Henry’s ski wax collection
(Henry, one of our regular commenters, lives in London, ON, where he is still recovering from the trauma of leaving the Rockies for going on 29 years now!)
Hi Bob, I humbly admit that in about 40 years of skiing I have almost never cleaned the assortment of dirt from the wax
containers. A geologist would have a field day with them.
These waxes would probably have seen a lot more of the world had they not been stuck to the bottoms of my skis and the slow poke who was running them. I’m sure these waxes have run over their fair share of snow fleas too!
This collection started mostly in Calgary in 77. Some of the originals are still in the collection, I’m sure. These have seen diverse places like Snow Dome and Blueberry Hill, from the Selkirks and Monashees to Killarney and Algonquin Parks, tours like the Lake Louise Telemark and the Canadian Ski Marathon, and the Traversee de Charlevoix, and so many of the places that readers of Skier Bob writes about. All by an average guy. So, I urge those who might be sitting on the fence regarding the joy of cross country skiing to go out, buy every wax they need, and start living their ski dream. And do it with friends and family!
Bob, keep up the good work on the blog site.
Regards,
Henry Leparskas
******
Gord Newel sent in this photo of his wax kit…
Gord, the Swix F4 glider is prominent in your kit. I’m curious as to how well it works for you.
Great! I love it, I went to the store that starts with m for a VERY informative class and he talked about using it on tips and tails, I used it on my wife & daughter’s wax-less as well, so easy to put on if you get the applicator type.
These photos are great! As someone who’s just gotten into XC over the past two winters, I guess this answers my question as to whether ski waxes ever go bad. Looks like you’ve even got a yellow iron from the 70’s … I just threw out a yellow popcorn maker last weekend.
Barbara, the question of ski wax life did come to me over the years, but as far as I can tell, these waxes apply just like they used to, and seem to still work just fine.
Hey, Henry, I think you’ve been shopping at the same stores in the same decades as I have!
Dennis, you are right! The store name starts with an M and was first located on the second floor in a building on 10 St. NW, as far as I can recall.