WAXFAX: Why Colored Wax Temperature Charts Are a Scam

Walk into any ski shop and you'll see the wall — a rainbow of wax blocks, each one assigned a temperature range and a color. Red for warm. Blue for cold. Purple for somewhere in between. It looks scientific. It feels authoritative. And it is almost entirely nonsense.

Where Did the Color System Come From?

The colored wax temperature system dates back to World War II era chemistry. It was developed at a time when ski wax technology was primitive and the understanding of snow science was limited. Decades later, the major wax manufacturers have done almost nothing to advance the underlying chemistry — they've simply repackaged the same basic approach in shinier tins and added more colors.

The system persists not because it works, but because it sells product. If you need a different wax for every two degrees of temperature change, you buy a lot of wax. That's the business model.

The Problem With Temperature-Specific Wax

Snow is not a controlled laboratory environment. On any given ski day, you will encounter a dozen different snow conditions — groomed corduroy at the top, sun-softened slush on the south-facing runs, icy patches in the shade, and wind-packed powder on the ridge. No colored wax chart accounts for all of that. You'd need to carry half a dozen blocks and rewax between runs.

And even if you pick the “right” color for the morning temperature, conditions change by noon. Your wax doesn't.

What Hertel Did Differently

In the 1970s, Terry Hertel set out to solve the actual problem: skiers and riders need a wax that works across all conditions, not one that works perfectly in a narrow window and fails everywhere else. The result was the world's first true All Temperature® wax — a formula that performs from 6°F to 52°F without switching, without guessing, and without carrying a bag full of colored blocks.

Every Hertel formula is built on this same principle. Super HotSauce™ for everyday all-mountain performance. Racing 739™ for racers who demand maximum glide and durability. IceCoast® for hard-packed and man-made snow. SpringSolution® for spring conditions. Rub N Go™ for on-the-hill convenience. One brand. One philosophy. All temperature.

The Bottom Line

The colored wax system exists to sell more wax, not to make you ski better. It is technology from another era dressed up in modern packaging. The next time a shop employee hands you a color chart, ask them one question: what happens when the temperature changes mid-day?

Hertel's answer has been the same since 1974. One wax. All conditions. Proven on the Olympic podium.

📚 Download the FREE WAXFAX Book and learn how to wax right — once.