The skier who is ready to make turns on a resort’s ultra-groomed terrain with rental skis that have dull, rusty edges, gouges in the bases and no wax isn’t being treated fairly. Adding a pair of soggy rental boots with broken buckles doesn’t exactly sweeten the deal. In the future, skis and snowboards might be automatically tuned as customers ride to the top of the mountain, but the reality today is that guests want tuned skis and dry boots when they walk out of the shop. And if you want those skiers and snowboarders to have a good time and keep coming back, you’ve got to be able to give them what they want.
Industry suppliers are aware of this and have risen to the challenge with equipment that makes it easier for shops to provide ski gear that works as it should. Some suppliers have also added consumer accessories and tools that make good backshop items and add-ons for use by other resort departments.
Air Dry
Air Dry Systems has added small home and condo units to its existing line of shop boot storage and forced warm air drying racks. The small systems hold two pairs of boots and two pairs of gloves. These compact racks save a lot of space and make excellent additions to a resort’s ski school and ski patrol offices. Information: 1-800-237-6779.
Alpine Tools
Alpine Tools, Inc. continues to maintain its line of Alpine Efficiency High Density Storage Systems with a new twist for 2000—the ability to powdercoat new racks with an individual shop’s custom color scheme. These racks circulate a high volume of air to dry boots. Alpine also maintains a complete line of tools and supplies for the repair-tuning shop. Information: (603) 229-1717.
Briko
Known for safety helmets among consumers, Briko USA is re-establishing its wax line with new formulations from bulk shop wax through their retail BK series racing wax. The bulk waxes come in two colors: red for warm conditions and yellow for cold. The new BK series also has broader temperature ranges than the old waxes. Within the line, B3 products have a medium-fluorinated additive, while B7 is highly fluorinated. The B10 and K10 compounds are fully-fluorinated mixtures, and are intended for high and medium humidity conditions. Information: 1-800-462-7456.
Grindrite
Grindrite’s all-new ST2000 represents the company’s next generation of in-line tuning machines. This universal wide-belt stone machine can be used for everything from snowboards to nordic skis. Modular components provide easy maintenance and repair. The new Dual Zone dressing system features automatic as well as manual advancing to allow the operator more dressing choices than previous models provided. It’s available in an easy-to-operate format. The ST 550 Precision Edge Tuner offers disc technology for base- and side-edge sharpening and polishing with accuracy to within 0.25 degrees. The ST 550 works with snowboards and alpine and telemark skis. The E 350 heavy-duty hand-held base extruder is a compact base welder that uses grated repair material forced into the base by means of compressed air. The wide heated welding shoe ensures thorough adhesion with the original base and leaves a smooth finish with minimal scraping required. Information: 1-800-338-6030.
Hertel
Missouri Mud, from Hertel & Company, is an easy-to-use bulk wax for boards and skis and is perfect for rental applications because it comes in a sizable, four-pound container. It can be easily thinned using water. Hertel also has a software package called People Time that offers an alternative to punching a time clock. Instead, employees use the store computer’s F5 key to “punch in” and F8 to “punch out.” The program calculates taxes, overtime and other data, and can be customized for certain types of jobs. Hertel is reintroducing its Snowboard Hot Waxer, which uses a heated tray and a 12-inch roller made of a closed-cell silicone sponge material. Most shops use it as an applicator to apply an even .003- to .004-inch layer of wax on the board. Information: (650) 424-1882.
Kwik
Kwik Ski Products is under new ownership and has made a strong commitment to serve the backshop with 24-hour turnaround shipments of its most popular products. This reduces the need for dealers to maintain high inventory levels of products such as waxes, belts and base cleaners. The company’s Kwik Boot Dryers have been redesigned so the 12-, 14- and 44-pair units can be combined as modular pieces to create large-volume driers. The added benefit of sharing the same heating and air system means using less energy and saving money. A new catalogue outlining consumer product introductions will be available in August. Information: 1-800-426-4250.
Montana
Montana Sport’s M 2000 SB Combi wide stone-and-belt combination machine is new for next season. Montana relied on the input of many dealers for a design that incorporates a 15-inch-wide belt sander on one side and a snowboard-width stone on the other. Between the two is a single autofeed wheel with a pneumatic lift that can swivel from one side to the other. The high output MAS 2000 Twister will automatically stone grind one snowboard or a pair of skis. Grinding cycle information is easily programmed into the operator panel. The MRS 2000 PTEX Master Wide Extruder is an automatic base repair machine that can refinish a pair of skis or a snowboard in less than a minute. The Compact 2000 Side Edger is a single-speed side edger for skis and snowboards. The compact system is self cooling and the machine is easy to operate. Montana, distributed by Swix Sport USA, also offers a new ABS storage system for skis, snowboards, boots and poles. The racks have a boot-drying option and can be delivered to operate on easy-to-move linear bearing tracks, casters or solid feet. Information: 1-800-343-8335.
Ski Kare
Ski Kare is introducing a new mechanical boot spreader for opening up boot shells for repairs such as replacing buckles or rivets quickly and easily. There’s a new base beveler with three different shims (.5, 1.0 and 1.5 degrees) for accurate hand filing of ski and snowboard edges. Also new are the side edge bevel gauge (with 1-, 2- and 3-degree increments) and base bevel gauge (with .5-, 1.0-, 1.5-degree increments) to provide an accurate means of measuring a ski or snowboard’s overall edge geometry. The sidewall planer makes side edge sharpening faster and easier by milling back the sidewall material over the edge before taking a file to the edge. Information: 1-800-525-5374.
Spirakut
Backshop supplier Spirakut Products has added a series of Grizzly work benches and work area accessories to its extensive line of shop products. The new series is designed to help shops make more efficient use of work spaces. Shelves, bins, drawers and overhead tool trolleys can be customized to any shop layout. The company’s new Electronic Foot Fitter takes the guesswork out of proper ski boot sizing and fitting. It measures foot length, width and arch length in U.S., European and mondopoint sizes. Spirakut’s parent company, Holmenkol, has fortified the SKUs in waxing products with everything from roto brushes to bulk wax for nordic, alpine and snowboard base preparation for applications from recreational through racing pursuits. New versions of the popular Ski Man vises will be available. Information: 1-800-621-1657.
Sun Valley Ski Tools
Sun Valley Ski Tools will carry fluorinated rub-on paste wax for both skis and snowboards in quart containers for the back shop. There’s also a new set of delamination repair plates for both shaped skis and snowboards as well as a new wax scraper sharpener. A new base and side edge variable beveling tool, designed for the retail customer, is likely to find its way into shop tool boxes. Information: 1-800-758-8857.
Swix
At Swix Sport USA, roto brush prices will be cut by 35 percent next season, making this high-tech wax finishing technique more affordable to all shops. There are two new oval brushes (one bronze and one nylon) for hand use originally designed for World Cup use should have strong shop appeal because of their durability. A new ski-bench vise, the T-149, has three positions for working on skis either base up or on either edge. The improved T-2050 is the second generation of the popular T-850 vise that uses a boot cartridge to close the binding and compress the rear brake treadle for a secure hold. There’s new bulk wax packaging available for CH, LF and UNI WAX and F4 Solid, consisting of five 180-gram bars. Cera F is now available in 30-gram solid form for easier alpine use and the new Digital Iron makes waxing easier. Information: 1-800-343-8335.
TOKO
TOKO is introducing a simplified melt-in waxe system that is color-coordinated in three temperature ranges: blue (-10 to -30 degrees C), red (-4 to -10 degrees C) and yellow (0 to -4 degrees C). System 3, the hydrocarbon line of waxes, has increased hardness and durability throughout all temperature ranges. The Low Fluoro line is also entirely new with harder formulations and the High Fluoro line has harder red and blue formulations. A new Express Wax is an easy-to-use wipe-on with low fluoro content. Information: 1-800-227-7440.
Vermont Ski Safety
The research arm of this manufacturing company maintains the shop information Website checkitout.com, which offers comprehensive inspection procedures for servicing alpine and snowboard equipment. The procedures can be downloaded at no cost. VSR’s goal is to help shops realize the importance of service and to provide an easy checklist for service facilities to follow when maintaining user-owned equipment. There’s a link to the Ski Mechanics Workshop Website that provides information about hands-on workshop training as well as in-store video and shop materials. The company has also added a redesigned quick-adjust clamping system to its popular Built-to-Tilt vise. New adjustments for camber and ski width mean the vise can now solidly hold any ski for binding mounting, adjusting and testing at one station. Information: (802) 899-4738.
Wintersteiger
Wintersteiger Division Sports offers the new Trim Disc 71, a disc edge-sharpening machine for snowboards that sharpens both the base edge and side edge. No bridges are needed and the bindings do not need to be removed. It takes less than three minutes per board for sharpening. Another new development is the Micro NC, a ski-only stone grinder with a 150mm-wide stone and a new dressing unit in which the diamond retracts for more precise control. It uses an operator-assisted auto-feed and there are variable pressure adjustments that can be made while the ski is in the process of being ground.
The new SKID computer-controlled Evolutiv 40, with its unique base-up technology, has both a belt and stone for skis and snowboards. Operation is entirely automatic and programmable. The SKI II Storage Systems have redesigned racks that no longer use spacers for different width skis and snowboards. Instead, the friction of the ski or snowboard holds them in place. There are two new types of boot-storage systems: one with heat and one using just circulating air. Smaller storage systems (5 to 20 pair) using heated, circulating air will be available for ski schools and ski patrol rooms to fit into the corner of a locker. Information: 1-800-227-7440.
Jim Deines, co-owner of Precision Ski of Frisco and Keystone, Colo., is a tech editor for Skiing and has written for Skiing Trade News.
