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

[marzNC]

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 a chore I’m happy not to do any more. When I was skiing enough to buy good skis, I used to wax my skis 3-4 times a season. I was skiing 15-25 days, half in the southeast on manmade snow.

Keep reading if you are a recreational or backcountry skier and would consider investing in a base treatment that means not spending time and money on waxing for as long as you keep a pair of skis. Can be useful for racers too but my impression is that most racers prefer to wax their own skis. Although treating with Phantom Glide as a foundation for race skis has proved to be useful. Works for snowboards too.

If you have Phantom-treated skis, did you go DIY or have a shop do the treatment? What do you think about the performance? Do you plan to treat other skis in the future? Be helpful to know what region you ski in the most.

One reason I'm starting a new thread is that the 2022 version of Phantom Glide is slightly different. The DIY kits still is a single application that takes 60 minutes to cure in sunlight, but has a thinner formula and is easier to buff out.

For previous notes by Divas who have used Phantom before 2022:

DPS Phantom base treatment, how to avoid waxing recreational skis - Notes 2020

For recreational skiing, Phantom from DPS Skis is an alternative to waxing skis. I was an early adopter after Phantom became available during the 2018-19 season and am very happy with the performance on snow. I have the basics to wax my skis at home, but it’s a chore I’m happy to avoid. I...

www.theskidiva.com

 

[marzNC]

Phantom can be applied at home (DIY, no tools needed, sunlight required) in a few hours or can be done by a ski shop with a specially designed UV light box. The price for a kit is usually $99, which is good for a pair of any size skis (or one snowboard). The charge for treating a pair of skis using a DPS Cure Station, including a stone grind, has been around $150 at a ski shop.

Performance is comparable to a skis waxed using a universal temperature wax. In spring conditions when the snow is potentially "sticky," I wouldn't want to have skis without Phantom any more.

The marketing description is below:

What is PHANTOM Glide?​

PHANTOM Glide is a permanent, high-performance base treatment for skis and snowboards that increases hydrophobicity and improves glide performance across a variety of snow conditions.

PHANTOM Glide is not wax.

PHANTOM Glide differs from traditional wax because wax is not permanent. Wax is a temporary glide solution that functions only by coating the top layer of your base. After just a few runs, traditional wax wears off and glide performance diminishes.

 

[marzNC]

Backcountry ,com seems to be selling off the old red DIY kits at a discounted price. Looks like the single part version.

The new box is black. From what I've seen, not that much difference in terms of performance. The latest formula is a bit easier to apply just enough so not as much effort is required to get off an excess and buff out the bases.

I've treated skis at home (North Carolina) with the original version that required 3 hours of sunlight for Part A and Part B, as well as the second version that still had Part A & B but only needed 1 hour of sunlight. Even my powder skis are treated now because then they are more fun at Alta in April when it warms up in the afternoon after a late season powder storm. For those, I had a ski shop in SLC do the treatment with a cure station because those skis stay with my primary ski buddy who lives in NM. He had a pair of skis done at the same time. We got 24-hour turnaround.

 

[marzNC]

Can't find Phantom at Backcountry any more. Found a sale price at Evo, but that ends tonight. All the deals are for the red box. Some are the 1-part formula, as marked on the box. There are also people selling the older 2-part version for even less. Those kits may be getting a bit old.

 

[marzNC]

Escape Route is a ski shop in Whistler that was an early adopter of Phantom. Their 2022 webpage includes two detailed reviews, one by a ski tech and one by a backcountry skier.

July 2022

DPS PHANTOM Treatment - Will It Replace Ski Waxing?

Ok, ask yourself one question and be honest, do you wax your skis as often as you should? We know we’re not the only ones who have found ourselves trailing behind our buddies on a cat track after promising ourselves the last time that we’d wax our skis as soon as we got home… before being...

escaperoute.ca

 

[marzNC]

I gather that for touring with skins, having bases treated with Phantom is helpful because there isn't any wax sticking to skins when they are removed.

February 2021

DPS PHANTOM permanent waxless glide treatment - review

DPS PHANTOM waxless glide treatment is a liquid that gets absorbed into the base and cured by UV light to create permanent bond.

offpistemag.com

 

[TNtoTaos]

Can't find Phantom at Backcountry any more. Found a sale price at Evo, but that ends tonight. All the deals are for the red box. Some are the 1-part formula, as marked on the box. There are also people selling the older 2-part version for even less. Those kits may be getting a bit old.

I was lucky enough to get one from Backcountry and applied it to my Sheeva's in Sept -- it was a breeze. Also applied it to my buddy Rita's new skis (she was afraid she'd mess it up, and was going to pay to have it done -- I talked her out of that, LOL). Can't wait to try them out!

 

[marzNC]

Can't wait to try them out!

Maybe a day trip to Ober before you head west to Taos? Looks like snowmaking has started.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Maybe a day trip to Ober before you head west to Taos? Looks like snowmaking has started.

I've definitely been thinking about it -- or maybe Cataloochee...

 

[Mudgirl630]

Three pairs of mine have it. I am going to put it on my new skis also. I love it.
Not only saves time, but not leaving the wax all over the mountain and contaminating your water is very important.
Every single rental skis in Aspen Snowmass have it since last season.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Three pairs of mine have it. I am going to put it on my new skis also. I love it.
Not only saves time, but not leaving the wax all over the mountain and contaminating your water is very important.
Every single rental skis in Aspen Snowmass have it since last season.

Very good point; great reason to switch to Phantom.

 

[marzNC]

Every single rental skis in Aspen Snowmass have it since last season.

Aspen Ski Co. was an early adopter. The first season all the demo skis were treated with Version 1 of Phantom. All the locations of Four Mountain Sports (ACS ski shop) got Cure Stations as soon as they were available.

 

[RJ*]

I finally got around to applying Phantom to two of my pairs of skis. Very excited to try them next week!

I’m not sure I applied the product correctly, as I had a bit of sticky/wet residue left after curing. I think I was supposed to wipe that off before putting the skis out to cure. When I realized I had the residue, I wiped it off and put the skis back out in the sun for another hour. Not sure if that helps, I guess we’ll see!

 

[SarahXC]

@TNtoTaos — Cataloochee is skiing great. I was out Wed and yesterday. Let me know if you are going and maybe we can meet up!

 

[TNtoTaos]

I finally got around to applying Phantom to two of my pairs of skis. Very excited to try them next week!

I’m not sure I applied the product correctly, as I had a bit of sticky/wet residue left after curing. I think I was supposed to wipe that off before putting the skis out to cure. When I realized I had the residue, I wiped it off and put the skis back out in the sun for another hour. Not sure if that helps, I guess we’ll see!

Same here @RJ* -- I think it's because they give you extra in each packet, and our skis are probably not that long. Had that happen with both my and Rita's skis. I even cured them in bright, warm sun for an extra day. I just used a paper towel to wipe off the residue, and they seem fine -- @marzNC agreed.

 

[TNtoTaos]

@TNtoTaos — Cataloochee is skiing great. I was out Wed and yesterday. Let me know if you are going and maybe we can meet up!

Thanks Sarah, I definitely will. Am trying to decide when would be a good time to take a couple of days to come up there. Where's a good place to stay there? How far are the hotels from the resort? It's about a 6 hr drive for me, so would have to stay at least one night.

 

[Mudgirl630]

Aspen Ski Co. was an early adopter. The first season all the demo skis were treated with Version 1 of Phantom. All the locations of Four Mountain Sports (ACS ski shop) got Cure Stations as soon as they were available.

I know because it is my home mountain.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Thanks Sarah, I definitely will. Am trying to decide when would be a good time to take a couple of days to come up there. Where's a good place to stay there? How far are the hotels from the resort? It's about a 6 hr drive for me, so would have to stay at least one night.

Actually, just realized I could take my camper van and stay at Walmart lot in Waynesville

 

[marzNC]

I'm treating a pair of "new to me" skis today. I had a stone grind done at ski shop near Massanutten. I got the 1-packet version in the red box on sale from an e-store a few weeks ago. It's the first time I'm doing DIY with the single packet formula. Certainly a lot easier than the initial Version 1 from the Kickstarter that required two 3-hour cure periods.

It's in the 60s and bright sunshine in central North Carolina.

Here's the video instructions for the 1-packet version that's been sold since 2019. The instructions are the same for the formula in the black boxes starting in 2022. My understanding is that the formula has been tweaked but not enough to make a difference in terms of the application process.

 

[SparkleBunny]

I bought my skis with Phantom pre-applied. I'm a newer skier so I don't really know what is involved with waxing skis, but I'm really loving the fact I don't have to remember to do this extra step.