 Poster: A snowHead
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After purchasing my first quiver, I decided that it was finally time to learn how to service my own skis. The natural place to go would obviously have been to see our good SH friend @spyderjon but I just couldn’t justify the time or 400 mile round trip. I stumbled across Power to Edge www.powertoedge.co.uk who is also ran by fellow SH @Glen Charman and previously trained by Jon. Glen is local to me and I pretty much drive past his place at least once a week. There’s nothing on Glen’s website about servicing courses, but a quick email and phone call later, we had things sorted.
The afternoon started with a welcome cuppa and a general chat about all things ski related and swiftly moved on to servicing.
Prior to the tuning workshop, I had also given Glen my Braham’s to install Quiver Killers, so we started there, making sure that I knew how to remove and attach my Griffons as well as checking the forward pressure and AFD. We then moved onto a quick discussion around the merits of various waxes as well as the various tools that I would be using.
On to the servicing: Glen broke down the service process into straightforward steps and processes. We started with a quick clean\scrape of the base and then cleaned base edge and polish – basically, once the base edge has been set, beyond a quick clean up, it doesn’t need much unless a base grind has been performed. Glen demoed the processes and then let me have a go, explaining why various tools are used and the merits of the different guides. We then moved to the side angles, demoing the process and then supervising me, also showing me what to look for and well as how to test for various angles if I was unsure of the factory setting. With the base and edges done, we moved on to simple base repairs using p-tex candles as well more advanced repairs using what to me essentially looks like a soldering iron with a flat blade. We also discussed core shots etc, but to be honest, this level of repair goes beyond a simple home servicing IMO as it requires further specialist tooling. If I get a core shot, I’ll be popping back over to Glen’s! On to the waxing, covering wax types again, hot scraping, brushing, waxing, brushing and final polishing etc… and done! Also, as my Brahmas were new, I also had the opportunity to practice sidewall removal – the thought of planning down your new sidewalls is pretty daunting but in reality, there’s really nothing to worry about providing you only attempt to remove a tiny amount with each pull down the length of the ski.
All in all, a great afternoon and I would absolutely recommend a tuning workshop for those that want to service their own skis. I’ve haven’t been on one of Jon’s courses, so I obviously can’t compare, but I would absolutely recommend Glen, especially for those of us in the South. He’s knowledgeable, easy going and was happy to peppered by questions throughout the session. I felt that I left with the knowledge to confidently tune and service my own kit, but also knowing that I could easily call him up for any advice. The processes aren’t hard but its very confidence inspiring to go through them for the first time with someone that knows.
BTW – I’m not linked to Glen or Power to Edge in anyway, just thought that this would be of use to others wanting to learn home servicing techniques.
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