Newbie question: How often do I need to wax my skis?

[Started at 53]

OK's been awhile since I threw out a newbie question, so here goes....


Being we will own skis for the 1st time.... we are just groomer skiers who will likely ski 15-20 days this coming season, will our skis need to be waxed? How often, as in days skied, do you wax your skis? Obviously not racing, just want to have fun.

Thanks

 

[KingGrump]

OK's been awhile since I threw out a newbie question, so here goes....


Being we will own skis for the 1st time.... we are just groomer skiers who will likely ski 15-20 days this coming season, will our skis need to be waxed? How often, as in days skied, do you wax your skis? Obviously not racing, just want to have fun.

Thanks

For the first few seasons, just throw them into the shop every 4/5 days and have them to hot wax the skis for you. This way, you can enjoy the skiing without worrying about the maintenance.
The softer western snow on the groomers are pretty kind to your edges. So I wouldn't worry a tune/sharpening for about 10 to 12 days. A 200 grit diamond stone would be a good item to have for the minor burrs that may show up between tunes.

 

[Philpug]

Waxing of the skis has a couple of purposes, one is to allow the ski to go faster and one other pertains to you...allowing the ski to ski easier. A waxed ski will turn and slide with less resistance allowing you to concentrate on doing what you want to do..have fun.

 

[Started at 53]

Sounds like I can do a trip (6-7 days skiing) without waxing and do it when I get home?

So... without breaking the bank (yeah I know... nothing in skiing is cheap) how about links to a waxing starter kit for newbie.

I have watched a few YouTube videos to get the idea of the hot wax thing.

 

[Mike Thomas]

All you really 'need' is an iron, some wax and a plastic scraper. A couple heavy rubber bands to hold the brakes up helps, the sort often found on broccoli at a grocery store is perfect. A ski vise makes scraping way easier but isn't needed.

 

[hrstrat57]

Sounds like I can do a trip (6-7 days skiing) without waxing and do it when I get home?

So... without breaking the bank (yeah I know... nothing in skiing is cheap) how about links to a waxing starter kit for newbie.

I have watched a few YouTube videos to get the idea of the hot wax thing.

You could, I wouldn't......

I put on Swix MB77 as a base coat and refresh the top coat every other day....with either LF 7 or 8 depending on temp - did this all last season easy peasey and my skis were always smooth and very fast.

I also like Dominator Hyperzoom good stuff.

Most importantly buy a good dedicated wax iron. Couple good plastic scrapers and a brush.

Easy and fun, therapeutic almost for me

 

[KingGrump]

Sounds like I can do a trip (6-7 days skiing) without waxing and do it when I get home?

So... without breaking the bank (yeah I know... nothing in skiing is cheap) how about links to a waxing starter kit for newbie.

I have watched a few YouTube videos to get the idea of the hot wax thing.

Another issue that generally come up while traveling is some lodges/condos strongly discourage guests bringing skis beyond the garage/locker area.
Some lodges have designated specific areas for tuning and waxing. Iron Blosam @ the bird and GMD @ Alta comes to mind.

When I used to fly in for a week of skiing, I generally don't bother with tuning/wax stuff other than a 200 grit diamond stone and some wipe on F4. Way too much hassle otherwise.
Now I am usually on the road for the entire season (4 months), I lug around a full tune/repair/wax kit and a wax table.

 

[Started at 53]

You could, I wouldn't......

I put on Swix MB77 as a base coat and refresh the top coat every other day....with either LF 7 or 8 depending on temp - did this all last season easy peasey and my skis were always smooth and very fast.

I also like Dominator Hyperzoom good stuff.

Most importantly buy a good dedicated wax iron. Couple good plastic scrapers and a brush.

Easy and fun, therapeutic almost for me

As a newbie, some of that is over my head. I live in Florida, and won't travel with a hot iron etc... So that is not really feasible for us travelers. We go on one weeks trips, skiing 5-7 days depending on flight arrival/departure times. We try to depart late enough to get a ski in at least in the morning. I would think that Deer Valley has a place to get the skis waxed if you drop them off by 2pm and can pick them up in the morning, I assume Vail does as well?

 

[KingGrump]

Both DV & Vail keeps their groomers in pretty decent shape. They both have plenty of shops with good customer service and quick turn around. I would just throw the skis into a shop about half way through the week for a deburr and wax. No need for a full tune unless you hit something bad.

 

[AmyPJ]

It all honestly also depends on snow conditions (old, dirty snow, hard snow, fresh snow, powder, packed powder on groomers) and location, as some areas have a lot of volcanic rock and dust, and SLC areas can get hit with dust (once in a blue moon) from the lake. Also depends on if you ski full days vs. half days, etc. etc. And air temps...yeah, lots of variable.
Not to confuse you any more!
To make it easier, if you are wanting to learn to wax your own, then buy a good universal temp wax (I have been happy with Hertel Hot Sauce, but there are other great waxes out there) and watch some youtube videos. I can link some later (as in, next week as I'm heading out of town) unless others beat me to it. A few basic supplies (including yes, a dedicated ski iron) and you can do a pretty decent job at home without much risk of damage. And freshly waxed skis are absolutely more efficient and fun to ski!

 

[newboots]

The first time my skis were tuned I was completely unprepared. See avatar. (N.B.: ditch.)

Now I like having them freshly waxed and nice and sharp!

 

[Jilly]

Your REI should have a kit that is ready to go. If not you've seen the video and know what you might need. Before a trip I usually get the local shop to do a complete tune up. Edges, base fill, wax etc. So when I get to where I'm going I'm good to go. But being in Florida, you might not have a local shop. It's not that hard to wax your own skis.

 

[Ken_R]

I started inquiring and caring about wax this season and got good results with THIS some wax and a finishing brush. Brushing well as the final step is key imho. I just put all three items in a ziploc inside my ski bag whenever I head out on a trip. You need to start with a good professional tune and wax first though to have a good performing ski to start with. (My skis had a Hot Box Wax job from the get go)

 

[François Pugh]

Need? You don't need to.
Should? Yes, every 3 days on hard eastern snow or man-made snow, longer on softer snow. As Phill said, skiing a well waxed ski is more enjoyable.
What I do? I wax the night before using a temperature-appropriate wax for the anticipated conditions the next day, and scrape and brush the following morning. Brushing is important!. If conditions aren't changing much, I will let the waxing slide for three, sometimes four days. I really notice when it gets to four days. (bell to bell days).

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I tune my skis about every 4-5 days of use. I like sharp edges and most of the season this is my focus along with a good coat of wax. Once April comes and I'm in full spring skiing mode i focus more on wax and less on edging. Last couple weeks of my season i usually don't even bother sharpening my edges and just focus on warm temperature waxing my skis.

Last February when we skied lake louise for 2 days i learned they don't tune their skis much. They'll wax them but really don't sharpen the edges like we do at home. We didn't bring our skis and chose to demo instead as they had an ample ski selection. Well it hadn't snowed in a bit so we're looking at steep hardpacked groomer zoomers and demo skis with dull edges. They told us they don't sharpen their skis much because it's normally powder heaven. Well we had them tune our skis for the next day and while they were better they weren't perfect. A couple other people on our ski club trip were commenting on this too. My PSIA examiner without knowing I'd been there made that same comment.

Lesson learned for me was when we go next time I'll bring a pair of my finely tuned carvers and demo powder skis if i need them.

Not sure what the ski shop situation is in Florida but even if you have them I'd just drop off your skis when you first get to your destination. They'll have them ready for you the next morning so you'll have freshly tuned skis for the week.

 

[Wilhelmson]

It's time to tune when your edges aren't gripping or your skis aren't gliding well. Go 4 or 5 days and then get a tune and see if the difference was worth the $30 - $50.

Its sort of like when do you go to the bathroom; usually when you need to. However, if you want to make sure you don't have to go when there's no bathroom available you might preemptively relieve yourself.

I used to be an infrequent tuner until I got tired of not feeling 100% certain of my edges on ice. Now I wax and tune 4 pairs of skis after every weekend, but over a week long trip will sharpen the edges and maybe cork (rub) in some wax. We ski fast so I don't want my kids, wife, or me to get hurt or hurt someone else due to neglected equipment. It's also easier to tune frequently rather than perform a major overhaul after 10 days.

 

[Sibhusky]

I try and tune my skis roughly every 60,000 feet. Less if the snow is soft, more if the snow is hard. For your situation, going west, maybe not putting in that long a day, I'd just wax them before you leave and then take them to a shop midway through your trip. Since I do my own, the skis get a full tune any time I bring them home and I've got pretty much everything at this point to do them. But you don't ski as much, so why spend the time and hassle?

... Now, once you move, that's another story.

 

[ScottB]

Started at 53,

You might get as many answers as there are skiers. From my point of view, you can look at how often to wax two ways:

1. Never. This actually works for wax.(not so true for edges) Your bases get conditioned to a certain point and then just sort of stay there. Trust me, I went about 10 years without waxing. Your skis won't be great sliders, but they are OK, and more importantly they are never "sticky". Some will say the base gets oxidized, or some tech term that means bad, but I haven't experienced it and I believe it is more hear say than fact. The skis won't be great sliders, but they rarely will be poor sliders. If you are not demanding a lot of performance from your skis (ie. you are in the learning phase) then the benefits may not be worth the effort.

2. Roughly every 3-5 days of skiing. Waxing at the beginning of a week long trip is a good idea and the skis should be fine for the rest of the week. Once you commit to waxing, then your ski life becomes more complicated. There are certainly benefits to be had in the performance of the skis, but there are lots of variables to waxing and you are committing to getting up to speed on them. Not to scare you, but the wrong wax can make a ski day a disaster (speaking from personal experience with super sticky skis). Once I committed to waxing, (and doing it myself) I felt overwhelmed for a while with all the different waxes on the market and when to use which wax. My biggest hurtle was getting my glide wax to last for just ONE full day of skiing. I will pass this tip along so you don't get bogged down by it. Turns out wax likes to stick to wax, but it doesn't really like to stick to ski base plastic (hence why you can get away with never waxing). So to get it to stick to your ski bases, you have to use soft "runny" wax that penetrates deeply into the ski base. This is called "base prep" wax (I think this is what "Swix MB77" mentioned before is) and is called prepping your bases. You typically only have to do this once a season. Once this is done, you put on your "glide" wax and it sticks really well to the penetrated base prep wax. Once I did the base prep wax, my improved glide went from barely lasting a day to lasting 3-4 days. It took me 2-3 seasons and a few posts on the defunct Epic site to get educated about this. If you heard the term "hot boxing", this is a ski racers way of doing a base prep and maybe glide wax treatment?

I now am fully committed to waxing my skis every few days, I know how to choose which wax for the conditions, and I glide on run outs faster than most people. I really do like the way my skis feel on the snow now, and can easily tell when I need to apply more wax (or I haven't put on the correct wax). I don't know if I am happier now, or for the 10 years of not waxing, but my skis are for sure a lot more slippery. I will say I enjoy spring skiing a lot more now, as the snow can get really sticky and the right wax can really make that almost go away.

 

[Jacques]

As a newbie, some of that is over my head. I live in Florida, and won't travel with a hot iron etc... So that is not really feasible for us travelers. We go on one weeks trips, skiing 5-7 days depending on flight arrival/departure times. We try to depart late enough to get a ski in at least in the morning. I would think that Deer Valley has a place to get the skis waxed if you drop them off by 2pm and can pick them up in the morning, I assume Vail does as well?

Based on what you are saying, I would highly recommend the best paste wax money can buy. One season I broke my leg and could not wax my wife's skis.
I got this stuff and it worked like a charm. Not one ounce of base burn was ever seen and she reported good glide every time.

Here you go, Check this link. http://www.dominatorwax.com/products/hyperzoom-paste
Then if you like you can step it up a notch with the cold or warm versions. http://www.dominatorwax.com/products/momentium-warm

 

[silverback]

If I remember right, the free ski check at DV has a sign offering waxing for like $5 if you leave your skis overnight. Try it a couple of time and see if you like the feel of a freshily waxed pair vs the days you go without.