Did Santa Bring You Skis For Christmas?

Madshus · January 3, 2020

Lucky you! Here is how to make sure you get the most out of your new equipment.

The short version: Go ski on them!

While new skis are ready to be enjoyed right out of the box, there are a few additional steps that will make them even better, prolong their life expectancy and increase the fun: Keep them clean, glide wax the glide zones (skate and classic) and sand the kick zone (traditional classic skis). See the step-by-step guide below

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What about skin skis?
The skins on your Madshus Intelligrip® skin skis are made to be dirt-resistant and durable, and generally last for several hundred kilometers. But skin skis will also benefit from glide waxing the glide zones. This is done exactly the same way you would waxable skis, using either a traditional glide wax applied with a wax iron or a liquid glide product. See the step-by-step guide below

Additionally, you might want to add an anti-icing solution for skin skis to the kick zone. Simply spray on, let sit for a couple of minutes to dry, and you’re set to go.

Finally, clean your skins as necessary. If you see obvious dirt or debris that has collected in the fabric, use a skin ski-specific cleaning product. These products are specifically formulated to efficiently clean the skins without hurting the adhesives that fix the skins to the base.

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The skins on your Madshus Intelligrip® skin skis are dirt-resistant, durable, and last for several hundred kilometers. But skin skis will benefit from glide waxing the glide zones. Photo: Stefano Zatta

Step-by-step guide to ski maintenance
Start by cleaning the skis well as even brand-new skis can be dirty from transportation and from sitting at the retailer.

For skate skis

Wipe the bases with glide wax cleaner
Polish the bases with fibertex and brush with a soft metal brush
Heat in a layer of fairly soft glide wax
Let cool and then reheat the glide wax again
Let cool again, then scrape with a sharp plastic scraper and brush well
Heat in a layer of somewhat harder glide wax
Let cool and then reheat the glide wax again
Let cool again, then scrape with a sharp plastic scraper and brush thoroughly
For more information, check out our Madshus Academy video: How to apply glide wax

For classic skis

Use a base cleaner for the kick zone and a glide wax cleaner on the glide zones
Sand the kick zone with sand paper
Heat in a layer of base kick wax
Then go to where you plan to ski, and add the kick wax of the day outside, on site
For more information check out our Madshus Academy video: How to apply kick wax