Hot Glide Waxing Backcountry "Waxless" Skis on DIY Ski Vice
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
- Start of winter, time to hot wax the backcountry skis with glide wax on tip and tails, and to treat the kick zone scales with Easyglide wax. I show my method of hot waxing skis, but please note I am not a pro ski technician, so this is not a "how-to", it is just the way I do it. For an accurate how-to instructional video, please watch the pros who do this for a living.
I also show my home-made DIY ski vice, which was designed for both narrow track skis and wide backcountry skis, fully adjustable. For this type of work and ski base repair jobs, I think it is important to have the skis secured in a vice so that you have hands free to work on the skis efficiently, and the skis don't bounce around. A ski vice can be purchased from ski stores if you don't want to make your own.
Now if I could pry myself away from my computer and get out of the city, it's time to get out into the backcountry for some skiing! 
Наука
Judging by the comments, you have surely been sorely missed! Stay healthy, my friend. And it's nice to see you've "come in from the cold" just to get ready to go back out in it!!!
Thank you AWF! I can't wait to get back into that cold, snow and ice again!
Really glad to see you making videos again. Winter ski trips or canoe trips I love all your videos.
Thanks Abe! I am dying to get out on a skiing scouting trip - just have to get free of the day job which has me pinned down lately!
Wintertrekker looking forward to another one of your trips! Found your site a few years ago and have been saving up. Finally got a Snowtrekker ordered and should be here soon, after the holidays I figure. Thanks for the info and inspiration.
Thanks 410TRCO! Great purchase on that Snowtrekker! You are going to love it. Got a new stove too? Take care, use heat shields around and under the stove (safety first, etc) and you will live very well in winter! :o)
It might be me but I think you get joy out of dispelling contradictions. 'Waxing Waxless Skis'! Glad to see you back in the RUclips game!
Contradiction is my middle name, ha ha!
Wow perfect timing! Because of your great videos both my wife and I just today bought Xc skis!
Thanks Kevin! Well done on the XC ski purchase! Its a great activity!
That is a pretty efficient set-up you have there. Can't wait to see your next adventures. I appreciate you sharing, thanks!
Thanks Sam! I am not really a DIY guy, but somehow I pulled off the making of that ski vice, and man it makes all the difference. Its a joy to work on skis that are clamped down! :o)
Nice looking setup! Always good to see another video of yours. Looking forward to seeing any trip videos this winter.
Thanks Stephan! Winter has arrived here, with good snow north of where I live. Time to get out, but the day job has me pinned down alot right now, even have to work some weekends. Soon, I will be outside!
Great to see you back, HOOP. Looking forward to some new tripping videos!
Thanks Andrew! So busy these days its hard to get out. But I will get out!
Glad to see you getting the gear ready! Looking forward to watching you use it.
Thanks Marty! Snow is ski-able north of where I live. I am trying to make time to get out, but the day job has me pinned down right now. :-)
Nice shop area, looks like you keep things tidy. Thanks for sharing, it has been a while since you posted a video. I was excited to see something uploaded. Take care.
Thanks BH08! That is the tidy corner of the basement. The opposite side is not so tidy at all! :o)
Hope to see the other waxable ski video! Glad to see a new video. Cheers!
Thanks LMBO! Good idea, I will plan for making that that video.
Awesome! You continue to impress.
You motivated me to get my Rossy BC90 skiis waxed and ready. Never knew how to wax till a few days ago!
Thanks Sam! The waxing should improve performance. Good skiing!
Great video!
those glide waxes are so expenisve !!
Hay, Hoop; Great seein ya, Great Demo, Can't wait for our 1st. outing ATB Ter God Bless
Thanks Terry! The dang rain came back here and just melted the snow we were staring to accumulate. Hopefully further north the rain turned to snow. I can't wait to get out into winter for some trekking around.
Great video! Thanks!
Sure goes a long way to building up a desire for winter. Thanks Brian 77
Thanks Brian. Yep, the annual start of season chores gets one thinking more and more about getting out. Skis are now ready, have to make the time now. Have to break in new back country ski boots too, so I am looking forward to the season.
Thank you! Was looking for a good clamping mechanism for my DIY skiform.
Hi Hoop, thanks for all the videos. Long time watcher, first time comment-er here. The only thing I would add that I didn't see/hear mentioned is that one should pick the appropriate colour/temp glide wax for their local conditions for best results. I imagine (from watching your other winter vids) that whatever wax you're applying for -25 deg C would not be ideal for anyone skiing the BC coast areas (like me) and vice versa. Thanks again for all the vids!
Thanks Bill! I can imagine that the BC coastal area must be very challenging due to the enormous fluctuation in temperature with weather, and with altitude, and with the rain. Wet snow and the subsequent iced snow must be tough to deal with. Here, I generally just use the colder glide wax for the season. It serves the colder temperatures, and I can get by with it for the warmer temperatures. One of my biggest issues with the waxless is the lack of grip of the scales sometimes, so I always carry kicker skins and a block of glop-stopper wax.
Thanks for the great info.
Thanks Luke!
Nice looking vice,hope we have snow soon here
Atb
Steve
Thank you So Steve! We just got snow here, only to lose it with rain. North of here there is winter, and I have to break away from the day job and drive a ways to get to it!
Loving the workshop with wood stove!!!
Thanks Scott! I had to let the fire burn down before shooting that video, because at full blast it was too hot in the work room! :o)
Is that, by chance, a Regency stove? We inherited one in our basement that looks extremely similar when we bought our home. Haven't used it but one time years ago. Seems that it works well for you.
Hi John! Good eye! Yes that is a Regency Classic model. I think it is a medium size. It has the airmate fitting on top and an electric fan that installs behind to run the air through the airmate to extract more heat from the surface. I turned off the fan for the video to reduce noise. It works very well in my house, and when I get it up to a hot temperature after cold start-up, it burns smoke-free when I observe the pipe outside. Its EPA rated to meet the emission standards.
Thanks for showing! I have to admit that even though I've been into skiing for most of my life, I've never waxed my skis myself (except with some quick tube wax, which doesn't last long however).
Hi Tim! The hot waxing is easy once you get the gist of it and the basic tools. Most expensive thing is the iron, maybe the vice if you buy one, but the rest is cheap. A shop vac is highly recommended because there is alot of wax scrapings, and you don't want to gunk up your nice house vac. One needs a work area with a floor that can tolerate wax drippings. Carpet would not be suitable! :o) The hot glide wax obviously bonds into the P-tex, so it lasts quite a while before needing to be re-done. That said, I know the new liquid fluoro wax glide applications are getting better, so maybe I should research the latest liquid glide waxes more. The Easyglide does it all for glide touch ups at any time, so it is indeed "easy".
Thanks very much!
It seems 'waxless' skis aren't really waxless after all. ;) That is a great ski vice that you've made there. It certainly does the job.
Thanks Brian! Yep, gotta wax the waxless! :o)
Nice wax job, those skis should fly. Better keep them away from heat and dust over the summer and spoil your work. Nice work on the stand. Like the girls say "If ya can't find em handsome better find em handy" When did you buy those Karhu Orions ? Just trying to date when they came out.
Appreciate the demo Hoop and the DIY ski vice looks totally doable. Looks like your up for some hot tenting again this winter then? No canoe trips this summer? Been relatively quiet on the Wintertrekker front lately!
Hi C, good to hear from you! I was out of commission last winter and this summer with a nagging hockey injury. I was able to get out to the shooting range, and the bush for long range shooting, and I now am fully into reloading, learned alot of new skills. But I was not up for the heavy duty physical activity of canoe tripping and winter trekking. But I think I am healed up now, started back playing hockey, and can't wait to get out into the bush. No snow to speak of in town here, but they say there is a good foot of snow about an hour's drive from me, its just the day job holding me back from the first winter trip.
Remember you were talking about an old hockey injury in the spring; sure has lasted. Glad to hear you're healed up . . . as long as you don't get too competitive this hockey season ;). Was tempted to comment that ever since you got involved with "guns" you've gotten soft but didn't want to get on your bad side lol.
A foot of snow within an hours drive, wow, that's a good start to winter. We have about 4 or 5" on the ground but the warm weather put a dent in that today, was such a promising start. We need a good week or two of lake and river freezing weather, let's get on with winter man!
Wow Hoop! Is there anything you can’t do? Very cool reminds me of things my grandpa would make. Thanks for the video.
Thanks TW!
Wintertrekker why did you keep scraping the wax off and then putting back on and why couldn’t you reuse the wax that you scrapped off? You floor looked spotless? Just was wondering. I really enjoyed watching. It was fun seeing you in your workshop.
Hi TW! You want the wax to impregnate the P-Tex base, hence the heat, but you don't want accumulated thick layers on top, just a micro-film of wax on top of the P-Tex. The heat also liberates dirt and oils, and old oxidized wax crud in the heated liquid wax, so the scraping gets rid of that old crud. Thus the scrapings with the crud are disposed of and not re-used. The brushing at the end smooths it out at a coarse scale, but puts longitudinal micro scrapes that help channel liquid water molecules and stops the surface tension suction effect. They call it "texturing" the base. Too smooth and it will cause suction on the microfilm of water that forms from the friction of the ski on the snow.
Wintertrekker thanks for the explanation. I knew there was reason for everything you were doing just was wondering. When I lived in Wisconsin I skied for years. I really miss it living in Oklahoma.
good rundown - too bad snow fall in NS is less and less. season is so short that I got rid of my Xski gear :(
Thanks again Jim! Sorry to hear about the declining winter you are getting there. Oh well, maybe there will be more season length to hike and paddle. It was a great late winter here in March, it never rained once, and it was cold at night and nice during the day with a good crusted snowpack. Unfortunately the day job for me kept me pinned down the entire time and I was unable to enjoy it. Oh well, next winter.. . :-)
Good 'purpose' built ski vice. Don't know much about back country skis, 85, 70, 80, 235 length, what is the width? Thanks for the video. Respect.
Thanks CBC! Getting to know the lingo around BC skis takes a bit of research, but persevere and multiple dimensions will start to make sense! :-)
Have you ever hiked the Grand Portage? Know anyone who has? Is it worth the experience?
Hi AwF! No, never hiked it. I don't know how many lakes and ponds are involved along the way for the first stretch? I am sure there must be info online for the details.
How much longer before snow / ski season?
Hi Bec R! Its here! No in town where I live but about an hour's drive north, east or west of me. I have to break free of the day job which has me pinned down working full week and some weekends right now. Life is too short to not have time to ski and winter camp I will have to tell the boss I am taking some time off!
Do people hunt on skis in canada?
Hi Nick! I think some people might way up north in open tundra conditions where they can ski between the trees. And maybe in our central prairies in the grassland country. But generally the forest south of the sub-arctic bush is really, really thick, with dense understories of shrubs and downed logs, huge air pockets created by piles of downed woody debris (which swallow ski tips), and the ground is incredibly rocky and rugged, making skiing impossible. Unless one is on a cut trail or road, its impossible to ski through the bush here. That is why snowshoes evolved here and continue to be the best for travelling through the thick bush. We ski here on frozen lakes too, but animals to hunt are not out on open ice in winter, unless its caribou in the far north, but people use snowmobiles there. The hunting season is closed in winter for everyone except aboriginal people, and they use snowmobiles. Only our far north sub-arctic and alpine tundra areas are open like the high country like in Scandinavia and Finland. The alpine tundra in the mountains in our west here in winter is generally devoid of animals to hunt because the ungulates move down in elevation into the forest for the winter...and the hunting seasons are not open when when there is good ski-able snow in the alpine areas in our western mountains. Some people may hunt snowshoe hare (Varying hare), on skis along old logging roads, but one has to be able to follow the hares into and through the thick bush, and so the hunter usually has to be wearing snowshoes to get through the thick bush. Skiing here is mostly recreational along old roads, trails, and on lake ice.