![HWK Ski Wax](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/11/Untitled.jpg")
The 2014 edition of the USSA US National Cross Country Championships took place in Soldier Hollow, Utah from the 4-10th of January. These all important races served not only as national title races, but races that would strongly factor into the naming of the Olympic Team.
The conditions for racing were fantastic! Scott Peterson and crew did an amazing job of putting together a top quality race venue. HWK was out a few days prior to the first race to get some beta on the snow and start gearing up for the first race, the 15/10k IND classic. Soldier Hollow tends to provide some interesting twists to the waxing equation. Whether it is the artificial snow down low and the natural snow up high, or the fact that the Salt Lake Basin provides particulate matter that drops down on the other side, some of your normal preconceptions about waxing get thrown out the window. For the Classic race the snow moisture content (measured by a “Doser”) was showing 30%, the lower end of “wet”. The snow temp was -16 C and air temp was also around -16C. The sun came out and warmed the air and brought the tracks to a point of getting mealy. HWK recommended HFW3http://www.hwk-skiwax.us/HF-Wax/HWK-Ski-Wax-HFW-3.html as a base wax and both fluor stick 50Go5http://www.hwk-skiwax.us/Sticks/HWK-Ski-Wax-Fluor-Stick-50G05.html and Fluor Powder Extreme Silber. As a top coat, Liquo Racing http://www.hwk-skiwax.us/Fluid-Wax/HWK-Ski-Wax-Liquo-Racing.html proved to be excellent!
The HFW3 is a unique HF wax designed for all snow types. It is very hard and durable and we have seen much success with it this race season in many different snow types! This wax has a silver additive as well that has an anti-static property to it.
The fluor stick 50Go5 was ironed at 120C. This application method gets your best results for durability. 50Go5 has an air temp range of -4/+4C. This was right in the ball park of race time. This fluor stick is the dirty version of 9Mo50 and works well in dirty, greasy, mealy snow. It is important to note that often in Soldier Hollow, waxes meant for dirtier conditions run well.
The other wax that we used was the Fluor Powder Extreme Silber. The range on this is very dry snow (Doser 15% or less) or very wet snow (Doser 30% or more). This will be available to the public next year and is similar to the Extreme powder yet with a silver additive and is meant for dirtier snow.
The Liquo Racing continues to prove that it should be in everyone’s wax box. This liquid has been incredibly fast and versatile! Make sure to spread evenly, let dry, hand cork, hand fleece, brush with a nylon brush and then wipe with an anti-static cloth. This has been our best application process for the liquid! We have not found that roto-corking or ironing the liquid to be faster. Sylvan reported that his skis were VERY fast as he skied his way to a 4th place finish.
