Snow Mountain Stampede 2025 SKATE

Nathan Schultz

Event Details

The Snow Mountain Stampede is a fluor-free wax event. 2025 is the 41st annual edition. Skate races are on Saturday and Classic races on Sunday with 3km, 12.5km, 25km short course, 50km long course options. Event website.

Wax Service & Testing

Boulder Nordic Sport is waxing skis out of the Boulder shop. We will not have anyone on-site waxing or testing. We can turn race skis around in 24-48 hours at the shop.

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

Weather Forecast

Click here for the latest weather forecast from NOAA

Hourly Forecast

Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 37. West wind 5 to 9 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Wednesday Night
Snow. Low around 27. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Thursday
Snow, mainly after 11am. High near 40. Light west southwest wind becoming west 9 to 14 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Thursday Night
Snow. Low around 20. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday
A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32.

Friday Night
A chance of snow before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 12.

Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 35.

Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 13.

Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 43.



Wax Recommendation

This is a forecast-based recommendation. We will update this recommendation if the forecast changes.

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 mixed with Rode Endurance 1:1 -or- Holmenkol Syntec FF Blue

Lower-price option: Holmenkol BetaMix 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 (less than 25km).

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 Blue Liquid

lower-price Holmenkol option: Holmenkol FF2 Liquid Blue

At the moment the snow is old and transformed, but there is a small amount of new snow in the forecast. If there is significant new snow, Rode RW30 solid would be an excellent choice as a top coat.

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 be an important part of the race with snow starting cold and warming through the race.Choose a cold to medium grind.

  • Skate Grinds: S2.2 or S1.3
  • Classic Grinds: C2.2

Hand Structure:  Holmenkol cross-structure tool with one roller.

 

Updates

We will update this recommendation as it gets closer to race day.

Race/Application Notes

Overnight lows will be pretty cold, so the snow will generally stay colder than air temps through the races. The forecast is for sun, so that will help warm up the snow faster, but the snowpack will generally be cold.

If you can wax two pairs of race skis, it would be smart to go with a colder option. The forecast for this area is generally warmer than actual conditions, so having a colder pair of skis ready to go in case it gets colder overnight is a good option.