This might be a stupid question. Do you wax a brand new snowboard before you ride? - Brian

The simple answer is yes. I am no expert so maybe someone can elaborate on this but the wax gives a slicker surface to glide on. Especially helpful when the snow is wetter. I just bought a new pair of twin tip skis off of ebay and my Access should be here in a week, now all I need is a little snow and some wind. Your old 3.5 Bullet after spending a summer in sunny California is headed back to New Jersey. Maybe you will see it sometime. Wade

I took it to a ski shop and they said it has factory wax but bottom surface wasn't as smooth as it should be and recommended re-surface and waxing. Rough surface was what made me think it wasn't waxed in the first place.

Thanks for your reply, Wade. By the way, you are going to regret selling your Bullet 3.5 like I did . Such a good kite. - Brian

All manufactured snowboards have a base underneath the actual fiberglass board of polyethylene (typically white plastic, sometimes of a different color) which when you clear wax added to you can't really see the difference (unless of course they use a colored wax). The wax is similar to the consistancey of candle wax..it's not going to feel super slick, but it will when it hits the snow.

The layer of wax is / should be scrapped off to the polyethylene base and replaced with new wax whenever you take it in for waxing and sharpening. I'm sure that not everyone does this, but it helps.

Because the only thing protecting the polyethylene is wax, things like rocks, etc. will still scrape the bottom of the board and what not.

All in all, if someone did not wax the bottom it could be somewhat understandable if it was their first snowboard / ski purchase they may think that these come ready to go.

I know my first pair of hockey skates I the blades would've been already sharpened....little did I know not only were they not sharpened, but they had a nice thin layer of plastic over them to protect the blades while waiting to be purchased. Of course I didn't realize all this til practice one evening....quite funny trying to see someone skate on blades that have a nice plastic coating and aren't sharp.

Has anyone tried the spray on or the tube wax? It's supposably for on-the-slope waxing so it coats over top of the wax already on the board. Am wondering how effective it is though.
~Joe