Kick waxes
application
(cross-country skiing – classic technique)
Determine and prepare your kick wax zone.
Lay your skis down on a completely flat surface (like some concrete
soil or on the floor in a gymnasium…), then put your boots on, step on
your skis and fasten them.
Hold yourself upright and bend your knees a bit forward, keeping your
toes on the same level.
Distribute your weight evenly.
Ask somebody else to take a sheet of paper, bend at your feet and put
it through under the ski base (between the base and the floor), in the
zone under your feet.
He should be able to move this sheet freely up to the toe’s limit,
which will be the top of the kick zone.
The same goes for the heel, where you determine the bottom of the kick
zone (basically it is always on the heel level).
If you want to verify ski camber, just transfer your weight on one ski.
The sheet of paper should be pressed down and won’t move.
As a general rule, the kick zone is about 60-65 cm long.
Step 1: Measure and mark the kick zone.
Step
2: Prepare the kick zone with 120 grit
sandpaper.
For
a certain type of fresh snow, simply sanding the zone in small round
movements is enough to prepare “naked” waxing without any further
application of hard waxes. The grit of sandpaper remains a valuable
secret!
APPLICATION
OF KLISTER
Advice:
Always apply a thin layer of Plus Blue Klister. This base gripping wax
extends longevity of “warm” klisters and prevents them from trickling
down along the ski sides, the phenomenon which leads to considerable
slowing down in glide.
Step
3:
Apply klister in short diagonal strips in a fishbone pattern along the
kick zone (spaced out by 1,5 cm). By all means avoid spreading klister
in the groove.
Step 4:
Warm this base grip layer using an iron at less than
95°C/200°F/thermostate 1, as temperatures above 60°C damage gluing and
sticking properties of klister resins. We advise you to cut your iron
off, let it cool down for a minute or two and only then iron the kick
wax.
Step 5: Choose the correct kick wax of the day with a view to weather and especially to snow conditions on the
track.
Apply the klister of the day and smooth it using a heat gun or a torch
(keep the flame at least at a 30 cm distance).
Step 6: Clean the groove using a pencil or a groove scraper.
When evaluating the choice of
a hard wax and a klister,
you should consider the following four points:
- grip (no feeling of slippery or “draggy” skis)
- grip/resistance longevity
- glide speed
- feelings under ski waist.
Application of hard wax
Step 1 and 2 are
the same.
Step 3: is practically the
same: rub a layer of base binder or directly the selected wax of the
day on the kick zone.
Step 4:
is almost the same as well: iron the grip layer into the base, use a
heat gun or a torch with an even application head.
Step 5: choose and apply the correct hard wax, use a cork to smooth it.
Step 6: take the excess of the wax with a pencil groove scraper.
NAPPA-DRAGONSKI
is the exclusive owner of this article’s contents which reflect the
results of our research and development. If you want to use the whole
or a part of this text for pedagogical purposes, you should inform us
and put a reference (according to DRAGONSKI’s research work). Dragonski
is not responsible for any property damage or personal injury owing to
the use of the information contained on this page.
