Everything you need to know about the new Dominator paste waxes.

[cantunamunch]

Strikes me as more practical if you're waxing the night before.

only for old snow. for new snow you use the temp of when it fell - no daytime high correction

 

[Jacques]

I applied some paste at 0 F degrees on cold skis. After about 35 minutes, it did not set up, so that was a bad idea.
So I'll try again on a 35 F degree day, and see how that goes.

Lesson: application is best at room temperatures.

 

[bbinder]

Which FFC paste wax allows for the greatest range of temperature?

 

[TheArchitect]

Is the rule of thumb for when you're unsure about temp to go with a colder wax?

 

[phillc]

This is a long video! If you want to know, don't skip one second. I cover application, cost breakdown, and much more!

Thanks for the great and informative video!

I'm pretty new to this and have decided to go in pretty hard on the Dominator paste waxes.

We moved to Austria when my kid was born for "reasons", but I'd never skied before. My first day skiing was his first day skiing. That was nearly five years ago, he's 8 now and is way, way faster than me. He wanted to get into racing this year and seems to be doing OK. The guys at the ski club have been really helpful waxing skis for me, so I don't have to pay a squillion bucks over the course of the season, but I know I have to get into this myself.

Although almost no one seems to entirely avoid hot waxing (this thread and SkiMD are about the only two places I could find), I'm attracted to the pastes because the space I have to work is limited. I don't want to mess about with scraping off wax and having to clean it all up.

Today I bought the FFC 1 base prep paste, FFC 2 paste, FFC 2C paste, Elite OS 2 paste and Elite OS 3 paste. I intend to use the FFC stuff on my own skis and for the boy's training days, with the Elite reserved for race days. I don't think we'll see too many more super cold days here in the spring run up, so don't think I needed the pastes for really cold weather or new snow. There's probably going to end up being a reasonable amount of artificial snow by March as well.

When watching the video, I was interested to see you use stainless steel and brass brushes. Another video over on SkiMD, Mike recommends just using stiff nylon and then softer nylon. He's promoting his ProGlide product, but if I'm just buffing out with a cork or fiberlene towel, does it make any difference if I stick with the nylon brushes to finish?

 

[TheArchitect]

Thanks for the great and informative video!

I'm pretty new to this and have decided to go in pretty hard on the Dominator paste waxes.

We moved to Austria when my kid was born for "reasons", but I'd never skied before. My first day skiing was his first day skiing. That was nearly five years ago, he's 8 now and is way, way faster than me. He wanted to get into racing this year and seems to be doing OK. The guys at the ski club have been really helpful waxing skis for me, so I don't have to pay a squillion bucks over the course of the season, but I know I have to get into this myself.

Although almost no one seems to entirely avoid hot waxing (this thread and SkiMD are about the only two places I could find), I'm attracted to the pastes because the space I have to work is limited. I don't want to mess about with scraping off wax and having to clean it all up.

Today I bought the FFC 1 base prep paste, FFC 2 paste, FFC 2C paste, Elite OS 2 paste and Elite OS 3 paste. I intend to use the FFC stuff on my own skis and for the boy's training days, with the Elite reserved for race days. I don't think we'll see too many more super cold days here in the spring run up, so don't think I needed the pastes for really cold weather or new snow. There's probably going to end up being a reasonable amount of artificial snow by March as well.

When watching the video, I was interested to see you use stainless steel and brass brushes. Another video over on SkiMD, Mike recommends just using stiff nylon and then softer nylon. He's promoting his ProGlide product, but if I'm just buffing out with a cork or fiberlene towel, does it make any difference if I stick with the nylon brushes to finish?

I use the Elite followed by the ProGlide and then the stiff nylon brush. I have no complaints about how the skis glide with that workflow but I'm also not looking for every ounce of speed I can get.

 

[Wilhelmson]

So this is a replacement for ironed wax? How often must it be refreshed?

 

[Jacques]

Which FFC paste wax allows for the greatest range of temperature?

The P2 & P2c. The P2b has the smaller range. As the snow changes through the day or position in the Mt, you will feel it.

 

[Jacques]

Is the rule of thumb for when you're unsure about temp to go with a colder wax?

Yes. Remember though, the lower run outs, or the bottom may be faster with the warmer as conditions change.
Colder wax has better breakaway, but lower top speed.

 

[Jacques]

Thanks for the great and informative video!

I'm pretty new to this and have decided to go in pretty hard on the Dominator paste waxes.

We moved to Austria when my kid was born for "reasons", but I'd never skied before. My first day skiing was his first day skiing. That was nearly five years ago, he's 8 now and is way, way faster than me. He wanted to get into racing this year and seems to be doing OK. The guys at the ski club have been really helpful waxing skis for me, so I don't have to pay a squillion bucks over the course of the season, but I know I have to get into this myself.

Although almost no one seems to entirely avoid hot waxing (this thread and SkiMD are about the only two places I could find), I'm attracted to the pastes because the space I have to work is limited. I don't want to mess about with scraping off wax and having to clean it all up.

Today I bought the FFC 1 base prep paste, FFC 2 paste, FFC 2C paste, Elite OS 2 paste and Elite OS 3 paste. I intend to use the FFC stuff on my own skis and for the boy's training days, with the Elite reserved for race days. I don't think we'll see too many more super cold days here in the spring run up, so don't think I needed the pastes for really cold weather or new snow. There's probably going to end up being a reasonable amount of artificial snow by March as well.

When watching the video, I was interested to see you use stainless steel and brass brushes. Another video over on SkiMD, Mike recommends just using stiff nylon and then softer nylon. He's promoting his ProGlide product, but if I'm just buffing out with a cork or fiberlene towel, does it make any difference if I stick with the nylon brushes to finish?

If you want to use the Elite for race days, it would be wise to apply, and ski, then reapply before race day etc.
It can take a few applications to get it to really come in.
Yes, always use steel, brass, etc. No need to go crazy, just brush a few good passes. Best luck. Working with it will teach you.

 

[Jacques]

So this is a replacement for ironed wax? How often must it be refreshed?

Kind of, but you want to start with a good base prepped base. Best to use hot wax for that. Dominator Base Renew is best.
If you prep with the FFC 1 prep, and don't let it cure well, and don't brush the crap out of it before you apply the glide paste, it will be slow on cold snows. If that happens, the next round of FFC 2 paste will get better.

Eventually, one needs to base prep the base again.
I have gone thirty days now, and no problem. I started with Renew base prep in a hot box, so my durability is good.
Your results may vary. If you start with a dry burnt base........IDK.
Apply paste every night, or every other night if you only ski a half day or so.
Good luck!

 

[johns80050]

You made mention of the jars being a pain in the ass and them changing to new jars. I was sent the old style.

 

[Jacques]

You made mention of the jars being a pain in the ass and them changing to new jars. I was sent the old style.

It's not the end of the world, just make sure to close it well, or transfer it into a small mason jar.
I got some Elite OS3 in the new jar, and the new jar is awesome!

 

[Zirbl]

It's not the end of the world, just make sure to close it well, or transfer it into a small mason jar.
I got some Elite OS3 in the new jar, and the new jar is awesome!

Are we talking about the little plastic tubs here, or the metal cans?

 

[johns80050]

the little plastic tubs

 

[Jacques]

Are we talking about the little plastic tubs here, or the metal cans?

The new jars are metal. They have a stainless steel look.

 

[phillc]

The ordered Dominator waxes arrived and I applied them for the first time. All are pastes.

Process was (for the boy's race skis):

1. Clean ski bases with Swix Glide Wax Cleaner
2. Apply FFC P1 base prep. I used fiberlene as the applicator and as per instructions, applied a thick layer.
3. Wait 30 minutes
4. Push in hard with a cork block
5. Brush out with a hard nylon brush and clean off dust with a very light horsehair brush
6. Apply Elite OS 3P. Very thin layer, with the applicator from the (plastic) jar
7. Wait 30 minutes
8. Push in hard with a cork block
9. Brush out with a hard nylon brush
10. Brush out with a soft nylon brush
11. Lightly buff with a piece of clean fiberlene

Process for my skis was basically the same, but with FFC P2.

Feedback:
Maybe I didn't wait long enough, but for my skis the base prep still seems a bit sticky when pushing in with the cork after 30 minutes.
The boy said he didn't really notice anything on the GS course today during training, but when he was messing about on the slope he did seem to have better glide (he's 8, so I'm not going to get much more than that!)
My bases were in a very poor condition. Very dry. After only skiiing maybe one hour today, I've noticed that they appear a bit dry again.
For the boy, his bases were in better condition, but after three hours of training today, they also looked about the same as they were before yesterday's waxing. Certainly not nice and shiny.

This afternoon I'm again applying base prep and glide waxes as per above. There's more training tomorrow, so I'll be interested to see how things look after that. The boy has the club championship race on Saturday, so was hoping to just apply a second coat of Elite before that, but we'll see.

The snow here are the moment is pretty horrendous. It's icey with lots of little gravel-like ice pellets (there's probably a proper "ski" word for that) in the early morning, but then by late morning it's more mushy spring snow. I'm sure that's chewing on the base pretty badly. It's far too warm for February! Cools off again next week, but no new snow predicted.

 

[Zirbl]

It's icey with lots of little gravel-like ice pellets

Think the English description for such conditions is "bally", but I'm only self-testing.

 

[cantunamunch]

(there's probably a proper "ski" word for that) in the early morning, but then by late morning it's more mushy spring snow.

'Frozen granular' welcome to what 95% of our season looks like most years - this year is worse.

My bases were in a very poor condition. Very dry. After only skiiing maybe one hour today, I've noticed that they appear a bit dry again.

If you're writing about the pale grey/whitish fade, that won't go away with waxing.

Graupeln? Think the English description for such conditions is "bally", but I'm only self-testing.

We use 'graupel' only when it falls from the sky like that, not when it's formed on the ground through repeated freeze-thaw cycles.

 

[Zirbl]

'Frozen granular' welcome to what 95% of our season looks like most years



If you're writing about the pale grey/whitish fade, that won't go away with waxing.



We use 'graupel' only when it falls from the sky like that, not when it's formed on the ground through repeated freeze-thaw cycles.

Yeah, realised as you were responding it's the wrong term. Always wondered what you mean by 'frozen granular', thanks.