Amy has submitted today’s test results from West Yellowstone, where she’s been testing powders and topcoats. She didn’t test a huge number of products, instead trying to nail down some application variables. In the past we’ve seen top-coats make a huge difference out there, and Amy wanted to get an idea of what role application would apply for tomorrow’s sprint.
So, she structured the test so the she would be testing powders alone, liquids alone, and liquids over powders, as well as fluoroblocks over powders.
You can see the results in the image to the right (click on the image to see it bigger). The powders alone were the worst, and the Vauhti hfC9.1 was better than the hfC15.1. The 9.1 is a new powder this year, but we had the same thing labeled as CODE powder C139 last winter, and it was awesome very frequently. So I have not argument with this result, especially with temperatures above freezing.
The liquids alone were better than the powders alone. Once again, 9.1 liquid was better than 15.1 liquid, and by a similar margin that we saw in the powders. So that makes sense, and reinforces our feeling that the 9.1 glide compound is good (the glide ingredient is the same in all the 9.1 products, as with all others in the Vauhti line that share a name).
It is significant that the liquids applied on top of the powders ran very similarly to the liquids alone. In fact, if you look closely at the results, you’ll see that 9.1 liquid was only 0.001 seconds different (average times over four runs) when it was applied on top of 9.1 powder, vs alone. And the 15.1 liquid saw only a 0.002 second difference applied over 9.1 powder vs alone. These results are interesting, and also lend a strong endorsement to the validity of the testing (full credit to Jake McDermott – today’s test pilot – for running a good test). Lessons? For a sprint race you are probably just as well-off with a liquid alone, but powders probably won’t HURT your ski speed.
Finally, it is notable that the fastest ski of the day was the only fluoroblock application of the day – 9.1 block applied on top of 9.1 powder. We didn’t run the 9.1 block alone, and we didn’t run any other fluoroblocks. But having tested hfC9.1 in all types of applications, my bet is that we know what we need to know about blocks. It’ll be worth testing them!
So – looking toward tomorrow, there are plenty of decisions left to be made. There is no good option for ironing fluoro powders at the venue, so that decision needs to be made tonight. There are two ways of looking at this. Test results suggest that powders probably won’t help much, and last year’s races reinforce this expectation. On the other hand, the powders don’t appear to be hurting, and in the event that things change, maybe you’d like to have something on the skis before you head out there!
Last year in the West Yellowstone races the temps were a bit cooler, but test results seemed to point in similar conditions. We saw hfC15 liquid winning for the sprint day, while hfC9 block was best on the distance day as it warmed up. Now we’re looking at 9.1 winning tests, and I can’t claim to be shocked, even though the chemistry is totally different between the hfC9 and the hfC9.1. I would plan to test 9.1 liquid vs block in the morning. I would also plan to test other liquids that are good in fine-grained snow. I would also plan to test blocks that are good in that range. I have a strong suspicion that Toko HB004 block might be really outstanding (it wasn’t in Amy’s test), and it’s always worth testing Ski*Go C22 block.
The weather forecast is for overnight temperatures to be in the mid-20s with the possibility of some light snow developing. There’s a good possibility that the snow won’t be quite as glazy tomorrow, but daytime high temps are still forecast for the mid-30s. I would tend to trust yesterday’s paraffin results, and today’s fluoro powder and topcoat results. My recommendation would be to do yesterday’s 10F and HF Violet paraffin, and I would plan to test top coats in the morning, with the option of a 9.1 powder application tonight if burning some $$$ will make you sleep better.
Final note – be prepared to test hand-structure tomorrow. Grinds in the range of TG1-1 and TG1-2 and TB2n are doing really well on athlete’s skis. Whether we’re looking at new snow or glazing conditions, hand-structure could make a decisive difference – especially at high speed. I would be prepared to look at the Finite CP17 rollers, and the Red Creek 0/-10 and 0/-6 rollers.