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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Getting the most out of your gear is a real grind

Bill Jennings Correspondent

A graphologist can deduce what kind of person you are by your handwriting. A detective with a keen eye at a crime scene can profile a perp. Fred Nowland can tell what kind of skier you are by looking at your skis. Sometimes what he sees is criminal.

Nowland, the shop manager at Spokane Alpine Haus on 30th and Regal, has tuned skis for 22 years. He honed his craft running the Rossignol test center on Mt. Hood working with World Cup level technicians. Most of the ski racers in the Inland Northwest count on him for the perfect edge. His tuning clinics are an attraction at demo events and trade shows.

“Looking at some of the skis people bring into the shop tells me a lot about their ski experience,” Nowland said. “Sometimes I just can’t believe they were skiing on that. Their skis have ruts and craters, the bases are hairy and the edges are gone. They’re missing out on a lot of advantages by not taking better care of their skis.”

Nowland would like to see more people benefit from tuning their skis more often. Dull, rusty edges, abused bases and other consequences of neglect, like “railed” skis so worn that the edges are higher than the base or vice versa, have a big impact on a skier’s fun factor.

“These people really have to work hard,” he said. “Their skis are slow. They’re grabby going into and out of a turn, or they can’t hold a line and wander all over the place. It’s no fun and it’s not safe.”

A stone grind is the most important step in a full tune. A grind will renew a ski base that is oxidized and heavily scratched or has trouble absorbing wax.

A lot of people get nervous about running a pair of expensive boards through what they might imagine resembles the planer in high school wood shop. But a stone grinder is a precision instrument that puts a pattern of striations in the base of the ski from tip to tail to help the ski slide. This pattern also prevents suction that can develop from friction heat binding to a completely smooth base. The striations also create structure that holds on to wax.

Nowland said most skiers hopping on a freshly ground pair of skis will immediately feel the difference and they should do it more often.

“People get scared about grinding because they think it’s going to take off all this material,” he said. “My personal skis will go through 20 passes a year on the stone grinder. Your skis are made to handle more grinds than you could ever need. Most people keep their skis around two to four years. You could bring them in to a good qualified shop 10 times a year in that time frame.”

Of course, a full tune costs money. For the frugal, Nowland suggests holding off on a full tune in the early season. When coverage improves, a well-timed grind restores your boards to prime condition for the real good stuff. But if you take a core shot, get it fixed right away. Moisture seeping into the core will destroy a ski.

For most skiers, an annual grind will hold up through the season with regular edge maintenance and frequent waxing.

You can spend a little, or a lot on a tuning kit. With wax, the sky’s the limit. But a cheap iron and affordable all-in-one hot wax are all you need. Waxing skis is a pleasure combined with good music and your favorite beverage. It forges a personal bond with your gear and prolongs the integrity of your grind.

“Every time I go my skis have a fresh coat of wax on them,” Nowland said. “But if you wax every third trip you’re ready for the snow conditions and your skis aren’t grippy or sticky. A waxed ski turns 30 percent easier than an un-waxed ski. That’s huge, because you’re up there to have fun.”

Amen. Pray for snow.