Ski techs who don't ski

[Hankj]

Or at least no longer ski. I don't trust them. Too much psychology going on.

Today I took new to me used skis to a tech - '23 Enforcer 110's. They skied like shit when I tried them. ice cubed sideways on clearly center high bases. Straight edge at home confirmed, plus file guide showed base bevel well over 1%. And railed at tips and tails. I really liked how the previous Enforcer 110's I skied felt and wanted to make mine like those.

First shop, first tech. Pretty clearly didn't ski anymore. Told me Nordica sucks, always warped, skis skiing like they were supposed to, just only use them on powder days, can't flatten cause burn through base, buy some carving skis, kids over at EVO probably fucked these up, etc, etc, blah blah blah. Had no clue really what these skis can do and what they should feel like. A long time trying to sweet talk the guy into working on my skis at some high fee. But eventually I gave up.

I drove to EVO. Kid at counter listened, looked, yep bad bevel and base high under binding. We'll run 'em through the sander a couple few and get them dead flat. You got ten minutes bro? We can do it now. Where'd you ski this last storm? I skied Stevens, was killer, etc etc. $11 buck and 9 minutes later my profoundly dead flat skis and I walk out the door, ready for a fresh edge bevel and home tune.

The best surf board shapers in the world surf. A lot. There's no other arrangement that produces great surfboards. I propose that the same is about right with ski techs. If is seems like they 9-5 in the workshop but never press an edge into snow you might do better elsewhere.

 

[cantunamunch]

Eh maybe. The best tuner I know doesn't*get* to ski much anymore and will probably 20x his ski days when he retires.

 

[scott43]

Yeah define "skis"... They may ski a lot but not for shit. Can they tell anything? I'm not a great skier, maybe low advanced, but I'm a diligent technical person. I think it's more the care level not so much the skiing ability or time.

 

[Hankj]

Yeah define "skis"... They may ski a lot but not for shit. Can they tell anything? I'm not a great skier, maybe low advanced, but I'm a diligent technical person. I think it's more the care level not so much the skiing ability or time

I get this. But this guy acted like he knew everything, and yet had apparently no or little connection to standing on a ski. He couldn't hear the skier information coming at him. According to him I had some sort of phantom issue, and my skis apparently should not and could not be serviced.

But the next tech who skied? He understood the problem exactly when I described it, knew it needed fixing, and fixed it.

There's something to be said for not just the conceptual but the physical understanding of how things work in a sport. You lose this physical understanding if you don't use it. You might not know that you've lost it, but the brain body connection has its own sort of intelligence.

Maybe to put a finer point on it, I will buy a wheel tensioned and trued by someone who doesn't ride bikes no problem. But a suspension rebuild and tune? That's about feel, and you've got way better chances good work with a tech who lives that feeling than one who doesn't.

 

[Hankj]

I'm kind of curious now about my own hot take. I certainly could be wrong.

Do World Cup ski tuners ski? Or are they non-skiing masters of the trade?

 

[markojp]

I'm kind of curious now about my own hot take. I certainly could be wrong.

Do World Cup ski tuners ski? Or are they non-skiing masters of the trade?

One of the best, if not THE best tuners in the region doesn't get to ski much anymore for a number of reasons, but he can ski, and probably better than most in his age group here. So long as he's tuning, he's my main man tune and new ski prep guy, period. He's also acknowledged by everyone in tge industry around here as excellent, and tunes many of the local ski reps fleets. He sees and handles a ton of skis and knows what he's looking at. Dunno if it's the guy you met or not.

 

[snwbrdr]

Food for thought... maybe a tech can't get out & ski much because the tech is in the shop earning a living.

 

[Vestirse]

I drove to EVO. Kid at counter listened, looked, yep bad bevel and base high under binding. We'll run 'em through the sander a couple few and get them dead flat. You got ten minutes bro? We can do it now. Where'd you ski this last storm? I skied Stevens, was killer, etc etc.

Was this EVO Seattle? Just want to chime in that I've had really good knowledgeable service from them too. Other outfits are... questionable.

 

[Primoz]

I'm kind of curious now about my own hot take. I certainly could be wrong.

Do World Cup ski tuners ski? Or are they non-skiing masters of the trade?

Most of them are ex racers, who "ski" to get down from top of the lift to start or from start down to finish (with 2 or 3 pairs of skis on shoulders), and on trainings to make loops on race course getting skis and jackets of their racers up and down. But 99% of them don't ski unless really necessary. Once you are in ski boots 200 days a year, fun part of skiing is somehow lost and you rather do something else then ski.

 

[François Pugh]

What we have here is a failure to communicate.
And the 1st tech clearly didn't know how much base material that ski actually had.
The ski was so base high, he thought in order to get it flat he would have to grind all the way through the base. Rather than buy you a new pair of skis when he did that or explain he would keep going until you said enough, or let you take the risk, he tried to save you some money.

Did the 2nd tech get it completely flat or just fix the bevels?

 

[Philpug]

Wow.

One of the best boots guys I know is in a wheelchair and hasn't skied in almost 15 years.

I had a boss (who was a high level racer himself) who hired shop guys who were finish carpenters and didn't care if they skied or not, he could teach them what the needed to do. He also during any interview process would always walk them back to their cars to see how neat or messy the interior was, a clean interior of a car, usually ment they were very organized.

 

[scott43]

Adrian Newey crashed his GT40 and nearly killed himself..

I do agree somewhat. I think you have to know what understeer and oversteer are, but do you have to be able to attain it or feel it in an F1 car to fix it? I don't think so. I'm sure most auto Tech guys have thrown around their pile of a car in the rain and get the basics and maybe that's enough?

 

[Philpug]

Besides, of course they don't ski, "People get into the ski industry so they can ski more ... then people get out of the ski industry so they can ski more."

 

[scott43]

I do have a few stories of "gentleman" racers trying to describe issues and being completely unable to. The tech then jumps in the car, beats the laptime of the gentleman racer but does in fact feel what he's talking about and corrects the issue. So yeah, I guess it takes both people or skillsets to get it right.

 

[jt10000]

The guy the OP mentioned seems like an arrogant idiot. It's a general problem with his personality or mind, not a lack-of-skiing problem.

 

[Jilly]

When his first statement is "Nordica sucks!". I would have just grabbed my boards and left. I don't have the patience for that anymore.

 

[Dwight]

When his first statement is "Nordica sucks!". I would have just grabbed my boards and left. I don't have the patience for that anymore.

I would of said Nordica sucks. I would of said, historically Nordica skis are edge high when you get them brand new. Depending on your skiing, you might notice, you might not.

 

[Tom K.]

Painting with too broad a brush, IMO.

Once you are in ski boots 200 days a year, fun part of skiing is somehow lost and you rather do something else then ski.

Some truth there. I remember reading an interview long ago with a Hermann Maier's GF. They asked where she and Hermann skied for fun, and her reply was basically that skiing might be one of the last things he would choose to do on a day off.

 

[scott43]

Some truth there. I remember reading an interview long ago with a Hermann Maier's GF. They asked where she and Hermann skied for fun, and her reply was basically that skiing might be one of the last things he would choose to do on a day off.

It's true. Some people can pull it off but at the end of the day it's a job.

 

[Philpug]

Some truth there. I remember reading an interview long ago with a Hermann Maier's GF. They asked where she and Hermann skied for fun, and her reply was basically that skiing might be one of the last things he would choose to do on a day off.

It's true. Some people can pull it off but at the end of the day it's a job.

Then there are still the Ernie "Let's play two" Banks of the ski world that still cannot get enough, ie the Daron Rahlves and Glen Plakes who still find any reason to ski.