help us test detonator for maximum speeds

the cinnabar speed test

Real World Standardized Wax Performance Tests ... on a Beginner Run

58 mph - 93.34 kmph

🟢 Current Top Speed

18.28% Slope 🟢 Run

Grade Tested - % Slope

10.36°

Grade Tested - Degrees
Start Elevation: 8,111 feet End Elevation: 7,777 feet Vertical Drop: 334 feet Length: = 1,827 feet or 609 yards Using Slope (rise over run) - Slope = 18.28% or 🟢 Run Angle = 10.36° You Can Check Our Math: Click Here
Course Statistics - Per Google Earth Pro

BIG SKY RESORT, MT

February - April 2023

Testing Period

12° - 26° F

Snow Temperature Range

watch us test the barking spider Below: ⮯

testing methods:

No gate starts
Gate Starts are a means of achieving increased acceleration during racing by pushing off with your poles and skating with your skis. This is inappropriate for a standardized wax test (wax race) because your acceleration and maximum speed would be artificially increased due to your arm and leg strength, which will vary as you tire, or different people test the same wax.
no push off
Just point your skis downhill and assume a tucked (racing) body posture. This will reduce the affects of wind resistance and tell us more accurately how the wax responds to gravity, without unfairly skewing the results across products, especially a competitor's product.
low to no wind Conditions
Headwinds will slow you down and give a falsely low-speed reading. A tailwind will give you an artificially elevated speed reading. Teton Powda Wax made every effort to ensure wind speeds were as low as possible or near zero when speed tests were performed for the most accurate results.
testing: how we did it... And you can too

measuring speed: using Satellites and GPS

measuring speed

Maximum Speed was measured using redundant android mobile devices and mobile applications that use satellite telemetry (GPS) and triangulation. Up to 23 satellites were simultaneously used to measure our speed. And because it's GPS based, no cell signal is required. And it even works inside of packs worn on the racer. Ignore the 'Distance' data, its meaningless. It's just a measure of how far we've gone since resetting the application, which was often at the bridge, until we stopped to read the measurements, which could have been on the run or back at the lodge. All speeds approaching and leaving the test run were rarely above 20 MPH and would not have set the Maximum Speed. The Current Speed of zero means we were standing still when taking the screen shot.

"Trust, but verify"

Honestly, we were skeptical at first. Thinking the mobile speedometer apps would be a 'tinker toy.' We were wrong. The mobile speedometer application's accuracy was verified and confirmed to be really accurate using our vehicle at highway speeds. We were astonished at how accurate these mobile speedometer applications are. It's speed data you can rely on. We used Speedometer (Pro) and paid the small fee for the full license from the Google Play Store. Note: It was our repeated experience that the Ikon mobile application speed readings were NOT reliable. There are many reasons for this.

battery life

Since cell phones are also a lifeline to the Ski Patrol and medical attention, we used external Li-Ion cell phone battery packs to keep our phones at 100% charge all day long since we found GPS tracking with so many satellites, combined with the cold temperatures, would drain mobile batteries quickly. This also ensured we got good speed measurements the first time we tested, ensuring consistent data in the same weather conditions for large numbers of tests / wax formulas. It was an unnecessary risk to have to retest a speed run because a phone battery died mid-test. To us, speed data from a second speed test was unusable and not valid to mix results from first and second runs. All Teton Powda Wax Cinnabar Test data is collected from 'first run' testing since performing the hot wax, so you know approximately how the product is going to perform in your first race.

more on testing methods:

temperature
Both air temperature and snow temperature were measured using IR Thermometer prior to each speed run.
snow conditions
Snow conditions were checked throughout the day and speed testing aborted if conditions degraded to unsatisfactory conditions that would lead to far too great of variation—such as temps rising well above freezing and melting snow conditions found in afternoon spring skiing conditions.

avoiding injury:

safety first - always
Course spotters were deployed down the run with radios who would inform the 'racer' when the course was clear and free of skier traffic. The uphill racer could see the oncoming traffic and wait for clear course conditions. The uphill bridge formed a natural barrier that all uphill traffic had to pass through, allowing the racer to know when it was safe to commence speed testing, once downhill traffic had cleared out below, per the spotter.
Speed Testing always came in last priority to everyone's safety, ski schools, young riders, slow riders, adverse weather conditions, and the racer's personal feeling of wellbeing.
never raced fatigued
We conducted speed runs only when we felt our absolute best. No room for macho attitudes. We listened to our bodies for fatigue, rubbery, spent muscles, sore knees and hunger levels. The G-Forces on your body can be 3-4x higher than normal gravity at these speeds—meaning a 100 lb racer suddenly feels more like 300+ lbs. when at speed. It can be very taxing. The time to figure out you are tired is before the speed run starts, not when you are doing 60-70+ MPH on a Blue Square and are too tired to react, absorb the bump or jump, or properly maintain your balance.
checked 'course' conditions
Every day began with a slow practice warm up run (on a neutral pair of skis) to check for unsafe course conditions: crusty hard snow, new bumps, chunks of ice, patches of ice, ruts, ensure no moguls, fallen trees/branches, etc. At 60 MPH, you'd be amazed at how the smallest mound of snow or rut can send you airborn or send your skis in opposing directions.

cinnabar speed runs

test results

Teton powda Waxes:
grizzly missile
Teton Glass
🟢►
bat shit crazy
Black Ice

🟢
After Burner
Teton Glass
🟢►
PineApple express
Teton Glass

🟢
barking spider
Teton Glass
🟢►
blazzin' sadles
Black Ice

🟢
flame thrower
Black Ice

🟢
screaming cheetah
Black Ice

🟢
cody's rocket
Black Ice

🟢
pro race trainer
Black Ice

🟢
gate Slayer
Black Ice

🟢
board butter
Black Ice

🟢
competitors waxes:
nanox cfx ii racing wax

🟢
nanox training extra hard + POW

🟢
hertel racing 739 + pow

🟢

watch us test the grizzly missile Below - downhill style: ⮯

This was the first time we ever rode on this scary fast Teton Glass Series Elite Racing Wax and we hit 58 MPH on our Beginner 🟢 run in just 600 yards! For 2024, let's go test this on Intermediate 🟦 runs and see what happens. 😎🤟 Black Diamonds ◆ you ask? That's probably best left for the Professional Racers. And I'm an Expert Skier and previous PSIA Certified Ski Instructor with *some* race training. Not sure even I'm ready for tucking down Black Diamonds on The Grizzly Missile. 🤯 Are you?
4 easy steps to a pro level fast ride

step 1:

melt hot wax onto ride

Smooth with iron for 10 mins. Then wait no more than 2 mins to begin a warm scrape to ensure best product adhesion.

Step 2:

perform warm scrape

  • This photo shows what your ski should look like after performing a warm scrape. Many inexperienced riders will usually stop at this step and go ride, robbing themselves of the wax's maximum speed, durability while wasting money. If you waited too long to perform the warm scrape, don't stress, just go over the wax again with your iron. Think of your iron as an eraser.

Step 3:

roto brush / brush / cork

  • Next, Cork. Or use a set of roto brushes (shown above, use medium speed) or brush manually with the following brushes in this order: 1. Brass Brush 2. Horse Hair 3. Nylon Note: We only use a Steel Roto Brush for P-Tex base prep BEFORE Hot Waxing... not after.

STep 4: Final Step

Buff wax to high polish

final critical step is to buff wax vigorously using tpw buffing pads to a high gloss mirror shine now you are ready to shred you're in for one hell of a wild ride!