So, I bought my first skis....yay!! Thanks ladies for all your help, I ended up purchasing the rossi attraxion VI. My question is, I had to order them online b/c the local ski shop was crazy expensive, plus they didnt have the length I wanted. Anyway, aside from getting the bindings set should I have anything done to them...like wax? Thanks!!
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Question: New skis...need to do anything to them?
- Thread starter TravelRN
- Start date
BackCountryGirl
Angel Diva
Wax and wax and wax again. New skis will soak up alot. Use a cheap, all temp wax, then follow with something condition-specific.
File them flat by hand
New skis are tuned on a wet belt sander. This displaces more P tex base than edge leaving the ski slightly railed (concave) because the metal edge is harder than the plastic. For a really well tuned ski remove the wax, or ski it off and then remove the rest. Get a good file and file hem until the file is making contact with the base at least 1 1/2" from the edge. Then use a stone to remove any burrs from the edges and smooth the file marks out. Then brush on or apply wax like a crayon and heat it until it soaks into the base. Scrape off the excess and polish with cork or a good brush. Make sure you have a file card to clean your file often during the initial filing (you can get these at any hardware store or buy a tuning kit and pay 3 times more money!). Once you ski a ski tuned this way you will never let a ski shop touch your skis again. This is a time consuming project but it really only needs to be done once as long as you don't let anyone near them with a belt sander again.
After doing this your skis will be more predictable, tend to "hook" less, and initiate turns easier and faster. I admit 99 percent of skiers don't do this but all top racers tune their skis this way or have a tech do it for them. It is well worth it and will make skiing much more enjoyable and easier to learn at any level whether you are a beginner or a top expert.
Tami(gravity girl)
New skis are tuned on a wet belt sander. This displaces more P tex base than edge leaving the ski slightly railed (concave) because the metal edge is harder than the plastic. For a really well tuned ski remove the wax, or ski it off and then remove the rest. Get a good file and file hem until the file is making contact with the base at least 1 1/2" from the edge. Then use a stone to remove any burrs from the edges and smooth the file marks out. Then brush on or apply wax like a crayon and heat it until it soaks into the base. Scrape off the excess and polish with cork or a good brush. Make sure you have a file card to clean your file often during the initial filing (you can get these at any hardware store or buy a tuning kit and pay 3 times more money!). Once you ski a ski tuned this way you will never let a ski shop touch your skis again. This is a time consuming project but it really only needs to be done once as long as you don't let anyone near them with a belt sander again.
After doing this your skis will be more predictable, tend to "hook" less, and initiate turns easier and faster. I admit 99 percent of skiers don't do this but all top racers tune their skis this way or have a tech do it for them. It is well worth it and will make skiing much more enjoyable and easier to learn at any level whether you are a beginner or a top expert.
Tami(gravity girl)
volklgirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Actually, your skis will come factory tuned and waxed, ready to go. You'll only get a true factory tune once, so make use of it! Quality of factory tune can vary widely, but most now are nicely ground and perfectly edged (Volkl, in particular, has a very nice factory tune). After a day or 2 of skiing, they'll need to be waxed, though. Continue to wax them every time they start to get sticky or the bases look anything other than smooth, shiny, and slightly soapy.
Check out the Gearipedia section for info on how to keep your gear perfoming like new.
Check out the Gearipedia section for info on how to keep your gear perfoming like new.
PowDiva85
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
yes you should get your skis "prepped" ! If you ski them out of the box they will feel hooky and grabby because the edges need to be slightly less beveled at the tip than under your feet. also the very tips should get detuned so that if you cross your tips you dont cut up your top sheet. Very few ski shops correctly prep a new ski and if they detune the edge rather than do a graduated bevel to the edge it will take many many tunes to get that edge back. If in doubt its better to just have them do the mount and a fresh coat of wax
