Waxing skis?

Question

Alright this isn't a question about how to wax skis. But rather, I purchased a pair of used skis today from a consignment store and I am wondering whether i need them waxed or not. Are there any visual signs that I can look for? The bottom of skis is black. Please help me out as I am pretty new to this.

Answer 1

Why risk it? A block of wax costs about $10, is enough wax to cover your skis a half dozen times and takes less then 20 minutes to apply.

Whenever you can't decide whether to wax or not, it's usually time to wax.

Answer 2

you don't usually need to wax skis until about a month after purchase

Answer 3

Wax them.

I wax any used or new-but-old stock skis whenever I buy them. To be honest...I re-wax brand new skis as well. Who knows what they used at the factory.

Anyway...skis that come from anyplace other than a ski shop should be waxed again. If you can see dings in the base, scratches, etc...re-wax for sure...maybe even P-Tex. Once they're out of their factory wrapper the bases are reallly prone to scratching. Also, depending on the store, skis get "less than first-class treatment" when being moved around from the stockroom to the floor and from fixture to fixture.