It’s getting to everyone’s least favourite time of the season–the end. Time to bid farewell to your skis and boards for a few months and bust out the mountain bikes and skateboards. But before you do, it’s important to ensure that you pack your gear away correctly.
Unlike surfboards and bikes, which normally get chucked into the back of a shed and forgotten about for a few months, skis and snowboards require a bit more maintenance to preserve quality and longevity.
If you want to make sure you can continue riding your Lib Tech Orca for years to come, follow these essential ski storage tips on how to best clean and store your gear for the off-season.
1. Avoid Mould
If you’ve ever incorrectly stored your gear over the off-season, chances are you came back to it a few months later and found mould starting to grow. It’s not what you want, especially considering how hard it can be to remove and the fact that if you’re unpacking your board, there’s a solid chance it’s about to endure another few months of wet conditions and dry rooms, making it even easier for mould to continue to grow.
To avoid this, you’re going to want to wipe down your skis or boards before you pack them away. You can do this with any mild cleaning product (or alcohol wipes), and a warm, wet towel to help remove any additional grime that has built up over the season.
For snowboarders, you will want to make sure that you have removed your bindings as well. This will ensure that there is no trapped moisture underneath, and allow you access to the whole board when wiping it down.
2. Properly Store Boots
Much like your board or skis, your boots can create an easy breeding ground for mould to grow given how constantly damp they are throughout the season.
To prevent mould, you’re first going to want to remove your inner liners and let them completely dry. Then, you’ll want to wipe down both the inside and outside of your boots with the same cleaners you used for your ski or board.
After everything is dry, put the liners back inside your boots and do up the buckles to prevent the outer shell warping. You’ll want to make sure they aren’t done up too tightly (as that will also cause warping), just nice and snug to maintain their shape.
It’s also important to ensure your boots are kept inside a boot bag to ensure they aren’t damaged by dust or unwanted bugs finding a new home inside your inners.
3. Storage Wax
After your board or skis have been dried and wiped down of any grime, a storage wax will help preserve its base and stop it from drying out.
A storage wax involves adding a thick layer of wax to the base of your gear to keep moisture in and add a protective film over the skis or board. When the next season rolls around, simply scrape the wax off as you would with a normal ski or board wax and it’s good to go.
If you don’t have access to a waxing iron, or have never waxed your gear before, it’s best to leave it to the professionals. So if you’re looking for a storage wax, visit our Rhythm Tunes Workshop the night before you pack your gear and they’ll have it ready to go by the morning of your departure. They’ll also be able to polish any unwanted rust off and remove your bindings if you don’t feel comfortable doing that.
4. Turn Down Din Settings
If you’re a skier, you’ll undoubtedly know what DIN settings are. They’re the quick release feature on skis that eject your boots from your binding if you have a stack. Although, many don’t know how they work.
Inside ski bindings are tiny springs, which are the main component of your DIN settings. When your DIN settings are tightened, so are the springs. So if you have high DIN settings to keep your feet attached when you’re landing big jumps, you’ll want to loosen them to the lowest setting before putting your gear into ski storage to ensure your skis maintain the integrity and longevity of the DINs spring.
5. Remove Bindings Before Storage
While a lot of people don’t remove the bindings from their board before storage, you should for two main reasons. The first is that moisture can easily get trapped beneath the small gaps between the binding and board, causing mould or deterioration. The second is that if your board is stored somewhere like a garage with fluctuating temperatures, the wood can swell and if the bindings are still attached, potentially buckle and crack due to the tension on the swollen wood.
Please note- it’s only important to remove your bindings if you’re a snowboarder. As ski’s have mounted bindings, they will stay on during the off-season.
6. Polish Ski Edges Of Rust
Much like mould, if rust isn’t stopped early, it will continue to grow. If you notice any rust starting to form on the edge of your board or skis, you’ll need to polish it with a specific gummy stone tool before you pack them into your designated ski storage area. As this can sometimes be dangerous and requires the necessary equipment, we also recommend visiting the Tunes Workshop for this one.
7. Appropriate Ski Storage
While many choose a garage or shed for their off-season ski storage, it can actually be damaging in the long run. As many garages lack insulation, they often have poor temperature regulation, meaning your gear will constantly fluctuate between being hot and cold, potentially leading to the wood warping or mould developing.
To prevent this, we suggest storing your gear somewhere well insulated like your bedroom or inside a cupboard.
To further protect from the elements, dust and moisture, it’s also important to store your skis and boards inside specialist board and ski bags to ensure they aren’t subjected to further damage.
8. Remove Batteries From Avalanche Beacon
Have you ever done a spring clean of the house, found an old school Gameboy Advance or Sony Walkman and then noticed that the battery port is completely rusted? The same can eventually happen to your avalanche beacon. So if you’re into riding the backcountry, you’ll know how important it is to remove the batteries before packing it away at the end of the season. This will prevent battery acid potentially corroding the metal terminals over time.
9. Use Skin Saver Netting
This one is also for the backcountry enthusiasts out there. If you use climbing skins while ski touring, you’ll want to dry them out completely and store them using skin saver netting before putting them into their bag – rather than storing them glue on glue.
10. Wash Outerwear
Ski jackets and pants are some of the only items of clothing that get worn up to 40 times within a few months, and not washed. We get it, you don’t want to wash your jacket and then find it’s still wet the next morning when you want to go out riding.
But before you pack away your jackets and pants for the summer months, you will need to give them a proper wash to ensure any festering sweat patches aren’t left for months in between wears.
Contrary to popular belief, Gore-Tex can actually be washed in a washing machine. After all, it is designed to get wet, so why wouldn’t it be able to be washed?
First you’ll want to empty the pockets, close all zippers and make sure that your gear isn’t turned inside out (this will protect the Gore-Tex membrane), then put it in a washing machine on a ‘synthetic’ wash cycle, using regular liquid detergent. For best results, use liquid detergent not powder, and don’t use fabric softener.
After this, hang it up to dry and then pack it away after it’s completely dried.
