Testing Wax vs. Testing Skis
There are many different ways to increase performance in cross-country ski racing. Ski flexes, wax, and structure are all decisions that can be made on race day to improve your speed. The steps that happen when you are testing wax or structure vs. testing skis are very similar, but some key steps need to be in place to ensure the efficacy of the test is in place.
If you are testing wax or structure, regardless if it is by feeling or by glide outs, you need to make sure that the skis that you are testing on are well matched. If the skis are matched, then the differences that come from the testing would most likely come from the wax itself. If the skis are not matched, then the results will be influenced by the flex and/or base condition of the skis. These differences could create meaningless results and possibly lead to bad decisions when choosing a race wax or structure. You can overcome skis that are not matched, but extra steps are needed which are explained more in detail below.
If you are trying to choose which pair of skis is the fastest, you should have the same wax on each pair of skis that are being tested. If you have two different waxes on each ski, the difference that you are seeing in glide outs or feelings tests will be affected. Ensuring that the skis are prepared the same will let you be able to accurately decide which pair of skis is fastest.
Feel Testing - Matched Skis
This is the most common and easiest style of testing. Feel testing involves skiing on multiple pairs of skis and using your “feelings” to decide which skis or waxes are better. There are several pros and cons to this style of testing. The biggest pro to this is that it can be done either alone or with a second tester with no extra equipment needed besides your skis. Wax A goes on one ski, wax B goes on a separate ski and you use your feeling to decide whether ski 1 or ski 2 feels faster. More waxes can be added to this test easily as long as you have a good set of matched test skis. I usually try to choose the number of waxes or skis I am testing to a certain amount. Either 2, 4, 8, (or any multiple after that) is the simplest way to create a test that will find a winner. If you choose a number that isn’t divisible by 2, then it will make for an uneven amount of tests and will require either more work to ski and an additional ski, or possibly create issues with reliability due to wear differences as certain skis will have more tests on them than others.
Another pro to feel testing is that you can test more products with fewer pairs of skis compared to glide-outs. If you have a 4-pair fleet of matched skis, you can test up to 8 products very reliably vs. only 4 products if you are doing glide-outs.
Below is an example of an 8-wax test and how the winner was found.
Product:
Ski A - Rex NF41
Ski B – Rex NF21
Ski C – Swix Marathon
Ski D – Swix TSP5
Ski E – Rode RL Med
Ski F – Star Beta Med
Ski G – Rode Endurance
Ski H – Start RG Ultra Blue
Tests:
Test 1: Ski A > Ski B
Test 2: Ski D > Ski C
Test 3: Ski E > Ski F
Test 4: Ski G > Ski H
Test 5: Ski A > Ski D
Test 6: Ski G > Ski E
Test 7: Ski A > Ski G
Reults:
Ski A = Winner = Rex NF41
In the example test we tested all of the initial pairs against each other, then kept matching winners against each other until we found out what the fastest ski was. This is a quick and easy way to find out which ski is the fastest.
There are two fairly significant cons to feel testing. The first and most glaring is that the results are purely subjective based on your feelings. While feeling is something that can be trained, it isn’t 100% accurate and in instances where the results are close or when working with multiple testers, it can get very muddy. In addition, while you can find a winner pretty easily with feel testing, it is more difficult to get a ranking order. In the example above we had Ski 1 win the test outright. But if we were to look at tests 1, 5, and 7, Ski A beat Ski B, D, and G. We don’t have a comparison between Ski B, D, or G so we don’t know which one of those waxes are technically the second fastest. We could go back through and run those skis against each other, but that makes the test considerably longer.
Feel Testing - Mismatched Skis
The same type of test can be done if you have multiple pairs of skis that are not matched, but you must take extra steps to ensure the results are reliable. Many coaches use their personal skis when testing and this is the method that can be used if there is no access to a true matched test fleet.
On your first pair of skis, you will want to put on two different waxes or structures. You will do your initial test to determine the faster option, then come back and apply the winning option to your second pair of skis with the third option you would like to test. Doing this will then allow you to make an additional test that is still reliable. You cannot use 2 different pairs of skis to test 4 different waxes. You will only be able to effectively test 3 waxes. If you want to test a fourth wax, you will need a third pair of skis that you can apply the winner from the first two tests.
Solo Glide outs
Solo glide-outs can be used to possibly get more detailed information that doesn’t require a good ski feeling compared to feel testing. The requirements that are needed for solo glide outs are higher than feel testing because you will need to find a hill that has a good straight run out where you can glide until coming to a complete stop. Not every ski trail has a good glide-out area and if there isn’t space for glide-outs, then this testing method is completely useless. In addition to needing a specific trail location to test, you will only be able to test pairs of skis meaning you will be testing fewer products than compared to feel testing.
Generally, you will be looking for a short hill with a flat section to glide out that is 50-100 meters long. When starting the test, you will want to have a specific starting point on the hill where you will stand with your toes on a line. You will move your poles and immediately move into a tuck and try to maintain a balance and stable position down the hill in a straight line until you come to a rest. At that point make another mark in the snow and you can swap skis and do the test over again.
This test can be done quickly, and the results should yield a fairly accurate ranking order. One glaring con to this test is that because you are not taking any poles at the top and you are coming to a complete rest at the bottom the ski speed is usually much slower than racing. There are some waxes that react differently at slow vs. high speeds and you may be picking an incorrect option for the higher speeds you see while racing.
Paired Glideouts
This is the gold standard of testing and is the most frequently used testing method on the World Cup. While you can test fewer products as you need to have complete pairs similar to solo glide outs, you will be able to get a great ranking order that is data-driven and can give you a clear ranking order, with an idea of the actual differences between waxes.
The requirements for the testing area are less strict than in solo glide outs as you don’t need to come to a complete stop during the test. This testing requires you to have a partner, and while it is nice to have the partners be a similar size or build, it isn’t a requirement. It is also helpful to have skis with specific measurements on the entire length of the ski (usually in 10cm increments) to measure the differences between skiers.
To start the test, you will need to have a 100-200m long hill that is relatively straight. It can either have a flat run out or still be a downward slope at the end. There will be a start position on the hill where both partners will take between 1-3 double poles and then go immediately into a tuck. The lead partner will then hold onto the second partner to make sure that the speed is matched. The lead partner will then let go of the second partner at a specific spot on the hill and both will maintain the tuck. At a designated spot further down the test track, the lead partner will look at the skis and determine the number of centimeters ahead or behind the other partner they are. The testers will then switch skis and do the same test again which will eliminate the differences in skier size/build and track differences. Below is an example of how to determine the faster ski and how to report/record data.
Test 1a: Skier 1 (ski A) 50 centimeters in front of Skier 2 (Ski B)
*swap skis*
Test 1b: Skier 1 (Ski B) 30 centimeters in front of Skier 2 (Ski B)
Results: Ski A is 20 centimeters better than Ski B. Reported as Ski A 0, Ski B +20cm.
If we were to copy the same test from the feeling test, the results would hopefully match up, but we will get some hard data to describe the differences. Once all tests have been run, you can go back through and compare each ski against each other and come up with a ranking order. Below is an example of the same test done above, this time using paired glide outs.
Product:
Ski A – Rex NF41
Ski B – Rex NF21
Ski C – Swix Marathon
Ski D – Swix TSP5
Ski E – Rode RL Med
Ski F – Star Beta Med
Ski G – Rode Endurance
Ski H – Start RG Ultra Blue
Tests:
Test 1: Ski A 0, Ski B +20cm
Test 2: Ski D 0, Ski C +70cm
Test 3: Ski E 0, Ski F +20cm
Test 4: Ski G 0, Ski H +100cm
Test 5: Ski A 0, Ski D +30cm
Test 6: Ski G 0 > Ski E +10cm
Test 7: Ski A 0 > Ski G +40cm
Results:
- Ski A 0cm – Rex NF41
- Ski B +20cm – Rex NF21
- Ski D +30cm – Swix TSP5
- Ski G +40cm – Rode Endurance
- Ski E +50cm – Rode RL Med
- Ski F +70cm – Star Beta Med
- Ski C +100cm – Swix Marathon
- Ski H +140cm – Start RG Ultra Blue
