XC ski wax chart: glide wax, kick wax, klister and skins

A cross-country ski has two jobs under it. The glide zones, the tips and tails on a classic ski and the whole base on a skate ski, should slide. The kick zone under your foot on a classic ski should grip when you press it into the snow and release when you glide. Glide wax serves the first job, kick wax and klister the second.

The ranges below come from Swix's published guidance. Swix chooses wax from the air temperature in the shade, measured at a few points along the course. Snow temperature helps only up to freezing: snow stays at 0 °C however warm the air becomes. The number on the box is a starting point.

Hot waxing the glide zones

Swix's sequence for hot waxing with an iron:

1. Scrape off the old wax with a sharp plexi scraper and a groove scraper, then brush 5 to 10 strokes tip to tail with a bronze or steel brush.
2. Set the iron to the temperature printed on the wax. Swix lists 145 °C for its PS6 blue glide wax, for example. The wax should melt easily.
3. Drip wax from the iron onto both sides of the groove.
4. Move the iron from tip to tail in one steady motion, about 8 to 10 seconds per pass. Repeat the pass if the wax did not spread evenly.
5. Let the ski cool for at least 10 minutes, until it reaches room temperature.
6. Scrape the groove first, then the base. A scraper that slips out of the groove can scratch the base.
7. Brush tip to tail: 5 to 10 strokes with the bronze or steel brush, then 10 to 15 strokes with a blue nylon polishing brush.

On classic skis, wax the glide zones first and sand the kick zone afterwards, so that no glide wax ends up where the kick wax goes.

Fluorinated wax is out of racing

FIS announced the end of fluorinated ski wax in 2019 and declared a full ban for the 2023/24 season. Testing started at the World Cup and championships and is spreading to every FIS race; three positive readings on a ski mean disqualification. Vasaloppet banned fluorinated wax in all 14 races of its 2024 winter week, for elite and recreational skiers, with random checks at the start and finish. Swix has stopped making fluor wax.

Kick waxing for classic

Find the kick zone

On most classic skis the kick zone starts at the heel and runs 65 to 70 cm forward. Swix's paper test finds yours: stand on both skis with your weight evenly split, have someone slide a sheet of paper under each ski, and mark where the paper stops at each end.

Sand and bind

Sand the kick zone with 100 to 120 grit, lengthwise only; sanding across the ski rounds the edges.

A binder makes the kick wax last. Swix uses its green base binder as the default first layer, especially for long races and abrasive snow, which is what an icy track is. For cold, fine-grained snow it prefers a blue base wax. Apply a thin layer, iron it in at about 100 °C, smooth it with a cork and let it cool before the wax of the day goes on.

Hard wax by snow temperature

Swix's V line of hard kick waxes, by air temperature:

• Polar: −25 to −12 °C
• Green: −15 to −8 °C
• Blue: −10 to −2 °C
• Blue Extra: −7 to −1 °C
• Violet Special: −3 to 0 °C
• Violet: around 0 °C
• Red/Silver: 0 to +3 °C

The age of the snow shifts these numbers. New snow has sharp crystals that call for a harder wax. On old, transformed snow the same wax grips at colder temperatures: Swix rates its VP40 blue for −4 to −10 °C on new snow and −5 to −14 °C on old snow.

Layer and cork

Swix suggests 4 to 10 thin layers. If you need fewer, the skis are probably too soft for you; if you need more, they are probably too stiff. Lay the first 3 or 4 layers along the whole kick zone, then shorten each layer so the wax builds into a pyramid that is thickest under your foot.

Cork every layer before the next one. With hard wax, press lightly and leave some texture in the wax. Soft wax needs a clean cork, light pressure and more strokes. Put the first layers on indoors and the last ones on outdoors. When you combine two waxes, Swix applies the softer one first.

Klister

Swix sorts snow into groups, and wet snow that has frozen again, the hard icy track, needs klister. Klister also suits coarse, transformed snow and wet snow.

1. Sand the kick zone and lay a thin base klister over the sanded area. Iron a tube base klister in carefully, or spray it on and let it dry.
2. Warm the klister of the day and lay it on in a fishbone pattern.
3. Heat it lightly and rub it into an even layer, then clear the groove.

The top layer gives most of the kick, so make it thicker than the base and middle layers together. Klister builds more than hard wax: on a pair you also use with hard wax, keep the klister section shorter. Swix's klister ranges:

• Blue Ice KX30: −12 to 0 °C, for ice and hard, coarse, cold snow
• Silver KX40S: −4 to +2 °C, for transformed and fine-grained snow
• Red KX65: +1 to +5 °C, for damp to wet, coarse snow
• Red Extra Wet KX75: +2 to +15 °C, for the wettest snow

When fresh snow lands on a klister track, cover the klister. Let the klister get cold, then lay on at least three layers of hard wax, slightly harder than the temperature suggests, and cork gently between them.

Skin skis

Skin skis carry a strip of mohair in the kick zone in place of wax. Madshus describes them as the answer to days when the temperature swings either side of freezing, and says they work in cold dry snow, on hard icy tracks and in wet slush. They still need glide wax on the tips and tails: tape over the skin first, then wax as usual. Keep ordinary base cleaner and glide products off the skin, because their solvents can loosen its glue, and use skin-specific products instead.

Skins replace kick wax best around zero, in falling snow and when conditions change during the session.

The wax chart by condition

New snow, cold

• Blue base wax under the kick wax on cold, fine-grained snow.
• Hard wax from the cold end of the range: green or blue.
• Thin layers and light corking.

New snow around zero

• Violet or red hard wax, −3 to +3 °C.
• Cork carefully to an even layer, since new snow near zero ices easily.
• Ski about 500 m before you judge the grip.
• Skins are the simple answer.

Old, transformed snow

• Hard wax a step warmer than on new snow at the same temperature.
• Once the grains turn coarse, silver klister, −4 to +2 °C.

Icy track

• Base klister or the green binder, then blue ice klister, −12 to 0 °C.
• Cover it with hard wax if fresh snow lies on the ice.

Wet snow

• Glide wax that repels water and a coarse base structure.
• Red klister from +1 °C; extra wet klister above +2 °C.

Falling snow

• A harder wax than the thermometer suggests, because new crystals are sharp.
• Cover klister with hard wax once it is cold.
• Near zero, skins.

Keep a record

Your skis, your weight and your track decide the rest. Write down what went on the skis next to the snow and the time it gave you, as how snow conditions change your times explains.

Skibuddy's wax room keeps that record: when you save a session, you pick the skis, the glide wax and, for classic, the kick wax, and Skibuddy ranks each setup by glide against your own average for each snow condition. It does not recommend a wax; it shows you what worked for you.