Best way to store skis??

[bigdaddyk]

I'm new to owning skis, I've always done season rentals. Is there any way, that is better, to store them once I start to use them? I always kept my rentals flat on the floor, after using them. Right now, they are sitting on there sides (bottom to bottom) in my living room, since I haven't used them.

[Papasteeze]

I velcro strap the tips and tails together (allowing for the camber) and lean them in a corner.

 

In the past I have used those vinyl coated hooks used for storing ladders I believe. I had 2 rows of them. now they are holding fishing poles. I bring the skis inside now, or the kids do..

[skimom]

First apply a thick coat of soft (warm weather) wax, and then store them as described by Pops in a nice warm place.

[ShadowsMOM]

First apply a thick coat of soft (warm weather) wax, and then store them as described by Pops in a nice warm place.

 

 

Hi skimom. I am shadowsmom. I met your son up at Bear Creek at the 1st fall festival day. I've been skiing since I was 5, but not much since I had my 1st child 19 yrs. ago. I would like to meet you when I get up to Camelback. I am trying to buy skis-bindings before x-mas eve. I'm a single mom but still want to ski this year. Do you do any exercise to get ready for ski season? I get really tired skiing since I don't go much.

[Ski]

First apply a thick coat of soft (warm weather) wax, and then store them as described by Pops in a nice warm place.

You can even just use a rub on wax...just make sure to get them coated to avoid oxidation. Rub some on the metal edges, as well, to avoid rust.

And if you can remember to put them back to their original setting before skiing, it doesn't hurt to relax the binding springs by setting them back to their weaket setting.

[skimom]

Welcome, Shadowsmom! Congratulations. You are the fourth skimom on the board.

 

General fatigue sounds like you may need more cardio conditioning. What do you do for exercize the rest of the year? If you don't keep your heart rate up for 30 min, three times a week, you should start that immediately. (If you are a real couch potato, start with 20 min, twice a week). Ski magazine recommends running, mountain biking, tennis, rollerblading - anything that develops proximal lower extremities. I vary it to keep it fun. I've been running (+/- biking) this year, and rollerbladed last year. I'm also doing an erg, but wouldn't wish that on anyone. You can buy a heart rate monitor for about $35 at Walmart to be sure you keep your heart in range.

 

I'm adding strength exercizes now - we have a Skier's Edge machine. Sometimes, you can get them on ebay for not too much money. If I had regular access to weights, I'd add lower extremity and triceps strengthening in at this point.

 

We will have to take a few runs at CB sometime. And, we will get you on the NASTAR scoreboard if you are not there already.

[VTmark]

i fund marshel arts a good way to keep in shape on the off seson. more speficily ju jitsu

[sibhusky]

Welcome, Shadowsmom! Congratulations. You are the fourth skimom on the board.

 

General fatigue sounds like you may need more cardio conditioning. What do you do for exercize the rest of the year? If you don't keep your heart rate up for 30 min, three times a week, you should start that immediately. (If you are a real couch potato, start with 20 min, twice a week). Ski magazine recommends running, mountain biking, tennis, rollerblading - anything that develops proximal lower extremities. I vary it to keep it fun. I've been running (+/- biking) this year, and rollerbladed last year. I'm also doing an erg, but wouldn't wish that on anyone. You can buy a heart rate monitor for about $35 at Walmart to be sure you keep your heart in range.

 

I'm adding strength exercizes now - we have a Skier's Edge machine. Sometimes, you can get them on ebay for not too much money. If I had regular access to weights, I'd add lower extremity and triceps strengthening in at this point.

 

We will have to take a few runs at CB sometime. And, we will get you on the NASTAR scoreboard if you are not there already.

 

 

 

and then there's Sibhusky, who doesn't do much of anything....

[poconoceancity]

Mountain biking has to be one of the best ways to prepare for the upcomming season. Once it gets to cold to bike the mountains are open and you can jump right on you skis/board.

[Ski]

and then there's Sibhusky, who doesn't do much of anything....

I thought you had some pretty awesome hikes, Sib...a regular hike is a great conditioner.

[skimom]

and then there's Sibhusky, who doesn't do much of anything....

 

Better that way. I'd never be able to keep up with you if you worked out.

[Papasteeze]

First apply a thick coat of soft (warm weather) wax, and then store them as described by Pops in a nice warm place.

 

Definatly.. I try to wax as soon as possible after a weekend. I leave the wax on and then the day before I scrape and wax according to the conditions.. If I am lazy I will use the mountain slopes ski shops for a quick wax. Skidude, do you guys have a wax room set up at the house in NR or do you use the ski teams room?

[skidude]

Definatly.. I try to wax as soon as possible after a weekend. I leave the wax on and then the day before I scrape and wax according to the conditions.. If I am lazy I will use the mountain slopes ski shops for a quick wax. Skidude, do you guys have a wax room set up at the house in NR or do you use the ski teams room?

I have a set up at our house, but sometimes I bring my stuff down to CB and use there table. Its nicer than mine.

[skidude]

Yeah from a race up at Elk last season.

[Papasteeze]

I have a set up at our house, but sometimes I bring my stuff down to CB and use there table. Its nicer than mine.

 

How does the team feel about parents waxing skis at CB?

[skidude]

How does the team feel about parents waxing skis at CB?

 

 

Its sometimes done, but if the ex. will let you set up a table at NR, thats probably a good thing to do. Sometimes the coaches don't like parents hanging around in the room...But sometimes they don't care...

[Sno Mountain Skier]

I really need to laern how to wax skis this year. How well do i know iot so far?

 

1. Get iron and let the was drip on skis and then iron it on.

2. let it cool for 5 minutes

3. Get a rubber scraper and scrape the excess off the top.

 

How does that sound? Is there more to it?

[skidude]

I really need to laern how to wax skis this year. How well do i know iot so far?

 

1. Get iron and let the was drip on skis and then iron it on.

2. let it cool for 5 minutes

3. Get a rubber scraper and scrape the excess off the top.

 

How does that sound? Is there more to it?

 

 

You want to do that once or twice to get all the crap out of the bottoms of your skis. Then you want to leave one coat on overnight, and scrape it in the morning. Some people just ski the wax off the next day insted of scraping it off, but thats not very good for your bases, especailly if you are using cold wax. Then again, if you are hitting rails it probably doesn't matter much.

 

And your scraper would be plasitc or in some cases metal, not rubber.

 

 

I will try to get a more detailed post on tuning up sometime, but no promises.

[Ski]

Doug: wipe on waxes and non-waxes (and bathroom soap) are okay for a quick fix, but don't last more than one run or so.

 

Bases are porous and need time to soak in wax. Consider that wax techs scrape off and brush out as much wax as possible, what good does a little wipe on do? Not much.

 

Waxing 101:

 

Set your ski, base up, in a vice or something to hold it steady. You can wax using two chairs, it's just that a vice makes it easier.

 

Gently wipe down the surface with a soft cloth.

 

Take a medium hot iron (preferably one without the steam holes) and hold your wax to it and drip the melted wax on the base, holding it about six inches from the base. You can't use too much wax, but you can use too little. Drip on enough so that when you lay the iron flat on the ski, it'll disperse wax over the entire base. Don't stop moving your iron. If it takes too many passes to uniformly melt the wax, then your iron isn't hot enough. If the wax smokes, it's too hot. The wax should spread out evenly with two or three strokes of the iron.

 

When both skis are coated, you can cheat by setting them outside to cool. Generally three hours is enough; race skis should cool overnight.

 

Before scraping, take a look at your scraper. One corner should have a 90 degree piece cut out. This is to scrape your edges first. Just run it along the metal edge. And is your scraper new? They get dull pretty quickly and if you don't have a sharpener, buy a new one each season.

 

Most people prefer to scrape while the ski is in a vice. But some people like to lean their ski and scrape down onto newspaper. Either way, scrape until you can't scrape any more.

 

Want fast skis right away? Then your next stop is to brush with a nylon brush. Small white wax particles will come out. Switch to a softer, finer horsehair brush and even more particles will come out. The more you brush, the faster you'll go.

 

Still not fast enough? Sprinkle on some fluoro (I prefer PTFE, which is actually Teflon). Use a cork to rub it in (a moving cork creates heat through friction). Then brush the fluoro out with just the horsehair brush.

 

Don't want to bother with hot waxing? You can keep a stick of wax in your pocket, along with a cork and scraper. Just "draw", or crayon, on the wax directly to the ski base, using loops and circles. Then rub the base with the cork until the wax is rubbed in. Then just scrape it off. This method isn't as good as a hot wax, but much better than rub on waxes.

 

What type of wax should you use? Unless you race, you'll want a hydrocarbon wax. Swix donates these as CH waxes. Pick a range from 18 to 28 degrees (purple), then another wax that's good for 25 to 34 degrees (red) and you're set for most days. For this area, the yellow (32 to 50) degrees is pretty all purpose, I suppose. The higher the wax temperature rating, the softer and easier to use is the wax.

 

Want a fast wax? Then you step into the low fluorocarbon (LF) and high fluorocarbon waxes. LF waxes are 3x the price of CH, while HF's are 10x the price. But they are mandatory for racing. You use these the same way as regular waxes, btw.

 

How often should you wax? Every single time you ski.

How often are a set of World Cup skis waxes before the first time they are used? 90+ times.

What if you skip a day of waxing? You'll leave tiny bits of your base on the snow.

[sibhusky]

I thought you had some pretty awesome hikes, Sib...a regular hike is a great conditioner.

 

Emphasis on the word "regular". I haven't hiked in MONTHS. Too busy trying to cover car repair bills.....

[bigdaddyk]

Thanks for the replys. One question remains. Does it matter if you lay them flat on the floor, or is it better to stand them up, with the tail touching the floor? I was just wondering if laying them flat could be bad, since they have sort of an arch to them.

[Papasteeze]

I have heard that the really obsessed ski racer only stores skis horizontally supported at the tip and the tail, each ski separately upside down to "protect" that "arch" that you are seeing.

 

I use those velcro straps making sure that the one end goes between the skis to protect them from rubbing and lean them in a corner or along the wall. I do this mainly because the skis are kept inside until its time to take them somewhere. I guess if I had the room, I would have horizontal rack and store them individually as listed above.

 

I doubt that gravity would have any real detrimental effect on the camber by laying them flat. I worry more about scraping and scratching the bases by laying them flat, although common sense will tell that with time gravity will take over and everything will work it's way back to earth

 

Ski999?

[Ski]

I store them horizontally, strapped together. I just wouldn't hang them from the tips for extended periods and you also have to be careful not to damage the tails on concrete floors, if you store them standing. The most important consideration is to avoid dampness and extreme temps.

[Glenn]

I think we need to put together a video learning area, starting with a wax demonstration. We certainly have enough competent people it shouldn't be too hard to do. I'll try and film Zaldon, and if the "masters" don't feel its up to par for learning purposes, I will try and film someone else when conveninent

[LineSki]

wow, 90 times waxed before a world cup race? I always wondered, if they take more than one run on the race course, do they have a second pair of skis untouched to snow they put on for another run? Or do they just use the same pair.

 

I didnt know I should let it sit overnight, I just usually let them sit for about 15 minutes come back scrape them off. My skis are on rails so obviously im not very concerned about the bases that much.

Edited November 9, 2005 by LineSki