Wall Mounting Ski Storage

Currently my skis are in their bag and in the garage. Temps and humidity are ok, but other people keep moving them without care and occasionally piling other stuff on top! Grr.

I would like to store my skis, wall mounted horizontally. Preferably with ski base to wall or at an angle so ski design can be seen.

Is there any long term affects of storing skis like this? Would it damage edges if left untouched for too long and on a poor mount? Should I just settle for bases flat?

Any opinions are welcome.

82ross,

You post an interesting question.

The worst place to leave skis is in garage, so I am happy that you are considering a move.

First why is it poor form to store skis in garage. People have no idea how many "break-ins" occur in unlocked garages! More skis get damaged in garages than any other place! Also skis just "feel" neglected in garages! They are part of the family!!!

Most skiers just store their skis in garages and forget them. They do not realize that skis need attention. They need you to thank them of all the pleasures they give you at least once a month!!!!

I have two systems. If you look at the Pavel wall ( see free Spyder polar fleece contest) you will see a ski rack placed in horizontal position on wall! Great system since I can place 4 pairs of skis in this rack! I place a carpet on floor so that tails are not damaged!


In the second system I take old ski poles that are discarded at bottom of ski resort and I drill holes(to allow poles through) in the 2x9 beams supporting my floors. I use insulation material ( used to insulate hot water pipes) on the ski poles! Thus the skis are never damaged as they rest on ski poles! I can place 4 skis between beams!

They are out of the way,,yet I can say hello to them every time I go into my work bench in the basement! I can also take them down in seconds when some friends come to talk about their new skis! You see I often get skis one year ahead of production!

One of the issues of storage of skis which is often neglected is how to place skis together for the Summer!

The worst system I have seen is a system in which the ski hang from the tips between two pegs! You want to allow skis to have the least pressure in one spot!

When skiers kept their skis for many many years they would "prepare skis for storage" and place a block of wood in the center to keep the "camber" of the skis! That was when skis were make of wood!

I am now undertaking a test to see if modern skis do lose their camber over time! Most ski companies say they do not! I just wonder....
I have two pairs of identical skis. One is stored flat. That is base to base from tip to tail!

The other is taped at tip and tails only with a 2x4 block of wood!

Every year I test the camber of each skis! This test has now been going on for five years!

What do you think is happening!

82ross, if you love your skis, by all means store them correctly! Both systems are good! Just keep them away from heat and humidity!

And do take them out in the Summer at least once! It gets the neighbors talking and it allows you to say you are a true ski fanatic!

PS this Summer I took mine out for a ride in my convertible! You should have seen the 'looks" I got! One man followed me for 10 kms. and finally stopped me and asked where the snow was!

Hope this helps you!

Thanks for the detailed reply as usual! (and the humerous story too :) )

They have been out there for a week and will not be staying there any longer! The pipe insulation is a good idea, was trying to think of something like that.

82ross wrote:Currently my skis are in their bag and in the garage. Temps and humidity are ok, but other people keep moving them without care and occasionally piling other stuff on top! Grr.

I would like to store my skis, wall mounted horizontally. Preferably with ski base to wall or at an angle so ski design can be seen.

Is there any long term affects of storing skis like this? Would it damage edges if left untouched for too long and on a poor mount? Should I just settle for bases flat?

Any opinions are welcome.

That sounds like a good plan. The garage is fairly good place to store skis assuming the general characteristics of a garage are that there's no extreme of temperature and the humidity is generally slighter higher than the house which can be dry. We're fortunate to have a store at the chalet and a wine cellar here that's ideal. The only problem I'd see is using the back wall and then spending the year reversing in, the fumes and particulates in them aren't ideal then.

What works for me is to use the supports for shelf systems, just attach the rails to the wall and slot the supports in. Like this :





You've an idea to mount at a greater angle and that should be reasonable as well. It's just harder to setup, the shelf system I use cost about 10.- chf for the rails and 4.- chf for each support so it's cheap. Obviously you can also put shelves on the rail as well.

My reckoning is that skis weigh around 6-8 kg per pair, although those above are 7kg, 3.2kg and 4.2kg. These are just the ones that have ended up here (in case of emergency), at the chalet the rack takes about 7 pairs with 4 fix points into concrete on each rail.

Storing skis clamped together will adversely affect the camber and flex of the skis. You see mine are racked with the binding down, it's negligible for those bottom pairs which have touring bindings on them weighing 370g and 1670g but the top pair have a Atomic system on them at around (I guess) 3.5kg. A 3 or 4kg weight against the camber will deform the ski. The effect of this varies with ski construction.

Mine are kept upright leaning against a wall in a warm room. I a told thats the prefect way to keep them.

Great minds think alike ( well almost)




Trencher

Jesus Chirst Trencher !!!! Have enough :P looks like my guitar/bass collection. Wow

my ski's...they sleep with me.......

Here's a dumb question. Can you wash your boot liners, like toss them in the wash?


Actually my ski's either have their own blanket to lay on or they stand in front of my cruton (It's a couch+futon= cruton) LOLz in an X

Thank ou all for your ret pictures.
irst one comment. Where I live I can get some round pipe insulation sections which are about 1 meter in length! They have a cut so that you can spread the rounded parts to allow pipes in the center!

May I suggest that all the metal supports could have these sponge-like tubes!

Now for the real reason for my message! I showed the pictures to my wife and kids since I was hearing "rumblings" about all the skis I have! You all "validated" that a serious skier must have "several" (I use the term loosely) skis just in case!

My marriage is back on the track now that she saw how others "collect" skis also!

Thank you!