Classic cross-country skis feature a grip zone located in the middle of the bottom of the ski, which consists of a climbing skin similar to those used in alpine ski touring. It’s important to regularly care for these skins to maintain the best grip and glide.
If you need advice on how to choose the best classic cross-country skis, read this article.
What you need to care for your cross-country skins
To clean your classic cross-country ski skins you will need the following things, which you probably already have in your cross-country ski waxing pack:
- Nylon brush
- Cleaning product for the skins (you can find this in any specialty cross-country skiing or ski touring shop)
- Clean cloth
Clean the skins in two steps
- Use the cloth to apply the cleaning product to the skin in the direction of glide (from the front to the back of the ski). This will remove any wax residue and dirt that accumulate on the skin.
- Use the nylon brush to brush the skin in the direction of glide and grain of the ski.
That’s it. That’s all there is to it.
Improve the glide of your skins
After you clean your skins:
- Apply a little bit of glide wax to your skins by rubbing a bar of wax in the direction of the hair.
- Brush your skins with the nylon brush, always in the direction of glide.
If you want to further improve your skis’ glide, you can wax your cross-country skis by following our advice before you clean your skins.
When to clean your skins
How often you clean your skins depends mainly on the quality and cleanliness of the snow that you ski on:
- Cold, fresh snow: your skins won’t need any special upkeep.
- Old snow or dirty spring snow: clean your skins as soon as you feel they are losing performance. You don’t need to wait until they are visibly dirty.
You also need to clean your skins before and after you store your skis for a long time in order to make them last longer.
Finally, keep a close eye on the wear and tear of your skins so that you’ll know when it’s time to change them. The hairs are relatively long on a new Nordic ski skin and the hairs will shorten with use, which will make them grip less and glide better. Like an alpine touring ski, worn out climbing skins will no longer provide enough grip, even when you’re pushing on your ski poles to move forward. Hair that is too short will also have poor glide. When this happens it’s time to change your skins!
To learn more about the different kinds of cross-country skiing, check out this article.
