The 2024-2025 season is upon us. Will you be ready?
Credit:Yelizaveta Tomashevska
Editors Note: Here are some important pre-season readiness tips from Tom Arnold, owner of Powder Cord Pouches and purveyor of Buckletite boot levers, the HotBuns warmer and the SeeBlade goggle wiper. Follow Tom’s lead to ensure your gear is ready to make the first day of this season as memorable as your last day last season.
The 2024-2025 season will be upon us before we know it. Will you be ready? Here are a few tips to ensure your first day this season will be as memorable as your last day last season.
Let’s start with your skis. If you have more than fifty days on them since their last visit to your preferred ski tech, consider taking them in for a full tune-up/base structure evaluation. This should include P-texing any base dings, flattening and waxing the base itself, sharpening the edges, lubing and checking the functionality of the bindings, ensuring you have the correct DIN setting to prevent the bindings from releasing prematurely or not releasing at all and – this is important! – checking the torque of the special screws that hold the bindings to the skis. On rare occasions, all or part of the binding can rip loose from the ski causing a catastrophic crash. You will need to leave your boots with your skis for this test.
If your skis are fairly new with perhaps only a dozen or so days on them, you can prep them for this season yourself. Get a chunk of wax at your ski shop, pick up a bottle of ski base cleaner and if you don’t have one already, a waxing iron. You’ll also need some sort of strap to lock the brakes out of the way so you can work on the bases.
First, clean the bases according to the directions on the bottle of base cleaner. Be sure to let them dry completely before you start dripping wax on them. When they are dry, dribble wax on the bases and iron it in. Tognar Ski Tool has a good how-to video on ski waxing. (www.tognar.com/how-to-hot-wax-skis-or-snowboards). You’ll get the feel for how much pressure to apply, how hot the iron should be and how long to keep the iron on the ski. Let the wax set for a while before you scrape it off with a stainless steel or plastic scraper. Scrape from tip to tail (that’s the direction the snow moves under your skis). Be careful to get a flat, smooth base without removing too much wax.
Next, your boots. You skied hard last season and sometimes your feet would sweat as witnessed by your socks when you stepped out at the end of the day. Don’t for a moment imagine that those damp socks kept your liners dry! They’ve been absorbing moisture and salt like there’s no tomorrow. You need to take the liners out of your boots and, if you have removable foot beds, take those out of the liners as well. Fill up a bucket with warm, sudsy water and slosh those liners and foot beds for several minutes. You will be amazed at how dirty that water is, especially if you’ve had your boots for a few years and this is their first bath. Once they’re as clean as you can get them, dump the dirty, soapy water and begin rinsing the liners in clean warm water. You may need a few basins of water to be sure there is no residual soap. It doesn’t hurt to wash the boot shells as well, inside and out. Finally, let the shells and liners air dry somewhere outside but not in direct sunlight. Don’t be surprised if drying takes several days or even a week or two. The main thing is to be sure they are completely dry before you put them in your closet. Leave them disassembled (liners and foot beds out) until you need them this season.
With your skis, boots and bindings in top condition, you’re good to go with confidence come opening day.
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Wow! Laundering my boot liners. Who ever heard of such a thing? I’m afraid mine might be brittle at this point but I’ll pull them out and have a look. Thanks for your tips.
Great newsletter to start the season. I would add one thing about drying the liners. They will mildew if they take two days to dry. If you have boot dryers (and you should), put them in the liners inside the house or lay the liners on the floor with the tops facing a floor fan.
Another tip: You don’t know what you are missing if you haven’t tried compression ski socks. If you want your ski socks to last, never put them in the dryer, and never use fabric softener on any outdoor layers. If you regularly use fabric softener, your machine is “contaminated” with softener. Wash your ski clothes by hand. Solden is this weekend!
I wax and tune my own skis. After the season ends, clean the bases and iron on a heavy coat of wax that covers the edges to prevent rusting and oxidation of the base material. Before use, scrape thoroughly and use a base brush to remove wax from the structure pattern of the base. A perfectly smooth base will create suction than makes harder to turn the ski.
I have never washed my boot liners, but they should always be fully dried before storing any length of time and buckled to retain the shape of the shell. These parts are cut from flat sheets of plastic and they will try to return to that shape if not buckled.