Ski Maintenance: Servicing Your Skis
Owning your own skis and boots isn’t essential to enjoying the sport, but for those who do, maintaining them is crucial. If you don’t keep your skis well looked after, you’ll find their performance suffers and skiing isn’t as much fun as it ought to be.
While you can pay others to maintain your skis for you, learning how to do it yourself is always handy, and it teaches you a bit about your equipment too.
If you’re skiing at The Snow Centre and don’t have your own gear, don’t worry. We have a huge variety of high-quality skis and boots for you to borrow, included in your lesson or session price, with our clothing and equipment rental at Manchester and Hemel.
When looking after your skis, the two most important things to do are to keep the bases waxed and the edges sharp. The edges - the metal strip that runs around the outside of your ski - help you carve by digging into the snow, while the bases need to be smooth and waxed for good turning and gliding.
Looking After the Base of Your Skis
For the base, ensure it’s waxed and that any gouges, scrapes, and nicks are evened out or repaired. Gouges can be fixed at home using a repair strip melted into the damage and scraped smooth; small scrapes are smoothed with a metal scraper. If you have a deep gouge through to the core, it’s best to take your skis to a specialist service, where the repair can be reinforced properly.
Looking After Your Edges
The metal edges can suffer from rust and nicks, affecting performance and making skiing harder than it should be. Your ski has two edges - the base edge and the side edge - each needs to be checked for rust, nicks, and burring. Remove rust with a gummi stone, and use a file to smooth any nicks and burrs.
Waxing Your Skis
Hot waxing your skis at home is straightforward, and wax and waxing irons are easy to come by. Start by removing old wax, then melt new wax onto the ski and iron it in. Scrape away the excess for a clean, slick finish. Holding your skis stable is the only tricky part - ideally, use two ski vices to hold them upside down and flat.
Storing Your Skis
Skis are a big investment, and looked after properly, they’ll last for many years. Don’t neglect them over the summer or between trips: always store your skis away from heat and damp, and consider waxing them with a thicker coating for storage, covering both the base and edges.
Bring Your Skis to Our Slopes
Keeping your skis in top quality condition makes enjoying the snow at The Snow Centre Manchester and Hemel all the easier. If you need advice or have questions about booking or a lesson, be sure to contact us, and a member of our team will be happy to help.
