 Poster: A snowHead
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I have a few questions I've been pondering for a while with regards to tuning park skis:
I know a lot of people detune(/destroy) their edges with a file to avoid catching them when sliding rails, but any sane person who wants to actually ski on their skis as well would be a bit mad to do that. So would increasing the base edge angle by a few degrees underfoot only help at all with edges and rails, without making the skis too much/any harder to ski (which increasing it along the entire length of the ski obviously would)? If so, what's a good angle to start at/try?
Also, is there any particular sort of wax which might help with 'sticky box syndrome' - for example using a colder/harder wax, or a liberal coating of Zardoz Notwax, or...?
Finally, are there any other little tuning 'tweaks' that can be done to maximise a ski's performance in the park without affecting or wrecking its skiability?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I believe de-tuning of tips and tails a little more than usual will stop you catching them, while taking off or landing big rotations. Makes for better butter opportunities too 
Re wax. I should think a harder wax designed for colder temps might help your box sliding. I dont know why but it seems in my head that that would make sense. Liquid wax is never really going to do you any favours and even if it is, it would only last one or two hits anyways. Better to pay attention to the box rather than the skis, wax it and make sure its smooth and not too dry.
Never experimented with the base edge angle as you mention. Would you not only be making a minute adjustment and im not sure what you would gain from it would counterbalance the fact you would be shortening the life of your ski/edge drastically. If your hitting rails then maybe its time to accept that your park skis are just that...park skis. Not the weapon of choice for early morning icy/hard pack groomers!!
Hope theres some helpful stuff there
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The edges end up detuned after a day of rail sliding so it's not that stupid to do it before hand if it saves a face plant down 6 steps  , but the area getting blunted is quite small, boxes increase it but not by much, metal to metal will make it blunt regardless of the angle, sharpen when needed or ski powder more, sticky box syndrome is usually a lack of speed onto it.
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I wouldn't have thought that increasing the base angle would really shorten the life of the skis at all - once it's set it's set and wouldn't need touching again? Unless it turns out to be a horrible mistake and needs a base grind to fix of course. It does sound like a minute adjustment though, but if you think about it another way 2 degrees has twice the clearance of 1 degree, 3 degrees three times the clearance, etc. Also, would a higher base angle not help to keep the edge itself sharper while sliding rails, as the edge itself won't be in contact with the rail/box as much?
geeo, you're probably spot on there. After having done myself in a few times I now find it really hard to commit to rails. Which makes them even harder 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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mark_s, horrible mistake I'm afraid, unless you never, ever plan to encounter ice (or hard white snow), let alone steep ice, with these skis.
You're creating a ski that engages at the tip just fine but then lets go in the middle as you try to actually ride it. Might be fun with a woman, but with a ski- no.
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a lot of park boards have a 2, 3 or even 4 degree bevel on them. You do lose a bit of hard snow performance but who cares? Hard snow is for spyder wearing carve monkeys anyway.
My new board has a 2-degree edge holding tune throughout the key parts of the sidecut, back to a 4 degree bevel between the feet. This delivers the complete blend of edge hold and park shred according the manufacturer, and I'm a sucker for advertising bumpf.
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Jonny luv plums, the difference between a 2, 3, 4, or even 6 degree consistent base bevel and a bevel only underfoot is that the first is hard to get, the second is an outrageous flirting tease with no chance of bliss, ever.
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comprex, would it not just be a case of needing to angulate more in order to get the underfoot bit of edge to engage though? Or is there no happy medium where the angle will help with rails without requiring superhuman/downhill racer effort/skill to engage the edge?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| mark_s wrote: |
| comprex, would it not just be a case of needing to angulate more in order to get the underfoot bit of edge to engage though? |
If the bevel is consistent tip-tail, sure that is the happy medium outcome.
If the bevel suddenly goes away mid-ski, you're left with a schizoid ski that plays grabby/loosey depending on where your weight is and where in the turn you are.
It might be skiable on-piste with skis that are considerably stiffer than park skis usually are, but it wouldn't really be much fun with those skis either.
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