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Vauhti Wax for the Gatineau Loppet
By:  Team XC Ottawa   (2009/02/13)

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Final wax recommendation..

John put in a second hard day of testing and waxing and here's what he came up with..

Glide Wax

Fast - 2 layers Vauhti Speed Green.

Faster - 1 layer Vauhti Spektra Molybdenum, 1 layer Vauhti Spektra Green

Fastest - 1 layers Vauhti Speed Green, 1 layer Vauhti Spektra Molybdenum, Gold Fox Powder, Black Liquid 

Hang on to your hats tomorrow!  Conditions are fast and sugary.  Glide is fast most places, but the sharp sand-like snow can make it feel slow here and there. It's not icy or dangerous, don't worry.

Final wax recommendation..

John and Seppo put in a hard day of testing and here's what they came up with..

Glide Wax

Fast - 2 layer Vauhti Green.

Faster - 1 layers Vauhti Speed Green, 1 layer Vauhti Spektra Molybdenum.

Fastest - 1 layers Vauhti Speed Green, 1 layer Vauhti Spektra Molybdenum, Gold Fox Powder, Black Liquid

Grip Wax

Vauhti SuperBinder + Blue Klister heated in, once cooled, layers of  Vauhti Fluoro Blue hard wax on top. Cork smooth.  For more tips on how to apply see Klister covered by Hard Wax.


Early Wax recommendations for Saturday

The weekend weather is pretty uneventful. It will be sunny and -14C at race start and warming throughout the morning. This won't affect the glide or grip much as the snow will be granular and transformed crust.

Glide Wax

Not a big deal, it will be fast and likely get faster as the air warms mid-morning.  The snow will be abrasive so you will want durable wax for the entire race.

Fast - 2 layer Vauhti Green.

Faster - 2 layers Vauhti Regular Green, 1 layer Vauhti Spektra Green.

Fastest - 2 layers Vauhti Regular Green, 1 layer Vauhti Spektra Green, Gold Fox Powder 

Grip Wax

It's pretty hard to do proper testing for making a recommendation when they haven't bothered to groom the course. In fact it's all guess work unless you can ski on conditions that will similar to the actual event. Here's what I "tested"

Vauhti Blue Klister vs. Vauhti Silver Minus Klister

  • Both of these worked. I found the blue had a little less grip, but looking at the ski afterwards some of the Silver Minus was worn away.

Vauhti Blue Klister + Teho Green vs. Vauhti Super Binder + Teho Green

  • Again, both of these worked. I found klister had better grip after skiing 3km and the binder combination was showing wear. So a klister binder is a must!

This might change when I hear from John and Seppo about their testing this afternoon, hopefully on groomed trails. My current recommendation is..

Vauhti Blue Klister or Vauhti Base Klister, heated in and cooled, covered with a layer of Vauhti Silver Minus Fluor klister. Carry Teho Green in your pocket in case you require extra wax along the way, Teho is much easier to re-apply trailside than klister.


As usual XC Ottawa will make Vauhti wax recommendations for both the Saturday Classic and Sunday Skate days of the Gatineau Loppet.  We will get that info onto the website as soon as we have made some tests and are confident that what we recommend will work. In the mean time you might consider these general loppet waxing tips.   We should publish the recommendations as follows.

- Friday around noon for Saturday's Classic Grip + Glide recommendation.
- Saturday around noon for Sunday's Glide recommendation.

We may make updates if the forecast looks to be changing, so it might be worthwile checking back later in the day too.

Best of luck to everyone participating!

How was your race? You end up telling and retelling your race tale to all your competitors and friends so why not share it with the rest of the ski community here on the website? Send us an email with your story and even photos and we'll post it here.

 
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