Grip wax on Telemark skiis?

Extra blue is more often the right wax on the west side than special blue, which is good in colder conditions. Grip tape works well in the stated range of conditions (-4 - 40, I think) but does not work outside that range. It is not compatible with glue on skins - you have to use strap on skins and they are hard to find.

Yeah -- I've been thinking about the grip tape / skin glue problem -- once these contact each other it will be a mess -- I was thinking of experimenting with using a piece of Tyvek between the grip tape and the skin glue.

My siblings in Colorado and Wyoming tour without skins, using single-camber tele gear, often with friends who use skins. I have noticed that they are able to make the short laps that I, with skins (and usually these days with my splitboard) would not even bother with due to transition chore time. They mainly use blue klister. My brother in CO says he gets a solid 1/3 more runs then his partners, due to their transition chores. He does have to often make his own track at a lower angle upwards. I have yet to try it in WA. It would be interesting to experiment with; or hear from others who do the experimenting. I would guess our deeper, sometimes heavier snows may make it harder to break one's own trail at the lower angle.

I sure appreciate all the info. My waxless backcountry skiis work great for putting in the miles, but it'd sure be nice to use tele skiis for downhill turns. It sounds like I'll need to experiment with the extra blue before I commit to using it on an overnighter. The temperatures on my trips are usually around 20-36 degrees F, but sometimes colder.
Will narrower width skins prevent them from working correctly on wider skiis?
I've noticed there's a wax to put on your skins to keep snow from sticking on the skins. My skins seems to create quite a bit of drag. Should I treat my skins?
Sorry for all the questions. There isn't any person I know of who knows anything about waxes and such. The closest knowledgeable ski shop is an hour drive from my town.

I wax my skins during the winter using plain old paraffin -- just rub it on tip to tail. In the spring Black Diamond "Glop Stopper" skin wax seems to do a slightly better job of repelling water and various forms of tree goo.

I've heard reccommendations to treat skins with Durable Water Repellent sprays -- like those used to "refresh" Gore-Tex type fabrics -- but I haven't tried this myself yet.

In regards to other comments about the effectiveness of kick wax for climbing vs skins. I have found that wax can work quite well and the reduced skin fiddling and the lower forward drag means more time skiing. However for conventional waxes there are many shades of wax hardness for the the few degrees right around freezing and temperature generally drops 3F per 1000vft. Here in the PNW winters I often found that using wax required using a red or purple kicker of a hot waxed blue base at the trailhead and as I climbed I'd have to progressively scrapping off more of the softer wax. This is more fiddly than skins and you can't climb as steeply.

OTH I've also did a tour in Wyoming a number of years ago where the temp at the trailhead was 15F and the coldest temp we encountered was 0F. We waxed with green and never had to change waxes or scrape for a whole week.

Also in the spring once temps are high and the snow is granular -- klister -- though sticky -- works quite well -- perfect for turn farming on corn.

FYI - old thread on same subject:

www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...dex.php?topic=5890.0