Tune Up:



Before your skis are going to be ready for this ski season you need to blow the dust off your skis and get them back into shape. During a day of skiing you can get scratches and gouges in the bottom of your skis. These scratches and gouges cause surface friction and will actually reduce your speeds and your control over the skis. It won't affect you that much unless you are a professional racer, but by taking care of your skis they will last you longer. Skis come with sharp metal edges and every year if not every week during ski season these edges need to be sharpened with a file. This edge is for cutting into the ice incase you hit a slick spot on the slope during a turn. A sharp edge will help keep you in control.

Boots:

Even if your feet have stopped growing you still need to check your boots ever year, and every few years you should replace the foam inserts I your boots to make sure your boots are comfortable and fit properly. Improperly fitting boots can cause a broken ankle or at least some nasty blisters that could ruin your skit trip and hurt for days.

Skiing with Polls:

For the most part unless you are a beginner if you are skiing at a resort you don't really need ski polls. Most people only use them because I was how they were taught to ski, but if you are going to have them you need to have the right ones. A ski pole should go from the plastic ring above the bottom to just above the waist so that when the tip is in the ground and your hand is on the handle your arm is bent at the elbow with the lower arm straight out. Also every year the tip should be taken and sharpened when you have your skis sharpened and waxed you can bring the polls as well.

Gloves:

Believe it or not gloves are very important when skiing. If you fall you are going to have to use your hands to get up. Your hands are going to have to touch snow and if you do not want to damage your hands you need to keep them warm and dry. The glove should have at least 150 grams of thinsulate and should be big enough to fit the ends of the gloves into your jacket.

Long Johns:

Long Johns are insulated tops and bottoms designed to keep your body heat close to your body and the cold winds out, and are not only good for skiing but any activity that puts you out in the cold for several hours.

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.