Chances are if you are anything like me your skis have been sitting in your ski bag since your last trip to the mountain. Before they will be ready for the slops you should take them to your local ski shop and have them tuned up. A tune up is just an adjustment of the bindings, waxing the bottom of the skis and sharpening the edges. The reason for adjusting the binding is to make sure they are in good working order and to make and adjustments for any changes in your weight. The edges of the skis must be sharp to make sure you can turn if you happen to hit some ice and you wax the bottom of the skis to fill in any scratches and to reduce the amount of friction on the snow.
Footwear:
Special hard shell boots are used in skiing. The boots snap into the bindings that are mounted to the skis. These boots have foam inserts to provide great comfort to the skier to prevent things like blisters from destroying your ski trip. The hard outer shell keeps you from twisting your ankle if you should fall by keeping your foot and ankle totally immobilized in the boot.
Ski Polls:
It is also very important to make sure that the bottoms of your ski polls are sharp so they can cut thru a thin layer of ice if needed. It is also good to make sure that you have the right size polls. Take the poll and turn it upside down, then place your fist around the end of the poll. Your arm should now be parallel to the ground of it is not you should get new polls. The purpose for polls is to help along with balance and ice. If you are trying to turn and start to slide on a patch of ice you can jam one side into the ice to help you complete your turn or to help stop.
Hand Protection:
Just keeping your hands in your pockets when you are on the lift is not enough to keep your hands warm. When you are skiing it is a must to have a good pair of gloves. The gloves must be insulated to keep your hands warm and be water resistant, to keep your hands dry.
Thermal Underwear:
Thermal Underwear is made from two ply cotton with a box weave texture to help trap the body heat and deflect cold air from passing to the body.
Ski Pants:
Ski pants have not changed much in the last 20 years. They are made from insulated material designed to keep the wind away from the body, but the newer pants have fleece linings and pocket linings to warm up cold hands. The newest features I have seen on ski pants is actually a throwback from the 20's it's the bomb drop butt flap, and if you are not sure what that means it is a flap in the back of the pants to make going to the bathroom easy without having to undo all the buckles and straps.
