Let it Snow - Equipment Prep!

The frost is on the pumpkin!

Well, sports fans, with Halloween just around the corner here in good ole Canada I am very excited about our upcoming ski season. Matter of fact, just yesterday night I was in the Canadian Rockies' town of Banff, and guess what happened?

Yup! 15 cm of fresh powder snow! With any luck the slopes will be opening early this year in the Canadian west.

So this leads me into this month's article...equipment prep. Yes, it is time to take the ski equipment out of storage and have a serious look at what condition it is in. Now if you prepared your equipment for storage at the end of the season, things should be somewhat easier for you at the start of this season. Step one, try to remember where you put all your stuff! Well, let's make a short list to help us retrieve our goodies:

Skis & Poles

Boots

Ski suit

Goggles

Gloves/Mitts

Ski Bag / Boot Bag

Ski Rack

Turtleneck shirt

Long Johns

Those Kool Sunglasses

Neoprene socks

Here at my end of the planet, life is simple. Put all those small clothing items into a ski-bag at the end of the season (after they had a swirl thru the wash and rinse cycle) and the ski, poles and boots in the rafters in the garage.

OK...now that we have found it all, let's make sure it works. I highly recommend that you have your bindings checked by a qualified ski-tech, and have the DIN setup based on new stats on yourself as you weight and height may have changed since last season. Now if you are an old pro then the next set is to strip off the storage wax we applied at the end of the season to those skis and give them a new tune-up bases and edges. If you are not comfortable doing your own ski tuning then have the ski-tech that checked your bindings put an edge on the boards and finish off with a fresh coat of wax!

Now if you can remember last season when you first got on to the slopes, after the third or fourth run, your feet felt like they were going to fall off, right? Well, one way to get over that "I haven't worn these moon boots for the last six months feeling" is by starting to wear them around the house to get your feet climatized. Most boots have a great arch in them then most street shoes so it is time to remind our feet of what is about to come from the next 5 to 6 months.

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