How to care for your skis

Are your skis ready for the season ahead? Just like a car or bike, skis need a seasonal check-up. Professional tuning is available at ski service shops but you can also do DIY ski care at home.

Skis and snowboards are expensive so it makes sense to maximise their longevity whenever possible. Proper care can also enhance your performance on the slopes - so it’s a win-win really. This article will explain how to wax and tune your skis using a few key tools.

Why wax your skis?

Wax is used on skis to protect from scratches both on and off piste. A smooth base reduces friction with the ground, helping skis to glide smoothly and go faster. You’ll know your skis need to be waxed if their bases look cloudy, faded or streaked with grey or white. But it also depends on how often and what type of skiing you do.

If you are skiing most days of the season then you would benefit from waxing once every two weeks but if you ski twice a year then once a season could be enough.

How to wax your skis

For waxing at home, you’ll need a workbench or table with a vice designed to hold skis. Other equipment includes an iron, wire brush and a block of wax. Don’t use a household iron unless you want waxy clothing.

Skiing on a hard piste can be abrasive on equipment whereas off-piste riding can expose the bases to hidden stones and branches. Check your bases after every ski session for scratches or ‘core shots’ - a gouge that exposes the core of the ski to the elements.

Core shots expose the inner layers of your skis to moisture which risks separation or delamination of the materials. To avoid this death sentence, P-Tex (Polyethylene) can be melted into the gouges. This process requires precision, high temperatures and ventilation so it is best left to professionals.

To prepare the base for waxing, clean it with a stiff nylon or copper brush to remove any dirt and residual grease. Different types of wax are available, depending on the terrain you want to ski. Universal wax is a good all-rounder but whatever wax you choose, check the label to see what temperature it works best at and set the waxing iron accordingly.

Once the iron is hot enough, press the wax against it to melt and move along the ski, allowing a line of wax droplets to fall along the length of it. Do this a few times until the wax is generously distributed and then use the iron to spread it out across the whole base.

The heat of the iron binds the wax to the ski so the more heat applied, the better the bind and longer the waxing should last. However, there should always be a layer of wax between the ski and the base because extreme heat exposure can permanently warp the ski and damage it.

After passing the iron over the ski five or six times, the limit of absorption will be reached and the process can be repeated for the second ski.Once both skis are completely coated in a smooth film of wax, they can be left to dry.

The longer they’re left, the better bonded the wax will be to the base. If this is only overnight, it’s better than nothing but if you can wax them at the end of the season and leave them all summer, that’s a premium spa treatment. Next winter they’ll come out of hibernation fully rejuvenated and rearing to go.

The wax must be removed before you hit the pistes. To do this, use a plastic scraping tool and work your way from tip to tail, making steady overlapping strokes. Do not use a metal tool to scrape skis as this could damage the base.

If you never wax your skis, you won’t be getting the best out of them since their performance is enhanced by the process. Wax is water repellent so it helps to protect the bases from moisture. Ski faster, smoother and more consistently by waxing at least once per season.

Why sharpen your edges?

The edges of your skis help you to push and accelerate into turns, navigate icy pistes and make sudden stops. It’s very important that they give you the control you need to ski safely. Whether your edges need sharpened depends on the type of terrain you’ve been riding.

Skiing off piste means skis are likely to come into contact with rocks or branches hidden in the snow. In the park, skis are at the mercy of metal rails and boxes and on the piste, edges slice through hard-packed snow and ice. Carving on icy snow will dull edges quicker than powder skiing and artificial snow is more abrasive than the real deal.

How to sharpen your edges

You’ll be able to tell if the edges need sharpening by running a finger gently along them. If you feel anything rough, it’s the knicks and scrapes known as ’burrs’ in ski terminology.

These can be smoothed out using a pocket stone or ‘deburring tool.’ It is possible to sharpen edges at home with filing tools, but this requires a high level of expertise so it is best to take your skis to be serviced by a trained professional. Not many people have a stone grinder at home, which is the machine ski shops use to sharpen edges. Edge grinding takes some material off the skis so it is not a process which should be done too often.

For resort skiing, it’s a good practice to have edges sharpened every 8-10 days but off piste skiing does not require this frequency. If you don’t sharpen your skis, you will have less grip and control on the pistes.

Bindings do not require any specific maintenance. However, it is worth having them checked by a technician when you have your skis serviced, just to make sure they are in full working order.

How to store your skis

A little care goes a long way and a top tip that many people forget is to dry off their skis after a day on the hill. Taking thirty seconds to dry them with a cloth or towel makes a real difference to the material. This small act of care requires zero expertise, so there are really no excuses. Waxed and scraped bases can dry out in warm conditions, rendering the wax ineffective.

To keep your skis in peak condition over the summer, storage wax is recommended. This refers to the process of coating the skis with wax as normal and leaving it on during the warmer months. Storage wax protects the base from absorbing extra moisture.

The nice thing about waxing at the end of the season is that the scraping can be left until next winter. Simply scrape off the wax before the first ski trip of the season, and you’re ready to go.

Skis should be stored somewhere with a stable temperature which is moisture and dust-free.

Storing them outdoors exposes them to the elements which can weather them over time. A hot attic is not a good place to store a waxed ski, somewhere cooler is best. This could be mounted on the wall of a garage if it is moisture free.

They can be stored upright or horizontally as long as there is no excessive pressure on the bindings. Inside a bag in a cupboard is ideal, somewhere they are unlikely to be disturbed while hibernating.

Now you have the instructions to properly care for your skis, you can enjoy an improvement in their performance and the quality of your riding. Bear in mind that everything listed above can be done in a ski service shop. So if you have any doubts, leave it to the professionals.