These:

Ah, you mean a need for new skis? I got the same thing at Blue Knob and I didn't have to follow no JohnL to get 'em. Roger Z knows how to mess up his own skis without any guidance, thank you...

Wow, David... last time I saw a good core shot like that was at Whitetail. Base weld time. Actually, a good tech can repair them as good as new. The problems is that the shot is adjacent to the edge. It's tricky but do-able.

The edge on the left looks like it got punched out a bit.

It did...

What did John's skis look like?



(Yeah, yeah "Pocket Rockets")

Ouch! I hope those were your rock skis! (If they weren't they they probably are now ).

I'm going to go in a different direction then Kim - if you work on your own skis, I would recommend you try to fix them yourself. Why? Because you can hardly make them worse, so it's a great opportunity for a learning experience.

For those not familiar with this kind of work but thinking about it, remember the plain P-tex does not like to adhere to metal, so you should use something like Black Metal grip Repair String available at Tognar or any other well stocked ski tool outlet.

Have fun and keep us posted!

He's going to want to realign that edge and get some epoxy under it.

That's my thinkin' A patch just won't hold against that edge. An epoxy weld is questionable but more likely to stay.

Well this kind of sucks then. I don't have the tools nor have the know how to do a base repair like that. The only ski shop that I am conveniently around is the Ski Barn in CV. Think they can actually handle a high test job like that??

I can't comment on that, I've never used them. But I have the tools and some metal P-tex. I would have to check to see if I have any epoxy. You're welcome to borrow them when you're up here if you'd like, but while I'll give all the advice you would ever want, I won't touch your skis

I bet the guys at Whitegrass might be able to fix it. I'm sure they have seen plenty worse.

Hey Crunchy!! What do you think??

That punched out edge does not look good...

Where did you do that damage? The sketchiest thing you skied was the top of Stembogan Bowl? Middle section of Edgeset? Part of the education process, young David... And you thought only Jimmy and Andy were Obiwans.

I farted in the general direction of the BK rock demons this past weekend; I had my skis tuned (with an older core shot re-welded) *before* skiing Blue Knob. Telerod and I 'splored some outlaw terrain on Monday; made it through the weekend with one barely visible punch to the core material and some pretty good scratches in the base. Worst incident I had was on Saturday or Sunday, when I uprooted a buried rock skiing from high to low on one of the catwalk trails that separates Upper Extrovert from Lower Extrovert. The rock hung up on the bottom of my skis and I nearly tripped over it. Telerod and I tempted fate on one of the Blue Glades on Monday; the snow was very nice at the top (but apparently some of my turn exposed dirt) and skied straight over a hidden rock at the exit. No worries, though.

PJ, no way the PR's ever see BK. If he was following me on my PR's, David would have gotten even more damage, since the snow plume from the upturned tails would have blinded him. Ask Roger Z. The devil's own (666) skis are my current ski of choice in the Mid-Atlantic for pretty much every condition and surface coverage.

BWPA has it right. A ski like the Public Enemy (Steep and Cheap special) is a great rock ski for the Mid Atlantic. Wide enough to float over a lot of hidden treasures, and not too stiff (to decrease the leverage and minimize further damage.)

Aw, just stick a wad of chewing gum in there with your thumb.

I'd tap the edge back into alignment with a hammer (if you have a body shop hammer, they are great for this), get some *flexible* epoxy into/around the metal edge, including the top of the edge if you can, and then fill with the metal-grip ptex.

Flexible epoxy is important, though you might be able to get away with regular epoxy if this is near the middle of the ski. I'd go for the flexible stuff if at all possible.

I -would have- brought a pair of MO2.2s if I hadn't been out cold.