Berkie Wax Report 2019

Berkie Wax Report 2019

As soon as we had a 10-day forecast Karl and I kept our eyes glued to the ever-changing weather report for Hayward, WI ahead of the American Berkebeiner. For most of the week it appeared that the snow would be at least two weeks old, and quite cold; however, there was a slim chance of snow on race day. We decided it would be best to prep two pairs of skis to anticipate the possibility of new snow overnight.

Pair 1: Madshus Redline Cold

>Star C2 Cold Powder

>Star LF 4

>Star VF6 Powder Paraffin mixed with Star VF4 Powder Paraffin

--A note on my Madshus Redline Cold: This was my go-to pair for most of the 2017 and 18 seasons. They performed beyond my expectations in a variety of conditions, especially hard-packed, cold snow. I raced on them at the 2018 Berkie after being sick for three weeks leading up to the race, and they saved me. For me personally these skis feel a bit livelier than the Fischer Speedmax, but don’t quite hold their glide as well. For uphills and maneuverability they are my favorite.

Pair2: Fischer Speedmax Plus

>Vauhti Cold Powder

>Vauhti LF Cold (My go-to everyday cold paraffin)

>Vauhti HF Mid

I decided to play it safe and go with Vauhti LDR Powder burned at 180C with the Star Digital Pro Iron, and then wait to see what would happen overnight before applying structure, and a liquid topper. To everyone’s surprise we awoke to about 2cm of fresh snow with an air temp of 29 degrees at 7am. Much warmer than expected. I of course grabbed the Fischers, which all season had been running well in conditions near freezing. I brushed out the LDR and applied liquid Mid, hand-corked with the Red Creek natural cork. After brushing, it seemed like the Red Creek 0/-6C would be the best structure option, with the Red Creek 1mm linear pattern just down the last third of the ski. I prepped the Madshus in the same way just in case. At the start line it took me about 10 seconds on each pair to realize the Fischers were significantly faster. This I attribute to the factory plus grind and the choice of Vauhti Mid Paraffin.* My skis were insanely fast that day. Thanks to traffic and slick roads, I arrived ten minutes prior to my start and lined up right at the back of the 200-skier ‘elite wave.’ Thanks to the skis I was able to make it up to the chase group without digging too deep and managed to hang on for a top-20 result.

*(Another interesting note here is that three weeks prior to the Berkie, I raced on this same pair of skis with an almost identical wax/structure routine in similar conditions at the Boulder Mountain Tour, but at approx. 6,000ft elevation. More on that race in my next report.)