How to take care of your Nordic skates

• Invest in a good pair of skates. See it as a one-time investment and choose after quality. Skates with better steel are easier to sharpen, and have a more durable construction. Ask experienced skaters or go to a store that knows skates, then you will get a pair that lasts.
  
  
• Most skates are sharpened to be used directly, but if you want to make them extra sharp, it’s still a great tip to sharpen them. You can either do it manually yourself, or at a shop that knows how to sharpen Nordic skates.
  
  
• Before you go out, you should always check the screws of the bindings to make sure they’re tight.
  
  
• Check the condition of the blade regularly, does it feel sharp and without nicks? A good way to know if the blade is sharp enough is to scrape it against a nail. If you get some nail scratches on the blade, it’s in good condition.
  
  
• Sharpen the skates regularly – the blades get dull from stones, branches, and sand lying on the ice, and need to be re-sharpened from time to time.
  
  
• Dry the skates thoroughly after each ride, then put them together with a blade guard or put them in a ventilated skate bag. Put the skates binding against binding, this way you protect the blades from being damaged, at the same time as you protect yourself from getting cut.
  
  
• Rinse the skates in water when you get home, dry them and put them somewhere where they can dry completely – you want to avoid them from rusting.

To think about when out on the ice

• Get a small stone or diamond whetstone to carry with you. When you go out on the ice, burrs form on the blades (the blade wears), if you remove these burrs the blades stay sharper longer. To remove the burrs, you just lightly drag the whetstone on the sides of the blade lengthways a couple of times.
  
  
• Be careful. Ice skates and ice spikes are sharp things that are easy to stick or cut yourself on. Therefore, it’s important to always think about how you travel on the ice, and what and who you have with you. You can find more about ice safety and the basics of Nordic skating in our ice and skating school.
  
  
• Beware of cracks. When the ice becomes 10-12 cm and thicker, there are more and more cracks in it. You should then avoid skating parallel to a lengthwise crack, because then you risk getting stuck with the blade in it. If this happens, the skate will stop while you move on forward, which can cause serious injuries.

Do you want to know more about ice touring? On our website you can read all about our Nordic skates, and ice safety. More curious about our skate collection? Check out our concept Åsne here!