Every skier knows that bogged-in-the-mud feeling. It’s like an invisible moose is sitting on the back of your skis as you poke along down the trail. Whatever kind of skiing you do—alpine, telemark, or cross-country—when your skis feel sluggish or your sharp turns are more like controlled slides, the odds are your boards need some reconditioning. By heading into a local ski shop for a tune-up, you’ll kick that moose off your tail and enjoy the perfect glide.

My first stop to learn more about getting the perfect glide was at Sportshaus in West Bridgton. Sportshaus is owned by Marlise and Phil Libby. Back in 1979, after realizing they’d had enough of city life in New York, the Libbys headed north to their vacation home and purchased the ski shop from Hedi and Monell Needham.

It didn’t snow their first year in town. Marlise says Pleasant Mountain Ski Area was open for seven days only. Their second year the mountain was open for 26 days. Fortunately for the Libbys, equipment was installed in the fall of ’81. As it turned out, the winter of ’82 was one of the snowiest winters on record according to Scott Andrews, curator and research director at the Ski Museum of Maine.

About that time Brian Fox joined the Sportshaus team as a ski technician. Interesting to note, Brian is the son-in-law
of Hedi and Moe Needham.

Brian remembers those early years of Alpine ski tune-ups. “The machinery was different,” he says. “All we had was a glorified giant belt sander.”

“And a file,” adds Scott Hendricks, who joined the Sportshaus team twelve years ago.

In the early days, skis were tuned with what was essentially a three-foot belt sander. It was all done by hand—‑the guys put pressure on the ski and controlled it. Today, they use a Grindite 2100 stonegrinding machine to give skis a factory finish.

To leave your Alpine skis for a tune-up, you must complete a form that simply asks for your name, address, phone number, height, weight and level of skiing expertise. It sounds easy enough, but ski tuning is a science.

The ski techs begin by looking at the ski, how it’s used and diagnosing its problems. They always start with the edges, sharpening for a 90° angle. Next they bevel those edges, ranging from zero to five degrees or more. Recreational skiers don’t need as much of a bevel as racers or better skiers who are more aggressive. A
chart helps the techs determine the right angle according to ability.

For base work on the structure of the ski, the techs turn to their $50,000 Grindrite machine. Grooves or gouges are typical on most skis. In many cases, light grooves will not adversely affect performance. The Grindite exposes fresh base material and removes fine scratches that may inhibit performance.

Brian notes that like everything else, this equipment is becoming greener. “Years ago emulsion in the water—the cutting agent, coolant and lubricant— should have come with a skull and crossbones symbol.” Today, he says, it is all biodegradable. Even the cleaners used before waxing are citrus based.

After the grinding step, deep gouges need to be repaired. If tuning one or two skis, the candle method is used. Skis are placed in a vise, base up. A plastic P-Tex candle is warmed with a lighter until it drips. Scott carefully fills each deep gouge with the melted plastic, taking care to make sure that the flame is blue. A yellow flame means it’s emitting carbon, a contaminant. By the time he’s done, the base of the ski looks like a road surface with sealant over the cracks. Once the
P-Tex cools to room temperature, he holds a metal scraper at 45° to the base and scrapes the ski from tip to tail. Satisfied that it has a flat, smooth surface, he sends it back through the belt grinder to grind off any excess plastic. “Ninety-five percent of what is put on is ground off,” explains Scott. When doing a batch of skis, the techs fire up the Wintersteiger base extruder, which lays down a layer of base material, but is internally heated and eliminates the problem of carbon contamination.

Next, the base edge and material on it are checked for flatness. If anything is above the edge, Brian says, “You’ll get a squirrely, wobbly feeling.” As skis become wider, it’s more difficult to get a truly flat base edge, but that’s what these ski techs strive for. They polish the skis for a smoother running surface and make sure that edges are sharp.

Finally, the skis are ready for the stone grinding machine, which can bring new life into them. “This is where the money happens,” says Brian. Stone grinding allows
the fine tuning of the base structure for specific snow conditions. Infinite patterns can be laid on by the stone. This results in a ski that feels more solid, absorbs wax
better and glides more consistently. Some customers request certain patterns and this diamond cut machine does work the techs couldn’t do in the past.

The final step is hot waxing, which protects against damage. Wax is what enables the ski to glide better, slide better and it makes lateral movements easier.

Preparing skis for racers is much more involved. Finishing touches are done by hand edging and hand waxing. Once racing skis are waxed, they must sit for 24 hours to ideally allow the wax to permeate into the base. After the first coat, nine additional coats of wax are added. Following each coat, excess wax is scraped off since glide comes from wax that’s been absorbed and isn’t sitting on the base. Then brushes are used—from aggressive nylon or bronze down to softer horse-hair--to
remove excess wax. It’s a skiers rendition of sandpaper. Finally the skis are buffed to further work in the wax.

At Sportshaus, they offer four different tune-up packages ranging from a basic sharpener/wax job for $20 to a full tuneup, which gets you as close to a factory finish as possible at $35.

My second stop in learning how to achieve the perfect glide is at Carter’s X-Country Ski Center in Oxford, where David and Anne Carter have offered groomed trails since 1984. What began as a club because of David’s long-time skiing passion evolved into a business that includes renting and selling Nordic ski equipment. On
farm land they already owned in Bethel, they later created a second ski center, offering more diverse terrain. Over the years their three daughters have been involved with the business and their sonin- law, Jesse works with them full time.

Since their Oxford Ski Center serves as a farm stand in the summer months, Anne took me to the attached greenhouse to demonstrate waxing techniques for Nordic
skis. Proper waxing is important for superb versatility in a variety of settings. The wax comes in two types: glide and kick (or grip). Glide wax is used on the tips and
tails of classic skis and on the entire length of skating skis. Kick wax is used for grip in the classic technique. Both stick wax and klister are common varieties of kick wax.

Anne begins with waxless skis, which have a grip pattern carved or molded into the base material. This texture bites into the snow to provide grip for the kick portion of the classic ski stride. Because waxless skis have a built-in kick there is no need for a grip/kick wax. There are times, however, when the snow is wet and sticky and can clump or ice up on the base of the ski. That’s when you know that the proverbial moose is riding on your tails. It’s time to wax.

Anne uses a sponge applicator to spread Maxiglide, a liquid paste, onto the base of the waxless skis. “Wipe down and don’t wipe it all off,” she says as she demonstrates the movement from top to bottom. “Maxiglide refurbishes the base. It’s like a piece of furniture that needs oil.” This is a do-it-yourself project that
seasoned skiers should perform at least every other week. Swix also makes a product called F4 Liquid Wax that helps prevent snow clumps and icing.

Racers take waxing to a whole different level. It’s a science of creating just the right mix of waxes to make the ski go faster. Kick wax is a sticky wax lightly applied to either side of the center groove in the kick-zone of waxable classical skis. It’s labeled for varying temperature ranges— the warmer the temp, the stickier the wax
you will use. A wax that is too sticky will difficult. (Moose alert) A wax that isn’t sticky enough will make your kick slip, also make skiing harder.

A bar of hot wax looks like a brick and comes in different colors for different uses. For skating skis, ski techs and DIYers always begin with yellow, which is a warm wax. Warmer waxes fill in the pores better, especially with the help of an iron. To apply, the wax is scraped on to the entire base by rubbing it firmly down the length of the ski, again from tip to tail. Anne says that some people apply with a wax iron, letting the heat warm up the wax and drip it on—similar to how Scott applied the P-tex at Sportshaus. Once the wax is applied, Anne then runs a ski iron along the entire base, connecting and smoothing the wax until an even coat is achieved. If you’re doing this at home, don’t use your household iron as you’ll ruin it and may ruin your skis. While one ski cools, the same procedure is followed for the second ski.

Returning to the first ski, she gives it a second coat by simply running the iron over the wax that is already there. Any excess wax is scraped off with a plexiglass
scraper held at a 45° angle. Sometimes the skis need to be scraped a second time because skiers don’t want to be racing on wax. The third coat is the wax of the day,
depending on the day’s temperature and snow condition. Generally speaking, blue is for 10-20°, purple for 20-30° and green for 4-15°. Again, the third coat is dripped
or rubbed on, ironed and scraped.

Finally, the techs take a brush to the skis and remove whatever excess didn’t come off with the scraper. Similar to the Alpine approach, multiple brushes are used depending on the desired texture the skier wants.

Classic skis require grip wax in the kick zone or wax pocket, which extends from the heel of your boot to a foot above the top of the binding. Grip wax produces traction by allowing the rough edges of snow crystals to penetrate the wax layer just enough to grab hold of the ski when it is stationary and weighted. It doesn’t prevent the ski from gliding smoothly when already in motion.

Hard wax, aka grip or kick wax, is applied in four to five thin layers by lightly “crayoning” it onto the kick zone. Between layers, the wax is buffed in with either a synthetic or natural cork. The friction of the cork warms the wax so it adheres to the ski base, thus keeping the wax on the ski longer.

All reconditioning work is carefully done by hand at Carter’s X-Country Ski Center. The cost for a complete hot wax reconditioning is $35. And for the DIYers, they offer a variety of products and recommendations.