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The strap-on kind are cloth-lined and heavier. They do not slide forward very well, and, under certain conditions, ice can form between the ski and the skin. But this is the kind of skins to get if you are not ambitious to master the stick-on kind, or if you wish to run down after the climb on very fast, hard wax.
A simple makeshift is a ski sock, a canvas sack just fitting over the rear end of the ski and strapped over the toe iron.
Touring waxes.—For powder snow: The seemingly contradictory demands of high static friction for climbing and low dynamic friction for running can be reconciled by using a plastic wax just soft enough to permit the sharp crystals of powder snow to make microscopic indentations when the skis are firmly planted with no sliding motion, but hard enough to develop heat of friction when sliding to provide a film of water to serve as a lubricant. Beeswax has served as the chief constituent of such waxes. It must have the right consistency to rub thinly onto the ski and at the same time to take a polish when spread smoothly over the surface by rubbing briskly with a cork block or the ball of the hand. The colder the snow, the harder must be the wax in order for the heat of friction to produce the lubricating film. An excellent wax can be made by melting beeswax, if too hard, with just the right amount of a silicone waterproofing liquid. European waxes of this type for snow a little below freezing have been called "medium," and "mix" for colder snow.
It has been shown by a competent scientist that the lubricating water film results from friction, not from
pressure. Bare metal is not suitable because it conducts away the heat of friction.
The fastest coating for skis is a fluorocarbon plastic known as "teflon," but it is suitable only for downhill running; because no wax adheres to it. It is ideal for the skis used on arctic airplanes.
Wet new snow: This is the most difficult on which to achieve both good climbing and running. "Swix" red is as good as any. It is also excellent for paste-on sealskins.
Related terms include park city skiing and water skiing.
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