Monday	11 am to 5 pm
Tuesday	CLOSED
Wednesday	CLOSED
Thursday	11 am to 6 pm
Friday	11 am to 5 pm
Saturday	12 to 5 pm
Sunday	CLOSED

On Thursday, October 15, I will be opening with regular business hours. These hours, listed below, will be posted on my website and on the front door of the store.  

Monday            11am    to      5pm
Tuesday            Closed
Wednesday      Closed
Thursday          11am     to     6pm
Friday                11am    to     5pm
Saturday           12pm    to      5pm
Sunday              Closed

Recently,  I have spent a lot of time and energy in organizing my shop in a way that will allow me to be able to deal with Covid- 19 in a safe and appropriate way.  There are 2 signs on the front door.  One sign states “MAXIMUM 5 PEOPLE” and the other sign states that “MASKS ARE MANDATORY”.  There is hand sanitizer just inside the front door.  I will politely ensure that everyone maintains a safe social distance.  If you are planning on coming here to buy skis or have skis tested,  it would be helpful if you could send me an email stating when you would like to come here.  Through emails, we will arrange a reservation time.   For all other aspects of the services that I provide at GNS, you will not need a reservation.

As of Sunday,  October 11,  the Outaouais is a RED ZONE in Quebec.  The restrictions in a RED ZONE in Quebec are very similar to the restrictions in Ottawa.  At this point in time, there is no indication that they will close the bridges.  Having said this,  even if they close the bridges, there are appropriate ways that I can get your skis, do the work on these skis and get your skis back to Ottawa.  For people who have ordered products/equipment,  if you are not able to drive here,  I will ship the products to you and pay for the shipping.  As is the case with all businesses, out of necessity, there are appropriate ways of dealing with Covid -19.

 I am very much looking forward to skiing and providing a good service to other skiers so that they can also enjoy skiing this winter.  

 I look forward to seeing and talking to you,  albeit from a distance.  

Thanks,
Wayne

OPEN      😊😊😊

As of June 8, 2020,  I am open for business. I will be available with a reservation. I will adhere to the guidelines that are being used in Wakefield with regards to physical distancing and the use of hand sanitizer. There will be a maximum of 4 people allowed in the shop. This information will be posted on the front door.   Shortly after Thanksgiving in October, I will have regular hours which will be posted on my  website and on the front door.


In October or early November,  I will send out a Newsletter with updated information and videos on: 

•  liquid and solid waxes ( non fluoro, non poisonous and non toxic waxes)        They exist and they are excellent.
•  base preparation after stone grinding
•  skin skis  
•  waxing skin skis 
•  skis for wet conditions

The last 2 months have been a very difficult and stressful time for people all over the world. Presently, in Quebec and in the rest of Canada, the situation is improving and hopefully will continue to do so. I have never been more grateful that I am a Canadian citizen and living on Canadian soil. 

On a lighter note, as a sign of the times, yesterday, I stood in front of a mirror with a pair of scissors and cut my hair. I don’t think my mother would have approved. It is probably a good thing that I am better at stone grinding than I am at cutting hair.

I am very much looking forward to skiing and seeing people in my shop this fall/winter. 

Wayne

From Saturday, March 14 until  Tuesday, March 17,  St, Patrick’s day, I will be closed. At that time, taking into account what is going on where I live,  I will re-assess the situation and keep you posted.

Take care,

Wayne

Again this year, I will be grinding classic and skate skis for the loppet. I will be waxing skis for the skate races on Sunday.

I will grind skis on Wednesday, Feb. 12 and after that on demand up to and including Saturday, Feb. 15. You can bring skis to Wakefield at any time when we are open. You may also drop off skis at Euro-sports in Ottawa. On Tuesday, Feb. 11, I will pick up skis at Euro-sports at Noon. I will grind these skis on Wednesday and return the skis to Euro-sports by Noon on Thursday. If you drop off skis at Euro-sports, please send me an email to inform me that your skis are at the store.

Euro-sports will have a booth for the loppet in the gymnasium of the school. You may drop off skis at the booth for stone grinding at any time. However, if you want to use the skis for the race on Sunday, you will need to get the skis to their booth before they close on Friday. For people who want me to wax their skate skis for the race on Sunday, I will have these skis ground, waxed and ready to go at the booth on Sunday by 7:15 am. If you want your skis to be ground only and you want to wax these skis yourself, you will need to make arrangements to come to Wakefield on Saturday afternoon to get these skis.

For the grinding of skis, you can decide for yourself what grind you would like or let me determine the appropriate grind for the race on Sunday. I will be in the gym on Sunday morning prepared to put hand structure on any skis that need structuring.

For the last month, I have been testing the new NF liquid waxes. I am highly impressed with these waxes. For the loppet, I will be using the new Star NF liquid glide waxes. Once these waxes are ironed in, they can last for up to 80 km. The Star waxes are also highly effective on the skins of skin skis and can also be ironed in using an iron temperature of 120 C’. From this point on, I am going to use and sell NF, non toxic, liquid and hard glide waxes.

I will charge $65 for the grind and base saturation, $20 to harden the bases and $35 to glide wax skate skis for the races on Sunday using Star NF liquid waxes. The liquid wax is applied over a NF, hard wax of the day that has been ironed into the base and polished well. After applying the liquid wax, it is ironed in using a iron temperature of 130 C’ and then polished.

Enjoy the Races.

Wayne

Cleaning Skins

See the video to your right.

​As illustrated in the video, I prefer to use a wax remover to clean the skins. Immediately after cleaning, I use 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove the residue. After cleaning, let the skins dry for at least 1 hour before you wax the skis or go skiing.  

Please pay considerable attention when ironing in glide waxes.  Keep the iron and waxes at least 1 cm from both ends of the skins.  

Applying Montana Win the Race Liquid Silicon Compound

See the video to your right.

Montana Win the Race Silicon Compound is technically not a wax. However, for the sake of this article, since it accomplishes the same thing as liquid waxes, I am going to include Win the Race as a liquid wax in this article.

​When applying Win the Race, do not use heat. After the liquid is dry, you do not need to scrape or polish the skins or the glide zones.  One coat will last about 2 to 2.5 hours. If you apply a second coat, it will last about an hour longer.

Last winter, I tested Win the Race in comparison to other waxes. I concluded that in variable and wet conditions, Win the Race is as good, if not better, than other liquid waxes, NF, LF and HF.

This winter, I am going to continue to test Win the Race in comparison to all the new NF liquid waxes that are now on the market.

Liquid Waxes

On Tuesday, January 7, I received the new Star NF liquid waxes. On the same day, Peter Hamilton came to Wakefield with samples of the new NF Vauhti PUR liquid waxes. That same day, I waxed 4 pairs of test skis with the waxes (blue range), including Star NF liquid, Vauhti PUR liquid NF and Start Ultra Gel NF liquid. That night, I started testing.

All liquid waxes need to be applied to a clean, dry ski base. The base of the ski does not have to have wax in it. The skis will be faster if there is a wax ironed into the base of the ski. It is better if this wax is a non fluoro paraffin wax.  Considering that liquids need to adhere to the base of a ski and not the wax, any wax that has been ironed into the base needs to be scraped and polished well.  After 100 to 200 km of skiing on liquid waxes, it is recommended that the skis be waxed again using an iron and paraffin wax. For best results for race day waxing, the wax ironed in needs to be in the same temperature range as the liquid wax applied.

For those people who do not have an iron or prefer not to use one and are about to use liquid waxes on a regular basis, I suggest that you consider having someone clean and wax your skis at least once a year. Your skis will perform better if you maintain your skis properly. I also recommend that you have your skin skis cleaned and waxed at least once a year.

Moving forward I am going to be using and selling only NF liquid and block waxes, namely; Montana Win the Race Silicon Compound, Star, Start, and Vauhti. 

If you have not already tried using liquid waxes, I suggest that you do so. I think you will be pleased!

I will be closed from Sunday, December 22 to Wednesday, January 1.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years      

Stone Grinding

There are those who believe that it is better to apply certain topper waxes directly onto the bases of skis that have no base wax.  With regards to this and with help from other people, I have been testing and will continue to do so.  At this point in time, for those who want performance from their skis, I am going to continue to recommend that after skis have been stone ground, the bases be saturated with a soft wax, hardened with a cold green wax, a CH wax of the day ironed in and a liquid wax applied as the top layer wax of the day.  If I find an on-snow faster gliding waxing formula, I will change this procedure.   

As of now, I am going to charge $65 to grind and saturate the bases of skis with a soft wax, regardless of the number of pairs of skis.   I will charge $20 to harden the bases of skis.
 

Retailing of Skis

This winter, Gatineau Nordic Sport (GNS) will be selling  Peltonen and Alpina skis.  We will have access to racing skis, touring skis, kids’ skis and back country skis.  We can install skins on classic skis that we sell.
 

Upcoming Changes in the Waxing Industry

In January, 2020, new REACH regulations will be put into place.   REACH is the set of regulations that govern the use of chemicals in the European Union.  Since all the wax manufacturers operate out of or sell in Europe, they will need to comply with the new REACH regulations.  Presently, the fluoro waxes are being produced using C8 chemistry (C8 for 8-carbon).  Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a residue that is produced when using C8 chemistry.  PFOA does not break down easily and therefore, in layman’s terms, is bad.  It appears that the new REACH regulations will state that there can be no detectable amount of PFOA in any waxes produced using C8 chemistry.  If this is the case, there will be a complete ban on the use of C8 chemistry.  

There are those, rightly so, who believe that the day will come when there will be a complete ban on the production of products using fluoro compounds. However, the new REACH regulations allow for the use of C6 Chemistry, which does not have any PFOA residue and breaks down more readily.  Waxes that are already being produced using the C6 chemistry, when mixed with paraffin wax are performing very well.  However, the pure fluoro products (powders, blocks, liquids) using C6 chemistry do not appear to be as good as flouro products using C8 chemistry. 

The wax companies can continue to produce waxes using C8 chemistry up until the end of this year.  However, they are not going to want to be left with waxes that they cannot legally sell, which will be the case as of January 2020.  Sometime this fall, if not already, the wax companies will stop producing the C8 waxes and start producing the C6 waxes. I believe that the stores will be able to sell waxes with the C8 chemistry until all these products are sold.  It will be interesting to see just how this plays out here in Canada this winter, in particular if, for some reason, we do not have access to the new waxes being produced using C6 chemistry.  

Even though there will be a ban on the production of waxes using C8 chemistry, as far as I know, there has not been a ban on the use of these waxes, which could well become a messy and confusing situation.  At this point in time, there is nothing preventing individuals / clubs / organizations from stockpiling waxes using the C8 chemistry, in particular, the 100% flouro waxes.  Skiers who are competitive in thinking could be well advised to make plans as to what approach they are going to take with regards to purchasing and ordering waxes for this winter and for next winter.  It would be helpful if the people / clubs / organizations / Nordiq Canada would make statements regarding the waxing protocol for races in Canada.

I completed writing this article on Saturday, September 28, the day after the Global Climate Strike marches in Ottawa and Montreal.  One would like to think that instead of people being reluctant and resistant to appropriate changes made to ski waxes, that everyone would be highly supportive and pushing for a complete ban on the production and use of all products with toxic fluorine additives.

 

Liquid Waxes

It may well be that liquid waxes are the way of the future for waxing cross country skis.  Liquid waxes are convenient, easy to use and cost effective. Liquid waxes come as NF (no fluoro), LF (low flouro) and HF (high flouro).  These waxes can be applied using an iron, a cork or simply by wiping on, allowing to dry and then go skiing.  They can be used on the glides zones of skis and also on the hairs of skin skis. Liquid waxes are being used with very good success by skiers of all levels of ability.

Liquid waxes using the C6 chemistry are testing out as good as, if not better than, the waxes made using C8 chemistry.   If the liquids being produced using the new REACH regulations continue to improve, the day may come when liquid waxes will be used on all types of cross country skis, including skis being used in high-level racing where a liquid can be the final top coat of wax.

From this point on, I am going to sell and promote waxes that clearly indicate that they are compliant with the new REACH regulations for 2019 / 2020.  This winter I am going to sell Star liquid waxes and Montana Win the Race liquid silicone compound.  These liquids are compliant with the new REACH regulations.  As I become aware of other waxes that I learn are performing well and that clearly state they are compliant with the new regulations, I am going to buy and then test these products.  The winds of change are coming!

Regardless of your skiing ability or your ambitions for ski performance, I highly recommend that you try using liquid waxes. I do not think you can go wrong in doing so.  

https://www.starskiwax.com/paraffins/new-fluor-liquid-glide-wax/
https://www.montana-international.com/en/products/machines/waxing-and-polishing/wintherace/

 

From this point on, I am going to sell and promote waxes that clearly indicate that they are compliant with the new REACH regulations for 2019 / 2020.  This winter I am going to sell Star liquid waxes and Montana Win the Race liquid silicone compound.  These liquids are compliant with the new REACH regulations.  As I become aware of other waxes that I learn are performing well and that clearly state they are compliant with the new regulations, I am going to buy and then test these products.  The winds of change are coming!
Regardless of your skiing ability or your ambitions for ski performance, I highly recommend that you try using liquid waxes. I do not think you can go wrong in doing so.  

https://www.starskiwax.com/paraffins/new-fluor-liquid-glide-wax/
https://www.montana-international.com/en/products/machines/waxing-and-polishing/wintherace/

 

Montana Win the Race Liquid Silicon Compound

Last fall, on Nov.11, Remembrance Day, I went skiing on the grassy edge of the parkway from P-19 in the Gatineau Park.  There was 5 cm of new, wet, sticky snow on the ground.  I was skiing on skin skis, skis into which I had installed skins.  On one ski I applied Montana Win the Race liquid silicon compound over the entire length of the ski. On the other ski I used a HF liquid wax over the entire length of the ski.  In the next few days, in similar snow conditions, I used the same skis waxed the same way.  For each of the 3 days of skiing, Win the Race outperformed the HF wax.  The glide of the ski with Win the Race was a little better and the skin did not ice up.  When used on the hairs of skins, in variable and wet conditions, Win the Race liquid silicon compound may be as good as is available.

Montana Win the Race liquid silicon compound is a non-toxic, odourless, clear liquid.  It has no fluorine additives and being silicone-based, it is superhydrophobic.  Win the Race is extremely convenient and easy to use.  When applying Win the Race, it is not necessary to heat, scrape or brush the skis. Simply apply, let dry for at least 15 minutes and then go skiing. I have tried applying this liquid outside in the winter.  This did not work for me.  I find that the base and hairs need to be dry and warm. 

Taking into account that I am selling Montana Win the Race liquid silicone compound, I am obviously going to promote this product.  Having said this, I suggest that you try this compound and judge for yourself.  You can purchase Win the Race from Gatineau Nordic Sport (GNS) or order it directly from Montana Inc. in the United States.  If people and retail stores in Canada prefer to order and purchase this product in Canada in order to avoid dealing with Customs, I have been given the option of being able to distribute Win the Race in Canada. 
 

Future Newsletters       

If you know of someone you think would like to receive this GNS newsletter, send it to them and inform them that if they would like to receive future newsletters, they should send me an email and I will put them on the mailing list.

If, however, you would prefer not to receive these GNS newsletters, inform me and I will take you off the mailing list.


Wayne

From  Wednesday, March 6 to Wednesday, March 20 inclusive, I am prepared to grind skis on demand  for athletes who are attending the Nationals at Nakkertok.   If you would like me to  grind skis, please contact me and we will make the necessary arrangements.  I will charge $60 for the grind and the saturation of the bases.  I can harden the bases of the skis if requested.                 

I am very much looking forward to this event.  I plan on being at the site, even if only briefly,  for each day of the competition.

Good Luck to all,
Wayne

Grind of your choice, saturate the bases, harden the bases with a hard green LF wax, scrape and polish the bases: 

COST: $100

I will apply a HF glide wax of the day for an extra $20.

Recommended grinds for the Loppet:

The best all-round grinds are the CJ2 for skate skis and XT2 for classic skis.  They work very well most of the time.
If the forecast ends up being correct, these will be the appropriate grinds.
Schedule:

Next week, I will pick up skis on Wednesday, Feb 13 from Euro-sports and the Cyclery, just after NOON time.

I will grind/wax these skis and have the skis back in the stores by Thursday, Feb. 14 at 4 pm.

If you prefer, you can bring your skis to my shop in Wakefield. This year, there are no retail booths at the CJEP. I believe they do not have use of the large gym.  As a result, I do not have access to a drop off location for skis. I am willing to grind and wax skis up until Saturday morning, but I can only do this for people who can pick their skis up at our workshop in Wakefield.

Good luck at the races,
Wayne