Gear West Birkie Race Wax Service

Training for a Cross Country Ski Marathon is hard enough. Save time and reduce stress by having your skis precision glide waxed by the best in the business! Race wax service is now open for the 2023 American Birkebeiner and Kortelopet. Limited spaces are available, so sign up early to guarantee your spot!

Gear West Race Wax Service is the best way to get your skis prepped by professionals while you can focus on the other things that make you go fast on race day. This year for our American Birkebeiner service, we have done extensive testing on the new non-fluorinated race waxes from Swix. We will be using our experience to bring the best combination of waxes to your skis.

For Classic Skiers, we will also prep the kick zone and apply a binder layer. We will be testing waxes and application methods each day to keep up with the changing weather throughout the week. Race skis will be prepped each evening before race day. 

In addition to the wax, we will be testing hand structure throughout the week and using our experience with hand structure to determine what each pair of skis needs as we prepare. Hand structure has become increasingly important for humid and wet conditions; we will be prioritizing this daily.

The service is available for both classic and skate skis. Please note, that for classic skis we apply only a kick base binder wax to the kick pocket. We will provide recommendations for kick and an area to apply wax at ski pick-up, but due to the wide variance in the amount of kick preferred, WE DO NOT APPLY KICK WAX.

Skis must be scraped, brushed, ready for race wax application at drop off. The kick zones must be cleaned, sanded, and marked. 

• The last day to drop off skis at Gear West is Sunday, February 19th before 4:00 p.m.
• If you are not dropping off your skis at Gear West and have selected store drop off we ask that you ship your skis to Gear West well ahead of time.
• Skis dropped off for service in Hayward will be charged $110 for skate and $120 for classic.
• Skis being dropped off in Hayward will need to be at the Gear West Mobile Van in the Hayward Middle School Parking Lot before
• Korte – Thursday, February 23rd before 3:00 p.m.
• Birkie – Friday, February 24th before 3:00 p.m.
• Race Morning ski pick-up for all Birkie & Korte races will be at each Start Line Area. All pickups are at the start line for your event. No other pickup options are available.

Schedule

Date	Events	Locations
Jan 1st – Feb 18th	Registration and Instore drop off open (registration may close earlier if space fills up)	gearwest.com & Gear West
Saturday – Feb 18th	Registrations Closes @ 11:59pm (registration may close earlier if space fills up)	gearwest.com
Sunday – Feb 19th	Instore Drop-Off Closes @ 4pm	Gear West
Monday-Wednesday Feb  20th-22nd	No drop-off or pickups
Thursday – Feb 23rd	Hayward Drop Off 10am – 3pm for Kortie (Kortie last drop) | 10am-6pm for Birkie	Hayward WI
Friday – Feb 24th	Korteloppet Startline Pick up (at 00)| Hayward Drop Off 10am – 3pm for Birkie (last drop)	Hayward & Seeley WI
Saturday – Feb 25th	Birkebeiner Startline Pick up	Cable WI