Equipment Guide
How to Maintain Your Skis
Waxing, edge work, and proper storage keep your skis running like new and extend their life by years.
Why Maintenance Matters
Skis are precision tools. A well-maintained ski glides faster, turns better, and holds an edge on hard snow. A neglected ski fights you every run. Dull edges slip on ice, dry bases drag, and base damage gets worse if you ignore it.
Good news: basic ski care is simple. Here's what you need to know.
Waxing: Frequency and Why It Matters
Wax reduces friction between your base and the snow. As you ski, the wax gradually wears off — especially in warm or wet snow conditions. Dry bases look dull or white and feel noticeably slower.
How often to wax:
- Recreational skiers (5–10 days/season): Wax once at the start of the season and once mid-season.
- Frequent skiers (20+ days/season): Wax every 3–5 ski days.
- After wet or spring snow days: Wax sooner — wet snow pulls wax out of the base faster.
Machine wax ($18) vs. hand wax ($25): Machine wax is faster and more consistent. Hand wax allows more flexibility in wax selection for specific snow temperatures. Both are available at our tune shop.
Edge Sharpening: The Feel Test
Sharp edges bite into hard snow and ice, giving you control when you need it most. Dull edges wash out and skid instead of carving — and on Utah's occasional icy mornings, that means loss of control.
How to check your edges:
Run your fingernail along the metal edge. If your nail catches slightly and drags, the edge is sharp. If it slides smoothly, the edge is dull. You can also look at the edge under light — a sharp edge reflects sharply, a dull one has a flat, rounded reflection.
How often to sharpen:
- Recreational skiers: Once per season is usually sufficient.
- Frequent skiers: Every 3–5 ski days.
- After hitting rocks or debris: Inspect immediately for edge damage. Even a small burr can affect performance significantly.
End-of-Season Storage
Proper storage over summer prevents your bases from drying out and oxidizing, and keeps edges from developing surface rust.
- 1Get a full tune (base grind + edge sharpen + hot wax) at the end of the season.
- 2Apply a thick coat of storage wax — but don't scrape it off. Leave the wax on the base all summer to keep it from drying out.
- 3Store in a cool, dry area — not a hot garage or in direct sunlight. Heat can delaminate bases.
- 4At the start of next season, scrape off the storage wax and apply fresh hot wax before your first run.
Leave It to the Experts
Our tune shop uses over 100 variables to program each tune. Every ski is hand-finished to race-shop standards. Basic tune from $40. Full tune from $60.