ski maintenance
Jackson Hogen

Keep Your Gear In Shape

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Originally published in the 2020-21 Masterfit Buyer’s Guide and realskiers.com

ski maintenance

How long your gear remains in tiptop condition depends entirely on how well it’s maintained.

At least once a season, it’s good to get skis tuned by a specialty shop, where tuning machines can reproduce a factory finish on the skis so they perform like new. Here are some tips on how to keep your equipment in optimal condition for better performance on the snow.

If you follow these maintenance tips, a well-made pair of skis can perform acceptably for 200 skier days, and may last longer if there’s no major damage. Even inexpensive package skis have at least 100 days of useful life in them. Heavier and more aggressive skiers will usually wear out their skis—and anything else they own—faster than the lighter and more cautious.

Daily Equipment Care

SKIS: Wipe clean and dry. Check for dings on edges and bases.

BOOTS: Buckle all buckles with just enough tension to keep closed.
Be sure soles are clean and no mud or debris is lodged in tread.

BINDINGS: Wipe clean, particularly at boot/binding interfaces.

Regular Maintenance & at the End of the Season

SKIS: Get ski edges tuned by the shop. Or do it yourself: freshen up side edges with a light filing, followed by hand polishing. Fill cuts in bases if necessary. Wax, scrape and buff.

BOOTS: Visually inspect for sole wear and damage to buckles.

BINDINGS: Look for excessive wear, damage or missing parts. Inspect boot/binding interfaces.

Extend the Life of Your Boots

The first part of your boots to wear out will be the soles, but most boots now use replaceable toe and heel pads. The trick is getting a replacement pair while the supplier still stocks them. Or you could just protect them. If you spend a lot of time in parking lots or other hard surfaces, we recommend The first part of your boots to wear out will be the soles, but most boots now use replaceable toe and heel pads. The trick is getting a replacement pair while the supplier still stocks them. Or you could just protect them. If you spend a lot of time in parking lots or other hard surfaces, we recommend Ski Skootys. These are the easiest to use, most versatile sole protectors on the market. As a bonus, they’re also rockered so they make walking in ski boots a lot easier.

Stored Skis
Don Burch

Here’s How to Store Ski Gear and Clothes for the Off-Season

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[Editor’s Note: We’ve published Don Burch’s article on storing gear in the past.  It’s an excellent reminder that a little care goes a long way.]

Hopefully your ski equipment has taken good care of you all winter. It’s time for you to return the favor. Some simple steps now can save you the frustration of rusty edges, musty clothing and mouse-invaded boots.

Are your skis still in the bag by the furnace where you left them after your last ski day? 
Credit: Mike Maginn

Skis: At the end of ski season, the bottoms of your skis will be dirty. This will especially be the case if you did a lot of spring skiing. With today’s black bases it may not be that noticeable. Back in the day when a lot of bases were white the grime was obvious. Before having your skis waxed and sharpened, you want to clean the bases with a gentle cleaner. If you wax dirty skis, you’re just going to embed dirt into the wax.

I wet my skis bases with a garden hose, spray on Simple Green, wipe them down with a rag and then thoroughly rinse everything off. While you’re at it, thoroughly rinse off the tops of your skis and bindings. I don’t recommend using cleansers on the tops, as these can interfere with the lubricants in your bindings.

Some people use commercially available ski base cleaners or Dawn dishwashing soap. Cleaning ski bases will dry them out so it’s imperative that you have them waxed afterwards and don’t let them sit all summer without a wax cover.

Racers and others who are demanding about their equipment will clean their bases using the hot scrape method. This involves hot waxing the skis and scraping the wax off before it cools. This process literally pulls the dirt off the ski. The process is repeated until the warm wax scrapes off clean. This method works, but it’s time consuming.

A good edge sharpening and hot wax will ready your skis for next season and prevent the edges from rusting.

Boots: It’s essential that your boots and liners be totally dry before storing them. I use a boot dryer after every day skiing and before storage. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend removing the liners in order to get the boots thoroughly dry. I know getting the liners in and out can be a pain. Warming your boots to make the plastic softer makes it much easier to deal with liners.

Store your boots in a place where mice can’t get them. A friend of mine stored his in a shed and in the Fall found them chewed on and full of things you’d wouldn’t want put your foot into.

Poles: These get the same attention as they did all winter, none.

Parkas and Ski Pants: At the end of the season, I wash my parka and ski pants in the washing machine with Nikwax TX.Direct® Wash-In. This is a product that cleans and restores water repellency and breathability, and I’ve been happy with the results. I’m not an expert on clothes washing so please go online to learn more and read the washing instructions listed on the label inside your garment.

Anyone else have equipment maintenance tips for the off-season?

season ending
Marc Liebman

Season Ending: The Last Perfect Turn

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Source: Alyeska Ski Resort

The last turn of the last run on any ski day is a bittersweet moment.  If it’s the last day of the trip, it is sad, if not melancholic.

As I come down the mountain on what will be my last run of the day, I go through the same routine.  Partly because I am tired, partly because the beginner runs are easy skiing and take me to the bottom, and partly because I want to be able to imprint the memory of the perfect turns I made, so they will carry me, mentally, to the next trip.

Feet close together, tap the pole, unweight, roll your knees.

It’s also about muscle memory.  I want my body to remember how it felt to have the skis carve through the snow in a perfect turn.

As skis come through the fall line, press the knees forward and into the hill to get the skis on edge.

It is also about knowing that life is short and we never know what tomorrow brings.  As a senior skier, I am closer to the end of my skiing life than the beginning.  It’s depressing but true and makes the desire to carve the perfect turn even more intense.

Feel the edges bite into snow; keep the turn coming across the fall line to control speed.

At the end of every ski day, I want my mind and body to remember the turns, not just one, but a series of linked, perfect round ones.

Body square over skis, or maybe angled down the fall line. Hold the turn long enough to control your speed.

It has to be close to perfect so that even an instructor examiner would smile in approval.

Hands out in front, mid-chest high; feet less than shoulder width apart, ready for the turn.

The last turn was nice and round with the skis on edge that tossed a little snow.  Now time for the next turn, hopefully as good as, if not better than, the last one.

Stay in rhythm. Reach out, tap the snow, unweight, roll the knees.

The process goes on until I reach the bottom, trying to make each turn better than the one before in an attempt to end a day on the snow with a perfect turn.  It may be never-ending, but the quest is reason to head back to the slopes as soon as I can.

Why?  Because at my age, this could be my last day on the slopes. I want to remember that I did all I could do to make the perfect turn.

mike roth pond skim
seniorsskiing

Mike Roth’s Take on Spring Rituals

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As demonstrated throughout the season, Mike Roth is a master at capturing those funny and fearful moments on skis. Here he combines several end-of-season rituals in one cartoon: the pond skim; the shorts; the funny costume, can of beer in one hand; BBQ fork in the other…all centered on one gnarly senior skier. Thanks, Mike!!!!

SKIING HISTORY LOGO
Seth Masia

Skiing History Magazine

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The May-June issue of Skiing History will hit the mail around May 13 (a Friday, of course)., but will be posted online about a week ahead of that.

Look for these articles:

-Skiing Schruns and the Montafon Valley: The old smuggling route between Austria and Switzerland where refugees escaped during World War II.

-Marco Tonazzi, the Vail-based entrepreneur recalls his days on the Italian ski team and adventures with Thoeni, Tomba and Gros.

-Lifts that went nowhere: Gone are the weird experimental ski lifts that didn’t pan out.

-Willy Schaeffler, rebel at heart.

-Warhol in Aspen.

-The man who designed the medals: artist Helmut Zobl.

-Swann poster auction results.

-Report on Skiing History Week in Sun Valley.

-Fritz Wiessner, world-class climber and ski wax alchemist.

To read the new issue online and get the print magazine, visit skiinghistory.org/join.

seniorsskiing

Test Your Skiing Knowledge

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Each issue of SeniorsSkiing.com has a picture to help test your skiing knowledge. Generally, the pictures are from collections in a variety of participating ski museums, which we encourage readers to visit.

Last issue’s challenge was to identify the woman in this picture. She is the only female skier to win three Olympic golds in alpine in a single Olympics (2002). Roger Evans was the first reader to name Janica Kostelic of Croatia. She also is the first woman to win four golds in alpine at the Olympics. She retired in 2007. Asked about ski racing, she said, “It’s just a race. Just like every other one. You have some good days and some bad days.” Ain’t that the truth.

Test Your Skiing Knowledge (or some version of it) will resume in the Fall.

 

seniorsskiing

LUV2SKI

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The ski license plate gallery continues to grow. Art Sexauer, whose ARTSKI plate is part of the gallery, sent in this SKI plate on his son’s car.  And longtime contributor, Jan Brunvand, caught ALTADAB on his camera. Then he asked around for the meaning of “DAB”. His son explained that “DAB” can be either a form of greeting or a form of marijuana.

If you spot a candidate for the LUV2SKI license plate gallery, please email a picture to jon@seniorsskiing.com.

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Pamela Weisburg

Remembering Jon Weisberg

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1943 – 2022

Seniors Skiing’s creator, co-founder, and main contributor passed away on Friday, June 3, 2022.

Jon Weisberg, 78, died June 3 peacefully at home, following a 15-month fight against bladder cancer. An avid skier, he created and co-founded SeniorsSkiing.com, the global online magazine for older skiers. As an executive with Bristol-Myers Squibb, responsible for international public affairs, he promoted and defended the company’s interests across the globe. Earlier, in PR agencies, he represented major consumer brands, trade associations, and other well-known interests. Jon received a BA (’65) from Syracuse University and an MA (’68) from its Newhouse School of Public Communications. Upon retirement in 2000, he and his wife, Pam, moved to Utah to be closer to world-class skiing. He became an adjunct professor in a graduate program of Westminster College, taught in the Deer Valley Ski School, and skied deep powder. For the next 17 years, he provided public relations and crisis and issues management consulting to organizations throughout the country. He served on the boards of the Utah Humanities Council, including as Chair, of the Living Planet Aquarium, and The Mesa, an Artist in Residency program at Zion National Park. Jon is survived by Pam (Crowe), his wife of 50 years, daughters Zoe Weisberg Coady (Chris, Valentino, Scarlett) of Narraganset, RI, and Dr. Amanda Lucero and family (estranged) of Salt Lake City. Donations in his memory may be made to Huntsman Cancer Institute and/or to the International Skiing History Association.

Jon with Klaus Obermeyer, founder of Sport Obermeyer.

Jon skiing in the Dolomites

Jon skiing at Powder Mountain, Utah, 2022.

We thank all of you for being subscribers and readers of SeniorsSkiing.com. In honor and remembrance of Jon, please leave your comments below.

Roger Lohr

Sustainability: Snow Sports Depend on It

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The outdoor industry is big business: 57 million Americans engage in outdoor activities, generating an estimated $887 billion in revenue and creating about 7.6 million jobs.

Wind turbine at Jimmy Peak, MA

Snowsports, which account for about $20 billion in annual revenue in 38 states, rely on Mother Nature for cold and snow. A study conducted ten years ago by Protect Our Winters (POW), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and University of New Hampshire scientists, links specific climate data to projected business losses for the snow sports industry and the U.S. economy.

Porter Fox, author, and Columbia University professor, writes about climate change and snow sports. He draws a relationship between the decline of the number of annual ski days and the ski industry’s light support of advocacy efforts. He lists 13 national legislators from ski states (CA, OR, UT and WA) who have voted against proposed environmental climate legislation; half of them voting against all the bills.

According to one Aspen Skiing Company executive, “The industry hasn’t done a good job educating leaders on the raw science and hasn’t made enough of a public statement on climate.”

Solar panels at Mt Abram, ME

That said, many ski areas are addressing global warming by taking local action in the form of wind turbines and solar tracking systems. LED lighting is another investment reducing power use. More specifically, Aspen has LEED buildings, a coal methane capture facility, and solar and hydro energy. On the other side of the country, Killington is engaged in a program that purchases electricity generated by cow dung. The area also encourages use of electric vehicles by installing about 50 EV charging stations.

These are just a few of the many examples of ski areas taking action to address climate change and, frankly, do what they can to survive the warming conditions threatening their long-term survival.

Yes, it’s good for business. And it’s good for all of us who love to play in the snow. It’s also good for our future generations.

For a summary of how ski areas around the world are becoming sustainable, click here.

seniorsskiing

Don Burch’s Funkadelic Skiing

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Short productions by ski videographer, Don Burch, have been gracing these pages for a few seasons.

Each one is a personal perspective on the joys of skiing; quite different from what the ski and clothing companies have been sponsoring. Funkadelic Skiing – a compilation from the 2021-22 season — is yet another take on Don’s unique view of the sport.  Enjoy!