Tuning : how often does everyone wax/sharpen their skis?

[BrookeK]

I've been curious about this for awhile. I've been told to sharpen skis fairly often, I've been told to sharpen them as little as possible because it shortens the lift of the ski.
I skied my Atomics 35 times or so last year, (about 15 the year before) and had them sharpened once.
I've moved on to my Motives, but what about waxing? I was waxing the Atomics and the Salomons every couple of uses, or so. I've had the Motives out half a down times since I got them and waxed them once, before Utah (will probably.wax them before my next trip out on Wednesday).
But I've talked to.other people that never wax their skis! Even my ski patrol friend mentioned last year that he had yet to wax them that season!
Am I ocd? Does it really matter? (I mean, of course having properly tuned gear matters, I mean more like, if I wax them TOO often, is it a problem?)
What's everyone's rule?

 

[bounceswoosh]

This depends on if you're skiing out east or out west. Most people in the west sharpen their skis rarely to never - unless they race.

I'm a pretty big believer in waxing, but recently found out I've been doing it all wrong. But even doing it all wrong (leaving wax on the ski that doesn't ever get skied off), it's still better than not waxing. Waxing + mass = carrying speed through flats.

 

[ski diva]

I usually get mined tuned after 10 days of use. But I'm in the east and conditions can be rough on a ski.

 

[geargrrl]

My skis get waxed a whole lot more now that DH bought himself a wax set up, originaly for our skate skis. The deal is he waxes my skis if and I'll do the dishes by myself. We usually cleanup together.

 

[sibhusky]

I polish the edges and wax the skis, roughly every 60,000 vertical feet. Whether it's more or less depends a lot on how the goal coincides with the days I ski, since I do it on my "off" days. Sharpening is on an "as needed" basis. Full tune up pre-season, might re-sharpen once or twice throughout the season, but with the regular polish, they stay fairly sharp anyway. Since I do everything myself, there's no issue of having to get over to a shop and go back and pick them up.

 

[altagirl]

When we skied in Europe, we waxed and at least cleaned up the edges every other ski day at a minimum, sometimes every night. Now that we live in Utah? I haven't even waxed my skis this year and edges get attention only if I have noticeable burrs or damage. We will break out the wax if there is a major shift in temperature, but otherwise it's pretty rare. And I now totally do the lazy method where you don't get all the wax off the skis afterwards.

 

[santacruz skier]

Wax every few days believe it or not.. Tune and/or edge as needed.. Snow in Tahoe so awesome this season haven't tagged any rocks. 1 tune in 18 days. Several iron on waxes.

 

[Jilly]

I'm about the same as the Ski Diva....but east coast "ice". I like razor sharp edges for my ice!

 

[Serafina]

I get my edges sharpened whenever I notice that they start washing out on the ice.

I get my bases ground when I can't see the base pattern clearly down the entire length of the ski.

I get them waxed every four ski-days or so, although I spent so much time doing pivot slips on ice this morning on a pair of skis I've ridden exactly twice that the bases are white, and so that wax lasted 2 days. Will get my skis waxed more frequently once we start skiing on the loose gran that is our spring condition in New England. And I get them waxed if they start feeling grabby or sluggish over fresh manmade snow.

 

[Fluffy Kitty]

I'm on the obsessive end... mostly because I tune my skis as a consolation on weekends I can't go... I'm also, overall, obsessive, in case it hasn't been obvious...

I hot wax the skis about every 4 days (about 40 miles) with universal wax. I also cork in liquid universal or solid temp-specific wax every day; this helps a lot with slushy days and our infamous wet powder. On really slushy days, I even do a layer of NotWax mid-day, although this isn't necessary with high-fluoro wax on top.

I hone the side edge about every 4 days, before hot waxing, and after any day with rocks.

I do a base "refresh" at the end of every season, which also means a slight base edge touch-up.

 

[BrookeK]

Well, it sounds like I'm not being obsessive about it at all!
Actually, I really enjoy waxing my skis, something therapeutic about it. I don't always do it myself. Usually, but tonight, for instance, I just had my friend in the ski shop do it while I took my boots off.
I have the tuning kit, so technically, I have the tools to do my edges as well....but I don't yet have the skill, and I'm kind of afraid to try it and screw things up.

 

[AltaEgo]

I check my edges using my fingernail against the edge under the foot method. If they are not sharp I sharpen (usually every third time I wax) or if they have a burr in them. I use a very light hand. I wax about every third ski day, more if skiing on machined groomed granular or machine made snow conditions, or riding the carpet lifts a lot (carpet lift takes the wax right off them). But I am a lazy waxer. I put it on pretty thin and ski the excess off.

Tuned skis are needed for firmer conditions we have back east, and waxing makes them turn SO much easier. And I am all about easier!

I find that after stone grinding I have to build the wax layers up again in the ski to have it ski well. I also buy universal "shop" wax in bulk. And yes I know people whose bases go white (oxidizing) before they wax, but I think a waxed ski is less likely to get a base scratch going over a rock or other non-snow object than an unwanted one. (At least that's been my experience.)

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I get my edges sharpened whenever I notice that they start washing out on the ice.

And I get them waxed if they start feeling grabby or sluggish over fresh manmade snow.

This....... is generally what I do.

I start off with everything sharpened and waxed at the beginning of the season and then I do it throughout the season as necessary.

I ski in the northeast so I know its time for another sharpening whenever I notice that the skis start washing out on the ice. I like ginsu knives attached to my feet when I know my ice skis/carvers are coming out. Example is we're headed to vermont this weekend, temps will be cold and I suspect ice/hardpack be everywhere so I brought my magnums to my guy at my local hill yesterday, told him where I was going and what likely conditions I expected and he got em all ready for me.

I know its time to get them waxed if they start feeling grabby or sluggish on the snow.

My Atomic Elysians for example I don't worry so much about a tune up because they are mostly my softer snow ski but my Kenjas and particularly my Magnums I keep razor sharp edges on them because of the conditions in which I usually ski them.

 

[volklgirl]

I do all my own work, so check and polish edges daily as needed, and wax every 3-5 ski days depending on snow conditions. I use Hertel all temp wax, so I never have to worry about temperature changes. The only time I have them ground is if I have major base or edge damage I can't fix myself (except my race skis - they get ground when the base structure starts to disappear).

 

[BrookeK]

I do all my own work, so check and polish edges daily as needed, and wax every 3-5 ski days depending on snow conditions. I use Hertel all temp wax, so I never have to worry about temperature changes. The only time I have them ground is if I have major base or edge damage I can't fix myself (except my race skis - they get ground when the base structure starts to disappear).

I like waxing my own skis but I'm kind of afraid to do anything with my edges, for fear of screwing them up. It IS something I'd like to learn. I think I'm repeating myself here, but every few waxes, I'll just have the guys in the ski shop do it while I'm taking off my boots (usually on nights I know I'm about to work doubles and don't want to be up waxing skis at 2 am before my next ski day ). They'll generally tell me if they think I need to grind the bases or sharpen edges, but that's something I'd like to learn to do myself.
You polish every day? Really? Hmm. I definitely think this is a skill I need to add to my repetoir.

 

[Fluffy Kitty]

It IS something I'd like to learn.

If you have more than one pairs, you can practice on the pair that you think might need to be replaced soon. You might then not want to replace them any more.

Polishing/honing with extra-fine grit takes off very little metal. It's hard to screw up. Hand-tuning, in general, takes off less metal than machine-tuning at the shop.

And, despite my perfectionist rants elsewhere, I think for most of us the difference is minimal, unless you are on race-quality ice. My daughter had a pair that had, like, no edge on one side of both skis; she has skied before and after I fixed it, and couldn't tell the difference, especially given the vast variations in snow condition. Just take it easy on the first run.

 

[BrookeK]

If you have more than one pairs, you can practice on the pair that you think might need to be replaced soon. You might then not want to replace them any more.

Polishing/honing with extra-fine grit takes off very little metal. It's hard to screw up. Hand-tuning, in general, takes off less metal than machine-tuning at the shop.

And, despite my perfectionist rants elsewhere, I think for most of us the difference is minimal, unless you are on race-quality ice. My daughter had a pair that had, like, no edge on one side of both skis; she has skied before and after I fixed it, and couldn't tell the difference, especially given the vast variations in snow condition. Just take it easy on the first run.

I suppose I could practice on my Atomics, since I won't really.be skiing them anymore. I may even be able to get my ski shop guys to teach me. I always boot up at a chair in their shop, so we've become friendly. I had the guy in last night, Brian, wax my skis since I work double shifts between now and my first time out ND was feeling lazy. He ended up letting me come back behind the counter and wall, into employees only area, so I could watch him work (he also had his skis out, volkl rtm 81 @ 171. When I said I've been wanting to try those out, he said he'd adjust the bindings on his for me...we'll see if we end up meeting up as planned, but if he offers, I'm ready to take.him up on it!)

 

[Fluffy Kitty]

I may even be able to get my ski shop guys to teach me.

That's a good idea! Takes the mystery out.

 

[frenchgirl]

I wax my skis every day or so that I get out and tune them as needed depending on the snow.

 

[Kimmyt]

West. I wax every 3-6 ski days and do a full tune once a season or whenever I get major base damage.