There is nothing worse than fixing equipment problems before you even have a change to hit the slopes. Spring/summer is the perfect time to take inventory, tune your equipment, and fix any problems before it gets packed away.

We recommend a summer wax - some fittingly call this a storage wax – before your gear has a chance to rust in the off season. A summer wax keeps a layer of wax on the bottom of your skis/snowboard to keep them from drying out during times of storage.

Depending on the condition of your skis or snowboard, we may also recommend a tune before the wax. This will fill any holes, flatten the bases and sharpen the edges in addition to the summer wax. Before the beginning of the next snow season, this wax will need to be scraped away (either by you or us) to ensure you’re quick and ready for day one on the slopes.

Auski offers tuning services year-round and are always happy to offer advice for those tuning their own equipment too! Follow this link to learn more.

…and, make sure it goes away dry.

We’re all guilty of putting wet equipment in the car after a day on the hill and chucking it in the garage when we get home. This is a common and potentially expensive mistake! Leaving your gear in a moist environment can lead to rusted edges, damaged bases and unusable bindings.

Dry your equipment before storing it in a clean and dry ski bag. Make sure you store your gear in a cool and dry place in your home. Wardrobes are always a good option, or alternatively in your garage if it stays cool in the summer. Usually avoid storing things in the roof or the garden shed as your gear, funnily enough, prefers cooler climates.

We’re often asked if its best to store your hardgoods standing up or laying down, this really doesn’t matter too much. Ski and snowboard bases are sensitive, and as long as they’re not laying exposed in the garage base down for the dirt to moisture to seep in, you’re pretty safe either way.

Whilst we have an extensive article on how to wash and care for your snow clothing, here are a few quick tips.

After the last day of the season, throw everything in the wash and ensure its completely dry before putting it in bags for the summer. No one likes mildew on their base layers. Even your outerwear should be washed, dried and waterproofed. Products like Nikwax are specially formulated to get the dirt out of your snow clothing and re-waterproof the outer layer. Clean with the wash and seal with the spray to ensure your outerwear performs year after year.

Don’t pack down-insulated clothing too tightly. The best thing to do is to keep your down jackets hanging. Packing down loft (the ‘fluffiness’ of the insulation) too tightly can compress the loft and impact the warmth. We usually keep down-insulated wear hanging in the wardrobe through summer; it also reminds us that another awesome winter is always around the corner whenever we look in the wardrobe.

Lastly, spring/summer is also a great time to take stock of what you need for next season and take advantage of end of season sales to ensure you’re geared up and ready to go next winter.

Ski boots are made of hard plastics that, by nature, want to return to their original flat state. For this reason, store ski boots with buckles done up. Some take the liners out of their boots for storage also, this is especially recommended if your boots are not completely dry when they’re being stored away. Wet liners in storage are a great way to have a stinky welcome next winter. Our special trick is to fill a sock with baking soda and pop one in each boot for storage. This will eliminate both moisture and unwanted smells.

Snowboard boots are similar and it’s best to ensure they’re dry when they go into storage. Most snowboard boots have softer fabrics like leather on the outer. When left wet these fabrics can be damaged and can very quickly shorten the lifespan of your precious boots. Both ski and snowboard boots will thrive if kept in a clean and dry boot bag. Our favourite is the Dakine Boot Locker, but any boot bag will do.

As we all know, boots are undoubtably the most important part of your equipment. Take care of them and they’ll take care of you.

Reiterating a point made earlier, there’s no better time than the end of the season to take stock and make sure everything is paired up and ready to go for next winter.

Like outerwear, make sure your base layers are washed and packed away ready for next years season.

My mum used to make all of our family put on our full ski outfits in the living room before putting them away in storage. If we were missing something, we’d write it down and make sure to add it to the box before the lifts started turning again.

That might just have been our family, but it has certainly drilled into me the importance of checking every last item is ready to be stored away, to avoid disappointment or frustration when the temperatures finally start falling again.

For those lucky enough to be chasing colder temperatures across oceans for the Northern Hemisphere snow season, we are incredibly jealous, take some runs for us, and take notes! These tips are super helpful for packing things for travel also!