Idea for pollen on skis

Alan, I'm wondering what you mean when you suggest that brushing in the field might remove pollen accumulations.  In my experience, the pollen on a bad day accumulates so rapidly and in such quantities that it would clog my (brass) brush in no time.  Also, because the pollen is a tarry substance, not dry like hardened ski wax, there'd be some remaining on the ski anyway....following which another coating of tar would accumulate within several hundred feet.  What's to gain here?  Am I misunderstanding what you're saying?  Have you actually tried this? 

Mark,

No I have not tried it.  As stated in my original post it was a suggestion and a request to see if it was ever used.  I only posted because I saw several posts complaining about the pollen this year and did not see any posts with obvious solutions. 

If the problem is so bad that the ski is fouled in just a couple of hundred feet or so then it is obvious that there is no solution.  After all, we cannot expect the mountains to provide scrapers embedded in the snow every hundred feet to automatically clean the bottom of the ski as we descend.  The solution on that day is to just have a nice day in the hills on foot.

I necessarily was discussing days where fouling slowly accumulates such that after a fun run down or two the experience degrades.  What to do then?

If there are extreme accumulations, I can imagine a brush would foul itself pretty quickly.  Perhaps the solution there is to use the scraper to get the bulk of the gunk off and then use the brush to clean out the rillling in the base structure.  My guess is that the material in the base structure seriously impedes performance and at the same time promotes faster re-accumulation.  On the other hand, if it builds up that fast, there really is no solution is there?

Toko,

I am not inclined to leave the brushes home until someone tells me that they have tried it and it did not work.  I would prefer to find out myself, if the situation presents itself and then I will let you know if it works or not.  I would hate to walk away from a possible solution based on speculation.  Again I am not talking about extreme accumulations.

I would be interested in how deep waxes can penetrate into ptex.  Micrometers, millimeters, centimeters?  Also, what is the efficiency of penetration with depth?  On the other hand what practical value does that level of penetration yield?  It would be hard to argue that wax that is below the surface and cannot come into contact with the snow could offer any performance value to a ski.  I would doubt that wax deep into the pores somehow gradually extrudes out and refills the surface.

Again, I have never seen a report from wax techs or any articles on waxing to suggest that a hot box preparation meant that a race team could rewax skis at longer intervals of use.  Fact is the skier is skiing on the wax that was last applied.  And they always rewax, the needs more in line with the changing snow/temp conditions.  I have no doubt that the wax suppliers would have us believe that applying wax daily, in- and off-season, would be beneficial.  To what end?  What incremental improvement is gained?

Alan

If the problem is so bad that the ski is fouled in just a couple of hundred feet or so then it is obvious that there is no solution. 

Well, there is no complete solution that will render the bases slick as they would be in non-pollen conditions, but Markharf and I (the only two contributors who have tried the product) have offered that Hertel Spring Solution helps to smooth out the ride.  It's not a complete solution, but it's not so bad -- I did a 1300 foot run last Saturday on pollen fouled Spring Solution-waxed bases, and it was slow but tolerable and non-jerky, better and faster than pollen-fouled bare P-tex or other waxes.  Markharf and others and I have also related our experience that scraping and judicious use of solvent (citrus cleaner is the popular one, but I agree with Markharf that white gas seems to work just as well) is the only way we've figured to remove the pollen, aka Kascade Klister.  I have not tried brushing, but I sometimes do use Scotchbrite to remove gunk after using solvent.  I'm inclined to agree that a brush would quickly get so clogged as to be worthless.  If someone has a better system, I'm all ears.   

Edited to add:  Toko relates some good sound conventional waxing wisdom, but it does not directly address the pollen issue.

I like the first hand accounts for the success of the Hertel product.

It looks like it is a partially fluorinated wax product and works best if hot waxed in. I wonder if the fluoro component is what reduces the pollen stick? Can other fluoro waxes do the same?

However, your description is that there still was some fouling to deal with. This is probably not such an issue on a short trip, especially if the product makes the trip possible at all. If you want to extend the trip, then removing the pollen that does adhere without removing the Hertel seems reasonable if you overwax slightly, as you suggested.

They say that the wax can be rubbed on, but I would not do that for fear that the weak application could foul ski glues. I think your solution is a better way to go.

Why does pollen stick to bases that are unwaxed? Does it carry its own coating of resin on its surface? It does not stick to my windshield, even after it has become wet with dew. Seems odd that it should stick to "dry" ptex. I can see pollen becoming embedded in the softer waxes. Maybe there is other unseen crap that the ski picks up that then captures the pollen.

I will still try my brush idea and report on it if I can get out.

Alan

Why does pollen stick to bases that are unwaxed?

I don't know why, but it does, as evinced by my buddies's skis, which go waxless year round. As I remarked above, the big problem is that pollen sticks to pollen, hence the build up.

Day 2
Nature 2 -Skiers 0
I have always used Hertals Fc 739 highly flourinated ,hot deep waxed (think deep massage deep deep into the pores )and scraped and brass brushed down down to ptex. I,ve always scraped the pollen off.
Perhaps the pollen is confused by fir /spruce /poplar cores?

I'm not a botanist nor microbiologist, but my guess is that pollen naturally selected to stick to stuff.  Check out the pics here