Yesterday we kicked off the first of a four-part series on tuning your skis at home, talking about vice grips and base repair. Of course, that's only the first part in getting the most out of your boards.
Today, Matt Hupperts of Edgeworks talks about how to get your edges sharp and singing. Skiing is all about edge control; good edges are what enable racers like Lindsey Vonn
to shred the slopes at speeds that could give most people heart
failure, yet stay in borderline control the whole way down. Efficient
use of your edges allows you to accelerate out of a turn in control,
instead of just checking speed by turning across the fall line.
Of
course, if your edges have hit a few rocks and have burrs or scrapes,
it makes it that much harder, so keeping those edges sharp if crucial.
Sharpening your edges is not that difficult, if you have the right
equipment, as Hupperts shows. It's a two-step process. First, you
remove burrs and nicks from the edges, then you sharpen them.
Be
sure to check back tomorrow to learn about waxes and why selecting the
right wax makes the difference between your skis flying down the hill
or gripping the snow like Velcro.
