This is from Roger Knight at BNS...
How to ensure fast skis the rest of the season:
People overlook that fast skis are made not on
race day, but during every other single day during the season. If you don’t
take care of your skis on the average day you ski on them they will gradually
slow down through the year. Here are some tips we have found to increase ski
speed on a day to day basis.
1. Always CFC Glide clean your skis at least
once a week. Snow is inevitably dirty and has contaminants in it. These
substances get on your base and eventually will get ironed into the base. This
does NOT help ski speed on the snow. Our recommendation is to clean your skis
using Holmenkol Nano CFC glide cleaner https://www.bouldernordicsport.com/shop/p-1456-holmenkol-nano-cfc-cleaner.aspx
at least once a week. Proper procedure to glide clean skis is simple: Wet a
piece of Fiberlene https://www.bouldernordicsport.com/shop/p-1518-skigo-fiberlene-40m.aspx
with Nano CFC cleaner and rub it up and down the ski to get the ski covered. It
does NOT take much cleaner to get the entire ski. Let this dry completely (2-3
minutes)and then brush out with a firm bronze or steel cleaning brush. This
cleans the skis glide areas but does not remove the base wax leaving the skis
overly dry.
2. Skis have a percentage of graphite in them
and we have found that using graphite as a base layer for race waxing or just
to put in the skis once a week helps keep the skis in top shape by replenishing
this and acting as an anti-static and hardening agent. I personally cannot
stress this enough, if you are not using a hard graphite in your skis at least
once a week you are giving up easy ski speed. We like the SkiGo XC or LF
Graphite https://www.bouldernordicsport.com/shop/p-724-skigo-lf-low-fluor-glider-200g.aspx
due to it’s ability to harden the base. This wax is truly phenomenal and we
start every race wax job with this as a first layer. Rex and Start also make
very good hard graphite waxes.
3. Wax your skis after every time you ski on
them. This one seems obvious, but it doesn’t happen as we all know. The way
skis get faster is skiing and then waxing immediately after skiing. The smart
coaches build in a bit of time at the end of practice to have athletes quickly
wax their skis before putting them away. It can be hard, but the return on
investment by doing this is quite remarkable.
4. Use good brushes for race day. It is
important to have good brushes for race day no matter what your team brushing
protocol is. We highly recommend using a fine steel or bronze brush as a first
brush after waxing. Two favorites are the Holmenkol Micro Finish Steel Brush https://www.bouldernordicsport.com/shop/p-644-holmenkol-steel-microfinish-brush.aspx
and the Ski*Go Fine Long Steel Brush https://www.bouldernordicsport.com/shop/p-568-skigo-steel-brush-longfine.aspx
These brushes have laser cut steel bristles that are very fine and penetrate
the structure well to remove excess wax in a hurry. The next brush we use is my
favorite brush in the entire world, the Holmenkol Horsehair Brush https://www.bouldernordicsport.com/shop/p-643-holmenkol-base-brush-horsehair.aspx
If you haven’t tried this brush yet you are doing a disservice to yourself as a
ski technician! It is an amazing brush that thoroughly cleans the skis and does
it in a hurry. It is also the best brush for those hard waxes that are tough to
get out of the ski, it makes quick work of the brushing process. We always
recommend finishing with a stiff nylon brush in a polishing fashion.
Thank you and let us know if we can be of any
assistance or help to your teams in any way.
Roger Knight
BNS East
Team and Wax Sales
