Gear Care - End of Season Special

The weather is changing, and with it our activity habits.  Time to bust out the bike, the hiking shoes, the kayak, or whatever spring and summer gear appeals to you.  Take all that winter gear and throw it in the shed til next year!  Wait, no!  On second thought, take a bit of extra time prepping your winter gear for storage and you’ll thank yourself when next season rolls around.  Here are a few tips to help preserve your gear for many years to come:

Off to the shed with my skis… :(

End of Season Gear Storage Tips:

Puffys – 

Whether it is a puffy jacket or puffy sleeping bag, it is important to keep your down lofty. Lofty down will keep you warmer and more comfortable accounting to its ability to trap air. Some sleeping bags come with a cotton sack for storage which allows the bag to stay out of harm’s way but also won’t compress your precious insulation. Same goes for jackets! Avoid stuffing these in a cubby hole and forgetting about them. Hang your jacket or put it in a cotton pillow case to store safely without compressing. This is also an excellent opportunity to WASH YOUR PUFFY! Something we could all do more often.

Skin storage – 

Storing skins is always a tricky affair because the glue that we cherish so much for sticking our skins to the base of our toys in winter can become our worst enemy if given half a chance. There’s more than one way to do this, but in my experience, if you have an older skin that you’ve used for a few seasons the glue is most likely not as tacky as the fresh stuff. These skins I will fold in half, glue side in, and allow them to stick to itself in storage for the summer. A brand new pair on the other hand, or a pair that have only seen a few days / seasons depending on how much you tour, will need to be handled with care. If your skins came with a skin protecting sheet, as some do, that is fine to use for summer storage but if they did not then I recommend gutter guard mesh. It is easy to find in any hardware store and is cheap. This is a great thing to carry on tours as well so you can keep your skins from sticking together and avoid the embarrassment of pulling a muscle trying to unglue your skins from themselves! (Pro Tip: You only need a piece half the length of your skin. Fold the skin in half with one piece of mesh sandwiched between both sides of your single skin)

Storage wax – 

When Spring has sprung and your last slushy laps at the mountain have come to an end, it can be easy to forget the most important and final step to any winter season: Storage Wax. It’s important to slop on a thick layer of wax at the end of the season before you put away your board or skis so that the base material does not dry out in the summer heat. No matter where you store your winter toys, a full summer without wax will render your bases ashen grey and unfit for riding come next season. My recommendation is to use an all season wax, something inexpensive is fine, and put a thicker than usual amount on your base which will protect it from nicks and dings while they wait for the flakes to fall again. (Pro Tip: Make sure to cover not just the base but your edges as well to ensure they don’t rust)

Turn down your din – 

In order to preserve your spring, it is best practice to turn your DIN on your ski bindings down to the lowest possible setting so that you avoid stressing the spring all summer long. (Pro Tip: Put a piece of tape over the toe piece of your binding which says that your DIN is down and the number that you like it to be so that you don’t mistakenly step in for your first run of the season and pop out immediately!)

Buckle up ski boots – 

After giving your boots a good once over to check for cracks, clean them up with some dish soap and lightly buckle the buckles so that they aren’t flopping around; this will help the plastic of your boot keep it’s form and prevent it from warping. Pulling your boot liners is a nice touch so that they can fully dry. It is best to store them in a cool dry place away from the possibility of pesky rodents who might use your boot as a hiding place for pilfered food or even worse, a home!

Don’t leave things in hot places – 

First things first, make sure all of your gear is DRY before putting it away. Mold happens fast and can ruin all your effort for storing your equipment properly. All of your winter ski toys are best protected if stored in a cool dry place throughout summer. This can be difficult but if you can only store one thing in this way make sure it’s your boots!

Repair – 

When you’re moving into a new season it is easy to get caught up in the opportunities that a new season affords for recreation and to simply shove all your winter stuff in a closet and forget about it. Set yourself up for success! Take this chance to make any minor or major repairs to your gear that is necessary. This could be fixing that dinged topsheet on your skis, filling a core shot on your base or patching a hole in your puffy. You’ll be glad you did once the flakes start falling again and all of your gear is in perfect working order.

This is also a great opportunity to take stock of the condition of your gear and make a decision about whether or not your toys need to be replaced. An old pair of skis or snowboard could become your designated “Rock Board” / “Rock Skis.” Future you will be glad you took this extra step in Spring when fall comes and you take your equipment out for that first exciting lap on some shallow snow.

If your gear requires professional repair it is imperitve that you start the process early. Submit warranty claims and repair requests as soon as you’re done using it for the season as this will give repair centers adequate time to fix your gear in the off season and help you avoid delays in the beginning of winter. Write it on the calendar, put reminders in your phone, leave yourself a note! Do whatever it takes to keep yourself accountable for doing this early.

We hope these tips help you get your gear stored for the summer! As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out!