Grays On Trays

Last night I took my board into a nearby shop for a tune-up and wax. After I wrote out my claim check, the shop employee said “By the way, we’re not going to start grinding for a few more weeks.”

What?

I had called the shop back in August, and the person I spoke with said that they would start tuning in early October. Now it sounds like mid to late October. Oh well. I’m not going to need the board for a while, anyway. I’m not going to any locale with snow anytime soon. (By the way, if you hurry, you can check out this snow picture from Terry Peak, South Dakota.)

Here’s something about tuning I did not know. The employee asked if my board had come without bindings, or if I had taken them off. I said that I had taken them off. He asked that I keep them on next time. It helps them hold onto the board during the tuning. “It’s a lot easier,” he told me.

And here I had thought that it would be easier for them to remove most of the bulk of the board. I use Flow bindings. They’re great, but they may not fold down as well as strap bindings. In any case, it was time to clean off the “naked” board anyway.

If you really get into snowboarding, you will end up with several kinds of boards. One for the park, one for the mountain. One for snow, one for ice. Me, I’ve got two choices: a set of skis, and a snowboard.

For whatever reason, I had troubles with the snowboard today. After struggling with it for a while, I went back to the car and got out my skis. And then I had a fine time on the hill. The snowboard can wait for another day.

Maybe I just wasn’t in the snowboarding mood today.

I took my board and new bindings out yesterday, and made an impression.

It’s interesting to see what kinds of reactions the kids have to an old guy on a board. A 15-year old was a good encouragement on a day during my first season, giving me some useful advice. But usually, the kids stick with themselves.

Today I was out on my new board. As I rode away from the chairlift, a 10-year old (I’m guessing the age) boy said “How’s the snowboarding today, sir?”

I’ve long ago adjusted to being called “sir.” In fact, when it comes from a kid, I’m actually glad to hear it. A few manners, you understand.

The two of us got to talking about snowboarding, how long we had been riding, and so forth. Then he said “That’s a cool board you have there.”

So there you have it. Cool, as certified by a ten-year old.

Tonight I went to a class about how to tune your own board or skis. I think I’ll pass for now.

It’s not that I think that tuning and waxing are unnecessary. And it’s not that I’m (too) afraid to spend the money for the equipment. I know that in the long run, I’ll probably save money by doing some work myself.

It’s simply that I don’t want to work that hard in the “back office” functions of snowboarding or skiing. Hold an inventory of different waxes, to be applied as required by the changing temperatures? I’d rather not. Lovingly grind the edges and then polish them, all while not bruising the sidecoat that is just above the edges? Nah. Setting aside a shelf in my basement for a whole bunch of specialized gear? I don’t think so; my basement is already getting cluttered with the specialized gear of both skiing and snowboarding.

Do-it-yourself can make sense. But in this case, at this time, it doesn’t.

While “slippery” is a good quality for the underside of a snowboard, it’s not a good quality for the topside. The last thing you want to do when you put a foot on top of the board is to slip away. That’s what stomp pads are for.

Today I installed a stomp pad on my “new” (used) board. I am not sure yet where my bindings will end up, or even if I will want to change from a regular stance to a goofy one, so I didn’t want to put it too close to either set of binding holes.

That’s not the optimal choice. Ideally, I should put it next to where my bindings will end up being permanently. But since I don’t know where that is yet, it is better to minimize the downside that would come from having it in the wrong place. Better “middle of the road,” which is where the new pad is: in the middle of the board, right between the two sets of binding holes.

My first day ever out on snowboarding was on a rental board (as part of a class) that did not have a stomp pad. It wasn’t until my second lesson that I got a stomp pad, and understood its value.