Klister Application
On days when the snow is either super wet or super icy, classic skiers with waxable skis will have to resort to Klisters to get grip. Klister days happen to be the best days for classic skiing since the grip offered by Klisters is some of the best there is! Klisters are generally viewed as a pain to apply, but with practice, you can apply Klister without ever touching it with your bare hands!
How-To Video
Step-by-Step
1) Check your skis for Klister zone markers on your classic wax skis. Klister is only applied to the zone under the binding of the ski leaving the tips and tails of the ski free for glide waxing. A good grip zone is between 45cm and 70 cm, but a Klister zone will be several centimetres shorter on both ends. Klister zone lengths will vary depending on the stiffness of your skis (the camber). Your local ski shop can help you find your Klister zones, or you can use the zones pre-marked on the sidewalls of your skis. Use a permanent marker to redefine your Klister zones using a "K" to mark it. Test your Klister pocket on snow as often as you can and experiment with extending the pocket further forwards or backward to find the right feel while skiing.
2) Prepare your grip zone by cleaning it with wax remover and roughing it with sandpaper. If you're unsure how to do this, check out the instructions here: https://skiwax.ca/collections/cleaning-grip-zones
To prevent grip and glide wax from mixing, you can use masking tape to separate your grip zone from your glide zone.
3) If the snow is icy or you plan on skiing more than 10km, apply a Klister binder or a Blue Klister by following steps 4, 5 & 6 below. Then pick up on step 4 for the Klister of the day.
4) With the Klister tube, dab a thin layer in a chevron pattern. You may need to heat the tube with a heat gun or torch to make it flow nicely. Feel free to mix and match different klisters to make your own perfect mix. Often klisters are mixed 50/50, 70/30, etc... by wax techs.
5) Using a heat source such as a dedicated kick wax iron, heat gun or torch, smooth out the klister. If you are using a heat gun or torch, use a cork a small metal-bristled chef's brush to smooth out the klister. If you are using an iron, make sure you only ever use the iron for kick wax. Have another iron for glide waxes only to avoid cross-contamination.
6) Let the Klister cool for a few minutes. Set the ski outside over the snow (but not touching the snow) to speed the cooling.
7) Once the klister is cool, you may need to "cover" it. A "Klister cover" is a couple of layers of hardwax used to give the Klister a bit more glide factor if the Klister has too much "bite", or the snow conditions don't allow the Klister to glide as freely.
8) Once you've wrapped up skiing, it might be a good idea to clean the grip wax off your skis. Check out the instructions on how to clean up sticky grip wax pockets here: https://skiwax.ca/collections/cleaning-grip-zones