Maintenance of skis and boots

Question
Hi Lisa,
What should I do to prepare my ski equipment for next season? Also, how should I store my skies and boots in the off season?

Thanks in advance,
Sal

Answer
Hi Sal and thanks for the question.

Bindings:
Bindings contain springs under tension, so these should be loosened off for storage to avoid 'softening' the spring. Either mark where they need to be set to or take them to a ski shop for a pre-season tuneup to ensure they are set correctly. If you do choose to do it yourself - put a reminder on the ski to resume the tension and reset the DIN [the number on the front of the binding].

Bases:
Clean the bases & edges with a citrus based cleaner then wipe off as much as possible. Then you need to put on a thick coat of wax to cover the entire base as well as the edges. Dont worry about scraping the wax back until next season.If you want - you can tune your edes before puting them into storage - save doing it next season. The wax helps to inhibit rust on the edges and stops the bases from drying out.

If you have a mount on the wall and can lay them flat - then that is best - if not, stand them up on their tails. If doing the latter - itsbeter if you can put something soft over the tails to avoid them scraping on the ground if knocked over. You can wrap them up or put them into a ski bag for storage.

Pre-Season:
need to re-set the bindings & ensure they are still moving in all three directions. Put your boot into the bindings and then push on the toe to see if you can get it to pop out. If you cant - then best you have them checked by a pro. A binding not working can result in a briken leg or knee [thats why i bang on about it]. Also, you will need to scrape back some of the wax. Depending on the snow conditions you may only need to scrape them back lightly.

Boots:
Make sure they are dry!! You could put a moth ball thing [a home made one would be fine too] in the boot bag to deter anything getting into it. Buckles should be done up to either the one you ski on or one looser as the plastic will soften in the hot weather and has the potential to 'move' buckling or warping if they arent done up.  I like to put odour eater powder in my boots [& gloves] a couple of times over summer as well. Just to make sure any bacteria that has gotten in will be killed off.  If your boots smell when you take them off - they have a bacteria in them - it is the bacteria that causes the smell.

Jackets and pants should only ever be washed on a wool cycle with gentle detergent to avoid destroying the waterproofing. Its wise to spray them again with a waterproofing agent prior to storage if you're not going to get them dry-cleaned. Some dry-cleaners will re-waterproof, ask before you leave your things tho.

[Or you can just take your skis to a ski shop and ask for a summer wax]

hope that helps
lisa