Under the microscope

by jjohns 11. February 2008 11:09

During the last cold snap I was skiing with my brother-in-law.  I took him to the Boyne Country Sports shop and he demoed a pair of Volkl AC20's. They were a perfect choice for him- an athletic guy and casual all-mountain skier.  When I asked about the skis he mentioned that "The skis are fantastic, but I wouldn't expect squeaking like this from a premium ski."

This awakened the my inner ski-tuning geek and I began a lecture about how cold temperatures affect snow crystals and our ability to glide over them.  Two minutes into it, his eyes rolled back in his head and some point shortly after that he was gone- not that I noticed right away.  I just hope he waited for the chairlift to get to the top before he bailed. 

If only I could have shown him this instead. These guys have put a lot more time into the study of snow and have a site full of fascinating pictures...
If this makes you want to learn more, visit any Boyne Country Sports shop and strike up a conversation with the ski tuning guys. You'll find that they are a pretty informed and personable lot who can break things down into friendly terms.  If you seek more, most of the shops can usually pull their resident "Cliff Claven" out of the back shop and he can really bury you in minutia.

If you do go in, have them tune your boards up so you can feel it for yourself.

-JJ


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February 12. 2008 09:44

There are some more really cool snow crystal images at the same site here:

http://emu.arsusda.gov/snowsite/stereo/stereo.html

Follow the directions to view the stereo image - if you dare defy your mother's warnings. I especially like the one that's second from the bottom because of how 3D it is.

At the risk of sounding like my hero, Cliff, here is some prep advice for the really cold days. Cold weather waxes have improved in recent years. For squeaky snow, have the shop give you a fine textured stone grind finished with Swix LF-4. You'll ski away from all your buddies. (If you choose to wax yourself, you will need to iron because these waxes are so hard that they don't rub. Then scrape and brush while the wax is still warm - otherwise the wax is too brittle and will "tear out", leaving a worse finish than you started with.)

Cary Adgate

February 14. 2008 12:19

Point of clarification:
If you choose to wax YOUR SKIS yourself, follow Cary's instructions above.

If you choose to wax yourself I would caution against the aforementioned technique. Perhaps a visit to one of BOYNE's three fine Spas would be the best tact. (-:

In addition to waxing, they offer a paraffin dip treatment for hands and feet which is just the thing to soothe mid-winter skin. http://www.boyne.com/spas/
-JJ

jjohns

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