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Vauhti Teho: The 'Hard Working' Wax
By:  Edward McCarthy   (2006/01/28)

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Teho Green

When the XC Ottawa contingent arrived at the trails in Silver Star in November, we quickly realized that our chance to ski on the beautiful Sovereign Lake trails would only come after some carefully considered wax selection. The course conditions varied in extremes from the wet slopes of hills in the sun to the colder dry snow deeper into the course. Add to the mix very old granular snow, hard-packed and almost icy, with glazed tracks in the stadium area. Having run into this before, we pulled out our stock of Vauhti Teho waxes, and ended up using them as our base, and sometimes only, layer of grip for the whole week.

Teho (pronounced "TEY-ho", or so the Finns tell us) means something like "hard working" in Finnish. If the translation is correct, then it is a very appropriate name. Teho comes in tin canisters identical to those of ordinary grip wax - but isn't. It is unique; its texture is somewhere between ordinary grip, base binder, and klister. It comes in three flavours: green, blue, and violet, in order of ascending gooeyness. We suggest that you keep it frozen so you can apply thin layers and be able to peel the aluminium cans with too much mess. It's gooey, you've been warned!

All of the Teho waxes were designed for man-made snow, but also work very well in a variety of conditions. The Teho Green has a much wider operating range than the other two Teho grip waxes. It can be used on humid new snow in temperatures from around the freezing point down to -8°…-10°C. In old and coarse snow, the wax is effective from above zero down to the coldest temperatures.

Apply Teho Green in the same way you would apply conventional grip wax - crayon on and then cork smooth. We recommend thinner layers in comparison to conventional or fluor grip waxes. Teho Green can also be used as a basebinder under all other grip waxes. Green Teho grip wax can be used in substantially more humid conditions than normal basebinders, because it grips much better than the others. It is an especially good alternative when it is difficult to decide whether to use a klister or basebinder as the base wax. For example, in conditions when there is moist, coarse, abrasive snow in some areas and new or fine grained drier snow on the track, Teho Green rarely ices up.

Apply Teho Green as the first (always thin) bottom layer in humid, new and fine grained snow conditions, and when there is need to improve the grip of other grip waxes. Never use it alone in new snow, always cover it with another grip wax!

Because Violet and Blue Teho grip waxes are applied in a thin layer, it is very difficult for snow crystals to penetrate into them. This is a special characteristic of Teho waxes. When there is need to apply Teho waxes as a thicker layer, for example in fine loose coarse snow or on soft track, Teho Green can be used very well as a basewax for the other two Teho grips. It can form a fairly thick base layer, which can be then covered with a very thin layer of either Violet or Blue Teho grip wax depending the conditions. This waxing technique improves the glide tremendously and gives superior grip, if compared to other grip waxing alternatives in these conditions.

The Violet and Blue Teho grip waxes should not be applied in thicker layers because of their great gripping ability. You apply these varieties more like klister, dabbing on small amounts and spreading it smooth either with your thumb, palm, cork or brass klister brush.

 
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