How to prepare your skis for winter

Four things you should do before your first ski trip to ensure the best possible glide and grip throughout the winter.

“Whether you are cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, touring or snowboarding, it’s a good idea to make good use of the time before winter,” says Swix’s product developer, Jan Olav Bjørn Gjermundshaug."

Here are his three best tips on how to prepare your skis for the first ski trip.

1. Remove old klister from skis

Are you one of those who throws cross-country skis in the stall without removing klister and spruce from the trail or applying storage wax at the end of the season? Unfortunately, this is what you’re getting burned for now.

Here’s how to get rid of old klister as easily as possible:

Removeold grip wax with the scraper, apply ski cleaner and wipe with Fiberlene.

Now the grip zone is ready for the day’s waxing when you finally go out on skis again, but first you also have to go over the glide zone.

2. Cleaning the base of cross-country skis

We recommend that you heat a layer of so-called storage wax when you put away your skis in spring. This saves you a lot of time when the first snow arrives, as you only need to remove the wax before skiing.

“If the skis have been left without storage wax since last season, we must start by cleaning them,” says Gjermundshaug.

How to clean the glide zone on your skis:

  • Get out your Swix Glide Wax Cleaner. This must not be confused with the base cleaner we used to remove klister or grip wax.
  • Clean skis using Fiberlene and a nylon brush. Make sure you get the cleaner well into the base so that you get rid of all dirt and contamination that has settled from the previous ski tour.
  • Wipe with Fiberlene.

3. Refresh the base of the skis

Once both glide and grip zone have been cleaned, we recommend brushing the glide zone with Fibertex. 

“By using Fibertex, you get fresher base material that more easily absorbs wax.” This gives you better skiing," says the Swix expert.

How to use Fibertex:

  • Brush back and forth over the base about 20 times
  • Do this with all grades of grain in the line (coarse, fine and extra fine)

When that is done, the base is ready for new glide wax .

4. Saturate skis with glide wax

The advantage of doing a good job at this time of year is that you can spend less time in the waxing booth when the skiing season is here. Swix recommends that you saturate your skis before the season:

  • Get out the PS7 glide wax and a waxing iron
  • Heat in the glide wax three times before removing it with a scraper.
  • Then heat in PS6, a harder glide wax, on top.
  • Scrape and brush off the glide wax.

Not sure how to heat in the glide wax? Watch our video to see how:

Have you completed all the steps?
Good job! Now your skis are ready for the first ski trip of the winter. Hope you’re ready too. Enjoy your skiing trip!

Further reading: Easy glide without waxing iron