Monday, February 06, 2012

Skis/Grinding

Stone Grinding

Click on the images above to see our stone grind menus

Stone Grinding: How To Get It Done:

Prepare your skis.
Download and fill out a work order form.
You have three ways to get your skis to us:
1. Drop them off at one of our shops in Boulder, CO or Portland, ME
2. Drop them off at the West Yellowstone Fall Festival
3. Ship them to us in Boulder, CO.
  DO NOT ship grind skis to the Portland store!

New Grind Naming System

We've broken down our stone grinding menus into a simple menu and an expanded racing menu. We recommend our core grinds on the simple menu as the starting point for everyone. These three broad-range structures provide a solid foundation to handle every condition, whether you have one pair of skis or twenty. The reality is that snow conditions vary wildly and sometimes we need structures to complement our broad-range core grinds. The expanded racing menus highlight our core grinds in the middle, but you'll also find the rest of the structure that have proven themselves worthy of being in our primary repertoire.

Our Simple Grind Menu is based on how many pairs of skis you have in your fleet. Ninety-five percent of racers have one, two or three pairs of skis, and we recommend different mixes of our core grinds based on how many skis you have to work with. To find the right mix of grinds for your fleet, choose skate/classic and then pick the grinds that are highlighted for the number of pairs of skis you have.

Every region has unique snow conditions. Skiers in the dry Mountain West will want to adjust toward the colder end of the menu, while skiers in the Northwest and California should consider moving to the warmer end of the spectrum. We are always happy to consult with individuals and teams to make recommendations that keep your life simple but ensure you get the best we have to offer.

New Grinds for 2011-2012

We had great success with three new skating structures last season and they’ve made it onto our grind menu this year. We’ve listed these grinds with their new names and old names in parentheses.

S0.1 (LS00) – The S0.1 is the dedicated extreme cold grind that has been missing from our repertoire. This very fine structure works well in extreme cold and dry conditions, especially in newer snow with sharp crystals.

S1.2 (S1-0x) – S1.2 is great in a narrow range of “blue” conditions, but can be a bit fickle. A great choice for a dry, cold, new-snow ski, but probably not if this is your only cold ski. We are still trying to nail down exactly when this grind runs.

S2.2 (S2-1x) – S2.2 had tremendous success in its debut season. It combines the free feel of CV0 with high-speed release. A very broad range grind that goes quite cold if there is moisture in the snow and quite warm if the snow does not get too saturated. Ideal conditions are freezing and below, with new to transformed (by grooming, not freeze-thaw) snow. Probably a good choice on a one-pair fleet.

click here for our new grind menu

About Stone Grinding

Stone grinding flattens the ski base, removes burnt and damaged base material and provides important micro-structure. Bottom line, it makes your skis faster and easier to wax. We have simplified a complicated process as much as possible, but if your eyes glaze over with the information below, give us a call and we can help you choose what will be best based on your skis and the conditions they see most often.

We have cross-country specific machines that leave bases clean and hair-free, reducing post-grind base prep and giving you fast skis almost immediately. These machines are numerically controlled, which means that the diamond cutting system and grinding wheel are digitally controlled and can give us highly precise, repeatable grinds. Most stone grinding machines are made for alpine equipment and can not do the fine work required on cross country skis, which have softer bases and smaller surface area. Our machine avoids the burning, smearing and overly-aggressive structure we see in a lot of skis that are brought to us from other grinders.

Stone Grinding Schedule

1/6/2012 - Shop work is caught up after the holidays and we are now on a weekly batch schedule through March. Please get your skis to us early for big races so there is no rush to get them back to you on time. See the information below on our weekly schedule.

Grind Schedule October-March:

The cutoff for our batches is Monday by noon with a target of completion Thursday at 4PM, including hot boxing. Please be aware that the grinding process is often finicky and if we run into trouble, the target completion is just that - a target that may have to be moved in order to provide the best quality. We would rather get you a great grind than buzz the skis out the door and make a deadline. But we will make every effort to keep to this schedule.

Please do what you can to help us do a better job for you. Please send in clean skis and include complete work order forms so we don't have to track you down to get information. Also to ensure that you are not in a hurry - send in your skis over the summer or well before you need them. The best work comes off the machine when we have time to cut the stone perfectly and dial in the structure just right.

Hot Box: Get skis in before 4PM Monday or Wednesday, receive your skis by 3PM Tuesday or Thursday. We are also running a Friday HB now, with completion by Monday afternoon.
Grind Batch Cutoff: Monday noon

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