The time-honoured art and tradition of hand-tuning skis may be coming to a close. Several national ski teams are now using a hand-held stone polisher that is accurate to 1/10 of a degree bevel and leaves edges that are 75% smoother than a filed edge. As a bonus, because the machine removes considerably less material than a file, it can extend the life of a race ski up to five or six seasons.
The Snow Glide tool is the brainchild of Jean-Luc Pelizzari formerly with the Rossignol race department with input from Thor Verdonk, also with Rossignol racing.
Besides the obvious advantages of speed, accuracy and portability, Snow Glide addresses another issue that plague technicians preparing new skis. New skis often have extra hard edges at tip and tail due to the factory finishing process. Effectively cutting this harder steel with a file to get accurate bevels and sharpness can be a problem but not with the Snow Glide tool. Cup-shaped ceramic stones in medium and fine grit are included in the package but an extra-fine stone is available for a true World Cup mirror finish.
Snow Glide is aimed at national teams, race clubs, master racers and anyone who takes ski tuning very seriously. It sells for US $3200 with an electrical power source that automatically adapts to 110 or 220 volts. Apparently a more affordable light version for clubs and keeners is in the works.
In competition, ski tuning is sometimes the determining factor and Snow Glide ensures that skis are as good as they get. For more information and ordering check out www.verdonkracing.com
|
