Boulder Mountain Tour 2024

Boulder Mountain Tour 2024

Nathan Schultz

Wax Service/Testing

Boulder Nordic Sport is not providing local testing or wax service for the Boulder Mountain Tour. We can wax skis out of the Boulder shop. Please bring skis in at least 24 hours in advance of when you need to pick them up.

Weather Forecast

click here for latest weather forecast from NOAA
Hourly Forecast

Wednesday Afternoon
Mostly sunny, with a high near 43. East southeast wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Wednesday night
Increasing clouds, with a low around 27. East southeast wind around 11 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Thursday
Snow showers. High near 39. Southeast wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Thursday Night
Snow showers. Low around 29. Southeast wind 8 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Friday
Snow. High near 38. Southeast wind around 7 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Friday Night
Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Saturday
Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Wax Recommendation

The Boulder Mountain Tour is a fluor-free wax event. Event website

Base Glide Layer

Rode Graphite R100G -or- Holmenkol Syntec FF 21

Application: Iron in at recommended iron temp, let cool, scrape, brush with fine steel or bronze/brass brush.

Race Paraffin Layer

Rode R30 Violet -or- Holmenkol Syntec FF Red
 -or-
Rode Endurance Racing Glider mixed 1:1 with Rode R30 Violet

Lower-price option: Holmenkol Beta Mix Red or Rode R30 Violet

Application: Iron in at recommended iron temperature, let cool (10-15min), scrape with a plastic scraper, brush with fine steel or bronze/brass, then polish with nylon or horsehair brush.

Powder

Fluor-free powder will help with durability, speed and dirt repulsion. It is probably not worth it for shorter races.

Holmenkol FF Red Powder

Application: (apply powder over race paraffin, before topcoat)

  1. Sprinkle powder on liberally to coat the base.
  2. Iron in at recommended iron temperature.
  3. Let cool. 10-15 minutes should be adequate.
  4. Scrape powder off, then brush with stiff nylon, followed by horsehair.

View a video on powder application (video is for fluoro powders, but the application is the same for fluor-free powders)

Topcoat

Rode Racing Liquid (RL) Med -or- Holmenkol FF1 Red Liquid

lower-price option: Holmenkol FF2 Liquid Red

Application: Apply liquid on brushed ski, allow to dry, polish with a roto wool, roto fleece, or felt brush/cork. The liquid layer should be the final wax layer (over paraffin layer or powder layer).

Structure

Structure will be an important part of the race, especially with the possibility of warm snow falling. Start with a medium stone grind S2.2 or C2.2 (classic). Add a single pass of the Holmenkol cross structure tool with both rollers.

 

Kick Wax

Check back closer to the event for updated Kick wax recommendation

 

Updates

We will update this recommendation Thursday evening and Friday morning after testing on-site.

Race/Application Notes

This is an unusual Boulder Mountain Tour with a warm forecast and likely new snow and relatively high temps. We like Rode Endurance as an option for this race due to its broad range and ability to handle both wet and cold snow.

It is always a good idea to have a second pair of skis waxed a bit colder when we see forecasts like this for the Boulder Mt Tour. We've seen wet snow and rain before, but we've also been burned by warm forecasts that have gone colder.