Waxed and Ready to Slide

A few weeks ago I took my board into a local shop to get it waxed before the season. Yesterday I picked it up. Now all I need to do is put the bindings back on.

I had taken the bindings off. One reason was to give the topsheet a good cleaning; the other was to make it easier for the shop to store the board before they actually started working on it.

Shows you what I know.

When I took the board in, the store employee asked if this was a new board that had come without bindings, or if I had taken them off.

"I took them off," I answered.

"Well, it would really help us if you left them on. It gives us something to hold onto as we work the board."

I suppose the whole question would go away if I started doing the waxing myself. But the house already has enough winter gear--downhill skis, poles, and boots; the same for cross country; and for the snowboard, the board, boots, not one but two bags, and a variety of protective gear. Adding more "stuff" -- iron, files, scrapers, six kinds of wax, etc. -- doesn't seem that attractive at the moment.

On the other hand, if I start getting the board waxed more often, the cost savings may make the stuff storage worthwhile.

Pre-Season Tune-Up

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.