I am a reasonably steady intermediate boarder and have been boarding 10+ years. Bit of a slow learning curve as I’m no spring chicken.

Anyway, after a few years of being able to potter steadily down most reds/blues enjoying myself (and not falling off too many tows) my competence took an unexpected dive last year. Now, a bad workman blames his tools ...but it happened immediately after my board was serviced.

The board was serviced just before we went to Chamonix. Literally on the first run I piled into a crowd of beginners as I had mysteriously lost my ability to turn onto my heel side. I thought that the lovely Chamonix sheet ice was making me tense up and highlighting defects in my style. Not a good week but put it down to the ice. I had a two hour private lesson, back to basics, but didn’t actually make that much difference I still found myself having to shove my back heel around to absolutely force my turns like muppet.
Boarded a few times in Cairngorm in April after Chamonix and although I felt much safer on deep forgiving snow I was still reminded of the problem in confined spaces where I couldn't afford to screw up a turn.

I had completely forgotten about it over the summer but went to xscape last week just for a cheery ‘warm-up’. I just set off down the slope in my customary way...only to find that I still had the turning problem.

When I took the bindings off the board for the service I even took photos to make sure that I put them back in the correct place. Could something have happened to the board when it was serviced as the loss of style was immediately afterwards?
I suppose the obvious answer is to rent a board and see if it really is my board or me!

yeh, I was going to say the rent a board solution.

Servicing the board should make stopping easier as the sharpness of the edges should penetrate the ice/snow better. The wax on the base would make the board faster, which might be part of the problem.

But rent a board, and try that out. Or ask a friend and try their board.

www.DavidAJack.co.uk

There's a good explanation of setups here ...

[www.jonsskituning.co.uk]

In a nutshell, if the edge and base angles were set for more aggressive sliding when it was serviced, it could have really thrown out the feel of the board.

If a full service includes a base grind, the base angle needs to be set back from flat. I've had the misfortune of (trying to) ski when an angle wasn't put onto the base and just about the only way you can go is forward (both edges are always engaged both sides). I don't think that's the problem though as you're clearly still able to get about so it may be that the base angles were just cut too deep at maybe 2 degrees or something. That would make it harder to get your board up onto its edges but easier to just schuss in a stright line (i.e. no carving). I service my own skis now and set base angles at 1 degree off flat and edge angle at 88 degrees (2 degrees off vertical). This makes a 89 degree angle so it cuts into ice & carves nicely.

I'd just get the board checked out again ... you'd never be able to see what was what by eye but a decent shop can determine them without doing any work.

Thanks both for your comments.
Soothsinger - I had considered the waxing as yes, if the board was going faster I would be thrown a bit and tense up! I spent the week in Chamonix assuming that ice + waxed board may be to blame.

Mofatross - I need to read the link properly, but at first glance it is all far more complicated than I thought. I think there is a strong possibility that you have hit the nail on the head as I had not imagined that an almost invisible alteration would have made so much difference.

Yes, it is exactly that...I do what I have always done to i.e. avoid people/obstacles and just found the board saying 'no thanks' unless I dig the edges in with an exaggerated and inelegant shove.

When your kit is serviced, the edges get sharpened and the leading edge then gets detuned (blunted in otherwords) or you hook in too quick. It sounds like they may have detuned it too far back or further than you are used to.

I had friends with us in the alps last Easter who had the same problem with a pair of skis, it was soon rectified by a proper service in a local shop.

Ask around and find somebody who knows what they are doing, there are some complete novices doing work in some places so get them done again by of a place of good reputation or take them back although its a bit late now.

Good luck and have a great season

Rick.

Unfortunately the work was done by a very reputable Ski shop in the North West. If the problem is that the board was set up for a hellraiser rather than a middle-aged tourist boarder, that might have been a misunderstanding about the owner of the board rather than incompetence on their part.



Same to you....it's looking good.

JanA, thinking about what you said about the reputable ski shop, sredna's 'leading edge' thoughts are more likely to be the problem than an incorrectly set base angle. They don't sound like they would have made the error of too sharp a base angle as nobody would ever want that anyway unless all they ever wanted to do was feather and sideslip. It'll be easier / cheaper to sort out just the edges than resetting bases from say 2 to 1 or 1/2 a degree when you'd need to start with a(nother) base grind anyway.

There're two ski tools I carry in my jacket, one is a pocket file and the other is a little rubber and abrasive cube you can buy that's almost like a billiard cue chalk rubber. If I want sharper edges in an instant, I use the file and might use the cube for just dulling off the ends of the edges if they feel a bit too 'hooky' on those days when I need my skis feeling a bit more 'skiddy' in their turns.

If your after a good time you should try snowboarding at Nevis Range, many a time I've felt the Alpha tow and top button have been trying to take me up the arse.










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Usman


aliyan



Edited 2 times. Last edit at 05.49hrs Mon 19 Nov 18 by aliyan.