Question: How often do you wax your skis?

[cholinga]

Apologies if this has been discussed before; I ran a quick search but couldn't find a recent thread. Just wondering how often everyone waxes their skis? I didn't pay my skis the attention they deserved until I fell in love with my current daily drivers (K2 Mindbender 89Ti W). Since I've been paying attention, I've found that my bases go white/dry after most ski days, and find myself needing to wax them between nearly every ski day. Granted, I go pretty hard most days I take them out, but it still feels like the need for fresh wax is a bit too frequent. I've switched to using an infrared waxer which helps a lot time-wise, but is still a bit of a drag.

Does anyone else have this issue?

 

[Jilly]

Every day or the next day. Depends on how much ice/hardpack. I have a bench, so it doesn't take long.

 

[Chute Goddess]

I tend to just rub on wax cuz I am a bit lazy...

 

[marzNC]

Used to wax my skis after every 2-3 days when skiing in the southeast. Started treating my skis with Phantom Glide after DPS put it on the market. Now all my skis are treated and I don't wax them at all.

I would get my all-mountain skis I only use out west waxed once a season. They do really well in spring conditions. Better than having to wax every day, or adding something after a few hours.

 

[santacruz skier]

Probably once for every 5 days I ski.

 

[Jilly]

Apologies if this has been discussed before; I ran a quick search but couldn't find a recent thread. Just wondering how often everyone waxes their skis? I didn't pay my skis the attention they deserved until I fell in love with my current daily drivers (K2 Mindbender 89Ti W). Since I've been paying attention, I've found that my bases go white/dry after most ski days, and find myself needing to wax them between nearly every ski day. Granted, I go pretty hard most days I take them out, but it still feels like the need for fresh wax is a bit too frequent. I've switched to using an infrared waxer which helps a lot time-wise, but is still a bit of a drag.

Does anyone else have this issue?

What wax are you using? Or how are you doing it?

 

[Ms Mia]

Used to wax my skis after every 2-3 days when skiing in the southeast. Started treating my skis with Phantom Glide after DPS put it on the market. Now all my skis are treated and I don't wax them at all.

I would get my all-mountain skis I only use out west waxed once a season. They do really well in spring conditions. Better than having to wax every day, or adding something after a few hours.

I've been curious about Phantom Glide and whether it lives up to its claims. I live in a small apartment and don't have the room to DIY wax/ tune (nor the confidence!) And don't have the budget to pay for a wax every few days. Interested to read that you've treated all your skis with it and NEVER wax them? That's amazing.

 

[marzNC]

I've been curious about Phantom Glide and whether it lives up to its claims. I live in a small apartment and don't have the room to DIY wax/ tune (nor the confidence!) And don't have the budget to pay for a wax every few days. Interested to read that you've treated all your skis with it and NEVER wax them? That's amazing.

I used the first pair of skis that I treated with the first version of Phantom for 100+ days, all in the east mostly on manmade snow. Also did a head-to-head comparison of those skis during a late season trip with skis that had a good warm temperature wax, plus paste enhancement. Phantom is as good as a universal wax. The treatment changes the nature of the base all the way through. So even after a base grind, the glide remains the same. Note that I keep skis for a while. While I enjoy demo'ing I'm not really much of a shopper interested in actually buying new skis. Phantom is not that cost effective for people who opt to get new skis every couple years.

More stories here:

Phantom Glide™ base treatment, how to avoid waxing recreational skis - Notes 2022

For recreational skiing, Phantom Glide™ is an alternative to waxing skis. I was an early adopter after DPS Skis made Phantom available during the 2018-19 season and am very happy with the performance on snow. I had been waxing my skis at home for a few years before Phantom was invented, but it’s...

www.theskidiva.com

The current DIY kit has a version that is much easier to apply. Needs an hour of good sunlight. They have been doing a sale a few times a year in recent years.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

Not nearly often enough. This thread was a good reminder. Thank you!
Especially as we enter the weirdness (from a snow perspective) that is spring.

 

[echo_VT]

I do it when I notice it performing badly and getting grabby. Same thing for edges.
So tuning edges is more regular during the season (because ice coast). Wax is prevalent for spring conditions which started last week here in central Vermont…! We have a full set up as the family skis a lot and the kiddo races (previously alpine now XC)

 

[BlizzardBabe]

Every 7 days or so. It probably should be more frequent since I ski a lot of ice, but I'm lazy. I have Phantom DPS on one pair and I'll bite the bullet and get my other two high usage skis done after the season ends.

 

[mustski]

I use the Toko spray wax in between. Spray it on at night and brush it off in the morning and you are good to go. I also use the Toko rub on liquid wax in spring. It keeps the bases moist in that granular stuff.

 

[cholinga]

What wax are you using? Or how are you doing it?

Recently I've been using "One" F1 universal temp wax. My usual process is to take a brass brush to my bases, clean with alcohol and a rag, pre-warm bases with my infrared waxer, crayon the wax on, melt it in, then do a final brush with nylon and horsehair.

I used to do a standard hot wax with an iron, but loathed the scraping portion, and still needed to do it quite frequently. The IR waxer has saved me a ton of time (and mess) at least! Maybe I need to try out a different wax...

 

[cholinga]

I used the first pair of skis that I treated with the first version of Phantom for 100+ days, all in the east mostly on manmade snow. Also did a head-to-head comparison of those skis during a late season trip with skis that had a good warm temperature wax, plus paste enhancement. Phantom is as good as a universal wax. The treatment changes the nature of the base all the way through. So even after a base grind, the glide remains the same. Note that I keep skis for a while. While I enjoy demo'ing I'm not really much of a shopper interested in actually buying new skis. Phantom is not that cost effective for people who opt to get new skis every couple years.

More stories here:

Phantom Glide™ base treatment, how to avoid waxing recreational skis - Notes 2022

For recreational skiing, Phantom Glide™ is an alternative to waxing skis. I was an early adopter after DPS Skis made Phantom available during the 2018-19 season and am very happy with the performance on snow. I had been waxing my skis at home for a few years before Phantom was invented, but it’s...

www.theskidiva.com

The current DIY kit has a version that is much easier to apply. Needs an hour of good sunlight. They have been doing a sale a few times a year in recent years.

I've been super curious about Phantom wax as well... thanks for the info, good to know it has held up well for you and others!

 

[cholinga]

I use the Toko spray wax in between. Spray it on at night and brush it off in the morning and you are good to go. I also use the Toko rub on liquid wax in spring. It keeps the bases moist in that granular stuff.

Right on, does it usually hold up pretty well all day? I may give this a try on my upcoming ski roadtrip...the likelihood I'll run out of patience for hot waxing on the road is high haha

 

[scandium]

I take a look at my edges and bases every night, but generally only hot wax every 2nd or 3rd day, unless I want condition-specific wax or have gone over a lot of manmade snow.

 

[mustski]

Right on, does it usually hold up pretty well all day? I may give this a try on my upcoming ski roadtrip...the likelihood I'll run out of patience for hot waxing on the road is high haha

I find the spray on as good as a hot wax in performance but you need to do it more often. The roll on liquid wax is good for one day in spring conditions. That’s when I use it.

 

[Ms Mia]

Every day or the next day. Depends on how much ice/hardpack. I have a bench, so it doesn't take long.

@Jilly I note that you're in Quebec, which is where I live (Sutton). I spoke to someone about Phantom Glide today who said he doesn't think it's worth it in our conditions - too much hard pack/ rocks etc, and any serious scratch will mean having to grind out and that would lose any value of Phantom Glide. He reckoned it makes sense in Europe or out west, but not for us! Do you have thoughts? And what kinds of wax do you use? I'm new to this part of being a ski fanatic, and am convinced our eastern conditions might mean we have to make different choices than those out west, or even mid- west USA

 

[mustski]

My understanding is that base grinds and p Tex fixes do not diminish the phantom glide results. @marzNC

 

[marzNC]

I spoke to someone about Phantom Glide today who said he doesn't think it's worth it in our conditions - too much hard pack/ rocks etc, and any serious scratch will mean having to grind out and that would lose any value of Phantom Glide.

Sounds to me like that tech doesn't understand the chemistry involved with Phantom. That's fairly typical in some ski shops, but tends to vary by region. A base grind does NOT mean Phantom is gone. The treatment changes the chemical composition of the entire base layer. That means after a base grind, it's simply a new surface that is also treated so it's more hydrophobic and therefore has the same level of glide as universal wax.

I've done a base grind on more than one pair of skis treated with Phantom. Also had dings and scratches fixed as part of a full tune. For one pair of skis, more than once. Still no need to wax.