How to Wax your Skis or Snowboard

There’s plenty of traverses and flat spots on the mountains that are an absolute pain if you don’t have your skis or snowboard waxed properly. There’s two solutions for this:

1. Bring you equipment into a ski shop and let the professionals handle it. This will run you anywhere from $5-50 so be sure to ask a knowledgeable local where to go.

2. Do it yourself. You just need a few pieces of equipment to wax and tune your equipment on your own and if you follow these instructions, it’ll be as good if not better than letting the shop rush through it.

A few pieces of equipment you’ll need to hot wax your equipment:

1. Soap, degreaser or rubbing alcohol
2. Washcloth
3. Waxing iron
4. Ski or snowboard wax (temperature specific)
5. Plastic scraper
6. Brush or buff pad

Here’s a quick intro in how to hot wax your skis or snowboard properly:

1. Clean the base

Wax won’t stick if there’s a bunch of oil, dust or dirt on your base. Clean that stuff off with a tiny bit of degreaser or dish soap. A small dab will do fine as you don’t want to dry out your base. If you don’t have either, a damp washcloth will get the job done.

2. Choose your wax

One of the most important steps often gets overlooked. Choose the correct wax for the temperature. Sure, all temp wax is better than nothing, but if you want to glide like Kristi Yamaguchi in the 1992 Olympics Figure Skating Finals, you should find the correct temperature wax. Here is a great resource for choosing the proper wax for your snow conditions.

3. Iron

Get your iron at the correct temperature, just hot enough to drip wax but not smoking or burning it. Drip wax in diagonal drops across your base and then evenly smooth it out with long strokes, being careful not to hold the iron in one place for too long. The top sheet of your skis or board will feel warm, this is normal. Let the wax sit for one hour at room temperature to set in. Don’t bring it outside in the cold, the wax will not adhere as well.

4. Scrape off wax

Using a plastic scraper, apply steady pressure and scrape the wax from tip to tail. Try to remove all excess wax, using the short side of the scraper for the edges.

5. Buff it out

Using either a nylon brush, a cork or a scotch brite pad or equivalent, brush your base from tip to tail again. This removes all the small particles of excess wax. Don’t push too hard, but be sure to go over it a few times to ensure a base as smooth as Patrick Stewart’s head.

6. Hit the slopes!

Your skis or snowboard are now ready to tear up the nearest hill and leave all the onlooker flabbergasted by your speed.