Orange Snow Conditions (New, Glazing Snow, +5°C to -5°C)
Orange snow conditions occur when freshly falling snow or new snow is humid enough to be 'packing snow.' This type of snow is perfect for making a snowman or a snowball fight! The natural snow crystal structure is still present - you can still pick up snow from the ground and still find relatively unbroken snowflakes. However, when this type of snow is skied over, its high humidity causes it to pack and glaze. This is a very tricky condition for waxing. On the one hand, snow crystals can still be sharp if there hasn't been heavy traffic on the trails, presenting you with a level of kinetic friction. But as the tracks get skied in, they tend to glaze, meaning kinetic friction is less of an issue. High humidity causes a suction component (wet friction) to always be a consideration in orange conditions.
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Friction Characteristics
Because orange conditions usually occur when the snow is actively evolving from fresh, powdery blue conditions to wet, slushy yellow conditions, orange conditions occur at a crossroads of friction types. Kinetic friction is an issue when the trails have not been skied in much. But since the snowflakes are not too cold, they tend to melt when skied over rather than cut into your ski base, making it a lower priority. Fluorinated waxes are fantastic in snow like this because the HF or LF compounds help repel water. Glazing that occurs will act to seal water on top of the snowpack where it interacts with your ski. Aggressive rills are often needed in snow like this.
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Kick Waxing
Usually, the advice for getting kick wax to grip in this type of snow is to resort to rub skis, skins, or fish scales. But when that’s not possible, and you need to use wax, you have a few options. Depending on the level of glazing in the tracks, klister or hardwax can work, but usually, a klister-cover is the way to go. If there is very little glazing, use a hardwax. It will be faster and won’t ice up as quickly. If there is glazing happening, use Klister since it will stick to the icy sheen. More often than not, there is a variety of glazed sections and powdery sections on the trails. This means taking advantage of both hardwaxes and klisters will give your grip wax good kick and glide on any part of the course. Klister-cover is where you start with a thin layer of klister and cover it was a hard hardwax (usually a hardwax that’s a step colder than the temperature). The Klister gives you grip, and the hardwax prevents icing.
Products for Orange Snow Conditions
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Vauhti RACE NEW SNOW COLD Liquid Glide | 80ml (-2C/-20C)
Regular price $145.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $145.96 CAD -
Rode Silver Klister K50 | 60g (5C/1C)
Regular price $23.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $23.96 CAD -
Rex 30GB Fluor-Free `New Snow` Grip Wax | 45g (1C/-8C)
Regular price $45.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $45.00 CAD -
Rex Basic Grip Blue | 45g (-2C/-8C)
Regular price $12.80 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $12.80 CAD -
Gallium GIGA SPEED BN_BLOCK Paraffin Glide Wax 50g (-2C/-20C)
Regular price $79.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$110.00 CADSale price $79.00 CADSale -
Swix Nordic Easy Liquid Glide
Regular price $27.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $27.96 CAD -
Rode Canada Kick Kit
Regular price $79.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $79.96 CAD -
Save $7.49
Optiwax Eco Glide Tape (5C/-20C)
Regular price $22.50 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$29.99 CADSale price $22.50 CADSale -
Vauhti PRO LDR Liquid Glide | 80ml (5C/-10C)
Regular price $89.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $89.96 CAD -
Swix F4 Universal Liquid Wax
Regular price $29.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $29.96 CAD -
Swix Base Prep BP88 Melt Wax
Regular price From $34.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $34.96 CAD -
Rex G21G Graphite `New Snow` N-Kinetic Non-Fluor Liquid Glider (Sponge Applicator) | 60mL (2C/-12C)
Regular price $41.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $41.00 CAD -
Swix Blue Base Kick Wax
Regular price $15.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $15.96 CAD -
Swix TS8 Liquid Red, -4°C/+4°C
Regular price $159.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $159.96 CAD -
STAR NEXT WARM Fluoro-Free Racing Melt Wax (0C/-5C)
Regular price From $45.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $45.96 CAD -
Rode SKIN SKI WAX SPRAY | 100ml (20C/-30C)
Regular price $39.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $39.96 CAD -
Holmenkol Betamix RED Melt Basewax (-4C/-14C)
Regular price From $20.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $20.96 CAD -
Vauhti PRO MID Liquid Glide Discontinued Version From 2021 Or Earlier | 80ml (2C/-4C)
Regular price $69.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$89.96 CADSale price $69.96 CADSale -
Toko Nordic GripWax Red
Regular price $15.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $15.96 CAD -
Rex Wax NF11 Yellow Block Glider (10C/-2C)
Regular price From $104.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $104.00 CAD -
Vauhti Clean & Glide Liquid For Crown & Zero Skis | 80ml (10C/-1C)
Regular price $27.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $27.96 CAD -
Rode SKIN SKI CLEANER SPRAY | 100ml (20C/-30C)
Regular price $23.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $23.96 CAD -
Rex Liquid Racing Glide Blue | 60mL (-2C/-15C)
Regular price $29.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $29.00 CAD -
Rex Basic Grip Orange Base Wax | 45g
Regular price $12.80 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $12.80 CAD