As the first day of spring arrives PACCSA reminds you how to properly store your skis in the off season. When ski season is over, make sure that you properly prepare your skis for summer storage. If you don't, the bases may dry out, which will decrease their performance. You also want to have your ski equipment ready to go next winter when the snow starts to fall. For skate skis, wax the entire base; for classic skis, wax the glide zones. For the kick zone, you can cork on a soft kick wax .
Clean the bases. Use a liquid citrus-based cleaner, such as Citrisol, to remove dirt and debris from the base of your skis. Soak a paper towel with the base cleaner, and wipe down the base of each ski. You can also wipe down the tops of your skis to remove any wax or dirt that has collected there. 

Let the bases of your skis completely dry. This should only take about 10 minutes.

Wax your skis with a soft wax. Use a warm-weather wax or a ski wax that is designed specifically for cleaning ski bases for summer storage. Hold the chunk of wax against a hot iron -- preferable a flat iron with no holes --, and drip wax on the base of each ski.

Run the iron over the wax you dripped on the base of your skis from tip to tail until you have a thick, smooth layer of wax on the base of each ski.

Do not scrape the wax off. You want to leave the wax on your skis during the time they are in summer storage, so the bases do not dry out or get damaged during the offseason. When you take your skis out of summer storage next winter, use a hot iron to melt the summer wax and quickly wipe the melted wax off with a clean rag. This will in effect provide a clean ski base to work with. After all of the summer wax has been wiped off, melt on the glide wax of the day, iron it into the base, then scrape and brush. Repeat several times, after which you will have a well-prepared set of skis for your initial outing. 

by Rick Garstka