Insights from a US Ski Team technician on stone grinding

With the Winter Olympic Games in behind us, WINTERSTEIGER is kicking things into overdrive. This is the first of three articles in a series to help you hone your ski tuning skills with advice and insight from a technician who worked on skis at the Games. Ryan Mooney has spent the last three seasons traveling the World Cup serving in a tech/support role for his fiancée, Paula Moltzan, and the women’s technical team. An accomplished racer himself, Mooney slid easily into long days on the hill and longer nights keeping skis in top condition.

Coming into an Olympic Games is akin to the leadup to championship season. Keeping in mind that the success side of your equation is subjective, that ‘championship’ term can be applied to any number of scenarios, not just the top step at states, regionals, JOs, etc… There are some key pieces to make sure that you are controlling for equipment in the time before, and during, these crowning achievement moments – so let’s dive in.

At all levels, consistency remains key; “We had so much racing in January right before we left for China,” says Mooney, “that it was critical to make sure we had the skis dialed well in advance.” Now is not the time to add (or remove) steps to your routine, change wax brands, or make other wholesale changes.  The old adage ‘train like you race and race like you train’ means you need to make sure your prep for training sessions doesn’t vary from your race day prep.  There are plenty of corners to cut, but you’ll pay for it in the long run.

While you don’t want to make sweeping changes during this period, it is important to make sure you’re prepared with clean tools, all the supplies you need, and a routine that you’re comfortable with. Trying to limp through with an iron that’s inconsistent or diamond stones that are well-worn will likely lead to headaches and a scramble to find suitable replacements, when you don’t need the stress. 

This prep period is a great time to look at the overall condition of your skis and determine whether it’s time for a stone-grind.  Do the skis have rock damage? Is sidewall in the way? Have your tips or tails been getting chewed up by van transport?  What does the existing base look like itself? Do you see the previous grind still? Any base burn? Answering yes to one or more of these questions, especially when it comes to damage or base burn, means it’s likely time to visit a trusted race shop for a rehab. 

The shop you choose should be able to efficiently get you dialed back in with a reset back to a flat base and consistent, appropriate bevels. “Skis ‘move’ as you ski, wax, scrape, brush, and repeat” offers Mooney.  “Whether it is just the heating/cooling of the plastic base material or a change in bevel because of edge damage, your skis aren’t going to stay flat & true.” Because of this, it’s important that the shop and technician make sure they’re getting you back to zero. Think of race tuning with machines like fine carpentry or cabinet making – those artisans aren’t using sanding belts, they use jointers, routers, planers, and other high-precision tools. Make sure you’re choosing your tools wisely.

The actual process of stone-grinding can vary slightly, but the steps should look something like this:

• The tech will start with any p-tex repair work and then grind the ski, and edges, back to completely flat, tip-to-tail.  Good shops will check this with their eyes, great shops will verify with a true bar. This flattening step represents the bulk of the work in the grinding process.  Depending on the condition of the ski coming in, this could be six or eight passes across the stone or it could be 40.
• After the ski is flat, it needs to be ‘blanked.’ This process can involve multiple steps to reduce a rough, flattening pattern down to a blank canvas which the final structure can be imparted.  Skipping steps here will yield a poor finish that will likely never achieve top speed or ease-of-skiing that you want.
• With the ski blanked, the finish grind or bevels can be applied. The order here is not hyper-critical, but making sure that the bevels are correct after the finish grind will be required if the skis are beveled before the finish grind is applied. Keep in mind that your bevels, especially base bevel, are like your success – subjective. What works for one athlete may not work for the next, but as a general rule you should be a strong, technically proficient U16 before you start to regularly use .5 or less base bevel.

After your skis have been ground, it’s time to get to work. You’ll want to wax, scrape, and brush for at least two cycles before the skis see snow. They should get run in gently, if possible, and the more hard wax you can get into the base the better. “We [U.S. Ski Team women] have 16 to 18 pair each for GS and SL, so I’m able to take my time to get freshly ground skis back into shape before hitting snow, but for the junior racing crowd, focusing on the basics will help get skis back to speed quickly,” states Mooney. The post-grind workload is an ideal time to explore heat sleeve or infrared treatments, but there is no substitute for good, old-fashioned elbow grease.

With a stone-grind in the rearview, you can pick back up on your consistent process in your clean workspace and know that flat skis with consistent bevels and an appropriate structure will turn your skis into a race car with the perfect tires and dialed-in steering. 

Stay tuned. Next, we dive into wax prep for training and racing and daily maintenance.