Replying to Making Ski Bases

Hello All,

I have a question about the manufacturing of ski bases. Can anyone share with me details about how UHMW (Ski base) is treated? Specifically, I am looking for information about process used to provide the finished that is found on the bottom of a typical downhill ski or snowboard.

I have worked with UHMW in the past (in a manufacturing context) and I have gotten a hold of some ski base from skilabs.com (a website that sells ski materials for small scale production) and the two differs.

The ski base appears to be sanded on the top side to aid bonding with the fiberglass, but on the other side (the bottom of the ski) the base has clearly been treated in some way (I assume this is done to reduce friction/ increase wax absorption, etc). How is this done?

I have tried looking this up on google, but I haven't had much luck. What I did find mentioned that the UHMW used for ski base is sometime flame treated. However, there was no details about how this flame treatment worked (ie temperatures/color of flame used, duration of treatment, etc) or if this flame treatment was part of the process used to treat the top of the base material to aid with the bonding to the fiberglass, or if it was part of the process used to provide the finish to the bottom of the ski/board.