I have a big decision to make
this up coming fall to either buy the season pass I usually get which is the
Cannon, Bretton Woods, Waterville, and Cranmore pass or get the Loon, Sunday
River, Sugar Loaf pass. Ive been thinking a lot about this topic and feel like I
need to make a change with mountains and try something new. Ive been to Loon
about three times and liked a lot, I wouldn't say I love it like Cannon but im
sure once I get use to the mountain and find the real good skier trails it'll be
a blast. The other thing about buying the loon pass is will I even make the
trip up to Maine to hit the other mountains on the pass. After thinking about
it I probably would because I would like to take a trip up there and find a
cheap hotel for a week or something and really get my moneys worth for those
mountains. So all in all I believe ill buy the Loon pass and hopefully I wont
regret it.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
New Hampshire's overview of ski resorts
This is something that I found interesting since I’m from
New Hampshire. Pretty cool stuff here, it lets you see what the mountains have for just about every topic you would want to know and some brief history.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Tuning Tips
Today’s post is an instructional piece explaining how to
tune your skis yourself, this process may not be the professional way of tuning
your skis for a race but it will do for the normal skier. In order to successfully
tune your skis you may want to have a bench with clamps that will hold your ski
steady. The first step that I usually do is clean the entire ski off, that way
there is no dirt being rubbed into your ski. Second is prepping your side walls
if they need to be cut down a little, this is done with a side wall cutter.
What this does for you is it makes your edge stick out a little more so when
you’re carving on your edges it will be all edges and not your side wall making
you turn better. After the side wall is trimmed you then start to sharpen your
edges. What I do before I start sharpening is that I take a permanent marker
and make a line down the edge to make sure when I sharpen them I hit the entire
edge, this will ensure accuracy when trying to sharpen your entire edge. To
sharpen your skis you will need a file guide and a file set. These can either
come in a kit or bought separately at a ski shop.
After the edges are sharpened next step would be to start
the prepping process of waxing your skis. First thing you want to do here is
use a waxing brush to get out all the old wax and dirt from your bases, after
you clean the base you should be able to see the pores in your ski. This will
give you a better layer of wax on your ski. If you have any deep gashes in your
skis like mine did in the photo be sure to fill it with a polyethylene repair
candle.
What you do with this
is take a lighter and heat up the candle until it catches fire (this flame is
not big at all) it will then start to drip, make sure these drips get into the
gouge that you’re trying to repair. After covering this area with the
polyethylene be sure to let it cool and then scrape off the excess with a razor
blade or file making it level smooth with your base. Next step is to start the
waxing process, use the hot iron and place a piece of wax to the iron and let
the wax drip onto the ski, be sure not to overdo it because you will be
scraping for a long period of time if you just cake it on. After you make a
nice line of drips down the entire ski you then want to start with the hot iron
from one end of the ski and spread the wax evenly to other side making sure the
wax is hitting the entire base of the ski.
Let this ski dry and start on the next one repeating this
entire process. When the wax is cooled you are then ready to scrape and brush
the ski of the wax. First thing you want to do is scrape the ski’s edges with
the scraper and then using the whole scraper to go down your entire ski taking
off the excess wax.
After scraping as much as you can off the ski with your
scraper you then will brush your ski with the wax brushes. For my skis I used
three different types of brushes, each brush has a different degree of fine
bristles which buffs the base of the ski. After buffing the ski out with the
brushes it is now complete and ready for slopes.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Tuckerman’s Ravine, northeast skiers must.
Mount Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine is something that every
east coast skier should do once in their life. It’s the tallest mountain in the
northeast of the United States reaching about 6,200 feet into the sky. Skiing the
ravine takes some time and preparation as you will have take a about two and a
half hour to three hour hike up to the ravine with a backpack tied with skis on
them. The difficulty ranges from moderate to expert for the terrain that you will be skiing. This hike seems tiring and daunting but it’s worth the view and just to
say that you skied Tuckerman’s Ravine.
K2 Kung Fujas
K2 has come out with another model of their Kung Fujas which
is a pro model series developed by Pep Fujas. These skis are the ultimate all terrain
skis, they’re wide, soft but yet firm, and twin tipped. The all terrain rocker
plays a big part in the performance of these skis as it’s a mix between camber
and rocker giving you the ability to ride these anywhere from powder, to bumps,
to the park and then on to the groomed runs. All around a great ski and yet
another great model from this series, this is why I own a pair of these.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Rocker and Camber
Rocker skis vs. Camber skis.
Rocker skis have become more and more popular in today’s
market and has started to break into the North East. A rockered ski is more for
powder because they’re shaped like a noodle in which they give you the ability
to carve better in powder, lets you stay on top of the snow, and just basically
gives you more control. This style is very popular out West. In the North East
we may not need fully rockered skis but companies are now coming up with skis
that have some sort of rocker in them. Camber skis are the basic ski that you
see people use especially with racers, this style is popular because of the
control it gives you on packed powder, it’s a flat ski basically. Now ski
companies have came up with the idea of adding rocker and camber into one
making skis that can perform in just about anything such as powder, groomed
trails, glades, bumps, and park. Overall I like the rockered style skis and
have bought a pair that have the all terrain rocker and now I love them. Before
you buy you’re next pair of skis look into this and decide yourself.
More Snow
New England is finally getting some consecutive winter
storms that have been helping out the ski areas for the vacation weeks and in
hopes of a longer season. This weekend we got several inches of snow that made
the skiing superb and more to look forward as we look to the middle of the week
and weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)