A service born from a Passion!
My love of skiing began in 1968, watching the master that was Jean Claude Killy on a grainy black and white TV. Since then an interest grew into a passion and in turn, probably into an addiction! At first, good ski maintenance was a necessity. Equipment was much more basic and cheap, heavily used second hand skis were all I could afford which needed to be regularly teased into performing acceptably.
From that day to this I have been fixated with getting the best possible performance from my skis with care and attention that verged on obsession. Family and friends equipment have all benefited from an equal care and you can be assured your equipment will receive that same personal, passionate attention!
I have been a PE teacher in schools around Somerset for 34 years, ending up as manager of the Sedgemoor School Sport Partnership. As well as annual family ski trips in those years, I organised a multitude of school ski trips and frequently ended up improving the performance of the rudimentary equipment often afforded to school groups.
A brush with Cancer caused me to retire from teaching earlier than planned but now fit and healthy, I am back on the snow and am looking forward to turning my passion into a service for all snowsports enthusiasts. I have completed professional courses in 2011 so now am a Certified Advanced Ski and Snowboard Technician to complement the more than 35 years experience.
From that day to this I have been fixated with getting the best possible performance from my skis with care and attention that verged on obsession. Family and friends equipment have all benefited from an equal care and you can be assured your equipment will receive that same personal, passionate attention!
I have been a PE teacher in schools around Somerset for 34 years, ending up as manager of the Sedgemoor School Sport Partnership. As well as annual family ski trips in those years, I organised a multitude of school ski trips and frequently ended up improving the performance of the rudimentary equipment often afforded to school groups.
A brush with Cancer caused me to retire from teaching earlier than planned but now fit and healthy, I am back on the snow and am looking forward to turning my passion into a service for all snowsports enthusiasts. I have completed professional courses in 2011 so now am a Certified Advanced Ski and Snowboard Technician to complement the more than 35 years experience.
Why hand tune?
The rather impersonal, automated machines used by most large shop operations are certainly quicker and allow the shop to employ less skilled technicians but far superior results are achievable by hand tuning the ski edges & bases than can ever be had using a machine. This is because I will tune your equipment to its and your tailored requirements.
I use mainly diamond stones, which removes the minimum amount of material to maximise ski edge life. A machine grinds excessive metal off the ski's edges, which greatly reduces edge life. Machine tuning also grinds edges to the machine's pre-set angles whereas I can set angles to either the manufacturers recommended angles or to your own requirements.
I will fill scratches and gouges individually and then trim the repair to the existing base. A machine grinds excessive amounts off the base - it removes far more material than necessary and so reduces ski life dramatically.
I will let the wax coat fully cool for the wax manufacturers recommended period before scraping, thus maximising wax absorption, which improves wax longevity and performance. A machine will remove the excess wax immediately after application giving little time for the wax to be absorbed in to the base.
I will clean the base fully prior to waxing and use the best possible wax. Furthermore, tell me where and when you are going and I will match the wax to the conditions you are likely to encounter. Alternatively I will use the best general purpose wax possible. Shop machine tuning will usually use the cheapest wax possible.
I will happily talk to you about your equipment (or indeed anything else snow related!) Try doing that with a machine!
I use mainly diamond stones, which removes the minimum amount of material to maximise ski edge life. A machine grinds excessive metal off the ski's edges, which greatly reduces edge life. Machine tuning also grinds edges to the machine's pre-set angles whereas I can set angles to either the manufacturers recommended angles or to your own requirements.
I will fill scratches and gouges individually and then trim the repair to the existing base. A machine grinds excessive amounts off the base - it removes far more material than necessary and so reduces ski life dramatically.
I will let the wax coat fully cool for the wax manufacturers recommended period before scraping, thus maximising wax absorption, which improves wax longevity and performance. A machine will remove the excess wax immediately after application giving little time for the wax to be absorbed in to the base.
I will clean the base fully prior to waxing and use the best possible wax. Furthermore, tell me where and when you are going and I will match the wax to the conditions you are likely to encounter. Alternatively I will use the best general purpose wax possible. Shop machine tuning will usually use the cheapest wax possible.
I will happily talk to you about your equipment (or indeed anything else snow related!) Try doing that with a machine!