The Slalom Problem Part 2 – Hot Stuff!

The Slalom Problem!

Three days before the next training session and I still don’t have an iron to wax my own skis.

Wax is important because it creates lubrication and protects the base. The base of a ski is porous, designed to absorb wax which is melted onto the ski. If it was not porous the wax would not stay on the ski very long.

The racers use old non-steam travel irons and apply wax ‘just like ironing your clothes.’

I’ve been advised to use an iron with a thermostat so as not to melt the base.

I’ve ordered a £10 jobby from Argos but it’s a steam iron. I’ve not been able to find a non steam one so am assuming the holes are going to get blocked! I went to Ellis Brigham’s the other day and they had a proper ski one but at £70 seemed way over priced.

That said the skis were over £600. I can’t pay £70 for an iron, sorry. Call me tight.

Anyway as I don’t have an iron yet – I just used a hair dryer to heat the base, then used some rubbing wax I have had for years that I take in my pocket when skiing on the piste. Everyone laughs when I use this stuff but it works. Heating up normal dry slope wax with the hairdryer hardly melted, it was like plastic, but the rubbing wax soaked in nicely. The stairs made a perfect ski service area!

This solution is not perfect but it is better than the skis having nothing on the base.

Slalom skis are a particular design for racing. They are shaped so that they accelerate you into the turns. As I am training and racing on dry slopes I was advised to go for the shortest possible skis. Mine are 150’s, the shortest ski for an adult – compared to my fast piste skis, which are 163’s, that is a big difference, almost 10% shorter.

The reason is the slalom course is tight and the radius of the ski has to be short.  At 13 metre radius I could not get my fast piste skis easily round the gates. The new skis have a turn radius of just 11 metres, more than 15% tighter. When you start the turn, they turn for you!

The next instalment we will talk about fitness for slalom racing [something I need to improve but is not so simple as I do lots of other exercise].

And ski sharpening coming up too! Something I have yet to do!