Welcome to a skiers’ Springtime favorite game show, Store or Sell, where you get to decide if your ski gear is worth storing or selling to upgrade for next season! You need to determine what is worth keeping and what is worth passing on to others before you can put yourself in the bonus round where we look at next year’s shiny objects, hottest trends and brightest colors. Before you participate in the skiers‘ version of trash and treasure, let’s make sure we explore our options!
Door Number One: Cheaper to keep her.
You struck oil; you love your gear and there is no reason to upgrade (haha, keep telling yourself that) … at least not this year. So be it, you might not be making any friends with your local or favorite on-line shop by helping them pay their already late bills but, you know what, unless your gear is more than five or so years old, or your bindings aren’t Gripwalk compatible, there might be other ways to spend those Hamiltons in your pocket. So let’s press the STORE button!
Treat your favorite gear in the off season like you would your children … store them in a nice cool and dry closet. Yes, I jest; it doesn’t have to be a closet, but some dry place. Moisture is not good for anything metal on your gear, specifically bindings and edges. But before we get ahead of ourselves, what does it take to store your skis for the summer? Well, before waxing them, clean the bases with ideally a brass or steel brush and maybe a citric base cleaner. This will buff out the spring dirt and grease that has accumulated in last season‘s dirty snow. Then put on a nice thick coat of storage wax. That thick coat of wax should also coat and protect your edges. Sponsors like TOKO make some great softer yellow or red waxes that are perfect for this. Wax it on, iron it in, and your ski bases will be ready to be scraped and buffed for the coming season when we will revisit what's entailed to get your skis ready for the new season.
As for your bindings, we used to say, turn the settings down and release the tension. This is not the case any more. The only thing you might consider is positioning the heel in the uncocked position which relieves some tension on the heel springs. You should also consider bringing your bindings (with your skis) to your local shop and having them do a release( ASTM) check to make sure they are still functioning within range.
Door Number Two: Time to sell.
So, are you eyeing the new frontside carvers that SkiTalk’s testers were gaga over, or the new 98 with not two but three layers of Unobtainium (to replace the two Balognium layers) ski from last year? Don’t fret, because the two layer Balognium model is better than the skis the guy from Weekendwarriorville has, and he wants to upgrade. So how do you get your skis in front of this guy … or gal? There are a lot of options. SkiTalk’s Garage Sale area or sites like Sideline Swap who specialize in being the “handler” of such transactions for a nominal percentage are two excellent options.
So, in today's crazy market where the supply chain has also had an effect on gear availability, it is the ideal time to consider not only upgrading your gear, but also cleaning out the gear closet and maybe re homing those skis from a few seasons ago. Good used gear has never been worth more than it is now, so turn that old gear into cash, because your trash could indeed be someone else's treasure.
You struck oil; you love your gear and there is no reason to upgrade (haha, keep telling yourself that) … at least not this year. So be it, you might not be making any friends with your local or favorite on-line shop by helping them pay their already late bills but, you know what, unless your gear is more than five or so years old, or your bindings aren’t Gripwalk compatible, there might be other ways to spend those Hamiltons in your pocket. So let’s press the STORE button!
Treat your favorite gear in the off season like you would your children … store them in a nice cool and dry closet. Yes, I jest; it doesn’t have to be a closet, but some dry place. Moisture is not good for anything metal on your gear, specifically bindings and edges. But before we get ahead of ourselves, what does it take to store your skis for the summer? Well, before waxing them, clean the bases with ideally a brass or steel brush and maybe a citric base cleaner. This will buff out the spring dirt and grease that has accumulated in last season‘s dirty snow. Then put on a nice thick coat of storage wax. That thick coat of wax should also coat and protect your edges. Sponsors like TOKO make some great softer yellow or red waxes that are perfect for this. Wax it on, iron it in, and your ski bases will be ready to be scraped and buffed for the coming season when we will revisit what's entailed to get your skis ready for the new season.
As for your bindings, we used to say, turn the settings down and release the tension. This is not the case any more. The only thing you might consider is positioning the heel in the uncocked position which relieves some tension on the heel springs. You should also consider bringing your bindings (with your skis) to your local shop and having them do a release( ASTM) check to make sure they are still functioning within range.
So, are you eyeing the new frontside carvers that SkiTalk’s testers were gaga over, or the new 98 with not two but three layers of Unobtainium (to replace the two Balognium layers) ski from last year? Don’t fret, because the two layer Balognium model is better than the skis the guy from Weekendwarriorville has, and he wants to upgrade. So how do you get your skis in front of this guy … or gal? There are a lot of options. SkiTalk’s Garage Sale area or sites like Sideline Swap who specialize in being the “handler” of such transactions for a nominal percentage are two excellent options.
So, in today's crazy market where the supply chain has also had an effect on gear availability, it is the ideal time to consider not only upgrading your gear, but also cleaning out the gear closet and maybe re homing those skis from a few seasons ago. Good used gear has never been worth more than it is now, so turn that old gear into cash, because your trash could indeed be someone else's treasure.