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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Kuu Universal Pink Hardwax | 40g
Regular price $13.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $13.96 CAD -
Kuu Warm Yellow Hardwax (5C/0C) | 40g
Regular price $13.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $13.96 CAD -
Kuu Beer Wax (10C/-20C) | 80g
Regular price $21.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $21.96 CAD -
Kuu MACH+ Graphite Warm Yellow (-3C/-7C) | 130g
Regular price $41.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $41.96 CAD -
Kuu MACH+ Speed Universal Red (-5C/-9C)
Regular price From $31.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $31.96 CAD -
Kuu MACH+ Speed Warm Yellow (15C/-5C)
Regular price From $31.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $31.96 CAD -
Kuu MACH 4+ World Cup Universal Orange (-6C/-11C)
Regular price From $81.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $81.96 CAD -
Kuu MACH 4+ World Cup Warm Yellow (15C/-6C)
Regular price From $81.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $81.96 CAD -
STAR S30 Stick Glazing Hardwax (3C/-1C) | 45g
Regular price $44.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $44.96 CAD -
STAR S25 Stick Warm Hardwax (1C/-4C) | 45g
Regular price $44.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $44.96 CAD -
STAR S20 Stick Medium Hardwax (-1C/-10C) | 45g
Regular price $44.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $44.96 CAD -
Save $90.00
MasterWax Medium Professional LF Wax (-4C/-10C)
Regular price From $90.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$180.00 CADSale price From $90.00 CADSale -
Holmenkol Universal PINK Melt Wax Sticks (0C/-20C) | 4x250g
Regular price $85.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $85.96 CAD -
Rex Wax NFX21G Black `New Snow` Powder (3C/-8C) | 20g
Regular price $198.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $198.00 CAD -
Rex Wax NFX21 Blue Powder (-2C/-10C) | 20g
Regular price $198.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $198.00 CAD -
Rex Wax NFX11 Yellow Powder (10C/-5C) | 20g
Regular price $198.00 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $198.00 CAD -
Rode RX50 New Snow WC Glider Yellow Melt Wax (0C/-3C)
Regular price From $75.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $75.96 CAD -
Rode RX40 WC Glider Red Melt Wax (-1C/-6C)
Regular price From $75.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price From $75.96 CAD -
Optiwax HydrOX Race Powder Mid | 35g
Regular price $159.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $159.96 CAD -
Optiwax HydrOX Race Powder Wet (5C/-5C) | 35g
Regular price $159.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $159.96 CAD -
Holmenkol Grip Red | 45g (2C/-1C)
Regular price $21.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $21.96 CAD -
Holmenkol Grip Blue Spezial | 45g (-1C/-6C)
Regular price $21.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $21.96 CAD -
Holmenkol Grip Blue Extra | 45g (-2C/-6C)
Regular price $21.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $21.96 CAD -
Holmenkol Grip Blue | 45g (-3C/-7C)
Regular price $21.96 CADRegular priceUnit price / per$0.00 CADSale price $21.96 CAD