Got Snow? Nope, So Don't Get Burned

Winters such as these that lack for consistent natural snowfall can be brutal on alpine race skis due to the man-made snow surfaces that are often icy and contain extremely aggressive snow crystals.  I was recently training Giant Slalom on a January morning with temperatures around -20 F, hurray speed suits!  In addition to taking measures to protect my face from the elements, it was important that I made efforts to protect my skis from base burn or even melting.  To ensure such prevention I waxed Tribloc LF Blue in combination with Toko X-Cold Powder (applied along both sides of the base adjacent to the edges and then ironed in).  The use of extreme cold powder is a great way to harden the overall wax layer and avoid that pesky base burn.

Another more logistics note for young ski racers out there is the use of multiple skis on training days.  So often I see racers slipping around and training on the same pair of skis.  On many warm days this practice would be fine, however by switching off between two pairs of skis for extremely cold days you can help protect the life of your bases.  Yes, it requires lugging that extra pair through the parking lot and may make your arms tired, but it is totally worth it in the long run!  Thanks for reading, and as always go wicked fast! 

Ben Morse