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   "SKIING IS A SLIDING SPORT":
 Conventional Skiing Wisdoms (CSW's) 

by Bill Jones, Ski Instructor
Certified Professional Ski Instructor (Registration #110478), Level III
How to reserve private ski lessons with Bill Jones

 CSW #13: "Don't wax skis; they would then go too fast."

In alpine skiing, the purpose of waxing is to make skis more slippery. Fortunately, modern skis do not require as much attention to waxing as earlier models but there are still snow conditions where the right wax will make the skis less "sticky" in the snow. Waxing skis will not only make them go faster when pointed downhill but also make them easier to turn. That's our focus here: to make the skis easier to turn. Then we can change the direction they point more readily and position them in ways they won't run as fast. It will also reduce the effort to turn them, saving our legs.

Sometimes on gentle slopes the skis will slide only slowly or not at all. Walking down such hills is obviously not preferred but sometimes is required on poorly maintained skis. Applying wax to the bases may fix the problem and ski instructors often carry some in a pocket.

Too, if you have ski that slides well, you can gather enough momentum skiing down a slope so that you can carry your speed up a rise, saving legs, always a good thing.

main CSW contents
prior CSW #12: "Practice makes perfect"
next CSW #14: "For my height I need skis of a certain length"

"SKIING IS A SLIDING SPORT"--a skiing web manual:  Skiing Web Manual Contents   Why Read This Skiing Web Manual That First Skiing Lesson  A Little Skiing History  Motion in Skiing  CONVENTIONAL SKIING WISDOMS  Skier Excuses   Fear in Skiing  Conditioning for Skiing   Equipment and Technique  Skiing Equipment  How Skis Work   How to Develop Balance on Skis  A Skiing Turn Simplified  The Final Skiing Skill: pressure management  Tactics for Terrains and Snow Textures and Racing  Skiing Tips and Tales--a potpourri    Exercises for Developing Skiing Skills  Children and Skiing  Age and Skiing  Gender & Skiing  Culture & Skiing Skiing Ethics and Survival  Slope Safety  Skiing Environment  Glossary  Acknowledgements SkiMyBest Website Contents  

This "CSW #13:: 'Don't wax skis...'" page last modified January 9, 2022. Did you come here from a link on another website? For latest version of this page, copy to your browser: http://www.SkiMyBest.com/skiCSW13.htm. Copyright © 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022. William R Jones.