Dial It Up and Tune It Up

By Bill Burbridge

Five years ago my wife Barbara and I attended a 5-day event in the Eastern Division called ProJam. There were 500 participants consisting of Level I, I I and III instructors. We had signed up for the Level III prep track. It proved to be a wonderful experience even though the snow was so scarce at Mount Snow many of the groups took the shuttle over to Stratton Mountain where we were restricted to just a few runs. What we learned on that trip was the importance of properly tuned equipment. A friend of ours, who managed a ski tuning shop offered to "hook us up" with a free tune. Of course we thanked him and to this day I have never told him about the 5 days of hell he put us through.

There are many shops with just as many types of tuning machines. And theoretically, if the technician is knowledgeable, the skis can go through the process and perform well. Lucky for all of us the fellow that did our skis is now working as a carpenter. What we didn't know or understand at that time is that this particular shop put our requested 1-degree base bevel on with a half inch belt sander, a piece of equipment usually reserved for doing the side bevel. Well, there you have it. As the belt wanders over the wheel it sometimes wanders into the base material leaving the skis base high and almost totally uncontrollable on eastern machine made hard pack. I believe folks in this division call it "blue ice." We couldn't buy a turn. Barbara almost went in the trees and the examiner we had for a clinician simply suggested we push our feet out further to the side to increase edging.

I guess it was on the fifth day our clinic leader made us try something new at the demo van. I set aside my 200 cm boards and disgustedly clicked into a pair of 123 Elans. Not only did I not want to do it, but I was angry that I had to try it. All of a sudden I had directional control, stability at speed and realized the critical importance of a well tuned ski. Of course these skis were much shorter and were more shaped, but it was also very noticeable that they were tuned to perfection. It was time to learn a new discipline - ski tuning.

Upon returning home I contacted the race room of every ski manufacture r that had an 800 number to learn what I could about tuning. I worked a day with the Dynastar rep who kept his skis optimally tuned so that people would have such a good experience they would want to buy them. I'm still learning and would love to discuss this with Daron Rahlves' personal tuner because the topic is just so fascinating.

Please understand we are middle-aged recreational skier who like to teach. But we have come to realize it's a lot easier to improve when you are using properly functioning , state - of - the - art equipment. As professionals, it is my opinion that we owe it to our students to minimize the obstacles they will encounter. This holds true w hether they are never-evers or fellow instructors we are working with in a clinic. Your skis were designed by engineers to provide the best performance when tuned to certain specifications. Yes, snow conditions, its temperature and moisture content vary greatly. But on todays shorter skis the base and edge bevel is so important. I keep control of that variable for my family of five by doing it myself. Even new skis require some attention before being skied on. I leave the base structure as it comes from the factory, only checking that the base is true flat by using a true bar. I then file and stone our base bevels down to 600 grit. I make the base a true 3 degrees and then start the lengthy process of waxing the bases . . . over and over and over again. The base and side bevels are different from manufacturer to manufacturer. Find out what your brand and model requires, and take into account your personal preference and the purpose of the ski.

There are many ski tuning tools on the market and I learned the hard way that some work well and some work not so well. Again, I went to the experts - people who are tuning 100s of pairs of skis a week. These people, ski techs for ski companies, are not trying to make money selling complete tunes to pay for the new machine that their shop bought that year. They are the technicians who want you to be so thrilled with their product that you buy it.

I went into a shop in Vermont last year for a minor base repair. He looked at my skis and said," well these need a complete tune". I thanked him and promptly left.

How often should you maintain the edges and wax your skis? I do it at the end of every day. Yes, even when I'm traveling because I need all the help I can get!