edges

I have wondered if it is possible to have a different edge angle on each side of the ski..as it is the downhill ski that we are sking on... so if we had "left" and "right" skis and (for example) had 1 degree on one edge and 3 degrees on the other you could swop them over according to conditions?? bad idea? or mad idea?

I don't know, but this is what Trencher said a while back:

Trencher wrote:Re left and right skis

The reference to racing is because some people use a very downhill ski biased technique. They either tune the inside and outside edges differently, or switch their left and right skis over after warm up runs, so as to have less worn inside edges for the race.

As an experiment, I tried asymmetric tuning last season on a pair of skis (86 inside edge and 87 outside edge), and didn't like the feel, but that may be just the way I did it. I'll retune them back to 87 both edges, before I use them again.

On snowboards, some people detune edges asymmetrically. I think it's better to ride as symmetrically as possible on a board, so don't see the need.

Trencher

never expected to get an answer from the next settee but she quotes trencher who is a God (of snow!) so thanx snowb4ndit

mebbe we should meet up sometime?.....like the kitchen or somewhere

I think they do it on snowboards to stop the bite ..making it easier for newbies. On a friends last lesson she was told she might find it easier once she's run the file down the side of the tail :-)

scapula wrote:I have wondered if it is possible to have a different edge angle on each side of the ski..as it is the downhill ski that we are sking on... so if we had "left" and "right" skis and (for example) had 1 degree on one edge and 3 degrees on the other you could swop them over according to conditions?? bad idea? or mad idea?

I think that might be very confusing, but who knows ?

ATOO wrote:I think they do it on snowboards to stop the bite ..making it easier for newbies. On a friends last lesson she was told she might find it easier once she's run the file down the side of the tail :-)

That's detuning, but it's done symmetrically. You just have to blunt the edges for a few inches at each end of the board. A regular file would be a bit extreme, just need a sharpening stone, or diamond file. In the 90s Burton had a big thing on getting ski schools, and rental stores to detune snowboards rented to beginners. Detuning makes learning to snowboard much easier, with less body slam falls. Burton realised that everyone who gave up trying to snowboard, was a lost potential customer. I would guess that's all been forgotten now. So if you are a beginner snowboarder, you might find it a lot easier at the end of the season, when the edges are blunt, than the start of the season, on a brand new board.

The same thing applies to skis, but the chances of a rental shop having skis with different tuning for ability levels is remote. So you either get skis that hook into a turn unpredictably for a beginner, or skis where the edges are so dull, that traversing on hard snow is difficult.


Trencher

It was just a thought and of course terrain does vary a lot so changing them over mid piste is not really practical..However one thing that has been pointed out is that it is the inside edges that get trashed quickly so maybe there is some point to marking and swopping skis over mid holiday so as use a better edge after the first ones are dulled??

Scapula,
I know practically nothing about skis. However, when I was on holiday in Obergurgl a few years ago, the pistes were very hard and icy and when I hired my skis there was a very helpful assistant who said that we needed very sharp edges all week and that he had sharpened them for us and that if we needed it he would re-sharpen them for us half-way through the week free of charge (which he did).

Anyway, there were some people sitting near us at dinner in the hotel with their own skis, and I told them this, and they went and got their own skis re-sharpened mid-week for a very small sum of money and they were really pleased. They said it made a tremendous difference to their ski-ing.

So I would think you could get your skis re-sharpened in one of the hire shops if you think they're losing their edges.

P.S. How did the meeting in the kitchen go with Snowbandit (your wife for those who don't know)? :lol:

Ally