The Science & Witchcraft of World Cup Ski Tuning

GEAR:30

BLISTER

Arts, Design, Skiing, Snow, Snowboarding, Sports, Outdoors, Bike, Technology, Gear

4.9 • 809 Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2019

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How do the world’s elite ski racers and their technicians squeeze every drop of performance out of their skis? We sat down with Cameron Smith who runs the race department for Head USA to learn about all the major aspects of ski tuning including base vs edge angles, base prep, and waxing. We also discuss why World Cup racers have 50 skis per discipline; the elusive “speed wagon”; and the delicate balance of science and superstition in ski racing.

TOPICS & TIMES:

How Cam got started at HEAD (1:00)
The art of edge tuning (3:03)
Why athletes have 50 skis per discipline (8:09)
Superstitions & cinnamon rolls (9:08)
The elusive “speedwagon” (10:25)
Base angles vs. Edge angles (13:20)
What is a second edge?? (20:00)
How quickly do skis dull? (22:45)
Athlete’s relationships to their tuners (24:50)
Polishing stones & the toilet paper test (28:30)
De-tuning to avoid hooking (31:57)
Base materials & grind patterns (35:07)
How to select your wax (45:16)
Just how sensitive are pro athletes? (58:12)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey everyone. I'm Sam Shaheen and you're listening to Gear 30 on the Blister podcast network.
0:13.4	Turns out tuning World Cup race skis is a bit like witchcraft. We recently sat down with Cameron
0:19.6	Smith at the Head Skies HQ in Boulder, Colorado.
0:22.6	Cameron runs the race department for Head USA and we had a very interesting and in-depth
0:27.6	conversation about tuning World Cup race skis. We covered all the major aspects of ski tuning,
0:32.6	including bass and edge angles, base prep, and waxing. But we also talk about why World Cup racers have
0:39.5	50 skis per discipline, the elusive speed wagon, and the delicate balance of science and
0:44.9	superstition in ski racing. So here it is my conversation with Cameron Smith. So today we're here at Head USA in Boulder, Colorado.
0:56.5	I'm here with Cameron Smith, and we're going to talk a little bit about ski racing, tuning specifically.
1:02.2	But first, Cameron, can you talk a little bit about your background and how you got started
1:05.9	in your current role at Head?
1:07.4	Yeah, of course.
1:09.0	So my current role is the U.S. competition and team manager.
1:15.5	So basically that entails the whole U.S. for race and free ride, as well as our ambassadors,
1:22.7	PSIA members.
1:26.6	Yeah, so basically anyone, or anyone, anything in the ski world that is out there on our product
1:36.3	and showing it off, I guess, or sponsored as well.
1:41.3	So I grew up ski racing.
1:43.3	I went to Burke Mountain Academy and then came to
1:48.7	CU, University of Colorado, and skied on the ski team there for four years where I was part of
1:56.0	two national championship teams. And then I was the assistant coach for a year after I graduated. Following
2:04.1	the year of coaching, I then became the Western Race and Promotions Associate for Head
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BLISTER, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BLISTER and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.