Skiing at New England ski areas can bring many unpredictable weather and snow conditions. Tuning your skies/snowboard is a simple way to insure that you’re ready for any snow condition. It especially makes a huge difference when the conditions get ugly. Keeping your skis/snowboard well tuned is essential to having a fun day on the mountain. Between waxing to make sure you keep on sliding, and making sure your edges are up to par to help you grip even on the iciest days. This is a guide to make sure your next ski day is a successful one.
Ski tuning can be done with tools and home appliances found in any home, or with ski tuning specific products. Any house hold iron can get the job done for waxing. For the edges all you need is a file, preferably a new one. Now you will also need wax. We suggest buying wax from our friends at Swix Sports. Swix is a company that produces the best ski tuning products. From irons, benches, files, and many other products they have been delivering the highest end products for years. However any type of ski wax will do the trick.
Waxing
Getting started with waxing which is a fairly simple process. You start off by applying the wax to the hot iron and allow it to drip the wax on to the base of the skis making sure to cover the base. The Next step is to iron the wax into the bases by running the iron up and down the skis until it goes from the spots of wax to a clear layer covering the entire base. Make sure to keep the iron moving to keep from burning the base. Once the wax is completely ironed into the base allow for it to sit for about 15 minutes to cool. Then use a wax scraper to scrape the wax off.
1. Apply Wax
2. Iron Wax into Base
3. Scrape Wax
Filing Edges
Filing edges is fairly simple, however if not done correctly it can do the exact opposite of what it intended to do. The file must be facing in the direction shown in the picture below to sharpen the edges. Slide the file from tip to tail down the edge. The file with give some resistance as it bites into the edges. This is how you know that it is doing its job.
These simple steps can help make your skiing experience more positive. For more information on ski tuning visit these instructional videos.