How to tune your skis
Why do I need to tune my skis?
In the same way you need to regularly maintain your bike or service your car to keep them performing properly, it’s also important to regularly wax and tune your skis. Keeping your skis waxed and tuned will help them perform their best and maintain that new ski feeling, and the best thing about it is that anyone can do it. All you need are a few tools and enough space to lay your ski flat so you can work on it.
How to tell if my skis need tuning?
You can tell if your skis need waxing when the bases start to appear white and look dry, and of course if they don’t slide as easily as they should. If you see that your bases have big scratches or holes, then you need to repair the damage ASAP. Holes that expose the wood core can allow water seep in and that will ruin your skis. No bueno.
As for the edges, if you run your fingernail along the edge and feel burrs, or if you notice your edges not gripping the snow like they should, then show those edges some love and give them a tune.
How often should I tune my skis?
The reality is that many skiers only get around to tuning their skis once or twice a year while some skiers never do it.
Sylvain Pillet, Alpine Ski Binding Tester for Salomon and ski tuner extraordinaire, says that if you’re lucky enough to ski in a place where you don’t hit rocks, then touching up your edges every 10 days to two weeks with a careful pass of your diamond stones is sufficient. But ideally you should tune your skis after every five days of skiing.
Three steps needed to tune your skis:
- Ski base repair
- Sharpen edges
- Wax skis
Ski base repair
Tools:
- Wax scraper
- P-Tex cord
- Lighter
To repair core shots and scratches in your base that are less than 3mm wide, first clean any rocks and dirt out of the damaged area. It’s ok to make the hole bigger if needed.
Once the damaged area is clean, sharpen your scraper and scrape the damaged area so that nothing protrudes above the level of the base.
Next take your lighter, light the P-Tex cord and drip it until the new P-Tex patch is slightly higher than the base.
Allow it to dry for five minutes then sharpen your scraper and moving from tip to tail, scrape the patch until the repair is level with your base.That’s it. On to the next step…
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How to sharpen ski edges
Tools:
- Mill bastard file
- Diamond stone (heavy grit)
- Diamond stone (light grit)
- File guide
- Wire brush
- Gummy stone (or cork or scotch-brite pad)
- *Ski vises can also make the job a lot easier but are not essential
First off, keep in mind that there are different types of snow out there that require different types of edge tuning. European snow is typically warmer and wetter than North American snow. Wetter snow needs sharper edges, especially in March and April.
Start by pulling the ski stops back using a thick rubber band or ski strap.
Attach the bastard file to your file guide and with the board base vertical, make smooth, sure strokes from tip to tail. Remember that files are directional so make sure you’re moving the file in the right direction.
When the file slides smoothly, turn your ski so that the edge is up and repeat the process.
Once the file slides without catching, move the ski back to base up and repeat the process with the heavy grit diamond tool, followed by the light grit diamond tool.
Repeat the entire process on the opposite edge and then of course, on the other ski.
Most ski edges are beveled from between .5 to two degrees from the base angle and the same for the edge angle. Ski racers use less bevel for more grip, some park and freestyle skiers use more bevel for less grip and more slide.
Diamond stone – If you have to limit yourself to a couple of edge tools, make sure that you have a heavy-grit diamond stone and a light-grit diamond stone. On a regular basis, pass the heavy-grit stone once on the base side (slightly beveled) and once on the edge. Repeat with the light-grit stone.
If you ski on dry, cold snow, follow up with one pass of the gummy stone or cork to slightly detune the edges. You can also detune the edges at the tip and tail (to keep the ski from hooking) by passing the bastard file over the edges above the widest part of the tip and below the widest part of the tail.
Wax your skis
Waxing your skis rehydrates the base enabling the ski to slide faster over the snow. To learn all about this important process, check out our in-depth article on how to clean and wax your bases.
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The art of tuning your skis by hand is the mark of a true ski jedi, and perfecting the craft is a lifelong process that, like wrenching on your bike, becomes almost as addictive as the sport itself. Happy tuning!