Star Wax Beta M16 race kick wax (Caldwell Sport) -15/-1, 45 g

Star Beta kick waxes are a collaboration between Star Wax, and Caldwell Sport. They have spent over two decades making homemade “mix” waxes, and mostly failing to make anything good. Out of the many, many mixes we have made, a few have proven to be very successful. Over a two year period in 2019 and 2020, Caldwell  worked closely with Star to recreate these mix waxes from raw materials, and this Beta kick line is the result. These waxes are klister blends, intended to address old-snow conditions. “Old snow” implies a certain amount of transformation or weathering. One of the fastest ways that snow can “age” is getting groomed by heavy equiment. In general, these waxes start to get interested once a new snowfall has been groomed two to three times.

The Beta kick waxes build kick quickly with additional layers, and rely on a great deal of tackiness to produce an immediate kick engagement. Start with a thin application and build thickness gradually! Combining layers to bring the kick up is normal use – for instance, a little M26 mixed into an M21 application can make a big difference.

M16 is a broad range cold wax that will provide kick support up close to the freezing point. The conditions where M16 works tend to transform and glaze with traffic, and even at very cold temps, we often end up moving toward M21, or at least mixing some in on race days.