It all started with a beautiful day during the Michgan winter. It was cold, there was snow and QED there would be skiing. A couple members of the Baarman clan an myself decided to hit up the “Alta of the Midwest,” better known to most as Caberfae Peaks.
Ski hills in Michigan are short. It’s not desirable, but it’s a fact of life. In light of this, I tend to find the most enjoyment to come from either jumps or practicing to improve my skill (and avoid tailbone fractures) on the snowboard. This day was a jump day.
For most of the ’09/’10 season there were three consistently present jumps at Caberfae. Mind you, I speak of the kind of jumps I like – smooth take off, smooth landing and requiring of speed. There’s a separate area for the terrain park aerial kiddies.
Mid way through the morning, one of my “smooth” jumps ended not so smooth. I was a bit off balance on the take-off and came down on my heels. When standing on two foot planks, being a bit on your heels means the tips of the skis are a few feet in the air. Those of you who have passed high school physics can predict what happens when a person lands in this form. The tails hit, the skier continues coming down in freefall, and the tips come down at roughly twice the speed of the skier… that is, right until they are reunited with the hill.
It’s that freefall to hill transition that sucks. The normall curved ski tips go momentarily flat to the hill and all kinds of crazy stresses and strains occur.
Too many of these, and the tips delaminate like mind did. In my particualar pair of skis, there is a metal stringer that runs the length of the ski. Apparently, this metal had more interest in being near the snow than did the top sheet of the ski, and thus they parted ways. The skis might have been fine for the remainder of the say, but being cheap, I didn’t really want to chance the damage getting beyond repair and thus the benefits of being able to ski and board became apparent.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. At least for those not too pretentious for a few bolts in their skis:
If you have good grey balance on your monitor, you’ll be able to see the separation here. The metail stringer is approximately defined by that squared off portion sitting nearer than the rest of the ski base.
Side view of the same.
The fix. Two 10-24 bolts placed just inside the metal layer, four 1″ washers and liberal use of epoxy. I’ve skied on these a few times since and it’s holding nicely.
The bolts and washers from the top (ski tips missing). It’s surprising how many people, with nothing better to divert there attention, notice this on the ski lift.
Old vs. New. The current Volkls and the previous Rossis. Took both into the model shop for clean up, which for the Rossis, involved a belt sander.
This would illustrate the difference between good and worn out skis. Notice the camber (space between the skis) which dictates the pressure on the snow at tip and tail and thus affects how the skis respond in a turn. Also, the Rossis no longer have brakes (they were a nuisance anyway) making them prohibited on most every hill in the country. Tear.
I “fixed” both skis. One because it needed it, and the other as a preventative measure and because I have kind of an OCD thing about symmetry.
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