3 ms·

Another important tuning dimension is base structure. I never realized the impact of base structure until I got a GS board that had been ground with a very aggr

Another important tuning dimension is base structure. I never realized the impact of base structure until I got a GS board that had been ground with a very aggressive base. That thing absolutely flies on wet snow.

swader999 2y ago
Yes, structure adds more speed than wax does, especially on wet snow and in speed events. Wax makes the ski easier to turn though.
- jcgrillo 2y ago
  The most important thing with wax is to brush it all out of the base structure, otherwise you basically just have a flat wax base. I went years (maybe 10?) before I learned that scraping alone wasn't enough. I used to think brushing was like a small optimization that you'd only do if you're racing, but it actually makes a tremendous difference.
abakker 2y ago
A fellow hardbooter? I feel like the base size on snowboards benefits even more from good tuning than a lot of narrow race skis. And, obviously, you only have 1 edge instead of two, so the load on the edge is bigger. apropos of this discussion, my main board probably never gets a serious tune now that I live in the rockies. back in VT, it was critical daily maintenance due to the amount of ice you actually encountered.
- jcgrillo 2y ago
  Yeah current setup is Tanker 201, Upz RC11s, and F2 race bindings. I also have an F2 GS board with these awesome big rubber riser plates and F2 bindings as well but I don't ride it very often as I can carve the Tanker much tighter and slower, which as you know is important on narrow, icy east coast trails
  - abakker 2y ago
    Haha, another PSR/Eric Brammer student maybe? I'm also on a tanker 200, F2 race TIs and an older pair of Deelux Track 325s. I keep waiting for a good deal on an f2 silberfeil or a not very aggressive Donek Axis to come up for sale.
    - jcgrillo 2y ago
      No I'm not familiar with those two, I'm self-taught mostly from reading stuff online and watching racers practice. I skied for 8 years or so before snowboarding (I believe I started around 2001?) so carving the board has always been kind of natural for me once I got past the whole two feet stuck down thing.

swader999 2y ago

Yes, structure adds more speed than wax does, especially on wet snow and in speed events. Wax makes the ski easier to turn though.

jcgrillo 2y ago
The most important thing with wax is to brush it all out of the base structure, otherwise you basically just have a flat wax base. I went years (maybe 10?) before I learned that scraping alone wasn't enough. I used to think brushing was like a small optimization that you'd only do if you're racing, but it actually makes a tremendous difference.

abakker 2y ago

A fellow hardbooter? I feel like the base size on snowboards benefits even more from good tuning than a lot of narrow race skis. And, obviously, you only have 1 edge instead of two, so the load on the edge is bigger. apropos of this discussion, my main board probably never gets a serious tune now that I live in the rockies. back in VT, it was critical daily maintenance due to the amount of ice you actually encountered.

jcgrillo 2y ago
Yeah current setup is Tanker 201, Upz RC11s, and F2 race bindings. I also have an F2 GS board with these awesome big rubber riser plates and F2 bindings as well but I don't ride it very often as I can carve the Tanker much tighter and slower, which as you know is important on narrow, icy east coast trails
- abakker 2y ago
  Haha, another PSR/Eric Brammer student maybe? I'm also on a tanker 200, F2 race TIs and an older pair of Deelux Track 325s. I keep waiting for a good deal on an f2 silberfeil or a not very aggressive Donek Axis to come up for sale.
  - jcgrillo 2y ago
    No I'm not familiar with those two, I'm self-taught mostly from reading stuff online and watching racers practice. I skied for 8 years or so before snowboarding (I believe I started around 2001?) so carving the board has always been kind of natural for me once I got past the whole two feet stuck down thing.