Putting Away Your Skis And Stuff
It Pays To Spend A Little Extra Effort On Your Gear. Here’s How.
[Editor Note: Don Burch’s article on storing your gear is published each year around this time. We are reprising it to help remind you that a little care for your stuff goes a long way.]
Hopefully your ski equipment has taken good care of you all winter, now 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? Hmmmm.
Credit: Mike Maginn
Skis: At the end of ski season, the bottom 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 top of your skis and bindings. I don’t recommend using cleansers on the top of your skis 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. I have done this method, and it works, but it is time consuming.
A good edge sharpening and hot wax will not only have your skis ready for next season and will 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 that you take the boot liners out in order to get the boots thoroughly dry. I know it’s a pain to get the liners in and out. Warming your boots and thereby making the plastic softer will make it much easier to deal with the liners.
Store your boots in a place where mice cannot get at 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 any equipment maintenance tips for the off-season?
Saas Fee, Switzerland: Season Closeout
Not as well-known as its neighbor, Zermatt, Saas Fee is a good bet for snow in April. Taking advantage of my granddaughter’s Spring vacation, we planned a week’s skiing on one of Europe’s largest glaciers. But make no mistake about it, there are no closeout bargains in Switzerland. A senior discount for the ski pass, is an unknown concept and food at the resort was expensive compared to other venues in the Alps.
But there are advantages to Switzerland. Getting off the plane in Geneva Airport, we hopped on the train to Visp and from there took the bus up to car free Saas Fee. On the way up we were treated to Heidi-like views of traditional Swiss mountain homes and alpine meadows. Arriving at the bus terminal at the entrance to Saas Fee, the owner of the apartment we booked, picked us up
with his electric cart and brought us and our luggage up to the apartment. Remnants of snow could be seen throughout the village, but there was plenty of snow on the mountain and we could ski all the way down to the village at 1,800 meters. Our apartment was advertised as “ski in – ski out,” and this was basically true, although this late in the season we did have to walk a bit as the snow in the village was disappearing on a daily basis.
The configuration of lifts in Saas Fee is unlike most other alpine ski resorts. Three cable cars, take skiers up to the mid-stations where you connect with a underground funicular, which goes all the way up to the top at 3,500 meters. There are only two chair lifts where you can ski the lift line. Most of the skiing is up on the glacier at this time of year and there are T–bars wherever you look. A caveat for senior folk:, access to the cable car lifts and the funicular involves climbing and/or descending stairs while carrying skis and poles. It’s doable, but requires a deep breath and a slow but steady pace.
The skiing at Saas Fee is huge. The off-piste possibilities are almost unlimited and all within the ski area itself. Nearly all the marked runs are classified as “red,” which means advanced intermediate skiers can ski basically everywhere. The skiing is not difficult and the alpine views are spectacular. The pistes were groomed on a daily basis and we enjoyed winter conditions above 2,900 meters, and spring conditions lower down. There are four mountain restaurants including a revolving restaurant at 3,500 with unforgettable views in all directions.
While we were there, we had the opportunity to watch the annual Allalin amateur ski race, which starts at the top and finishes in town. The race course is a downhill course with vertical drop of 1,700 meters. Hundreds of men and women compete; with the fastest young skiers completing the race in 4 minutes plus and the older racers in their 50’s and 60’s getting down in 10 – 12 minutes. On the day after the race, I skied the top half of the piste with my granddaughter, who was into her second week as a skier. The long gentle sloping course was great for both of us as we cruised, each at his/her own pace, from the top down to the restaurant at the mid-station.
We enjoyed the skiing that Switzerland has to offer; the Swiss alpine atmosphere, good skiing conditions even in mid-April, the convenience of the Swiss rail system, the friendly Swiss folks, and of course the fondue, but we closed out the season with no bargains.
What We Know About Next Season
Thanks to late season storms, some downhill destinations will be skiing and riding into August, while others have closed and already starting construction on new lifts. Here’s what we know now about the 2024/25 season, including pass price changes, so you can put these resorts on your bucket list – or not.
Prices Going Up for Going Downhill
Don’t wait. The price of sext season’s Epic Pass goes up on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27. In addition to paying more, you’ll lose two Buddy Passes for friends and family along with skip-the-lift-ticket-line for any passes you buy or redeem for day-of skiing. The same price increase deadline applies for regional Epic passes, including the Northeast Value Pass and the Epic Military Veteran Pass.
You have until September or October to buy an Ikon Pass before prices go up again. But do it now, before you forget, because the closer you get to the price increase deadline, the more the website is overwhelmed with procrastinators.
Jackson Hole
The iconic Wyoming resort is replacing the Sublette lift over the summer with a faster and more powerful detachable quad chairlift, which will be up and running in time for the 2024–25 winter season. The new lift cuts uphill time from eight minutes to four, while climbing approximately 1,600 vertical feet at 1,000 feet per minute. That means you can get to Laramie Bowl – my personal favorite run at Jackson Hole – in half the time, and wear out your legs and lungs twice as fast. The original Sublette lift was built in 1987.
This past season, JHMR was open 143 open days and clocked 447 inches of total snowfall, helped by a series of heavy late winter and early spring storms that blanketed the West.
Big Sky
The Montana resort celebrated its 50th Anniversary last season with the introduction of a new, larger Lone Peak Tram, and making more changes for season 51.
The new Madison 8 lift will replace the Six Shooter 6 on the Moonlight Basin side of the resort. It will nearly double uphill capacity out of the Madison Base, reducing ride time by an estimated 30%. The Madison 8 is another eight-seater, which Big Sky introduced to the world with its Ramcharger lift on the main mountain. The new lift is named for the nearby Madison River, and expected to be operational by December 2024.
Big Sky also says it is changing ticket pricing to the new Lone Peak Tram, although the changes affect only a small number of guests.
Starting next winter, those who buy lift tickets directly from the resort no longer will have to pay extra to access the new 75-passenger Tram. But that deal applies only to elite Gold and Double Black pass holders. Everybody else still will have to pay $10-$50 per ride, depending on conditions.
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That means all Ikon, Mountain Collective, and non-Gold and Double Black pass holders will continue to be charged per ride on the Lone Peak Tram, with pricing unlikely to change much from this past season.
Mammoth Upgrade at Mammoth
Mammoth is replacing its very first chairlift – known both as Chair 1 and Broadway Express – from a quad into a high-speed detachable six-pack. It’s part of a larger upgrade to the base area that includes a new lodge and amenities.
This was a t-bar when the resort opened in 1953, upgraded to a two-seater two years later, and then to a four-seater in 1995. The new six-pack will be able to whisk 3,200 people up the mountain each hour, reducing wait times at the base at peak times (pardon the pun) to under four minutes.
If you want to buy one of the chairs being retired, contact Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation. Prices start at $299.
We’ll have more news about next season as soon as it is available.
See you on the slopes!
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