Ski Edge Grinding | How often should you grind the ski edges?
When it comes to how often you should sharpen your ski edges or snowboard edges, opinions vary widely. Some leave it at having their edges serviced once at the beginning of the season in a service workshop and possibly a second time during the season. The main reason for this is that having the work done in a service workshop can be quite costly, especially for families. Also, it is not very practical to leave the skis in a workshop overnight multiple times during a ski holiday. This is especially impossible if you stay in a hut in the middle of the ski area and not down in the valley. Others, however, have the option to have the appropriate tools (file or edge grinder) with them and can sharpen whenever they want.
Frequency of the sharpening process
However, opinions differ on the frequency of sharpening. Should you run over the edges once a week? Or is it enough at the beginning of the ski holiday? Concerns about edge wear are often expressed. If you sharpen the skis too often, you might eventually not be able to use them anymore. How often you can actually sharpen your skis until they become unusable depends on several factors . When filing, depending on the file used and the pressure applied, up to two tenths of a millimeter are removed from the edge. When sharpening with an electric ski edge grinder like the ES 2000PLUS , a maximum of up to two hundredths of the edge is removed per sharpening pass.
Sharpening ski edges - how often?
How often you should sharpen your skis depends on many factors. For example, the condition of the slope must be considered. Is there artificial snow on the slope and is the slope interspersed with icy patches? If yes, then the ski edge wears out significantly faster than when skiing in normal snow conditions or even powder snow. Furthermore, you naturally have to sharpen the ski edges more often if you ski several hours every day instead of just making a few turns down the slope. By the way, the angle of the ski side edge also affects its durability. The sharper the angle, the faster the edge becomes dull while skiing. Which edge angle is suitable for which type of skier can be read in our blog post Sharpening ski edges – which angle?. A general statement such as sharpening once or twice a week is therefore not possible.
TO THE SHARPENING DEVICES
The dulling of the edge
Basically, it can be said that the edges of skis and snowboards dull relatively quickly.
Therefore, it can also be said that it is always advantageous to go on the slope with freshly sharpened edges. This always promotes safety on the slope and ensures more fun while skiing.
Tip: Skis and snowboards are not delivered from the factory with optimally sharp edges. This is not technically possible in production. Therefore, it is recommended to test and sharpen the edges right after purchase. This also ensures optimal safety on the first day with the new skis. A perfectly sharpened edge is no longer in optimal condition after the first run. However, this does not mean that you have to carry a file to run over the edge again at every possible stop. For a ski day from about 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and normal slope conditions , it would therefore be sufficient, for example, to sharpen the edges every other day . But again, everything depends on the skiing behavior.
Therefore, it can also be said that it is always advantageous to go on the slope with freshly sharpened edges. This always promotes safety on the slope and ensures more fun while skiing.
Tip: Skis and snowboards are not delivered from the factory with optimally sharp edges. This is not technically possible in production. Therefore, it is recommended to test and sharpen the edges right after purchase. This also ensures optimal safety on the first day with the new skis. A perfectly sharpened edge is no longer in optimal condition after the first run. However, this does not mean that you have to carry a file to run over the edge again at every possible stop. For a ski day from about 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and normal slope conditions , it would therefore be sufficient, for example, to sharpen the edges every other day . But again, everything depends on the skiing behavior.
Feeling for the sharpness of the edge
Since safety on the slope takes precedence over all other aspects of skiing, it is therefore important to develop a sense for the dulling of the edge . Often, after a day of skiing, you can already notice that the edge is less sharp compared to the previous day. In the evening after skiing, carefully run your finger over the edge of your ski. Does the edge feel particularly sharp? This is because the edge has bent slightly due to the pressure while skiing, creating a burr. This means that the edge feels sharp but actually is not. You can test the sharpness of the edge by running your fingernail upwards along the edge. If the edge shaves off a bit of your fingernail, it is sharp. You can also use this test directly after sharpening to check the sharpness level. Please be especially careful and make sure not to injure yourself on the sharp edge.
Once you get a feel for the sharpness of the edge, you can sharpen it as needed. The edge should be in optimal condition every day. Especially if you mainly ski down the black slopes. For safety reasons, it is therefore recommended that the edge always has sufficient sharpness. However, this is definitely not the case if you only take the skis to the ski workshop once or twice per season!
Once you get a feel for the sharpness of the edge, you can sharpen it as needed. The edge should be in optimal condition every day. Especially if you mainly ski down the black slopes. For safety reasons, it is therefore recommended that the edge always has sufficient sharpness. However, this is definitely not the case if you only take the skis to the ski workshop once or twice per season!
So sharpen your edges as often as possible. After a while, you will develop a feel for how sharp the edge is and how sharp it should be when skiing and testing the edge. If you do not want to spend too much money on ski service in the long term but still value an optimally sharp edge, it is worth purchasing tools to perform the service yourself. Whether it is the file or the electric edge grinder, both devices give you the opportunity to touch up the ski anytime and anywhere.
With the ES 2000PLUS, you can optimally prepare your edges yourself and save yourself the trip to the service workshop. This saves you a lot of time and you are no longer bound to opening hours. That means more time on the slope for you!