How to prepare skis and snowboard for the season at home

professional service technician

How to properly store ski equipment and how to prepare it for the skiing season?

Russia is a country where the period of winter sports can stretch from two months to six months and even more. Over the past few years, ski resorts in Siberia, the Far East, the Caucasus and the Elbrus region have made a great contribution to the development of conditions for comfortable skiing. And since the first snow has already fallen, it’s time to take skis and snowboards out of the storerooms and start servicing them.

Table of Contents

How do I know when it’s time to have my equipment serviced?

It’s hard to determine the condition of your equipment without proper experience.

If visually you think that everything is fine, you can only realize the exact nuances of the condition of your skis or snowboards on the slope: bad glide and, most importantly, the edges do not hold you on the slope.
If visually you see a bad condition of the sliding surface, uneven, rusty, burrs edges – it is definitely necessary to take the equipment to the service center.

A cant is a metal blade that runs along the contour of alpine skis and snowboards.

Pavel Potapov

How often should the equipment be serviced?

Everything will depend on how often, where and how long you will ski. If we are talking about skiing at resorts near your town, and not more than once or twice a month, I recommend to be sure to service a couple times during the season. And definitely when it’s over. For amateurs this will be enough.

But if you ride often and in big mountains, then preparation should be done regularly. This is necessary for good glide, sure grip “edge – slope” and prolong the life of your equipment. In such conditions, special attention should be paid to the sliding surface, especially if the slopes are very snowy, soft and there are big – long rollouts. And about the edge, of course, do not forget.

Is it better to give the equipment to the service or to service it yourself?

It all depends on your wishes. A good service center with professional masters will definitely do everything quickly, qualitatively and with the least losses. Servicing on special machines allows you not to remove a lot of sliding surface and cant. But, as I said earlier, everything will depend on the condition before the repair.

At home, we can sharpen the edge and prepare the glide with paraffin. It is important to understand: if you have time, space, resources (table, vise, paraffins, brushes, iron, cantor and files), and most importantly – desire, you can do a lot of things at home. The big plus is that you can always prepare equipment using different waxes and for specific weather. And this will have a positive effect on sliding.

In my opinion, it is easier, faster and more efficient to turn in the service center. But if you are seriously into skating, it’s like cooking a delicious and healthy lunch – it’s a creative process.

What is the service process like?

The repair process is quite labor-intensive and you can’t do with little blood. At the service center, the sliding surface is ground. It is leveled, cleaned and polished. At the same time, the edge is sharpened along the base, and after that it is sharpened along the edge, thus setting the desired angles. Then the sliding surface is treated with paraffin, and that’s it – you can go skating.

How to store sports equipment?

Sports equipment requires regular care. At the end or during the season, you realize that you will no longer use your skis or snowboard until next year. Consequently, it needs to be cleaned up and canned. It should be stored at home at room temperature.

Important: after each skiing you need to wipe the equipment from snow and water and leave it in the apartment. After the equipment takes room temperature, you need to wipe it and put it in a case. Of course, also dry. This way your skis or snowboard will stay in good condition for many years.