Shop Talk -- 4/21/2011

TODAY’S SKI TECHNOLOGY is driven by carbon fiber, graphite bases, and titanium technologies.  But will a ski weekend be saved by a fifty/sixty year old hardware store staple?

[the Markers/Salomon of their day]

A trip was set for the Western Sierra over the Easter weekend of April 23 to 25.  With my primary ski kit stored in Utah, I was going to have to make do with older ski gear that I keep in SoCal for quick trips to the Sierras and local mountains.

[bear traps circa 1950]

I have a nearly 10-year-old pair of BD Crossbows, a proven lightweight that I remember for dozens of great days – from Utah, to the Eastern Sierras, Mammoth, and one trip up and down Shasta.  However, these skis have already been drilled more times than a company of Marine Corps “boots”, twice with Fritschis, once with Dynafits.  Ski mechanic doctrine holds that skis should never be mounted more than twice.  But I have evolved into a complete disciple of the feather-weight Dynafit line and ordered a pair of TLT Speeds to replace the mounted Fritischis, providing me a low-weight SoCal setup.

[Dynafit heel piece]

I don’t have access to a Dynafit mounting template but the drill holes from the last Dynafits were still present, sealed with silicone.  After cleaning the holes, I realized that the mounting screws were a less-than-bomber fit.  The idea of a binding tearing loose, miles into the backcounty, was sobering.  So how to insure a snug screw fit?  Superglue?  Epoxy?  Chewing gum?

[steel wool sprouts]

Then a thought occurred from my early days of skiing (50s/60s) when the “bear trap” was the Marker Jesters of their day, a steel box that clamped the toe of the boot to the ski.  It was common then to frequently adjust the span of the clamshell to accommodate growing feet and loan-outs to ski buddies.  Mounting screws were constantly loosened and re-tightened, resulting in sloshy screw holes.  The low-tech fix was steel wool, shredded into short clumps and wadded into the holes.  A few shreds from a twenty-cent boll of steel wool created a bomber fit.

[the old tech standby]

So, considering my sloppy ski holes, that 50-year-old solution came to mind.  At my local Osh store, steel wool was no longer two bits but four bucks for a package, Medium Coarse.

Back at the work bench, I twirled off a few strands of the steel wool and twisted them into the holes.  Then a few drops of epoxy as a concession to modern materials.  Placing the Dynafit components over the pre-drilled holes, I tightened the screws.  A snug fit, torqued down hand-tight.  With the old Fritschi screw holes sealed with silicone, we were ready to hit the road. 

[mounted and ready to ski -- 400 miles away]

Sintered graphite bases, Densolite cores, carbide steel dura edges.  And wadded steel wool.  We’ll be in the Sierras, southwest of Tahoe for three days.  A great test to see how a fifty-year-old low tech solution holds up.

All this is testimony to the fact that western mountains are still piling up record amounts of snow and late-season skiing is still epic.  In fact, Mammoth Mountain has recorded so much snow this season that they are talking about a 12-month season.  So, expect more posts here.