Ski Waxing and Tuning for noobs

[HomerPimpin]

I just got into skiing and I've bought my own ski gear, but I've got some stuff I'm still not super sure about. (correct me if I'm wrong) but I would assume when the season comes around I can just ski with my skis right out of the box without any tuning or waxing, but what about after a couple times of skiing, how often will I need to tune and/or wax my skis? During the season I usually only have time to ski on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

[Chunderface]

Ideally, you should clean the bases and wax your new skis before you use them. Then every several days of skiing, depending on the snow and how you ski. I usually wax every 3 or 4 ski days. A lot of people do it less often.

 

[Non_State_Actor]

I just got into skiing and I've bought my own ski gear, but I've got some stuff I'm still not super sure about. (correct me if I'm wrong) but I would assume when the season comes around I can just ski with my skis right out of the box without any tuning or waxing, but what about after a couple times of skiing, how often will I need to tune and/or wax my skis? During the season I usually only have time to ski on Saturdays and Sundays.

Congratulations.

You'd be fine just storing your unused gear until the season rolls around. Are you planning on waxing/tuning yourself? If you're at all handy and want to invest $100+ it will save you time and money in the long run.

 

[Claytonc]

I just got into skiing and I've bought my own ski gear, but I've got some stuff I'm still not super sure about. (correct me if I'm wrong) but I would assume when the season comes around I can just ski with my skis right out of the box without any tuning or waxing, but what about after a couple times of skiing, how often will I need to tune and/or wax my skis? During the season I usually only have time to ski on Saturdays and Sundays.

You can ski without wax on the bases fine, but you can have snow stick to the bases and it overall slows you down a lot. If you just got those skis as well I would take them to a shop and have them to a tune as the factory edge may need a slight detune in some areas, so you don't catch an edge. If you take it to a shop they'll do that as well as wax them, but if you want to wax yourself you'll need to buy ski specific wax, an iron (preferably one specific to ski waxing), an edge tuner, and a scraper. It's also nice to have some brushes so you can clean off the ski bases and then wipe them down with alcohol. I'd also watch some videos on waxing and tuning.

 

[HomerPimpin]

Congratulations.

You'd be fine just storing your unused gear until the season rolls around. Are you planning on waxing/tuning yourself? If you're at all handy and want to invest $100+ it will save you time and money in the long run.

I was thinking of just heading to evo a couple times throughout the season, but a standard tune is pretty expensive and I figure if I learn to do everything myself I could just wax whenever and save money. Would you happen to know any good kits or anything like that that I could buy online?

 

[Non_State_Actor]

I was thinking of just heading to evo a couple times throughout the season, but a standard tune is pretty expensive and I figure if I learn to do everything myself I could just wax whenever and save money. Would you happen to know any good kits or anything like that that I could buy online?

I can't paste a link rn for some reason...search ski tuning kits on Evo.com and there is a dakine kit for $87.

You probably won't need to do much tuning of the edges, perhaps a bit of de-tuning on new skis especially the tips and tails and underfoot if you're planning to ski rails.

There are lots of DIY videos on youtube including some simple ski vise, or tuning tables you can build at home.

I bought a swix ski vise that I clamp onto a folding table or work bench...I think it was $50 and it's nice but not entirely necessary.

 

[DominatorJacques]

I just got into skiing and I've bought my own ski gear, but I've got some stuff I'm still not super sure about. (correct me if I'm wrong) but I would assume when the season comes around I can just ski with my skis right out of the box without any tuning or waxing, but what about after a couple times of skiing, how often will I need to tune and/or wax my skis? During the season I usually only have time to ski on Saturdays and Sundays.

Start here, then use the channels search bar and put in words like "waxing" "tuning" Good luck!

 

[WoFIowz]

You're fine riding a couple days on manufacturer wax. It won't kill you. If you're a wax head and need that extra glide right out of the box then go ahead and rewax them.

 

[OCoffey]

I used to wax my skis like every couple days but this season I’ve only waxed them like twice and it doesn’t seem too much different but that could just be cuz it gets gradually slower and I don’t notice

 

[TreyMiddleton]

Normally I haven’t had an issue with skiing a few days without a tune. This year I got a new pair of on3ps and the edges were unbelievably hooky and almost unskiable. I reset the base edge bevel to 1 degree and it fixed the issue completely. It isn’t always an issue but I think some of the materials in my skis shrank and moved the edge

 

[DominatorJacques]

Normally I haven’t had an issue with skiing a few days without a tune. This year I got a new pair of on3ps and the edges were unbelievably hooky and almost unskiable. I reset the base edge bevel to 1 degree and it fixed the issue completely. It isn’t always an issue but I think some of the materials in my skis shrank and moved the edge

What you describe is a very common issue. Nice work.