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Fix your skis
If you鈥檝e got small- to medium-sized gouges in your base and a DIY attitude, ski builder Chris Hounsell has some tips for you. (Photo: Megan Michelson)
Ski Week 2020

How to Fix That Core Shot in Your Skis or Snowboard

You can P-tex small gouges at home

Published: 
Fix your skis
(Photo: Megan Michelson)

New perk: Easily find new routes and hidden gems, upcoming running events, and more near you. Your weekly Local Running Newsletter has everything you need to lace up! .

Early ski season brings one guarantee: rocks. Spotty snow coverage means chances are high for running over a sharp edge and ripping up the base of your skis or board. (This is why you may want to consider hanging onto old gear to听use in the early season.)

Tiny nicks or scratches don鈥檛 need to be repaired. They won鈥檛 affect the ski鈥檚 performance, so you can leave those be and wax over them. For full core shots鈥攁nything that rips into the fiberglass or the wood core鈥攜ou may want to bring your gear to a professional at a ski shop. They have higher-grade equipment and tools, plus the skills to听ensure the job gets done right鈥攁nd done once. 鈥淵ou can fix your skis at home, but you may keep on repairing the same spot,鈥 says Chris Hounsell, manager at听 ski shop in Tahoe City, California, and a ski builder for听.

But for anything in between, like听small- to medium-sized gouges听in your base, all it takes is a听DIY attitude听and a few tips, according to Hounsell.听

Get the Tools

You鈥檒l need P-tex, which is short for polyethylene, the base material used in skis and snowboards. You can buy standard P-tex at your local ski shop.听 ($8 for four) come in clear and black听to match your base color. Make sure you have a good workspace鈥攁 workbench is a must;听a set of vices, like ($160), can help immensely.

You鈥檒l also need a standard lighter (like a听; $10 for eight), a steel scraper like听 from Swix ($10), and some ($8). Alternatively, RaceWax sells a ($32) with ten听sticks of P-tex, a metal scraper, and three buffing pads.

Prep the Base

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to prep your bases before you P-tex,鈥 Hounsell says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to have anything hanging off your skis.鈥 Hold the corner of your metal scraper like a pencil and shave off any bits of base that were dislodged to give yourself a clean surface to work with.

If you have a really deep core shot that goes into the fiberglass and has bits of broken glass or wood, you may need to glue them in place听ahead of time,听before P-texing, with a two-part epoxy adhesive. Again, that鈥檚 something you may want to take to the experts at your favorite ski repair shop instead of tackling at home.

Before you start applyingP-tex, make sure the room is well-ventilated. You鈥檙e about to burn chemicals鈥攖ry to limit how much of them you inhale.听

Light a Fire

Hold your lighter to one end of the P-tex stick until it鈥檚 flaming. Then, hold the stick close to the base of the ski and spin it as you drip the melted substanceinto the hole while moving the stick steadily but slowly along the damaged area. The trick here is to keep the flame burning low听and blue in color鈥攏ot big and orange鈥攖o reduce the amount of carbon buildup, which can weaken the bond.

Keep your metal scraper handy to remove听any unwanted drips on other parts of the base. Overfill the hole just slightly. 鈥淪ometimes it can take multiple tries, depending on how deep the gouge is,鈥 Hounsell says. If it鈥檚 a deep one, let it cool a few minutes, then repeat this process.

Cool, Then Scrape

Wait a few minutes until the P-tex is听no longer hot to the touch. Then grab your metal scraper and hold it at a 45-degree angle. Drag it听along the base in either direction to remove extra material and create a flat surface. 鈥淥ne scrape will do the trick if you鈥檙e good at it,鈥 Hounsell says. 鈥淯se pressure and work on getting the right angle of the scraper.鈥

Hounsell likes using the scrubby听green side of a clean kitchen sponge to help buff away any marks left by the scraper. Once the base is flush, you鈥檙e good to go. Once you听wax and scrape your skis or board,听they鈥檒l feel good as new.

Lead Photo: Megan Michelson

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