How to Tune Your Ski Equipment

By Sean Raftree

A finely tuned ski or snowboard can be the difference between a great day on your favorite mountain or a nightmare of an experience trying to get to the bottom of the hill. The reason tuning your gear is so essential is how it affects the performance of your boards. There are many ways to tune equipment and many techniques. I am going to impart some basic knowledge that should help the everyday skier to have an amazing time on their equipment.

1. The first thing you are going to want do is check the base of the skis or snowboard you are riding. If it has an ashey dry look to it, then it desperately needs wax. You will need an iron, a plexi-glass scraper, and a scouring pad to buff out the surface.

2. Secondly, you are going to want to run your finger along the edge of the gear to feel for any burrs (which are nics on the edge that you can feel with your finger). You will want to smooth these out with your hand edging tools. You will need a file and a guide to accomplish this. There are two separated guides you will have to own to get this done: One is for the base edge and the second is for the side edge. These edges have to be smooth in order for the operator of the gear to effectively turn the ski. Burrs and un-smooth edges make it hard for the ski and the skier to charge down the mountain.

3. Third, you will want to do all edging work first because it messes up the finished waxed product. Always move from tip to tail when use a file and a guide on your ski. After a few passes with the file, take your scouring pad and wipe off any metal scraping that may have been left by the file.

4. While you are edging, plug in your iron so it will be hot by the time you need it. Great, now you are ready to begin waxing. Take your iron in one hand and a small piece of temperatured ski wax in the other, and apply a thin coat to the base of the ski. Use the iron to smooth out the wax and evenly apply it to the bottom. Once this is done, you have to let the wax cool and adhere to the ski or snowboard.

5. Once we have given the ski enough time to dry (about 10 min) you are ready to scrape it. You will need a plexi-glass scraper and a scouring pad to finish the job. As with the edging, you are going to scrape tip to tail. Once you have removed the globs of wax from the base, you will take your scouring pad and buff it out. Now you can bask in the glory.

6. Your skis or boards should feel smooth to the touch and appear moist. This is a great sign of a freshly tuned ski. Now that everything is waxed go enjoy how fast and smooth turning your equipment should be.

Visit http://www.skibutlers.com/heavenly-tahoe-ski-rentals or call Sean Raftree at 530.542.1490 for more information. ---------------------------------------------------- For more information and articles on Ski Equipment, see www.bestskisource.com.