Frisco Gold Rush 2024

Frisco Gold Rush 2024

Nathan Schultz

Event Details

The Frisco Gold Rush is a fluor-free wax event with 20k, 10k, 5k and 1k Kids ski classic & skate events. Start times are 10-11:30AM. Event website

Wax Service & Testing

Boulder Nordic Sport is waxing skis out of the Boulder shop. We will not have anyone on-site testing or waxing. Contact the Frisco Nordic Center for their offerings. We can turn race skis around in 24-48 hours at the shop. Please bring skis in by noon Thursday for pickup at close Thursday or Friday.

We are hosting our Thursday night wax clinic at the Boulder shop at 6:15 Thursdays.

Weather Forecast

Click here for latest weather forecast from NOAA

Hourly Forecast

Thursday
A 50 percent chance of snow, mainly before 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 30. West wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
Thursday Night
A slight chance of snow before 10pm, then a chance of snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 6. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Friday
Snow likely, mainly after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 28. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Friday Night
Snow likely, mainly after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 6. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
Saturday
Snow. High near 25. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Wax Recommendation

This is a forecast-based recommendation. We will not have anyone on-site testing.

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 R20 Blue or Holmenkol Syntec FF Blue 

Lower-price option: Holmenkol UltraMix Blue or Rode R20 Blue

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 Blue 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

Note: It is easy and preferable to test liquids the day of the race. The snow looks to be cold and fresh, and there will be cloud cover, so it is unlikely to warm quickly. The colder liquids are likely going to be the best, but forecast overnight lows are right at the transition from the coldest liquids to the mid-range liquids. We recommend applying the coldest liquid the night before, then running a test between the cold (Holmenkol or Rode Blue) and mid-range liquid (Holmenkol Red or Rode Violet) on race morning. Apply the winning liquid over the cold liquid on race skis.

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 likely not be an important part of the race with cold temps, new snow and clouds forecast.Choose a cold skis with a cold grind. S1.3 (skating) or C1.2 (classic). No hand structure.

 

Kick Wax

Start with an ironed-in base layer. For these races that are maximum 20km, a Green kick wax ironed in is probably the best choice to give the optimal balance of speed and durability.

Once the binder has cooled, apply 3-5 layers of the wax of the day. Kick waxing should be simple

Waxes to try:

  • Guru Green
  • Rode B310
  • Rode Blue Multigrade
  • Rode Green
  • Holmenkol Green
  • Holmenkol Blue
  • Swix VP30 & VP40

 

Updates

We will update this recommendation Friday morning if the forecast changes.

Race/Application Notes

The forecast is pretty straightforward with a little bit of cold snow forecast, with cloud cover keeping the snow temp stable and cold through the duration of the races.

With this forecast, if you want to wax two pairs of skis, we would choose to wax one cold and one mid-range. The paraffin layers will not be as important as the topcoat layer, so don't stress on the paraffin call and focus efforts on liquids. Apply the cold liquid on your Primary race pair the night before. Morning of the race, test the cold and mid-range liquids on a second pair of skis (rock skis) or the race pair that loses the test the morning of the race. Apply one liquid on one ski, and the other liquid on the other ski in the pair and ski them in your warm up to determine which one is better. Apply the winning liquid to your race skis before the start.