Winter May Be Over, But You Still Need To Take Care Of Your Gear

I just got back from my last ski trip of the season. As tempting as it is to throw my skis and gear in a dark corner and forget about them until next season, I know that I have some work ahead of me to make sure my gear is properly taken care of for the summer. While everyone has different methods of storing gear, find some random tips and things to think about as you pack up your winter equipment below.

• Consider cleaning your bases before putting your skis in storage. It's not crucial but if the last ski of the season got some dirt and rocks lodged in your bases, you're going to want to get that off before you put them away for a while.
• Make sure everything is dry. It sounds obvious, I know. But it's actually really easy to forget to properly dry stuff. This can then lead to mold or rust when that wet stuff sits in storage. So before you pack everything up, make sure it's properly dry from the season.
• Remove avalanche beacon batteries. It's generally good practice to store your beacon for the summer without batteries. Just don't forget to put batteries back in and check your beacon at the start of next season.
• Buckle your ski boots. When storing ski boots, it's a good idea to gently buckle them so they don't lose their shape. You don't want to crank down on them, but just loosely buckle them before storing them.
• Keep skins in a cool, dry place. Heat can damage the skin glue that helps your skins adhere to touring skis so you want to keep your skins as cool as possible during the summer to protect the adhesive.