Likewise, uni-directional textures (e.g. fish scale or micro-scale hairs) underfoot on cross-country skis can offer a practical substitute for grip wax for those skiers, using the classic technique.

Johannes Scheffer in Argentoratensis Lapponiæ (History of Lapland) in 1673 gave what is probably the first recorded instruction for ski wax application[1] He advised skiers to use pine tar pitch and rosin.

[3] Beginning around 1854, California gold rush miners held organized downhill ski races.

[4] They also discovered that ski bases, smeared with lubricants brewed from vegetable and/or animal compounds, increased speed.

[5] Pine tar on wooden ski bases proved effective for using skis as transport over the centuries, because it fills the pores of the wood and creates a hydrophobic surface that minimizes suction from water in the snow, yet has sufficient roughness to allow traction for forward motion.

[5] In the last quarter of the 20th century, researchers addressed the twin problems of water and impurities adhering to skis during spring conditions.

Hertel also developed the first fluorocarbon product and the first spring-time wax that repels and makes the running surface slick for spring time alpine ski and snowboard.

The solution was based on the work of Enrico Traverso at Enichem SpA, who had developed a fluorocarbon powder with a melting temperature just a few degrees below that of sintered polyethylene,[5] patented in Italy as a "ski lubricant comprising paraffinic wax and hydrocarbon compounds containing a perfluorocarbon segment".

[11] Both the static and kinetic coefficients of friction increase with colder snow temperatures (also true for ice).

[10] Snowflakes have a wide range of shapes, even as they fall; among these are: six-sided star-like dendrites, hexagonal needles, platelets and icy pellets.

Once snow accumulates on the ground, the flakes immediately begin to undergo transformation (called metamorphism), owing to temperature changes, sublimation, and mechanical action.

[13][14] Colbeck reports that fresh, cold, and man-made snow all interact more directly with the base of a ski and increase friction, indicating the use of harder waxes.

Lubrication, capillary attraction and contamination are issues for the ski bottom and the wax that is applied to reduce sliding friction or achieve adequate grip.

However, the heat generated by friction can be lost by conduction to a cold ski, thereby diminishing the production of the melt layer.

[15] Kuzmin and Fuss suggest that the most favorable combination of ski base material properties to minimize ski sliding friction on snow include: increased hardness and lowered thermal conductivity of the base material to promote meltwater generation for lubrication, wear resistance in cold snow, and hydrophobicity to minimize capillary suction.

[16] Lintzén reports that factors other than wax are much more important in reducing friction on cross-country skate skis—the curvature of the ski and snow conditions.

[18] Additives to such waxes include graphite, teflon, silicon, fluorocarbons, and molybdenum to improve glide and/or reduce dirt accumulation.

Kuzmin asserts that UHMWPE is non-porous and can hold neither wax nor water, so there is no possibility for filling pores; furthermore, he asserts that UHMWPE is very hydrophobic, which means that wet snow does not appreciably retard the ski and that glide wax offers little additional ability to repel water.

[29] Ski mountaineers use temporarily adhered climbing skins to provide uphill grip, but typically remove them for descent.

[28] However, some commercial wax solvents are made from citrus oil, which is less toxic, harder to ignite, and gentler on the ski base.

[31] Ski wax may contain chemicals with potential health affects including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs).

[35] Then the snowmelt drains into watersheds, streams, lakes and rivers, thereby changing the chemistry of the environment and the food chain.

PFASs in ski wax are heat resistant, chemically and biologically stable, and thus environmentally persistent.