Want to get the most out of your ski season? Think about getting your equipment in shape before it starts. Some preventive maintenance not only protects your skis from abrasion and wear, but can make skiing easier, too!
If you'd rather leave maintenance to professionals, you can take your skis in to your local store at the beginning of each season. The trained ski technicians will be happy to prepare and wax your skis for you.
If you are more of a do-it-yourselfer, online merchants have the tools and supplies you need to care for your equipment. Ski maintenance does not have to be difficult or time-consuming. The amount of effort you put into it really depends on how often you use your equipment and the level of performance you require from it.
Types of Waxing
All Nordic skiers, including those who own so-called nonwax skis, should learn basic ski waxing techniques. Why? Because proper waxing not only enhances your performance and makes skiing easier, but also conditions and protects your ski bases from wear and oxidation.
Grip or Glide?
- Snow is an abrasive substance, made up of millions of individual, sharp-edged crystals that dig into ski bases and slow them down. When you wax your skis, you are addressing this "abrasiveness," either by trying to eliminate it, or by taking advantage of it in order to travel forward.
- Waxing for grip: Classic striding techniques (whether they're practiced on groomed tracks, open trails or out in the backcountry) actually depend on the abrasiveness of snow for purchase and forward momentum. When waxing classic striding skis, the goal is to encourage the snow to dig in and grab the ski bases whenever they're weighted and stationary, but not when they're sliding forward. This type of waxing is called "waxing for grip."
- Waxing for glide: Like downhill skis, those designed for telemark and skating are built to glide forward as efficiently as possible. The goal when waxing these kinds of skis is to minimize overall friction between the skis and the snow. This is called "waxing for glide."
Which Method Should I Use? Consider the following when deciding how to wax your skis:
- Your skiing style - As explained above, each type of Nordic skiing (classic striding, skating or telemark) requires its own type of waxing.
- Expected conditions and temperatures: Waxing is temperature dependent, so you need to estimate what conditions you'll be skiing in and choose waxes suited for those temperatures. Some waxes are designed to provide decent performance across a broad temperature range, while others provide maximum performance in a smaller, more specific range.
- Your desired level of performance: Experts and racers seek to maximize performance, so they tend to wax frequently (often many times a day) using a large number of temperature-specific waxes (and complicated techniques). Recreational skiers place more emphasis on having fun rather than spending time waxing skis. They stick to simpler procedures and "broadrange" waxes, which are easier to apply and less apt to need changing.
Author Resource:
Samet Yahya Bilir is is a freelance writer who writes about recreation and sports topics such as learn how to snowboard and cross country skiing .
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")