Green Snow Conditions (Cold, Squeaky Snow, -12°C to -30°C)

Green conditions have two types of friction: kinetic and electrostatic. Kinetic friction is the result of snow crystals being frozen so hard they have no trouble biting into your ski's base. Using the hardest wax possible is key in green conditions. Synthetic hardeners straight or mixed in with your hardest wax may be even better. Green snow is very dry. Dry snow doesn't react very nicely with ski base material. Graphite waxes greatly help to reduce electrostatic friction which, in turn, greatly increases ski speed.  

Everything will give you grip in these conditions, but the main question is: how much grip is too much grip? Green grip waxes are very hard, but some of them are also tacky or sometimes have tar additives. The tacky waxes are, in essence, a base binder. A wax labelled as a base binder (or a tacky hardwax) can be the best option in the grip vs. glide battle for these conditions. Green waxes that aren’t tacky will need to have a base binder regardless to keep them on the ski. Keeping layers of hardwax thin and the number of layers minimal is very important in these conditions. If you are still struggling with grip, putting one or two thin layers of a blue gripwax underneath your green hardwax will help to give you a bit more bite. If the snow is fresh, picking up a cold-weather wax containing tar will be your best bet!

If the snow is old, a hardtrack ski with a cold weather base grind is desired. If the snow is fresher, a universal ski will be better. Even with a fresh dusting of snow, it will be so light that the harder groomed track underneath the powder will still be the dominant feature. A classic ski for these conditions needs very little camber. Green condition waxes go on very thin and do not require a big gap to fit in. You should still have a properly fit ski for your weight; too soft and low camber are not the same things!