Oh No! My Ski Gear!

Well here we are, May 15, 1998. I too have been caught up in the spring fling! That is, I took my ski gear from the mountains and made that annual pilgrimage from the mountains to the city. I continued the annual ritual by dropping my gear into the corner of the garage and grabbed my mountain bike and scooted off into the sunset. OK, sound familiar? If not, you must be from the land down under and just starting your ski season. If that is the case, send me an airline ticket and I'll join you on the slopes - I know, wishful thinking. So where am I going with all this you ask?

Well, my thoughts are two-fold. First and foremost let's go back to that ski gear we all dumped into the forbidden zone of the garage or basement. Here are some tips that will help keep your ski gear in shape for the next season:

1. The ski suit that you've been wearing all season long - let's either wash it by following the instructions on the label or, if in doubt, taking it to the cleaners.
2. The ski boots - let's pull that boot liner out. Depending on the material it is made of, you may want to handwash it with some mild soap and get all that foot sweat out. But if you decide not to, at least let them air out. You may also want to try a good old Dr. Scholl SNEAKER spray.
3. OK, now let's look at the skis and bindings. As far as the skis go we should strip whatever old wax is still on them after that last weekend of spring skiing and then replace it with a storage wax - or at least any ski wax to protect the bases and edges (rust) over the humid summers. Get yourself some masking tape, stick it on the top of the skis and record the setting that your bindings have been set at. Now get that trust screwdriver out and set the bindings to the lowest setting either 1 or 0. This will take the pressure of the spring within the binding during storage.
4. Last but not least, get out those old Warren Miller ski videos and relax until about August. Why August? Well go back and read my earlier article on pre-season conditioning. August is a good time to start!

OK, so for all my friend in the north, enjoy your summer and think snow to keep cool! I am off for some great whitewater rafting in the Canadian Rockies. Sounds like fun? You betcha, have a look http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/sekani/.

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