Kevin Hochtl and Zack Simons of Team Rossignol took first and second, respectively at the Birkie Elite Sprints Thursday.  Kevin was on an LL26 and Zack on a ZR1.  We helped Zack pick his fleet of Rossi's this year and his skis have been great.  Every race he has done this year his Rossi teammates have ended up racing on his second and sometimes third pairs.  Both Zack and Kate won the Birkie overall last year on a Engineered Tuning grinds.

We've had feedback from Fischer/Craft service man Chris Hall, 2007 Birkie winners Kate Whitcomb, and Zack Simons as well as Team Rossi and a few others and everyone is saying that ZR1 is by far the best on the cold Birkie snow.  We recommend following the Swix and Toko wax recommendations.  Be sure to harden up your bases with a few solid underlayers before going with the final HF layers.  Try Start HF80 and Solda HP05/S30 mix as possible variations of this.  Soft skis seem to be doing  best.

Waxing looks straightforward for the Colorado races this weekend and conditions look a bit rugged for Leadville, with nicer weather Sunday for the Governor's Cup at Devil's Thumb. With fresh, cold snow expected overnight in Leadville, we're guessing that the ZR1, ZR1XL, LL26 and Z40XL will be good choices for skate, ZR1XL and LL26 for classic.  Soft skis will come into play this weekend with fresh snow falling both days overnight and during the races.  Be prepared for the wind.  Consider a balaclava and earmuffs.  Craft Windstopper Base Layer underneath a race suit works really well in cold, windy conditions to keep the wind off the legs and torso and maintain good core temperature..

Leadville Forecast
Devil's Thumb Forecast

Toko Colorado Wax Recs
Swix does not have any suggestions, so we recommend hardening the bases with CH4, then LF6.  FC1 may be a great overcoat to speed up the wax.  Test FC1 first.  Other waxes to try: HF6, HF6BD.  For kick wax, iron in a layer of Swix Extra Blue and let it cool overnight.  Race kick wax will be in the VR40 to VR45 range, depending on the humidity and structure of the new snow.

Other kick waxes to try: SkiGo Super Blue, Swix VR30 as a cover to speed things up, Rode Multigrade Blue, Rode Special Green as a cover to speed it up.

Start HF80 can also be a great underlayer in conditions like this where the snow is humid and fresh.

For the Governor's cup, it looks like the temperature will be warming up much faster during the day and so it may be a little trickier to find the right combinations.  The snowpack should have a lot of thermal mass and stay cool after cold overnight lows, but with fresh snow falling and possible temperatures near and above freezing, the top layer will probably require high fluoros.  Harden the bases with Swix LF4, Toko LF Moly, or Start HF80.  Then apply the race wax on top.  Swix HF7, Toko HF Blue/Red Mix and fluoro top coats should be excellent.  Choices for top layers that should be good in this snow: Swix FC7, Toko Jetstream Moly, Solda HP05/S30 mixed 70/30.

Bring your skis into the shop Friday and we can get them race waxed for you!