Snow burn on bases

crab_pretzel

crab_pretzel

Active member
Im not even sure if thats what its called, but basically my bases (normally purple) have large areas of white i guess just from lots of use on groomers. they still have vivid color on the end where it doest touch the snow and in the middle where i hit rails. if i look closely, it looks like the fibers of the base material are kinda chewed up, and it even goes away temporarily when i lick my finger and rub the white areas. Can someone tell me what exactly it is? How can i get rid of this?

On a side note, if i have skis mounted at +4 can i remount them at +7 just by redrilling.

thanks, help is much appreciated
 
stone grind then wax them. A wax alone would do it, but you should get a full tune once a year. the white spots aren't burns, your bases are dehydrated
 
a stone grind and wax will do it for your bases.

Whats happening is that the bases have gotten dehydrated and a little torn up by the snow, leaving the fibers easily pulled out. Underfoot, they look solid because you are constantly packing the base back together on rails.

When you lick your finger and touch the base, you are just filling in the pores with water, making the bases look more solid.

By stone grinding, you will get rid of the chewed up base, put some texture in them to allow water to shed and wax to be absorbed, and the wax will help your bases shed more water.

As far as remounting goes, as long as you can drill the holes at least about 5 mm away from the other holes, or use some of the same holes, you will be all set.
 
k thanks alot. im guessing that my local shop has a grinder. are there any different ways or like preferences to tell the technician or are all stone grinds the same?
 
The tech will know what to do.

In the spring or summer, a more aggressive grind is sometimes used, because with wet snow, it helps shed water and keep the skis faster, and as it wears, it will still have some texture.

It really doesnt make that much difference, for the most part a grind is a grind, as long as it is done well.

Most of the time though, when a tech does a stone grind they will tune the edges as well, as to remove any burs that the stone might add to the edges, which you might ask them not to do, and instead just detune to remove the burs if you hit a lot of rails on the skis we are talking about.
 
it depends on how good the shop's machine is, but most good shops have a machine that can do different patterns. generally a closer, tighter pattern is better for cold, hard snow and a wider, deeper pattern is better for warm, soft snow. They typically have it set up for the time of the season, but specify that you want a decent pattern for general conditions. if you get that, you should be good to go, especially if you don't regularly maintain your bases.
 
thanks this is great info. my local shop doesnt specialize in skiing (includes many other non snow sports), and its the only one near me for really far, so hopefully they know what theyre doin. i wont be skiing til december and on east coast snow anyway, ill get it grinded accordingly
 
Rightious awnsers above! No hating people, just very informative posts.. Nice! A lot of NSers should take learning from that..
 
Michigan has very similar conditions to the east coast most of the year, I like to go with a thumbprint pattern for 50% Park 50% any where else ridding, plus it makes a super cool zippy noise when you hit a box. Race patterns are awesome for fast groomers and moguls though.
 
skis need wax, this is very important if you want skis to last more then one season. its not a god thing if ur bases are looking that dry. wax them urself (not hard) and LEAVE THE WAX ON during the summer
 
well i have no idea what your talking about haha, ill just get whatever is the normal all around one.

and quasimoto^, should i wax my skis now anyway so they can be like that while they wait through the summer even if the bases are in shitty condition?
 
yep - if you leave ur bases dry out the edges will rip easier during future use. also ur base will rip out in bigger chunks when you hit rocks.

wax them now, dont scrape, and then put them away in ur basement for summer.

scrape / rewax before skiing in the fall. thats all you need to do.
 
k thanks for the advice ill do that. all i have is some polish-on wax and some wax i normally just slide along my bases but it might be legit wax and i just dont use it properly. time to resort to the searchbar for some "how to wax skis" for dummies threads
 
hey just wondering if there are some things i could use at home, like something youd find in an average workshop, that i could use to "grind" my bases. I have no clue what that entails so this might be a stupid question, but it would be nice if this was a do it yourself thing that i dont have to spend money on at a ski shop. thanks
 
no, but you can prevent your skis from drying out, and needing a grind, by waxing them regularly

there is lots of info around about waxing if you searchbar it
 
just ski down your driveway a time or two. does the same thing.
but seriously don't do that.
but seriously, if you're worried about spending money, ask yourself, do you really need the extra speed? do you find that you can't clear jumps or keep up with your friends on the cat tracks? i take my urbans to the mountain a few times here and again to do some rock skiing and find that they slide pretty decently as long as they have been waxed, and they have seen tens of thousands of stairs, and rocks, and parking lots, and grass, and dirt, and, well, you get the point.
 
^are stone grinds that expensive? I really need one I think haha. Didn't wax my skis at all last year and skied on lots of stuff that wasn't snow. hardcore east coast stuff man.
 
its not that my skis are underperforming because the bases are a little ragged, im just scared about harming the longjevity of them if i dont get them fixed up. i plan on getting it done this one time and then waxing often to avoid needing it again. last season i never waxed once, probably why they look the way they do :D

and plastic bag, its only $30 at my local shop, and i currently have so many skiing related expenses lined up and just one summer job, that im really trying to minimize cost in every way possible. i mean itd be saving $30 even if you werent short on cash
 
I think the last one I paid for was around $50. Its a good idea to do every season if you use your skis a decent amount (50ish days+). Kinda pointless if you're just going to thrash your skis in the park though.
 
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