STEEZUS_CHRI5TGotcha - i'd like to hear peoples rebuttals to waxing and worrying about scratches. Seems like some people really take care of their bases which is great but it's not necessary
you absolutely don't need to stress about it anywhere near like racers do. but it makes you go faster (i fucking HATE being slow in the flats, on a cat track, carrying speed, traversing, exiting a remote glade etc etc), protects your base, and also just makes your skis perform better. it's not just oh, i need to shave seconds off my time, it makes them behave more consistently and it helps even when going slow, initiating turns and stuff
also it seems to be a trend lately to put lower quality bases on skis these days which is bullshit so we need all the help we can get. if you aint first youre last, so jot that down
get a little wax iron ($30 maybe) and a bar of wax and just do it every so often is what i say