It is always difficult to know which wax to use for the varying snow conditions for both training and racing. Young racers rely on their trainers & coaches to advise them and never really understand the reasoning behind it. Parents quite often do not have the expert knowledge to help and to know which waxes to purchase. At races the weather can change overnight from what has been forecasted the day before leaving the racer with wrongly prepared skis. There is of course lots of racers and parents who buy the wrong wax or buy waxes of poor quality. not realising that having the wrong wax or a poor quality wax will result in a much poorer performance, to what can be achieved using and of course applying correctly, the appropriate wax. We cannot of course control the changes in the weather but we can help our young racers by attempting to explain briefly and uncomplicatedly the reasons for the different ski waxes, their properties and the way in which they work. We will also introduce shortly basic ski tuning tips and instructions.

1. The wax must always be a little harder than the snow so the snow crystals do not penetrate the wax and make the base grip.
It is important to note that the wax used must only be as hard as is necessary so the snow crystals and dirt do not penetrate the wax and make the base grip. This is because the harder the wax used, the more friction it generates, due to harder waxes having friction coefficients higher than those of soft waxes. The ideal scenario is using the softest wax you can whilst ensuring it is still harder than the snow, thus creating a low friction coefficient. the hydrocarbon component of the wax. controls to a large extent the hardness and friction coefficient. A low friction coefficient means a slipperier and therefore faster ski. Be careful not to use too soft a wax that the snow crystals will penetrate as the skis will grip and be a lot slower. Also bear in mind that waxing with too hard a wax will give you skis that do not feel as if they are running fast due to friction.

2. The wax's water repellence characteristics must be high enough to overcome the water's tendency to stick to the base.
By adding a fluorinated additive to hydrocarbon waxes this helps control and alleviate the problem of water penetrating the wax and sticking to the base of the ski. Obviously the higher the fluorination in the wax the better.

3. The wax's static electricity build-up must be as low as possible since static electricity is known to increase friction.
Static electricity increases friction and by adding graphite or, preferably, fluorgraphite polymer to fluorinated or hydrocarbon waxes helps to reduce and control the static build up.

Waxing correctly is a difficult concept to understand, but by proper understanding of the subject and proper training there are huge competitive advantages. At the academy we will be introducing ski prep training next year in an effort to bring the ski prep skill level of the athletes training with us, up to a very high level. We have also researched the market place and have found a manufacturer of top quality racing waxes, which we will be introducing to the British market shortly, by doing so we can also control the price of these products and ensure that they are affordable and priced accordingly so that more young British racers can take advantage and benefit from using top quality products.