You don’t have to tune every week, or more, like some racers do. But you should tune at least three times a season. It’s question of safety. And performance.
Here’s the basic drill:
1. Your bindings need to be checked.
2. The bottoms of your skis need to be flattened, restructured and waxed
3. Your skis’ metal edges need to be sharpened and slightly beveled
We have the technology and skills to do all this - to perfection.
Here’s how it works…
When your bindings are first installed, they are positioned precisely to a mark placed on your ski by the manufacturer and drilled with a custom template to fit your boot of choice.
DIN settings are a critical safety factor.
The DIN setting determines just how far your leg can twist in the binding before the boot comes loose. It is calibrated from a chart based on your weight, height and other personal factors.
Your DIN setting and forward pressure are adjusted with these two screws.
But will your boot really come loose?
This device simulates your weight and the twisting force of your leg in a fall. It double checks whether the DIN setting from the chart actually works for your height and weight, with your actual boot in your actual binding.
Believe it or not, you don’t ski on snow…
You ski on a thin layer of water. Snow melts under the pressure of your weight and friction with the ski. Technologies are needed to prevent this slushy layer from slowing you to a halt.
The wax applied to your ski repels water.There are waxes for different temperatures. And snow conditions, such as powdered, marbled, old snow and wet snow.
If we don’t know which temperature you will ski in, we blend the waxes. Water should bead up on a properly waxed ski.
The second technology is a pattern of fine microgrooves on the bottom surface of your ski. These grooves are too small to see, but can be felt with the fingertips before friction with snow wears them away. Called “structure,” they channel the water flow much as treads on your tires do.
One machine rebuilds the P-Tex on the base of your ski.
The machine lays down a layer of P-Tex, a plastic that not only fills what remains of the original grooves but also plugs the minor dents and pits caused by skiing over damaging surfaces like rocks or twigs. An advanced grinder is programmed to build a ‘tread’ structure on your base. This machine grinds the new surface with a rough abrasive wheel. The wheel, contoured by a grid of diamond bits as it spins, creates not just random grooves but an actual tread pattern – like your tires. There are various standard patterns used for specific skiing styles and conditions.
If your skis have worn so the center axis bulges out or caves in, this resurfacing process will flatten them. Non-flat surfaces can seriously affect performance.
Edges lose their edge until they are sharpened to an almost perpendicular angle. ‘Almost’ means that the bottom and side metal surfaces may be beveled about one degree – give or take a little – from a true perpendicular. This minute refinement means a significant improvement in how the edge of your ski grips the snow. The tuned ski will have clean, flat bases, waxed and polished for specific skiing conditions. Edges will be free of rust and precisely beveled.
Racers and other dedicated skiers do much of this tuning by hand. For them we offer a full range of waxes, abrasives, brushes of brass horsehair, and nylon, scrapers, files, wax irons and other tools.
But, for recreational skiers, we have a shop with skilled technicians dedicated to ensuring your maximum performance and safety. When one of them completes your work and signs the work order, we commit ourselves to the professionalism of the work we have done.
