Storing skis in the off-season

It’s officially time to switch out our skis and boards for hiking boots and mountain bikes. Whether you have gear of your own, or you’re just interested in learning how we do it – here are some tips for properly storing your skis during the summer, and what we do with ours. 

Inventory audit

Once ski season is over, the first step for us is an inventory audit. Basically, we remove anything that has been damaged, because we don’t want our skiers on anything less than the best. Anything that is deemed ​“unrentable” either gets sold or donated. 

Make sure to check your skis for any damage, since you’ll want to take care of that before storing them. Check your boots and bindings too. You might have heard you should turn down the DIN settings on your bindings, but this is actually really unnecessary. Modern bindings don’t need to be cranked down, and honestly, only a ski tech should be adjusting your bindings anyways.

Clean them up

Even if you think your skis look pretty clean, you don’t want to skip this step. It’s pretty easy and can be done outside with a hose and a cloth. You want to make sure all the dirt, salt, and mud is cleaned off, but don’t use degreasers or detergents, because it can really mess up the bindings. Once they’re nice and clean, wipe them down thoroughly with a dry cloth. This will help get rid of any moisture and prevent them from rusting in storage. 

This is also when we get really excited because we get to use our new tuning robot! We bring all our skis from all locations to our Park City shop. We do a full tune of all our skis and boards before storage here. This includes all base repairs, the sidewalls are planed and polished, edges are beveled and stone finished, and they get a special wax treatment (we’ll talk about that in a second). Thanks to our Crystal Rock robot, we have the most high-end, and fastest tuning process in the rental industry. Check out the carwash-like system in action to see what your rentals will be running through in this video.

Wax the base

Wax on, don’t wax off. Choose an all-temperature or warm-weather wax. Apply a thick coat of it to the bases and edges, and don’t scrape it off! Leave it on all summer to help prevent rust, drying out, and other damage. Our Crystal Rock machine handles this part for us too, which ensures all of our skis are perfectly waxed for storage. We also make sure that every pair of skis that gets added to our inventory goes through a full tune and is waxed to perfection. 

Store them correctly

Your skis and boards should be stored in a cool, dry place, out of sunlight. Do NOT leave your skis in a travel bag, garage, or basement because these places tend to have bad temperature control and trap moisture which leads to rust. Attics that get too hot aren’t great either. Basically, store them in a closet in a temperature-controlled house. Store them in a neutral position to avoid broken binding or a wonky camber next season. Basically, don’t have them teetering somewhere they might fall and break and don’t have anything pressed against them or on top of them. 

Wait for winter

This is the hard part. We can’t help but peek in on the skis while we wish for the snow to fall. In the meantime though, take advantage of awesome summer activities like hiking, biking, or maybe even water skiing. You can even use your ski pass in the summer for access to activities at many mountain resorts like Deer Valley, Jackson Hole, and Stratton. 

Ski the world with Ski Butlers

We can’t wait to get back to the mountain! Since 2004, Ski Butlers has been catering to people who love fresh powder as much as we do at our locations around the world. Check out what customers think of us, and read our Trustpilot reviews too.