Do I need to wax my new skis or snowboard?
Both new skis and snowboards come with a factory wax, however it's a very thin layer of wax. Some people believe that you should get a hot wax before you go ride for the first time, while others believe that you can ride for a day or two before you need to wax your skis or board. l've often heard techs argue over what is really the best.
So, I decided to test both out. I bought a new snowboard last year towards the end of the season. Took the plastic wrap off, put my bindings on and got in line to ride my new board. The conditions where the typical mid/late season, softer snow but still a good base. The first few laps where fine until after lunch when it started to get warm, I started sticking to the ground and when i checked my base it was dry.
This is what a dry base looks like, chalky and just dry:
This is what a base with a fresh hot wax looks like, it's nice and shiny:
I also got another new snowboard over the middle of summer, this time I wanted to see how much of a difference there would be if I applied a hot wax before taking it out.
I used a black graphite wax by Purl, the graphite wax is universal, however its a softer wax and can sometimes wear off a little quick (5-10 days depending on conditions and terrian) but this particular wax is a fast wax and one of my favorites.
I also decided to also add Purl all temp wax down the middle and around the edges of my board.
I decided to go with a all temp and graphite mix rather than graphite and a warm temp wax because you can never tell what the conditions will be in Colorado. The hot wax held up all day and was far better than the factory wax, I did start to slow down at the end of the day but I wasn't sticking and my base wasn't dry.
So if you're planing to ride all day long from first chair to last call i would recommend getting a hot wax on your new gear so you don't stick to the snow.
For the cold winter season, try POM POM's eco friendly Frostbite Wax:
May be obvious but do you need to distribute wax with an iron with this type of application?