Ski Base Preparations that make you Fly!

The term 'heatbox' evolved from the fact that the apparatus that the skis are put into is shaped like a box. The purpose of the heatbox is to provide a safe, regulated, heated environment in which the bases of the skis can become fully saturated with wax by slowly absorbing the wax.

The common practice of dripping or rubbing on wax, running a waxing iron over the base, and then scraping and brushing the base is aiming at getting wax as deep as possible into the base. Ski bases are porous. It's important that you get glide wax penetrated as deeply as possible into the base so that it holds onto the base and doesn't wear off as quickly as wax that is only on the surface of the base.

When you iron the base, the iron is not only melting the wax, but it is also heating the base, and opening the pores, allowing deeper penetration of the wax. Thing is, the relatively short heating time when ironing in wax, 60-120 seconds, isn't really enough to allow the deepest penetration of the wax. And if you are using harder, colder waxes (blues for instance), penetration will be even further reduced. This is where a hotbox comes in handy.

The extended, and consistent heating of the base during a hotbox treatment (3-6, even up to 12 hours, depending on the chosen option) opens the base pores to their maximum. We heat the box to 55 degrees Celsius. This allows for maximum penetration without damaging the skis. The thick layer of wax applied prior to the hotbox treatment is then given the best conditions for getting as deep as possible into the base. After "baking" for the specified time, the box is turned off, and the skis are allowed to cool overnight.

 

In the morning, we scrape and brush the treatment wax off the ski. Then, we apply a cold temperature wax, blue, to the skis using the iron. The warmer wax that was used during the hotbox treatment actually pulls the harder blue wax deep into the base. We say that the yellow wax "lubricates" the ski base, allowing harder waxes to adhere better to the base.

The common belief is that one hotbox treatment is equivalent to 30 to 50 handwaxings. And we all know that your skis only get faster the more you wax them.

So almost any ski will benefit from being hotboxed. Any ski that has been stone ground should get at least our Basic level hotboxing treatment. Stone grinding removes all the wax from the base. Hotboxing prevents oxidation and damage to the ski base after you have invested in a nice stone grind.

If you have any questions about hotboxing, dropping your skis off or shipping your skis to us for treatment, or want to discuss which option is right for you, please give us a call, 604-567-2232 or email us: grinds@squamishnordicshop.com.

Pricing

Basic Saturation $29

Basic Saturation involves 3 hours in the heatbox with a very soft paraffin at a temperature of about 55 degree C. This ensures excellent saturation of the base. The skis will still need to be hardened to the appropriate level for the desired conditions.

Extreme Saturation $49

Extreme Saturation involved a longer period (6-12 hours) in the heatbox at a lower temperature (below 50 degrees C). This is a very safe and stable temperature and the paraffin used has an extremely low melt point and excellent fluidity at low temperatures. This long initial saturation is followed by a conditioning stage with a harder paraffin at a temperature of about 60 degrees C. The skis spend less than an hour at this relatively high temperature. It works extremely well in the heatbox as the wax is absorbed into the base of the ski. The Extreme Heatbox Treatment is a quick, economical and safe way of hardening the base of a ski.