 Poster: A snowHead
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My missus bought a brand new pair of Zags last year and loves them immensely - skiied Scotland a bit, a week in La Plagne and then another week in Flaine last year. Sent them to get waxed before our Morzine holiday this year.
2 days in, she's definitely struggling a bit, can't get one ski to turn as well as it should. She thinks it's a boot problem until we notice the way that snow is sticking to one ski but not the other. I run a finger down both skis - one is waxed, the other isn't. We assume the tech in Glasgow just cocked it up and only waxed one ski or did the other one twice, so send them into the resort to be re-waxed overnight. It takes the resort tech 10 attempts to get the wax to stick to one of the skis. Same problem the following day, so we go back to the shop and chat about it. Tech reckons that Glasgow guy has overheated the base when waxing one of the skis and damaged the bottom - the wax won't go into the base and bind properly. He recommends a fine grind to the bases and suggests a tyre tread like machining to them which allows the water to clear better and make them less sticky on warmer snow. This we do. Pick up the skis and the tech comments on how difficult it's been as the bases heated up completely differently.
Following day, missus is still struggling with her skis and not enjoying herself half as much as I am. We swap for a few runs (same size boots, lucky her!) and proves that a) she can still ski properly and b) her skis are twitching all over the place. As soon as you load up the downhill ski, it should start to carve properly. It wasn't. It was catching and releasing and catching and releasing - twitching. You can't side slip in them either. Not pleasant.
Wife relents, and we hire her a pair for the rest of the holiday - a pair of rossi experience 83s. Now I ski the 98, so this is just a shorter and slimmer version of mine. Wife cannot get on with this ski all morning and cries several times. It won't turn properly unless you get it right up on the edges. We swap again. I cannot turn the bloody things on a normal carve. It has the same twitch at slow speed turns, but at higher speeds where I couldn't edge, the ski would just choose which direction it was going and wouldn't move. I tried shifting my weight forward, back, but if you couldn't get it on the edges it wouldn't turn. No problem back on my 98s. The 83 from the hire shop had the same bloody tread in the base and it does remind me of a car tramlining on white lines....
Anyone else similar experience to this? And any recommendations about what to do to the zags to get them back to their carving glory?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Whats to say the tech in Glasgow didn't have the same problem, but just didn't say anything? It could be a manufacturing issue?
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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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there was discussion a few years ago about Zags delaminating - but I guess that's a different problem? Shame about that experience - must have detracted a lot from enjoyment of the holiday. 
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wadgebeast, sounds as though the edges were too sharp and the snow too powdery and hard. Haven't skied PDS for a couple of weeks, but if anything like Mürren last week, I'd imagine that you'd be on cold hard packed and thus grippy snow.
That's what it sounds like to me.
Bases are a different issue, a friend had hers tuned by a shop in Morzine some years ago and the tech hadn't finished the job after re-structuring. Almost completely unskiable, and I had a go at them and totally agreed.
May I ask where you had them serviced in Morzine? PM is you prefer 
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
but if anything like Mürren last week, I'd imagine that you'd be on cold hard packed and thus grippy snow.
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Never mind the excuses how did it go in your cat suit?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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fatbob, I had a very pleasant time thank you. Full course, all 14kms of it, which was excellent. In generally perfect conditions so not nearly as rutted as it can become.
More practise runs than usual plus more skiing since early December let me to put in rather a more competitive faster and more tucked top section than ever before (I think) but I rather lost any advantage on the section below Muerren to Lauterbrunnen which was just the usual icy path.
Very happy with the result, probably finished around the usual sort of mark but got another bronze (i.e. within 65% of winning time).
I fear that the catsuit is on its last legs but I can't find a replacement with adequate character!!
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| feef wrote: |
| Whats to say the tech in Glasgow didn't have the same problem, but just didn't say anything? It could be a manufacturing issue? |
I know! Can't lay the finger directly at him; after all the skis haven't been used since last year. Puzzled as to how it's happened more than anything else.
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| under a new name wrote: |
wadgebeast, sounds as though the edges were too sharp and the snow too powdery and hard. Haven't skied PDS for a couple of weeks, but if anything like Mürren last week, I'd imagine that you'd be on cold hard packed and thus grippy snow.
That's what it sounds like to me.
Bases are a different issue, a friend had hers tuned by a shop in Morzine some years ago and the tech hadn't finished the job after re-structuring. Almost completely unskiable, and I had a go at them and totally agreed.
May I ask where you had them serviced in Morzine? PM is you prefer |
Hadn't thought about the edges, it was the coincidence between the zags and the rossi's having the same base pattern and the same shite ability to turn or slide. When we returned the rossi's to the shop to swap them for another pair, my wife came out with a pair of rossi lady skis (can't remember the model) that had a flat base. Normal service was resumed and my missus was blasting all over the mountain with cries of delight and big grins.
The snow was proper soft powder on the Tuesday and then much harder and packed with light dust on the Wednesday, so very different conditions. You're right about the Wed though - hard packed and -10 degree cold. In contrast, my rossi experience 98s were biblically good on all but the very hardest patches.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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deep aggressive structures are normally used for wet snow conditions to disperse the water layer which sucks the ski to the snow and causes it to run slowly, when you cut a deep stone structure the edges will get cut by the stone deeply too and need to be finished by hand and bevelled to allow the ski to turn, my money would be on the skis being straight off the stone and waxed rather than finished by hand
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wadgebeast, detune or possibly no base bevel, but I would have thought the second tech would have done this?
If its grabby on both skis, probably not the bases even though bases are different.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| CEM wrote: |
| deep aggressive structures are normally used for wet snow conditions to disperse the water layer which sucks the ski to the snow and causes it to run slowly, when you cut a deep stone structure the edges will get cut by the stone deeply too and need to be finished by hand and bevelled to allow the ski to turn, my money would be on the skis being straight off the stone and waxed rather than finished by hand |
cheers for that - seems to be likely that they won't have been done by hand in a busy resort. Will take them into blues this week and get them done properly.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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CEM, that makes a whole bundle of sense! I suspect what happened to my friend as well.
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