We could talk for pages about wax. Your father is partly right, it does wear off quickly, especially if you apply it correctly. I'd say wax is important in tha

We could talk for pages about wax. Your father is partly right, it does wear off quickly, especially if you apply it correctly. I'd say wax is important in that it prevents the base from oxidizing. A dried out base is more difficult to turn and slower. Structure (small grooves in the base) will make you a second faster) Wearing a race suit vs a normal tight coat will make you two seconds faster. Proper setup edges vs no tune rounded edges will make you 5-6 seconds faster and with much lower chances of dsq. The type of wax is much less important. In a slalom race, choosing the best wax vs a less perfect type might only improve you by 0.02 seconds on a sixty second long race.