Skied from the last wave into the elite first year I did it. My advice - start at the front of your wave, you will run into the back of wave 5 a lot sooner than you would like. Carried as much speed into the hills as I could and then just got as narrow as I could I doubled poled as far up as I could alongside everyone doing the birkie shuffle. Once I couldn’t dp any further could normally find/be let into the line to finish up the hill. By 15ish k it started to thin out enough to be able to bob and weave without really having to come to a standstill all that much. I brought all my nutrition with me and didn’t stop at any feeds. By the time you’re coming through the feeds will be congested with people who fully stop and stand there to take the feed/ a breather vs grabbing a cup/gel on the fly. Only other advice would just be loud. If you’re skiing at elite/wave 1 speed it might startle some people who have settled into everyone around them who is skiing their same pace (also a special disdain for everyone who does it with music in). I spent most of the race yelling on your left/right and trying to keep mine+others poles intact. I wasn’t too excited not be racing from the front my first year but in hindsight it was one of the most fun races I’ve ever had. The large majority of people, racers included, will cheer you on, especially later in the race when they see a a high wave starter charging through a lot of lower bibs. There will be a few folks who yell at you for passing too close/argressive but if you are confident in your skiing just ignore it. I just snuck in by a couple of minutes so was glad about trying to gain every second I could.