Everyone is familiar with the annoying behavior of skis that “chatter” instead of gripping on hard snow. It’s bad for performance and it’s fatiguing as well due to the vibrations. It’s also very hard to correct.
The pros at SkiMD have suggested an idea worth trying. They say that chattering is caused by an incorrect edge grind. Because shaped skis are capable of high angles on the snow, the edge and sidewall comes in contact with the surface and levers the biting part of the edge out so it loses grip. In other words, the sidewall “boots out” the edge. SkiMD recommends that skis and boards should have a side edge angle of 3° so that the steel can bite into the ice without interference. They also claim that edges will not get dull sooner with this sharp angle. Obviously this is not a secret, some ski manufacturers, such as Fischer, already factory-tune their skis to 1 and 3 degrees.
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