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To wax or not to wax...

Jay's Dip Powcher

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Because clearly paraffin wax is the only substance capable of sliding on snow...

I will elaborate for you...you can certainly simply lay down and roll down the street and still get to the end OR you can walk down the street and get there easier and more comfortably no? Let's think about that for a minute
 

adamti91

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Jan 10, 2007
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I'll get my board tuned (filled, waxed, edged) at Potter Brothers 3 times a season (before, middle, last few weeks), and keep some DaKine rub on stuff around and put that on before every day up just to keep something on the bottom of the board.
 

awf170

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I will elaborate for you...you can certainly simply lay down and roll down the street and still get to the end OR you can walk down the street and get there easier and more comfortably no? Let's think about that for a minute


Or you could spend that time skiing instead which will make you ski faster and smoother than spending that time waxing...

Seriously though, I understand if you are skiing groomers or even powder on top of a groomer, but do you guys really think waxing does a thing in moguls and woods? The rocks, dirt, grass, and brush that you hit in between turns does a lot more to slow you down then not having a waxed ski ever would.
 

Jay's Dip Powcher

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Or you could spend that time skiing instead which will make you ski faster and smoother than spending that time waxing...

Seriously though, I understand if you are skiing groomers or even powder on top of a groomer, but do you guys really think waxing does a thing in moguls and woods? The rocks, dirt, grass, and brush that you hit in between turns does a lot more to slow you down then not having a waxed ski ever would.

I think it helps you turn your boards faster in tight spots and if you are skiing tree's in NE you know how important that is. Also helps a ton on run outs or traversing in the backcountry. Would be great if every trail went to the lift with no flat areas but if you are skiing out of bounds "gliding" becomes necessary.
 

Skibum_dan

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Oct 10, 2006
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Wow. In all honesty I find it kind of surprising that people would question the benefits of a tuned ski. I can understand that the extent to which you tune would depend on the kind of skiing you do but hands down, a tuned pair of skis feels a lot nicer.
I use a Toko all-purpose wax that I buy in bulk. This on-line purchase of about 10 dollars has lasted me three seasons so far. I ski about 35-40 times a year and wax about every three days of skiing or so. I would say this rules out the cost/benefit reasoning for not waxing. This wax serves well for almost all conditions. It’s cheap as hell and not considered a high performance wax in the least but in comparison to not waxing at all, I feel like freakn Race-atron 5000. If you get fussy you can use a cold wax and a warm wax for the extreme temps. I do notice the difference if my skis are not waxed. I also put a thick layer of all purpose on throughout the summer for protection. I’m not a racer. I just like a ski that performs well.
It’s true that if you are in the woods/soft snow for the majority of the time you don’t need the sharpest edge in the world but lets face it, at the start of the season it’s nice to have a sharp edge on some of that bullet proof hard pack/ man made snow. A diamond stone can do a lot to get rid of burs and sharpening your own skis is not that hard after getting some proper instruction. I was pretty timid about taking a file to my edges for a while but after going to a tuning clinic I found that it is not that hard to do correctly. It saves money in the long run and makes for a more enjoyable ski.
If for no other reason, (and many reasons have already been listed in previous posts) tune your skis because skiing on tuned skis is more enjoyable.
I don’t think that the tuning ski/tuning car parallel is unreasonable. I probably take better care of my skis than I do my car. Ha. This isn’t to say that I don’t beat the piss out of them or ski them hard. Scrapes, dulled edges, core shots and the like happen. It’s just nice to know that you don’t have to A) replace your ski or B) ski slow on skis with no teeth because of this.
 

Skibum_dan

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Oct 10, 2006
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Fort Collins, CO
There are ineed some long traverses that would suck pretty bad if you hadn't waxed in a while. Also, anyone ever come out on 108 in the Notch after doing the bowls? That can be a long slow flat back to the lift on a powder day. I can imagine it being even slower with a crappy base.
White fuzz on the bottoms=No good. I have seen some bases that look down right hairy.....grey beards growing on ski bases!!! Maybe they are strickly for ascents:blink: Like a built pair of skins.......
 

ctenidae

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Nov 11, 2004
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Seems to me that waxing certainly doesn't hurt any, no matter what kind of skiing you do, and it most likely helps some, no matter what kind of skiing you do.

There's also the Zen-type enjoyment of sitting down with a coupleof beers and working on your skis, whether you really know what you're doing or not. Kind of like hockey players who constantly re-tape the top of their sticks, or lacrosse players fidgeting with their baskets, or tennis players playing with their strings. It's a Zen thing, baby. Go with it.

If you want to wax and tune your skis, go for it. I thin it's relaxing. If you're depending on getting just the right wax and edge for just the right conditions, then you're probably missing out on some of the more enjoyable parts of skiing.
 
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