Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Don't let your skis get nasty

A woman just brought me her skis. She claims to love them. You wouldn't know it by the bases. She feared damaging them with a wax iron, so she didn't wax them at all.

They'd been waxed at some point. Whoever had done it had left the usual slob's gobs at the tip. One subtle touch by meticulous waxers is to wax that area for protection and a nicer look, but that includes scraping and brushing it.

The running surfaces of the skis were scraped and oxidized. Oxidized bases look white. Those areas need to be smoothed with a product like Swix Fibertex, a mild abrasive pad that cuts the rough surface away. Otherwise, those areas will lose wax more quickly. In abrasive snow conditions, you lose wax too quickly as it is.

This skier plans to get a quick waxing lesson when the season really starts. For now, I'm doing a restoration wax job with multiple saturating coats to get her started.

Wax early and often, people. It's easy and it protects your investment. If you plan to pay a lackey to do it, prepare to pay what it costs to keep a servant. You'll do better to learn and equip yourself so you can do it at your convenience. It's simple and fun...when it's your own skis.

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