How to Care For Your Skis – Things to Know
How to Care For Your Skis
Skiing can be fun and enjoyable. It can always be rewarding in several different ways especially if doing it professionally. Your skiing equipment plays a vital role in determining how enjoyable or otherwise your sporting will be. Therefore, it is essential to know how best to take care of them to ensure maximum profiting. The following are some of the ways to take care of your skis to last longer and provide better performance.
Keep them properly waxed. Waxing reduces friction when skiing and it also improves your ability to slide through the snow. Waxing is also essential in preventing oxidation and preventing damaging the gear. When waxing, use a good quality ski wax and ensure you do it frequently. Wax at least twice a week when skiing and regularly freshened up with paste wax daily. When choosing a wax to use, it is essential first to understand where the given wax is the best suit. For instance, there are waxes designed for mountain skiing while others are best for groomers, midwest skiing, etc. Proper waxing can help prolong the time between tune-ups which in turn increases the tuning time significantly.
Keep the edges well polished and tuned. It is recommended that you regularly or otherwise daily polish the sides of your skis to keep them tuned. To do this, you can use available diamond stones with an accurate file guide to ensure the stone is appropriately aligned with the side and base level. While at it, it is essential that you also take along a pocket stone which you can use in polishing minor burrs. Leaving the burrs untreated or otherwise untuned may lead to the ski rusting. Again, to prevent rust ensure your skis are adequately dried before storing. Carry the skis in zipped bags especially when transporting them. When tuning, the base is ground, edges are polished, and little nicks are placed and pattern to ensure the ski removes water efficiently. Tuning is also done to par it with the competence level of the user. Recommendable, the adjustment should be made by a professional.
Keep your skis away from sunlight for long. The ultraviolet light produced by the sun can easily damage the plastics used in the skis making it brittle and weaker.
Small rock damages to the ski base can be easily cleaned using a knife. Just, cut off any string or flap that may get stuck in the snow. If a gouge is left from cutting the flaps, deal with it later by a professional.
Transportation and storage of skis. Caring for your skis does not start and stop at the skiing fields. It goes further to how you transport and even store them. Ensure your skis are well protected against moisture and salty humidity during transit. Dampness can lead to building up of moisture which can be then lead to the formation of rust or logging of water on the board. While storing, on the other hand, ensure your skis are correctly cleaned and wiped dry. Store in zipped dry bags. It will prevent the skis from getting damp and forming rust or logging in moisture from the surroundings. Store the skis in an area with a consistent temperature. While at it ensures all the after season dirt rust and chemicals are properly cleaned up for storing. Also, treat your skis to a tune-up before storing just to ensure that there are no damages that will worsen over the time of storage.
Benefits of ski maintenance
Improved performance. It goes without saying that the better you maintain your ski, the better it is expected to perform. Imagine a situation whereby you are skiing using a ski board with all the flaps and strings hanging. What will happen? The most probable scenery is that you are more likely to get tangled up and end up in an accident which is not something anyone wants. While at it, a well-maintained ski which in this case is well waxed, and tuned is expected to provide useful friction and ensure smooth sliding through the snows.
Better control. Again, well-maintained ski board is sure to provide you with better grip and control of your skiing which translates to better game performance and predictability.
It lasts longer. It costs money to get a good quality ski, and as such, it is essential to protect and take good care of it as it is a vital investment.
There are numerous other benefits of caring for your skis. All in all, ski maintenance is essential to get the most of the ski regarding the longevity of use, performance, and safety. Whether you are a skiing newbie or a seasoned skier, maintaining and caring for your ski by waxing and tuning can be quite beneficial. How your skis will perform, how long they will last and even how safe it will be for you to use the skis, depends on how you handle and take care of them. Therefore, if you value your skiing and your safety when skiing, it is prudent to take excellent care of your skiing gear, skis included.
