Base crud

Particularly in thin conditions, it's common to find a little crud
(presumably dirt or mud) on my bases, but this past weekend it hit a
whole new level.

Skis were freshly stone-ground and waxed; the snow was a good
midwestern hardpack base, with temps well above freezing, so naturally
whatever non-snow matter was in the snowpack was building up on the
surface. By mid-afternoon, they had a LOT of black, tarry crud
coating the bases, and it seemed to be slowing us down noticeably.
It could be rubbed off with a paper towel to an extent, but was pretty
persistent. Late in the afternoon, when the snow stiffened up, it
started to wear off partially, but nowhere near completely.

This was our first day of spring skiing in mid-Wisconsin; maybe
there's a little more petrochemicals in the air there? Or maybe there
was a little too much wax left on the bases, giving a little something
extra for the goop to grab onto? We're off to Tahoe next weekend,
and I'm wondering if I should just plan to ski the stuff off, or scrub
the bases, or just do a full-on base cleaning and re-waxing....any
comments?

bw

bdubya wrote:
Particularly in thin conditions, it's common to find a little crud
(presumably dirt or mud) on my bases, but this past weekend it hit a
whole new level.

Skis were freshly stone-ground and waxed; the snow was a good
midwestern hardpack base, with temps well above freezing, so naturally
whatever non-snow matter was in the snowpack was building up on the
surface. By mid-afternoon, they had a LOT of black, tarry crud
coating the bases, and it seemed to be slowing us down noticeably.
It could be rubbed off with a paper towel to an extent, but was pretty
persistent. Late in the afternoon, when the snow stiffened up, it
started to wear off partially, but nowhere near completely.

This was our first day of spring skiing in mid-Wisconsin; maybe
there's a little more petrochemicals in the air there? Or maybe there
was a little too much wax left on the bases, giving a little something
extra for the goop to grab onto? We're off to Tahoe next weekend,
and I'm wondering if I should just plan to ski the stuff off, or scrub
the bases, or just do a full-on base cleaning and re-waxing....any
comments?

bw

Best results will be to use base cleaner and
a fresh wax job.

VtSkier wrote:

Best results will be to use base cleaner and
a fresh wax job.

Base cleaner? Just scrap the paraffin while it's still warm - voila,
clean bases.

Re spring crud sticking to ski bases, around here the horny pine trees
will start their orgy soon, dumping pollen all over the place, including
that which will end up on my bases.

Which leads me to the punchline - too much sex will slow you down.

lal_truckee wrote:

VtSkier wrote:


Best results will be to use base cleaner and
a fresh wax job.


Base cleaner? Just scrap the paraffin while it's still warm - voila,
clean bases.

That's been my method too, ever since you posted it. It's a little
frightening at what you can find coming out, kind of like those scary
peel-off facial masks (it's a gurl thing, trust me, you don't wanna
know...just think of your face and your ski bases and, well, let it pass
unnoticed).

Re spring crud sticking to ski bases, around here the horny pine trees
will start their orgy soon, dumping pollen all over the place, including
that which will end up on my bases.

Which leads me to the punchline - too much sex will slow you down.

No, it'll slow _other people_ down. The horny pine trees are as fast as
they ever were, or maybe *cough* a little faster.

--
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield, other days you're the bug.