Start-of-Season Checklist for Skis and Snowboards
Get Your Ride Ready for Day One
The lifts are about to spin, and your skis have been sitting in the garage since spring. Skiing is more fun (and much safer) with a waxed base and sharp edges, so give your setup a once-over before the first chair. Here's the checklist we'd run: check the base, check the edges, clean, then wax. We'll also cover when a shop job beats a home one, and where Phantom Glide fits if you'd rather skip the iron.
Still sorting out what to pack? Our Resort Skiing & Snowboarding Checklist covers the gear you wear and ride. This one is all about getting your skis or board ready to slide.
Tools You'll Need
You don't need a full shop, but these make the job a lot easier:
A vise: Holds your skis or board steady while you work on the base and edges.
A rag, rubbing alcohol and a base cleaner: For wiping down and stripping old wax.
A gummy stone and an edge tuner: For rust, burrs and a fresh edge.
P-Tex, a lighter, a razor blade and a metal scraper: For filling gouges.
A waxing iron, wax, a plexi scraper and a brush: For the final step.
You'll find all of it in our tuning accessories. Our tune and wax guide has the full step-by-step. It's written for skis, but the same process works for snowboards with a few small changes.
Step 1: Check the Base
Flip your skis or board over and look for scrapes and gouges. Fill them with P-Tex, a polyethylene base material: it lets your base accept wax evenly and helps your skis last longer. Don't put off a core shot, a gouge that goes all the way to the core. Left alone, it lets water in, and that can lead to delamination.
For a home P-Tex fix, trim around the gouge with a razor blade. Clean it with base cleaner and let it dry fully. If any wax is left, the P-Tex won't stick. Then drip the P-Tex in, let it cool and shave it flush with a razor blade and a metal scraper. Be very careful with the drips, because they can cause severe burns.
Gearhead Tip: Got an exceptionally deep gash, or one right next to the edge? That's a job for a ski shop.
Already treated your base with Phantom Glide? A P-Tex repair works the same way it does on an untreated base.
Step 2: Check the Edges
Dull, rusty or dinged-up edges make carving harder (bummer) and stopping a challenge (scary!). Wipe the base and edges with a little alcohol or water on a rag, then run a gummy stone along each edge to knock off rust and burrs. For most all-mountain skiers, we recommend a sharpener that can do a 1-degree bevel on the base and a 1- to 3-degree bevel on the sides. The bevel is the angle the edge is filed to. Run it tip to tail three to four times on each edge. When your fingernail scrapes off a little residue, you're sharp.
Riding a snowboard? Before you work on the base edge, check with the manufacturer for the angle your board is set at. Most boards come from the factory with a 1-degree bevel, but be certain before you take a file to it. Our snowboard tuning guide walks you through it.
Most skiers don't need to tune their edges all that often. But if you're frequently hitting rocks or roots, or you ride often in the backcountry, we advise tuning once a month.
Step 3: Clean the Base
Stored your skis under a thick coat of wax last spring? Nice work. All you have to do now is give them a quick scrape. Then wipe the base down: alcohol works better than water for clearing debris, grease and rogue wax from last season.
On a snowboard, it depends on the base. For an extruded base (made from melted polyethylene), spray on a base cleaner, wipe it clean and repeat as needed. Got a sintered base (made from pressed polyethylene powder)? A few hot-wax-and-scrape cycles with a cheap block of all-purpose wax pull out dirt and old wax before your final coat.
Treating your base with Phantom Glide this season? Your prep is a little different, so skip ahead to Where Phantom Glide Fits, below.
Step 4: Wax
Waxing is the best way to get consistent glide. Set your iron to the temperature on your wax. If the wax smokes, the iron is too hot. Rub the warm block across the base like a crayon, then iron it in. Keep the iron moving at all times. Hot irons burn, so work in a ventilated space. Once the base has cooled, scrape it tip to tail with a plexi scraper held at a 45-degree angle, and brush it three to four times.
Gearhead Tip: Snowboarders, grab a scraper wide enough for your whole board, and let the final coat fully cool before scraping. For some waxes, that can take up to an hour.
How often after that? It depends on how often you're out: the more days you ski, the more often you'll wax. Only wax two or three times a season (or less, and that's OK!)? A universal wax glides in just about any conditions.
When a Shop Job Beats a Home One
A basic tune, with waxing, edge sharpening and P-Tex base repair, is totally doable at home. Here's where we'd hand it off:
Job
At home
At a ski shop
Base gouges
Fill with P-Tex
Exceptionally deep gashes, or ones next to the edge
Base
Cleaning and waxing
Base welds and base grinds
Edges
Gummy stone and sharpening
Edge repairs
Bindings
Nothing
Mounting and testing by a certified ski tech, who also sets your DIN (the release setting on your bindings)
Short on time, or just want your skis in tip-top shape? It doesn't hurt to get a professional tune at the beginning of the season.
Where Phantom Glide Fits
Phantom Glide is a base treatment from DPS Skis. Instead of ironing in wax, you apply it once and it cures to the base in about an hour of direct sun. It slots into this checklist after Step 3: clean the base, then treat it instead of waxing it. And you can still wax on top whenever you like.
Pick a sunny day for the cure.
Plan on less than 2 hours on a sunny day. A stone grind at a shop is the best prep, and Phantom Glide performs best on new or freshly ground bases. Prepping at home? Skip the hot-wax cleaning cycles from Step 3, which leave wax in the base, and use a base cleaner such as the Single Base Clean Kit ($19.95) instead. Our guide to applying Phantom Glide at home has the full steps. Wear gloves and eye protection, keep open flames away and work somewhere well ventilated.
Gearhead Tip: Early-season weather doesn't always play along. Check the forecast first, and don't start the cure if rain or snow is on the way.
For the treatment itself, grab a Single Application Kit ($99.99) for one pair or one board. Or get the At Home Kit ($199.95) if you want the Base Cleaner and the Base Care Kit in the box too. See which kit does what.
DPS skis come already treated with Phantom Glide. Buying new skis from another brand, or a snowboard where offered? Add Phantom Glide: Professional Application Before Shipment ($129.95) and our technicians treat the base before your order ships, within a week of ordering. Here's how the two routes compare.
Phantom Glide doesn't replace the rest of this list. You still need to look after your edges and base structure (the fine texture pattern in the base). Every ski and snowboard needs a stone grind and a tune now and then. And the treatment doesn't prevent base abrasion, the dry, white look a base picks up with use.
Work through the list, book any shop jobs early, and you're ready to rip. Want to skip the iron this year? Grab the Phantom Glide At Home Kit or see the whole Phantom Glide lineup. Questions about your setup? Chat with a Gearhead.