‘Now we get to the fun part’: Bend’s Powder House adds special new grinding equipment to prep Nordic skis
(Update: Adding video, comments from Dan Simoneau, Power House )
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A business in Bend says it's the only one in Oregon with a special new piece of grinding equipment for servicing skis. Powder House now has two machines for grinding skis called the Wintersteiger RS200.
"These are my friends, and I'm going to make skis better for them. I'm going to help them ski better," Nordic buyer Dan Simoneau said Thursday.
Simoneau is a three-time Olympian helping to test the grinds for the Nordic skis.
The machines are designed to service Nordic skis for speed and performance.
Lead ski tech and shop manager Chris Costigan said, "So when we receive a ski, we have to look at it -- and they're pretty thin pieces of gear, make sure we have enough life on the ski to actually be able to grind it."
The two machines are used as part of the tuning process. First, a pre-grinder creates linear patterns on the bottom of the ski. Then the other machine flattens the lines, smoothing and improving the surface.
Costigan said, "If that person has been skiing for a number of years, it's going to have some pretty significant wear patterns in it. It's going to take me more passes to take it to get it flat."
Once skis are grinded, the base is cleaned and wax is applied. The process is recommended once a year.
While in Oregon the grinding equipment is only at Powder House. It's also being used in Washington, Colorado and Minnesota.
Simoneau said, "We were working on this for a year leading up to this -- and now we get to the fun part, where we get to tune skis and test skis and have fun."
The grinding for Nordic skis at Powder House is $90. Tuning and applying wax at the end of the season and storing them in a cool dry place will help keep gear in peak condition.
