How to Store Skis for the Summer

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Often times the last day of skiing entails a bit of trudging through mud, a bit of bushwhacking and skiing through some unsavoury snow. This can be rough on your gear, especially if you just chuck your skis in storage for the summer.

May in the Valhallas

Storing your ski gear properly will leave you prepped and ready for an early season mission or a ski trip to Patagonia.

Volcan Lonquimay

Step one— Clean your gear

Wash your ski gear and hang it out to dry. There’s a season worth of sweat and funk in there. Hanging it out in the sun will help eliminate any weird odours that may have developed over the season. Once it’s dry, pack it up in one place.

Rinse and wipe off your skis (splitboard) and boots. This can be done with a garden hose and a rag. Put some multi-purpose lubricant on the moving parts to prevent corrosion.

A thick coat of warm weather wax.

Step two—Wax your skis

Wipe any dirt and grime off the bases of your skis and apply a thick coat of warm weather wax to your skis. Here’s what WNDR Alpine recommends:

“I like my skis slathered and sauced to keep ’em seasoned and speedy. Using warm temp wax liberally to protect the bases over the summer is always recommended! Don’t scrape them until the start of the following season. And it never hurts to tune ’em up before that end of season wax, so that they’re poised for early season laps when the snow starts flying. Then store the skis in a cool, dry environment, ideally padlocked in a temp and humidity-controlled glass display case, centrally located in your house or community. Garages and basements are fine too.” – Ethan Frank, WNDR Alpine Skier Service

A thrift store iron works just fine.
Waxed and ready for storage.

I keep my skis in the basement, it seems to work pretty well. Same with my skins, I fold them up, glue to glue, just like I do at the top of a run, put them in a stuff sack and keep them with the rest of my ski kit. So far in the twenty+ year of touring, I’ve never had an issue with overly stuck skins.

Step three—check your gear

Take a quick look at everything. Make sure you take the batteries out of your transceiver. Check and see if anything needs repairs, spring is a good time to get that squared away, as who wants to miss out on an early season powder day due broken gear or gear that has yet to come back from a repair.

Enjoy your summer and if you’re thinking you’d like to kick ski season off early come with us to Patagonia this September/October.