Skis
For me, the rule is to just be conscious of the bottom of your skis. Sometimes a tune will last weeks if you're skiing powder in the Caraboos. Obviously, if your edges or bottoms are damaged they should be refiled and/or run through a stone grinder. The stone grinder puts a pattern in the base to break the suction of your skis on the snow, helping you to glide faster. I like a slight bevel in my edge.

I don't like a flat ski — a 1° bevel seems fine for setting a good edge. New skis from the factory typically have flat bottoms, so I usually detune a new pair of skis the way I want them.

[Check out our ski tuning story for the how-to]

Outerwear
Just like you wax and treat your skis to keep them gliding on the snow, fabrics also need attention if you want to be warm, dry and comfortable.

Breathable waterproof fabrics like Gore-Tex© are typically laminated to the inside of a garment and usually don't break down. However, the durable water repellent (DWR) layer on the outside, for example DWR treated nylon, will get wet and lose its water repellency. The Gore-Tex will still keep you dry, but it can feel like you're wearing a heavy wet towel on your back if the nylon is absorbing water.

I heard about an experiment once where they tested this. One group of people wore Gore-Tex jackets with treated nylon, and the other group had them with untreated nylon. Water soaked the untreated nylon and even though these people weren't wet — they thought they were.

If water isn't beading off your outerwear, you want to treat it with something. The kind of treatments you throw into the wash cycle work best for me, like Nikwax TX-Direct. This will help the outside nylon layer maintain its water repellency.

Boots
Dry your boots thoroughly after skiing. This doesn't mean just bringing them into a warm house. You should learn to take your boots apart by removing the liner and pulling the plate out of the bottom. If you don't, you might find condensation from a week ago which can freeze under your footbed and make your feet cold if it never has a chance to dry properly. It's a hassle, but it's the only way to thoroughly dry your boots.

— Scot Schmidt, Mountain Zone Pro