Cross Country Ski Tuning & Wax at Start Haus

Start Haus is well known for our World Cup caliber downhill ski tuning and waxing, but what you may not know is we bring the same level of excellence to cross country skis. One could argue (maybe not with a World Cup ski racer) that a proper tune and wax is even more critical on xc skis than on alpine because you have to work for every inch of movement, rather than with the aid of gravity.

First thing on a cross country skiers list should always be the bases - are they flat? A concave base, sometimes caused by lack of waxing, makes the ski slower and harder to turn. A convex base, caused by normal usage and wear, is also slow and makes the ski unstable. A grind will flatten out the base, clean up any nicks or dings, and take away oxidized base material that can make it harder for fresh wax to stick.

The grind also sets the pattern of the base - critical to the glide of the ski in different snow conditions. Using our Wintersteiger grinder, we can set different patterns - two of which are most common for xc skis. A fine parallel pattern is the smoothest on cold snow, and is best if you're an advanced skier who hand sets your own patterns. More common, what we call the Sierra grind, is a deeper chevron pattern, great for braking suction in wetter conditions.

Next up and just as critical; proper waxing. Aside from our signature hot scrape and iron wax service, which gives significantly better results than chemical cleaners, we offer hot box cycles for cross country skis. One hot box cycle left overnight at Start Haus gives your skis the wax penetration of roughly 15-20 hand waxings, meaning longer lasting wax that continuously comes out of the base as you ski.

And while these are high end services, they're also great values - we offer a grind for $40, a wax for $20, or a grind and a hot box package for $65 - less than a third of some other cross country ski services.

Once the Start Haus techs have your skis dialed in, you can also stock up from our full selection of waxes, tools, corks and more to keep your skis going. From hydrocarbons to pure fluoro overlays, we've got you covered.