Your ski technician should program a grind that is best suited to
you (as shown on the previous page) — what your buddy has
doesn’t help you. It should be based on your region, the ski, your
skill and mass, and the discipline. No matter what the final imprint
looks like, a good grinding technician will do some or all of the fol-
lowing:
flatten the ski using a series of grinds, working from coarse to
fine, until the entire ski and base edge steel is completely flat and
smooth (shown above)
set the base edge bevel (appropri-
ate for skill level, region, discipline,
and personal tolerances); many top
technicians will use a variable base
bevel (shown at left)
impart a finish grind that is optimal
for your skill level, region, and the dis-
cipline, from slalom to downhill
finishing the finish grind, which may
include:
one or more blank stone grinds to
optimize the depth of the grind
hand or machine “beating down” of the structure to round out the
highlights, using brushes, abrasive material, etc. (shown above
right using a roto-brush)
JESSE SCHLOFF PHOTOGRAPH Y; PEZ PHOTOGRAPHY
multiple hot scrape wax cleaning ses-
sions to remove grinding contaminates
and condition the base to accept wax
When you consider the highly skilled la-
bor, the cost of a $65,000 to $250,000 machine, and location cost
(you don’t think top ski tuners get their space for free, do you?),
it’s no wonder that a well-done grind session can cost upwards of
a $100. Caution to those that spend less — you’ll end up with a
“cosmetic grind” and that won’t make real changes.
At left is what a state-of-
the art-race grinding ma-
chine looks like at Edge-
wise Elite Ski Service.
When it’s all done, your
skis should look something like those shown below (focus on the flat base and grind from edge to edge, not the
actual pattern, which will vary).
I connected with Lonetto, Edge-
wise’s owner, for even more info
about grinds. Lonetto is an icon
in the tuning business — a prod-
uct of the old Rennstall under Brian Burnett (aka Burnski), former
USST technician for Sarah Schleper, and a defining influence in
the tuning technique of many of the nation’s top technicians.
I asked Lonetto to give us a run-down on some of the top grinds
that exist, and to comment on who/why/where he thinks they are
best suited. This level of disclosure is rare, and welcome. (Note:
has to say:
best for mid-winter
conditions, low to
medium humidity
and a wide temp
range.
The KA Grind: A super versatile
grind (above left; screen below),
The ML3/ML3d/
RTK Grind: The
ML3 is a deep grind,
perfect for speed
events in warm, humid snow. It’s very
similar to what you
might have on your
race skis from the
factory. The ML3d
is the same grind, but in “lowering” it with one or more blank stone
passes, it becomes optimized for middle temps (teens and warmer) and more versatile relative to event & humidity. The RTK is
very similar to the ML3d, except that it is only in the middle half of
the ski. This allows for less friction during re-direct and/or stivoting
moves. (Grind shown above; screen images on following page.)
