) rub over with copious base cleaner just lightly

2) Lay a layer of fibre cleaner cloth along the entire old wax or clister grip wax zone.

3) Iron set to 2/3rds quickly work all the way along it and start again at the beginining until you see good uptake on the cloth. Lift off the cloth.

4) Roll up the cloth and so you can now use the edges of the cloth to take off some more.

5) Use a spatula to take off more and check for good removal. Also take gunge out the groove with the edge of the spatula,

6) Now use whatever tissue paper, rags etc you like to get most of the rest off with base cleaner and elbow grease!

7) back to the over priced fibre cloth now, use it to finish off the base

8) Remember to take off any gunge from the groove and the sides of the skis.


Putting On

BASE

Green base ( eg V75 spray) spray is easy to put on: spay on one side of the groove, smooth it out towards the edges. It should just be a film like layer, not white,

Repeat on the other side

Take excess out the groove.

Dry off over a radiator for 5 mins then cool off : ie take the solvent away with mild heat and then seal the wax down. If there is tons of wax you can scrape, but otherwise just rub with the cork

Repeat for another layer. Put out in the cold or leave overnight if you have planned this out.


Klistering

Klister is basically a glue. It can be mised with some wax with ironing, but that sounds way nasty!

The klister can be ironed on but it is just as well to pre heat it to 50'C instead if you have no exact temperature controllable ski iron. At 50'c it is liquid enough to make a film with the spatula.

Apply in a herring bone pattern away from the groove. Do this sparingly, it will be a film and not a thick layer.

Then quickly take the spatula on the short edge and draw from the front top of the zone to the middle, and then from the back to the middle. If you have applied too much then work it all backwards and clean it off layer from the back end. Just right and you will be able to even out the layer to a nice film.

Take the round "thumb" of the spatula along the groove and either the excess onto the surfaces again or take it off with another spatula or cloth as you along ie take off small clumps

With the pre-spray and the hot klister, it is best to leave it all over night- I went out within a couple of hours and it just wore right off: admittedly in stoopid hard tracks.


On a footnote here, okay the clister wore off but I had base and some patches of klister, while all the time having very good glide.

Hijacked over to being Ski Rants

Yeahh-ahss this is now going to be ski ranting for as long as snow within an hour lasts!

Well the one thing I am both lucky with and not so actually is that I have a sparring partner in the spor who is almost exactly as bad and as slow to learn as me: he has the edge for now having done some schsslalohm skiing, while I have a better classic Xc style.

Yesterday was another big step forward which kind of crept in:

1) I started to skate up hill and get some good rythms going on the flat, with some dare to do down hilling skating style.

2) finally got some feel and control in plough, with a final little ski school slow-mo' slalom near base camp to polish off the day's learning.


Plough is hard for me because I am tall and heavy: but I just decided to put my legs out further apart to really force it on for braking and uncle I-man told me to unload the ski before i turned the tip in and then to load over from the hip.

The main issue was thereafter in the day not having good control out of the spor: they gave out a few times at the hard spots of course!

Skating I lift the foot too high and have a right side dominance. I reckon I can crack it though by not using poles and the same goes for weight distribution in classic

Yesterday was just 12 km or so, but I felt pretty strong and had some real speed in the legs on fish bone, skating and classic too! I just was skittish on the downhill.

It is a complete obsession for now!

I'm using purple wax aka "swix fiolett" . I just keep putting it on because it grips with a thick top layer on ice while it works okay on packed snow down to -5'c , when it clumps like hell. It is less sticky than red or clister, more kind of dry tacky. I've stripped back once and had three layers of blue, which was perfect (vegarshei rund??) and lasted longer than purple anyway. You need a lot of layers of purple otherwise you will end up needing to wax every 10 clicks/ hour or so.

Now it looks like we have turned the corner into spring like days, with it being a completely easter like day in the hills yesterday. I could be temted by roller skis!