Ski & Snowboard Wax

Ski and Snowboard Wax

Waxing the undersides of your skis or snowboard is something you should get into the habit of doing regularly. There’s really no such thing as doing it too much, and not doing it often enough will make your skis or snowboard handle noticeably worse out on the snow. The wax will also protect the surface of your skis or board from abrasions and permanent damage that can permanently impact handling. Waxing your skis and boards will make them handle more smoothly and predictably, balancing out irregularities in the snow. It’s an often overlooked skiing and snowboarding accessory that nevertheless is very important and has a big impact on your performance.

How to Apply

First off, you’ll need the underside of your skis or board to be clean, if there’s some grime there you can wipe it off with a cloth or a bit of solvent if you need to. Be sure to let it all dry completely before you apply the wax though. There are purpose made irons for applying that work better and are safer than your normal laundry iron, which tends to go up and down in temperature too much and may damage your board or skis if it goes too high. Press the wax to the iron so that some of it melts and drips onto the surface of your board or skis, and then use the heated up iron to spread it around on the surface. Let the wax cool off completely, which could take up to thirty minutes. After it’s cooled, you’ll need to scrape off any excess with a scraper. After scraping, you’ll need to go over it with some brushes, the number and nature of which depends on the type of skis and board you have, how you plan to use them and personal preference. Scrapes, brushes and waxing irons all fall under the umbrella term ski and snowboard turning tools.

Choice

You also have a choice of wax types that also depends on what sort of winter sport you’re going to be engaging in. Cross-country skiing requires wax that promotes grip, but which won’t work against you when you build up speed. For Alpine skiing, skate skiing and snowboarding you’re instead looking for glide wax that will promote uninhibited sliding. These achieve their effect by creating a very thin film of water between the ski and the snow.