Ski and snowboard info

[Maulik]

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great point...what do you do when you are in bed reading a magazine, or at the airport..i've entertained the idea of just ripping out the pages that interest me...

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Magazines, newspapers take too much space to archive. Usually the points you want are short, just rip out the sections (articles/pictures) you want.

When I'm traveling whether its to the store down the street or in the airport, I always carry a stylo and papier. Don't rely on your memory for all the ideas, thoughts you want to reference later.

[yad]

Most ski areas offer a never-skied-before (or never-snowboarded-before) package for around $55-70. This includes lesson, lift ticket, and equipment rental. You won't do any better than this (it's a great deal generally fwiw). It's way cheaper than getting these things separately (which would run at least $125-175 generally).

The catch is that your lift ticket will only be valid on the beginner lifts, but if you've never skied before you would only want to ride these anyway.

It will be a small-group lesson generally (maybe 3-4 students and the instructor). This will be fine -- at this level having a private lesson is a waste.

[Maulik]

Xanta,

What routine maintenance should I be performing after each trip or several days? I'll be skiing powder in the Rockies for most of my trips.

Also, how long have you been skiing? Any ski books you'd recommend to learn about technique?

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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Xanta,

What routine maintenance should I be performing after each trip or several days? I'll be skiing powder in the Rockies for most of my trips.

Also, how long have you been skiing? Any ski books you'd recommend to learn about technique?

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re: maintenance, you need to do nothing after "a few days" unless you hit rocks or trees or otherwise damage your skis. I mainly ski in the East where getting your edges sharpened is much more important than out west, but I still only do it maybe every 10 days or so. and I wax maybe every 20 or so.

if you are racing the answer changes.

re: books, I can't really imagine learning technique from a book, but maybe that's just not how I learn.

[solids]

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Xanta,

What routine maintenance should I be performing after each trip or several days? I'll be skiing powder in the Rockies for most of my trips.

Also, how long have you been skiing? Any ski books you'd recommend to learn about technique?

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Maulik,

I'm a little confused about your posts in this thread. If you're relatively inexperienced, I wouldn't worry too much about ongoing maintenance to your skis. You should likely get a tune up from your ski shop at the beginning of the season, including waxing, sharpening, etc. But I wouldn't worry about constant upkeep unless you are racing or skiing rough terrain like back bowls. I doubt this extra time and energy will make much of a difference if you are new to the sport.

[yad]

your first post has changed rather dramatically.

If you have good skis, maintenance you should do is waxing your bases and sharpening your edges. These are both relatively easy to do with tools you can get for pretty cheap, and you can google for info on how. If you are just a beginner though and have crappy gear or are renting then obviously don't worry about it too much -- take them in to be tuned once a year or whatever.

[Xanta]

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Xanta,

What routine maintenance should I be performing after each trip or several days? I'll be skiing powder in the Rockies for most of my trips.

Also, how long have you been skiing? Any ski books you'd recommend to learn about technique?

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Maulik, I've been skiing since I was 2, so I guess 17 years now. I competed most when I was 16-17 and spent >100 days on snow each of those years, it was pretty nuts (I wasn't even that good [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]).

Routine ski maintenance when skiing in powder is next to nothing since powder skiing neither really dries out your bases much or requires any edging, so it's very low wear on your skiis. If you do hit a rock and take a chunk out of your base though, this is a problem you're gonna want to give to an experienced technician as filling in base with P-Tex (just a hydrocarbon compound) is very difficult to do well, I still struggle with anything more than a small job. Basically if you mess up your bases bad, take them into a shop. If you're going to be storing your skiis for a long period of time, say over the summer, putting a layer of cheap wax on is a good idea as it prevents the bases from drying out (you'll notice they look white and kinda flaky instead of dark black and smooth).

One thing I will mention is that for transportation, etc, get a ski strap. Basically when you're moving your skiis around, you transport them bases together kinda locked in at the bindings. Ski-donks will often have the skiis 'scissor' on each other, making an X shape, which is awful for the edges and makes you look like a tool. A simple strap costs like a buck and makes sure this wont happen. I carry a ton whenever I'm transporting my stuff.



As for technique it's hard for me to recommend a book since racing technique differs GREATLY from free-skiing technique, especially in powder. One thing that I can say for sure is that what will help you 100x more than any book is a lesson with an instructor and just experience. Learn by doing, with experience your confidence will go up and your ability will improve. I coached racers for 2 years and spent most of my time just hacking around, getting them to try different things and push their boundaries; drills and technique played a smaller role.

Hope this helps

[Xanta]

I could write up a basic guide to tuning (sharpening edges and waxing bases) if anyone's interested. Tuning is kinda irrelevant in powder skiing, just take them into the shop once or twice a year and you'll be find. In the east where hard snow and ice is more prevelant, if you ski a lot and are reasonably good, tuning every 10 ski days or so can make a noticeable difference in your performance and is a good idea.

[kaj_kyle]

lol reading xanta's topic is making me remember all these things from my ski racing days that i forgot :P

also imo, a book to learn how to ski would be pretty iffy go with an instructor imo. However theres lots of awesome drills though to improve certain things that you are doing wrong.

and yeah ski straps are essential

[Maulik]

re: books working on technique

During my motorcycle class I was highly recommended to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcy...1655213-2183065
Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well by David L. Hough. This book reinforced theory, habits and techniques for all level riders. If there's a book for us riders, there should be one for skiers.