Ski Care

Maintenance

Rykken Ski’s base has been impregnated with pine tar which protects against moisture, and is also an excellent undercoat for wax. When the base begins to be white and dry or the temperature changes considerably, it is time for new wax. First, scrape off all of the old wax.

Waxing

Wood bases have natural properties which can give tar both kick and glide, but much can be improved by using ski wax.

Upon purchase, your Rykken Skis are ready to be waxed. During the time when wood skis were the only alternative, the entire length of the ski was waxed with grip wax. One can also do this today and get a good result. It’s often a good choice on children’s skis. It also works well when waxing the entire ski, to “glide wax” the tips and tails with a colder kick/grip wax than the middle “kick zone.”

Glide wax can be melted on and is scraped down or rubbed on and then rubbed with cork (like kick/grip wax). When you see that the base of the ski is worn and “birch white”, it is time for a new treatment with tar. Normally this will happen only a few times during a winter, unless you have been out on ice and hard snow, which creates excessive wear. With young children’s skis, it may be even less.

When treating skis with tar, there is a product on the market,  SWIX I21, which brushed onto the base so you get a thin, covering coat. Then the applied tar is warmed with a heat gun or a ski waxing iron so that the tar is absorbed into the fibers of the wood. While the tar is still warm, the tar that is not absorbed is wiped away with a soft cloth.