ski waxing...

[krs1pitt]

hey guys, looking for some information on ski waxing. my fiancee and i are heading out with a group to SLC in the middle of this month and i wanted to know if it's necessary to get our skis waxed before them. i just got back into skiing this year with new gear so my sticks have been on the hill 4 times this year (probably 6 before i leave)and my fiancee just bought new sticks with the same amount of trips. would you guys suggest getting our skis waxed before we go? what would be the advantages / disadvantages? any help you guys can provide is greatly appreciated.

[mollyskeez]

yes wax. you will go faster and its better for your skis.

[moe ghoul]

Your bases are prolly fine. I'd wait until I get out there and get them waxed for their conditions out there if you want them waxed. Leave em in the PM, pick em up in the AM.

Edited February 1, 2010 by moeghoul

[Shadows]

http://newschoolers.com/web/forums/readthread/thread_id/518513/

[krs1pitt]

didn't get them waxed initially as i was told by armada it wasn't necessary, now if i do get them waxed any suggestions on shops? i'm in pottstown so anything within a reasonable distance is do-able. also, what should i expect to pay?

[Metz the Jersey boy]

didn't get them waxed initially as i was told by armada it wasn't necessary, now if i do get them waxed any suggestions on shops? i'm in pottstown so anything within a reasonable distance is do-able. also, what should i expect to pay?

You should always wax your skis when you get them, no matter what the company says is necessary. You should wax as often as possible or as often as is economically realistic for you. Basically skis glide on snow because a bead of water forms between the snow and the wax on your ski. The wax is important because it repels that water and allows you to glide. Essentially that wax protects the bases from retaining too much moisture and also is the most important aspect of maintaining your skis. As a rule of thumb I generally wax my rec skis every 4-5 days on snow and my race skis between every use. If its just a wax you're getting you shouldn't let them charge you more than 10 or 15 bucks. Down there I seem to remember there being quite a few ski shops of high regard. Honestly I agree with the idea of having them waxed once you get to your ski destination. Almost every mountain offers overnight waxing now. Good luck out there, keep the shiny side up.

[Dan-]

I've been waxing probably after 2-3 days on snow. I don't like having slow shit.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Dan-

[AtomicSkier]

I wax after every use. The snow this past weekend was so abrasive.

[toast21602]

I wax after every use. The snow this past weekend was so abrasive.

 

wanna wax mine?

[moe ghoul]

I wax after every use. The snow this past weekend was so abrasive.

 

Bikini or full brazilian? Try a pair of heavy duty ski pants and stop fallin on yer azz so often.

Edited February 1, 2010 by moeghoul

[Johnny Law]

You should always wax your skis when you get them, no matter what the company says is necessary. You should wax as often as possible or as often as is economically realistic for you. Basically skis glide on snow because a bead of water forms between the snow and the wax on your ski. The wax is important because it repels that water and allows you to glide. Essentially that wax protects the bases from retaining too much moisture and also is the most important aspect of maintaining your skis. As a rule of thumb I generally wax my rec skis every 4-5 days on snow and my race skis between every use. If its just a wax you're getting you shouldn't let them charge you more than 10 or 15 bucks. Down there I seem to remember there being quite a few ski shops of high regard. Honestly I agree with the idea of having them waxed once you get to your ski destination. Almost every mountain offers overnight waxing now. Good luck out there, keep the shiny side up.

 

lulz...unless you are kicking it old old old school like with wood skis some of that isn't right.

 

One UHMWPE (definitely screwed that acronym up) doesn't absorb water at all, the holes are too small. If your smart you can see where this is going, well then how the hell does the wax get in there. Nobody knows, Swix, all the crazy ski racing teams have looked at this in a highly scientific way and nobody can figure it out. Something is going on because the ski is definitely faster and you can see the extra weight if you weigh them but bottom line is nobody knows.

 

There are two types of bases, extruded and sintered. Extruded are more durable and cheap so think rental fleet most decent skis are sintered. The difference is in the pore make up, extruded is 60% closed 40% porous, sintered is pretty much the opposite. The current thought is that wax somehow adheres to the porous cells and hence why you go faster. Floru layups outside of racing are retarded don't pay the extra loot for 20 seconds of use. High level racing like national team level stuff are excluded from the above those guys would put uranium in their bases if they went .00001 faster.

 

For your average at home waxer base structure is probably more important than wax unless your AtomicJeff and know what your doing. Most shops have the machine set to crosshatch which in this area makes sense for the most part. However if you have a setup you only use out west or just generally like to get mach looney have them throw down a linear base structure, if your shop doesn't know what that is find a new shop.

 

Finally there is some discussion in the scientific studies of waxing that have found that wax does exactly bull shit and structure and removal of ptex hair is what makes you go faster. Nobody knows for sure but it seems to work so I'll keep waxin.

[method9455]

I think there are a couple things to add.

 

1) Make sure you are getting a hand iron wax. Some shops do a machine wax where there is a big hot rotating wheel covered in wax and they just glide your ski over it. That doesn't open the pores in your ski so the wax doesn't get in there and doesn't last very long at all. Ask and make sure you are getting the hand iron wax. A machine wax is pointless.

 

2) You can get a wax, or you can get a stone grind and wax. The stone is going to give you structure which is a good thing, and also give you a fresh base to wax on. It is hard to offer a rule of thumb on this, but I try to stone grind as little as necessary. Over grinding your skis will thin the edges, reduce your base thickness (durability), and waste your money and time. You should absolutely do it at the start of each season to get rid of oxidation of the wax and get your edges cleaned up. If you keep up with your waxing from there you will probably be ok. I would stone grind it right now during your first wax for sure.

 

3) For frequency, I'd go 5-7 days on the snow between waxing and at least once a season. If you take a weeks vacation wax before and after. If you go one day a week, get it waxed once a month or every 6 weeks. You definitely don't need every day unless you are racing.

[AtomicSkier]

For your average at home waxer base structure is probably more important than wax unless your AtomicJeff and know what your doing.

 

Wow, I'm flattered

 

Johnny pretty much hit the nail on the head. If you're going to start waxing yourself, do yourself a favor, start off fresh. Get a base grind, and have them set your desired structure. Have them set the base bevel at 1degree while you're at it. Bring your skis home and wax and brush (with a metal brush) the shit out of them. Freshly structured skis are slow, as they're without wax from the grind, and the structured needs to be "opened up". I generally wax approximately 10 times before the skis see snow, and occasionally hot box them during the summer. For my non race skis, since I wax after every use, 80% of the time I use swix universal, as I can buy it in large quantity for cheap.

 

Anyway, back on topic. If you're serious about skiing/snowboarding, make the initial investment. Get yourself a cheap wax iron, a nylon and brass brush, a plastic and metal scraper, a "side of beast" edge tuner, 900g of SWIX universal and an apron (waxing gets freakin messy). Oh, and closed toed shoes. I wear sandals, but I'm used to it now Initial investment might be $150, but even with my fatties that require large amounts of wax, every waxing costs me about $1.50 in wax.

 

Oh, and check out racewax.com, there is a nice PASR discount floating around here somewhere

[method9455]

Jeff you hand tune your edges? I agree with you on pretty much all the other tuning stuff you mentioned but I don't like the way hand tuned edges look vs machine polished. Maybe its my tool, you use this one? http://www.artechski.com/beastsideedgeproedgetuners.aspx

[Timeless]

hey guys, looking for some information on ski waxing. my fiancee and i are heading out with a group to SLC in the middle of this month and i wanted to know if it's necessary to get our skis waxed before them. i just got back into skiing this year with new gear so my sticks have been on the hill 4 times this year (probably 6 before i leave)and my fiancee just bought new sticks with the same amount of trips. would you guys suggest getting our skis waxed before we go? what would be the advantages / disadvantages? any help you guys can provide is greatly appreciated.

 

have them done when you get there, you will at least ensure you get the right wax for the conditions. If you are in SLC, canyon sports would be an option, I used them for my board last time I was out there and they did a decent job overnight.

[AtomicSkier]

Jeff you hand tune your edges? I agree with you on pretty much all the other tuning stuff you mentioned but I don't like the way hand tuned edges look vs machine polished. Maybe its my tool, you use this one? http://www.artechski.com/beastsideedgeproedgetuners.aspx

 

I have both the Pro and Regular versions. Who cares how the edges look? All I know is that if my hand slips, I'll be gushing blood for awhile. When I was tuning Doug's bases, I was wiping down the skis after I was all done, and my knuckle just kissed the edge and bled for awhile. I go through ski gloves constantly because when I pick up my skis off the ground, the edges cut right through most fabrics, leather gloves help in that regard. I touch up my edges with one of my various files or stones after every use, before I wax. There is no reason to not ski on a fresh tune when you have the equipment available to you. It makes skiing so much more enjoyable.

 

I mostly tune with a 3 degree side bevel, but have experimented with a 4 degree bevel for R2's favorite condition, blue ice.

 

but I am happy to have Atomic Jeff as my ski tuner.....

 

For all Blue regulars...I do trade my services for either BMDI breakfasts, beer, or money

 

wanna wax mine?

 

See above.

[toast21602]

alright i'll give you $3 to wax my skis

[AtomicSkier]

alright i'll give you $3 to wax my skis

 

I charge a little bit more then that...it's pretty time consuming.

[krs1pitt]

so here's what i got, some who swear by waxing and others say i won't notice a difference. kinda torn, i would get it done at the mountain but we're staying in downtown slc and traveling to the hill every morning. what do you charge atomic? would you wax up our sticks? let me know as right now i can't figure out if it's worth it.

[Metz the Jersey boy]

I stand corrected on some of the points I made as they were somewhat archaic. I appreciate those who stepped in to correct me as I'd hate to misinform someone. Bottom line- WAX. At the least it provides some level of protection for your equipment. As for texturing, listen to the guys on here. I have a guy that does my bases for me for a bottle of SoCo and he does incredible work... but this is WAY northern Jersey... far from you. Back on topic, if you have the chance to have Jeff tune your skis, take it. In my day I've seen a lot of his equipment and it is always in flawless condition. A case of Yeung costs about 18 bucks in SE PA. That's half the price of a shop tune and you'll honestly get a far superior tune. Not that Jeff's head needs inflating here, but I call 'em like I see 'em and he does the best work in that area.

[Timeless]

so here's what i got, some who swear by waxing and others say i won't notice a difference. kinda torn, i would get it done at the mountain but we're staying in downtown slc and traveling to the hill every morning. what do you charge atomic? would you wax up our sticks? let me know as right now i can't figure out if it's worth it.

 

If you're staying in downtown SLC, drop them off at Canyon Sports in the evening, pick them up in the morning along with your discount lift tickets, no brainer IMHO. Google search on Canyon Sports and SLC, should find it no problem, they have stores in Sandy and Downtown.

[Schif]

You can never have too much wax, just not enough (well you can have too much if you don't scrape it all but that's beside the point). I wax my board every 3 or 4 times out depending on how it is. When it comes to spring I might wax almost every time out because the wax gets worn away faster and each day is a different temperature.

 

when it comes to hardcore tuning you probably want to take it to a good shop, but for just slapping some slippery stuff on, the investment is really minimal. A few bucks on a salvation army iron and then just the wax and a scraper. You can probably do the whole family's skis for the price of a single job from a shop if that's the route you want to take.

 

Plus to me I find waxing to be pretty fun. Gets me to play with my gear off the hill a little bit and put on a good snowboard video in the background

[mbike-ski]

aw frick..this threads reminds me i need to wax

[Timeless]

How early does Canyon Sports open??? Seems like a pain..

 

They open in plenty of time to get up the LCC/BCC for first lifts, even if you stop for breakfast. The ticket discounts are worth the effort, but then we usually stay in sandy within a few hundred yards of canyon anyway so no real hassle to go there on the way.

[AtomicSkier]

so here's what i got, some who swear by waxing and others say i won't notice a difference. kinda torn, i would get it done at the mountain but we're staying in downtown slc and traveling to the hill every morning. what do you charge atomic? would you wax up our sticks? let me know as right now i can't figure out if it's worth it.

 

Where are you located?