Quick! It’s the start of the season and I’m about to hop into my skis, but they are 3 whole seasons old! What should I do?!
Fear not fellow skiers, their riding days are not over just yet. Well, unless you have of course snapped the tail or ripped off the binding.
I’m about to tackle one of the most difficult questions you can ask anyone that works with all things mechanical; how long do skis last?
I plan to talk about the factors that can determine this and then follow up with ways you can get the most out of them while still having fun and hopefully save you some money in the long run!
Ski Construction
In our article ‘How long do ski boots last?’, I made mention of the fact that boots come in all shapes, sizes and styles but all have similarities.
Skis also carry this trend as you’ll pick different skis to do different styles of skiing much like a painter uses multiple brushes. Making it simple, though, skis are made up of four layers:
Topsheet:
Composed of multiple layers itself but usually a fiberglass layer with graphics on.
Core:
A wooden construction in the center of the ski, giving your ski the structure and flex it needs to do its thing on snow.
Edge:
Generally made from a hardened steel.
Base:
Most commonly a type of plastic called Ptex, this is a porous material that becomes hydrophobic when wax is applied; this is how the ski slides.
Each of the materials a manufacturer uses to create a ski come with their advantages and disadvantages. There isn’t really an answer I can find or give about the true unbiased durability of each component as that would involve extensive testing and so many metrics it would take me years to feel confident on an answer.
Although that is a washy and useless answer. The great news is that the materials can definitely help your ski durability if you know what to pick depending on how you like to ski;
Ski Durability Depending on how you Ski
There are multiple vehicles for multiple jobs (you wouldn’t us a logging truck for the school run!) and skis are the same.
If you’re more of a park skier, your durability will dramatically be reduced by rail impacts and hard landings. But you can combat this by picking a thicker edged ski like the Armada ARV series.
If you’re a hard charging groomer god then a stiff and narrower ski may last longer as you push it to its limits.
If you’re just a heavier rider, you might want to go for a beefier ski. Like the K2 Mindbender which incorporates Titanal for extra stiffness.
Increasing Ski Durability
There are certainly things I can talk about that should help. Increase the lifespan of your skis regardless of how or what you ski too. There are techniques to maintain your skis properly and there are also things people do regularly that I believe reduce the lifespan too.
I’m going to stress that most of the following will be coming from my personal knowledge. And thoughts rather than any concrete and scientific facts.
Storage
Storage is at the top of the list because there are so many things that you should consider.
As the season kicks off I’m hoping that many of you will be removing what we call ‘storage wax’, this is a layer of wax that you put on your skis at the end of the season and acts like a barrier to stop the ski from becoming dry or wet.
If you leave your skis as normal for the 8 months you’re not using them. You may find you’ll come back to them dry and although I don’t have hard facts to back this up. If you let your skis go dry I imagine it’s not good for durability.
Leaving your skis in the back of your truck or in a really cold room. Also never really seemed like a good idea long term. I’m sure once every now and then isn’t too bad considering they spend their days on cold snow. But metal expands and contracts with temperature and considering the edges are held in by epoxy and a bit of magic. It sounds like the big changes in temperature wouldn’t be great for the strength of that bond.
Following on from this, heating your skis isn’t good either as this could also loosen the glue bond. Although you do have to try quite hard to get to those sorts of temperature I would advise against leaving your skis near a radiator or using a heat gun on them.
Final note on storage; bindings can get rusty which isn’t good!. Your skis are not built to withstand being constantly wet, wipe off extra snow and moisture where possible.
Get onto Repairs Straight Away
Carrying out repairs as soon as you locate the problem;. I think this probably relates to everything ever created by people but isn’t always listened to. If you let that core shot stay open for a while then the wooden core can rot. Check out our Ski Base Repair article here.
Be Smart with Tuning
With tuning in mind, don’t be fooled into thinking you need a full tune whenever you see a minor scratch on your base or edge.
Talk to your technician and see if they can do minor repairs where necessary. No need to have a base and edge grind every other week to make your skis look pretty. Each time a shop grinds your ski, it lessens its life, so try and only do this when you have multiple scratches or big edge burrs.
A final note to leave this article on is that if you’re unsure on how to look after your skis, or set and test your release setting, take it into a shop at least at the start of the season and after any major events or crashes with your skis.
If you look after your skis, they’ll generally last longer. Hopefully this article will help you get the most out of them. But if you’re struggling or have questions then don’t hesitate to ask your local ski shop; no question is too stupid and we’ve probably heard it before anyway!
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