It’s been an insanely busy December.  As many of us are aware, it is an Olympic  year.  Viva the ‘Couver!  That means many of this years events are either qualifying events, or an opportunity for winter athletes from all over the globe to get competition “ready” versus world class competition.  That being said, every thing is a go, and has been since last Northern Hemisphere’s summer!  Everything this season has had a little more of a feel of urgency or importance to it.  First, athletes want on to their respective country’s team.  Second, they want the grand prize, to be atop the podium after “battling” the rest of the world’s best!  This being stated, you can imagine that the responsibilities that weigh on the Technicians, who will be responsible for bringing these athletes equipment up to world class standards, are massive.  Skis and boards were being “prepped” as early as September, in some cases as early as August!  So in rolled December, and so rolled the dice.  It’s go time!  Here are some photos to peak into the last very busy month!

Jared Hawn, Head Technician for the US of A Adaptive Ski Team, standing in front of about $30,000 worth of "fire wood"! This is only half the load that Jared's been prepping since September! For good measure as well, the USAS Team took 9 of 12 Gold at their first stop in Winter Park, Colorado. About a week off, and then they're off to Europe for a month.

US of A Snowboard Team Head Technician Stu Sores and Swix' Global Freeride Head Technician Kenny Nault, setting temp/condition specific wax and prepping boards for the first Chevy Grand Prix, a heavy first stop in Olympic Qualifiers for the US of A Halfpipe Team. Months of work paid off for both with four of their respective athletes "podium-ing", and taking a step closer to landing on the US of A Olympic Team. The men saw Shawn White and Louie Vito going one and two, and the women's results were Kelly Clark and Gretchen Bleiler going one, two as well. Congrats to the riders, and a moment to take a deep breath and have a "soda" for the Techs, before getting right back into prepping for their next stop. Literally, "no rest for the wicked", there will be a couple of weeks to turn over a few dozen boards before the next Grand Prix stop in Mammoth Lakes, CA.

Just a "few" boards for Kevin Pearce and Danny Davis. (In all fairness, one of those is Jack Mitrani's). Well, Danny killed it at the Mountain Dew Tour Pipe men's Finals, taking first and unleashing not one but two Double Corked 1080's in his winning run! Kevin opted to take advantage of Copper's Super Pipe and get some more work in on the 22' walls the fellas will be seeing at the next Grand Prix stop in Mammoth, CA.

Zach Black of Summit County takes a huge step towards the Olympics, and in Very Good Company! Congrats Zach!

Copper Grand Prix Men's Podium. You know the Techs, Stu and Kenny, like what they see here. Lot of hard work paying off for everyone.

... Back at "Mono Cera", doing the rough work on edges for the US of A Adaptive Skit Team.

Another town, a new "wax room"! Welcome to Breckenridge, CO! First stop on the Mountain Dew Tour, and what only felt like hours after Kelly and Shawn closed up the Copper Grand Prix. Watch out America, these wax labs pop-up in "unsuspecting" neighborhoods throughout the Country, especially when big events roll into town! Thanks for the locale to The Canadian Halfpipe Team and Coach, Trennon Paynter.

Kenny Nault of Swix checks with Sammy Carlson for feedback, but the ski's are dialed! There isn't much that can hold Sammy back. The kid just slays it, and he did it again, taking third in Men's Slopestyle!

Bruce and Jossi Wells take a moment and "talk" thru a run at Dew Tour's Men's Slopestyle. Jossi would "fry bigger fish" a couple hours later, taking second in Men's Halfpipe!

Canadian Halfpipe Team's Mike Riddle threw down an insane run, and stomped his way to the top of the Dew Tour Podium! A lot of work went into Mike's sticks, but again, not nearly as much practice Mike has invested into himself! When you have an athlete like Mike, you only hope that the tune will eliminate any negative elements the snow may present, and allow the athlete to have no concerns with there equipment's performance. Then the athlete can perform with fewer concerns ( ie: speed, edges, etc.) weighing on them. Sometimes you just have an athlete that "won't be denied". Congrats Mike! That wrapped up Contests thru Deciembre, but it only meant that all those Techs, Athletes, and Coaches were back getting ready for the next one! Here comes January... Doesn't look any quieter!

* i GUESS THE PURPOSE OF THIS “BLOG” IS TO CORRELATE IT’S TECHNICAL MEANING TO THE COMMON SKIER/BOARDER…  TO PUT IT IN LANGUAGE WE ALL DIG.  i APOLOGIZE IF IT’S NOT “TECH-SPECIFIC” FOR SOME, BUT HOPE IT PROVIDES EXPLANATION FOR OTHERS.

With tuning its interesting that we’re constantly looking to the future!  Yup, always checking on the forecast and trying to prescribe the best wax application in order to ensure us the best day on slope.  I know, some people will say, “I never wax, it’s a waste of time”, or “I’ve ridden my skis/board straight out of the wrapper for the last two months”!  Both are more than legit opinions, and honestly, no one knows how you like to ride your gear more than you.  I mean you’re the one standing on it, right-?

Where it is a fact, that proper application of the correct temperature specific wax will reduce friction and drag on the base of your skis/board, and promote glide characteristics, only you can determine what type of performance you want your gear to achieve.  Again, this being said, I hope only to convince you to take a bit of time to wax your skis/board for no other reason than “protection”!  My point of looking to forecast is that it can be a drag, especially if you don’t see snow in it.  More importantly, get to know the snow that you’re on or going to be riding.  See, you can get away with not waxing, or not waxing regularly – if you have decent structure in your gear  and, again, if that’s what you’re into.   The problem here is that the snow that we ride upon is made up of crystals, and those crystals tear away at the base of your gear, ripping away what wax you do have in your base and even some of the base material itself!  (This has nothing to do with the numerous contaminants that lie within the snow.)

The snow is your buddy, but let’s paint it this way:  Almost every time you head out on it, it’s taking away something from your skis/board.  Pretty crappy.  You like your gear, you don’t want to see this happen to it…  This is where wax enters the equation.  Wax is the only material that you can “invest” into your skis/board (-other than p-tex, but that’s a whole other animal.)   By waxing your gear, or bringing it to a tech. to do so, you’re not only improving the glide ratio, but you’re also investing into the base a protective measure.

You could look at the base of your skis/board as your skin.  It’s not healthy for your body if your skin gets burnt-?  The epidermal tissue usually dies and falls away.  Sounds bad.  Well, your base material does the same when it is “burnt” (look for oxidation or “whitening” on heavy contact points, ie: “under foot”) by the massive friction it creates with the snow crystals…  Except when it “falls away”, it doesn’t rejuvenate like your skin!  Protect that base!  ”Moisturize” it, wax it!   If not for performance then for protection.  You like your gear.  Treat it right, and it’ll treat you right.  Look out for each other.

Point being:  Yup it’s a drag always “looking to the future” or planning ahead, but addressing the snow that is already out there  can sometimes be even more critical to the preservation and performance of your gear.  Take a moment, maybe you have a “soda” and give a little something back to your gear.  It’ll reward you in the long run.  Oh, and pray for more snow!

Setting edges with SnowGlide Tool for US Adaptive Team.

Well, here we go!  This is the first blog in what i hope will be many.  It’s a pretty difficult concept…  a website/blog about tuning skis and snowboards.  Could be boring to some, interesting to others.  i’ll try to keep it as interesting as i can.  What i hope to provide is some “tips” or “tricks” to the basics of tuning your gear, and additionally some insight into the activities of Mono Cera during the winter season.

i hope this is as enlightening as it is entertaining, and encourages you to start or continue tuning your own gear so that you can enjoy your time “on hill” even more so than i know you already do!  Like i said, “here we go”, let’s have some fun with it!