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Do you feel like you're lagging behind all of your friends as you chase each other down the mountain? The solution could be something as simple as waxing your skis... however, if your skis haven't been tuned in a while, all the wax in the world won't make much difference. If your bases are gouged and your edges are dull, they should get a professional tuning.
When you ski over the surface of the snow, the pressure and temperature of your skis melt the snow, creating a fine film of water. Depending on the temperature, humidity and age of the snow, this film of water can either make you ski faster or slower. The most common method of applying wax is to use an iron. Tuning your skis helps to improve their performance, giving you more enjoyment when practicing your sport. Simple steps to hot waxing Skis and Snowboards
- Clamp ski/board to table.
- Brush from tip to tail 3-4 times then repeat with nylon brush to remove dirt and old wax.
- Place masking tape along both side of the board or ski to keep bindings from getting wax in them.
- Set wax iron to melting point of wax, if it starts to smoke the temp is too high, lower by 5 degrees.
- Hold wax against iron to develop a bead and start dripping wax onto ski/board in a pattern that allows for full coverage (i.e. 3 stripes down length or zig-zag pattern from tip to tail).
- Run iron smoothly along the whole ski to spread wax evenly, do this 3-4 times.
- While the ski/board is still warm use a scrapper to remove the wax. If there is dirt trapped in the ski it will be pulled out with the wax. Repeat steps 2-8 until the wax comes off with no show of dirt.
- Recondition your skis by applying a Molybdenum wax. This layer increases your skis abrasion-resistance and helps to renew graphite bases.
- Remove all of the wax from the steel sides and let the ski sit for about 8 hours in a warm room. Setting the ski outside to cure faster will close the ski's pores too fast, not allowing the wax to soak in enough.
- The next layer of wax should match your current skiing conditions and snow temperatures.
- Run a rotor cork or hand cork over the ski/board to smooth and set and smooth the finish coat.
- Apply Express or Jet Stream wax on the slope for fast touch ups. Apply from tail to tip for more consistency and durability. These waxes cover a large temperature range (0-30 degrees) so they are great in all conditions.
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