Butter as Ski Wax? [Skiing suggestion/question, or a tutorial i guess]

[unibikeling]

Hey guys, tonight i was working on our hills ski patrol, and realized that i havent waxed my skis in so long, and that they were way too sticky on the fresh powdery snow.

sooooo... with a lack of wax and an iron, i came up with an idea:

what if i melt butter onto my bases then set my skis outside to freeze it?

thus i went over to our chalet kitchen, asked for some of these (not the same, but you get the idea), and i proceeded to rub it onto my bases.

i tried to rub in as much as possible, then i heated up a steak knife in the pizza oven to use as a heating device. (hey, i'm pulling out all the stops here).


after i get it hot, i melted some of the butter on my bases and spread it around better, rubbed it in for a few minutes. Then i just stuck the knife to a packet of butter and dripped it on and rubbed it into my p-tex.

After i got my skis covered in enough butter, i set them outside to let it freeze.

I never got the chance to try it out due to a patient who consumed my entire night, but i think its going to work really well, but i never got the chance....


I consider myself the McGiver of skiing right now.

same with washing my bandana in the patrol's kitchen sink with dish soap, and then ironing it on a toasting hot pizza oven. (btw it worked awesome).



so, until i go skiing next (thursday or friday probably), what do you think the butter will work like? I think it will give the effect of cooking spray (which i know is sometimes used by racers for quick runs), but only a lot longer because i'm sure i rubbed it into the p-tex.

ideas maybe?


oh heres what i'm tlaking about for butter (not same brand or flavor, but same size, its the restaurant size thingys):





edit: oh yeah, i'm easily guessing this is a completely meaningless post, but i thought about sharing my idea. i hope it works cause i havent waxed my skins in a long time.

[saskatchewanian]

My guess is it will work well but only for a short time. Around here people used to used grease rendered from the fat in beaver tails for their dog sled runners. Most people use ski wax now because it lasts longer.

[catinabag1]

butter won't last long as wax. it's not as hard.

[Bondo]

You'll ski that off just getting to the lift.
Ha ha.
Save the butter for the pancakes.

Surely you can drop them off the rental shop for a quick wax ?
Get some Zardoz from the sport shop?

Get a $12 dollar travel iron from WalMart...best and cheap iron for ski-wax.

And yes it's that time of year to wax some glop-stop into the skins.

[unibikeling]

Originally Posted by Bondo

You'll ski that off just getting to the lift.
Ha ha.
Save the butter for the pancakes.

Surely you can drop them off the rental shop for a quick wax ?
Get some Zardoz from the sport shop?

Get a $12 dollar travel iron from WalMart...best and cheap iron for ski-wax.

And yes it's that time of year to wax some glop-stop into the skins.

meh.

well, the only reason i think it'd work is because racers use the butter though.

i know its no substitute for wax, but i think its alright.


and we own a really nice waxing setup, so i'm fine there, i was just testing to see if it would work or not.

[smcmorrow]

Did you scrape or brush them? I don't think butter will work very well in any form, but if it is not properly scaped and brushed it will be even slower than no way at all.
Even using real wax, skiing on unscraped and unbrushed skis is really, really slow.

I think the butter was a bad idea to begin with.

[maestro8]

Originally Posted by unibikeling

I consider myself the McGiver of skiing right now.

So if I rub mayonnaise on my face and then go surfing, does that make me the MacGyver of the ocean?

MacGyver actually got sh*t done. If anything, you might consider yourself an honorary Polack.

[unibikeling]

Originally Posted by smcmorrow

Did you scrape or brush them? I don't think butter will work very well in any form, but if it is not properly scaped and brushed it will be even slower than no way at all.
Even using real wax, skiing on unscraped and unbrushed skis is really, really slow.

I think the butter was a bad idea to begin with.

Haha. Well, at our hill all we have is ice, and my brother will often times (in a hurry) just not scrape, considering that about a run or so will take off excess.

Its only MAYBE slow for the first run. (well, probably is until the excess comes off in a snap). Also depends what temp wax your using.

Originally Posted by maestro8

So if I rub mayonnaise on my face and then go surfing, does that make me the MacGyver of the ocean?

MacGyver actually got sh*t done. If anything, you might consider yourself an honorary Polack.

Hmm... The honorary Polack of skiing. Still sounds alright.


meh.

[agentQ]

I doubt your knife got hot enough to actually open the pores in your base, meaning your base did not absorb any of the butter. And like was said before it will be gone by the time you make it to the lift.

Racers and PAM... sounds stupid, may work, but I would imagine its only wick moister and would be ontop of wax.

[unibikeling]

Originally Posted by agentQ

I doubt your knife got hot enough to actually open the pores in your base, meaning your base did not absorb any of the butter. And like was said before it will be gone by the time you make it to the lift.

Racers and PAM... sounds stupid, may work, but I would imagine its only wick moister and would be ontop of wax.

yeah, i guess so about the first part of your post, bu the second part i know to be true


I seriously know some racers that before a run (note a single run) will spray down in cooking spray.