Waxing with Warm Klisters

By Roger Knight

One of the most challenging things to do in warm, wet snow is to get sufficient kick AND glide on classic days. Klister can be a mystery even to people who have used it for years. The weather and snow are constantly changing, and much like in all waxing, when you think you have finally figured out the solution, you likely have not.

Klister's use in warm weather comes down to matching the texture and ingredients of the klister with the snow type and amount of moisture present. When things get really warm and wet, everything kicks in, and you are searching for speed. On other rarer occasions, usually when rain is falling, or the tracks are completely saturated, a kicking klister is what you are looking for. These days can be frustrating and frantic, so the best practice is to have the right klisters and a plan of attack as the day progresses.

Klisters and mixes we like in the warm, wet, and nasty in no particular order:

• Rode Multigrade alone or dot in Rode Rossa increasingly as warming occurs
• Rex TK-2251 is the closest thing Rex has to the great OV/OU/OI of days past
• Holmenkol Black Spezial mixed with Rode KM3, a speed combo for real wet
• Guru Red and Red/Silver, Red in cleaner snows, Red/Silver in wet and dirtier snow
• Rode KM3 mixed with KR3
• Rex Gold Moly for the dirty, wet snow
• Rode Gialla Yellow for new snows starting to melt
• Rode KRS3 for wet snow that is getting dirty rapidly
• Rode Rossa
• Swix KN44 is a kicking klister in slush and falling rain
• Rex Universal
• Guru 39
• Start Wide Plus Universal
• Swix KX75
• Vauhti Red

For a klister binder in the warmest conditions, the answer is always Rode Chola. Apply thin, and it is equal parts fast and durable. Good luck out there.