realskiers

Perhaps I should be waxing my sidewalls instead?? ?

Seriously, unless they are perpetually turning to the right, or the left, as it were (sometimes I am able to do both in a single day even; amazing, eh?? ), every skier will have to transition from one edge to another.? Meaning that even on rock hard snow the ski will be flat at least for an instant between turns.? Add soft snow to that, when skis on edge are in contact with more than just their edges, but are riding in the snow and are constantly making contact with the bases too.? A crappy wax job will show itself pretty quickly.? Heck, even my kids notice when I haven't done a good job on their skis, and complain about it too, the little urchins.? This is especially noticeable to them on their twin tips, as they spend less time on their edges carving than we grownups do.

Of course waxing matters, and choosing the right temp wax matters as much.? And scraping and brushing matters too, especially on very cold days.? Had a day this winter when I put cold range wax on for 15 below temps, got lazy (or in a hurry, more likely) and didn't scrape and brush it all off, and it was like I'd put molasses on our skis.? Skied the next day -- same temps, same snow conditions -- but went back to my shop the night before and made sure to scrape it ALL off, and brush like crazy, and literally flew down the hill.? Dramatic difference.?