There was an interesting side discussion on the "What do you ski?" thread concerning the importance of well-tuned skis to be able to properly ski ice (which we may *occasionally* get here on the East Coast). Let's not concern ourselves with whether the pilot or the equipment or the condition of the equipment is the most important factor; there seemed to be consenus that all play a role.

Assuming that we are talking about skiing the Mid-Atlantic during a typical winter, how often (or after how many ski days) should skis be tuned to perform well on ice? Any other relevant maintenance besides having edges sharpened?

I will debur my edges using a pocket tuner before an icy day. While my edges may be sharp overall, I've found through experience that I can notice grabby spots when turning on ice due to burs from hitting rocks, snowboarders, etc. The deburring seems to help.

if only the snowboarders would be well rounded as to not put burrs on our edges as we ride over them.....

I ski 3-5 days per week (ok - 3-4 nights & 1-2 weekend days)... While many seem to disagree - I give a wax job every week or 2. But - the edges only get hit 2-3 times per season. Reason being is that I have found that in my personal skiing - when I go from skiing on dull edges to sharp ones, I ski much better than if I skied sharp edges all the time on icy days. Something about being forced to be more dynamic, early in the turn, etc....

A stone is always in my ski bag for de-burring also.