Basic Rules Regarding Base Bevel
As a ski racer, you can only be as strong as your weakest link. In a sport with so many variables, it is important to take care of all of the controllable links, such as physical and mental strength, tuned skis, and boot set up.
Often overlooked is the importance of boot set up and its relationship with ski set up. A little here…a little there…what’s the big deal…why sweat the little stuff. As you will read, it all adds up.
Let me relay a story. Five years ago, mid January, I had a few coaches who were asking some compelling questions about boot canting. The more I thought about it, the clearer it became…the same athletes did not have canting problems in November or December, so why suddenly in mid January?
What I discovered is that as the season progressed, athletes tuning their skis, like good little racers, were continually increasing the base edge bevel. So of course they needed more cants! The point here is that ski performance is a linked system. A racer can only be as strong as the weakest link. Five years ago, mid January, I happened to check 10 pair of my sponsored J3 (ages 13 & 14) racers skis at an important regional race. Not one pair of the 10 skis I checked had less than 4 degrees of base bevel and the majority of them had over 5 degrees!! At these bevels, what does any amount of canting matter?!
A lot of focus has been put on canting and it is a worthwhile effort. However, the canting work is not worth much when the base bevels change progressively. Most developing junior racer’s skiing stance problems can be addressed by ski tune, especially regarding base bevel.
Here are the basic rules for base bevel:
The flatter the bevel, the quicker the ski’s edge will engage. As you start to give the ski more bevel, the ski begins to need more angle before it engages, thus making it a slower reaction. This has the same effect as canting. If you cant the boots to the outside, you get a faster reaction and to the inside, a slower reaction. Under these rules, it is also true that base bevel changes for different events. In slalom, we want a very quick reaction, in GS a little less and in DH, the skis need to be very subtle with edge engagement.
Common example: Take an athlete who gets a lot of knee wobble at the top and in the middle of the turn. The most common reaction is she/he needs to be canted to the inside. Well, lets look at this; the knee begins to wobble because the ski engages too soon, so either solution will work. By giving the ski more base bevel, the knee will move farther inside before the edge engages. If the base bevel is bigger, less cant will be needed and vise-versa.
The final and most important point is that base bevel cannot replace canting, but that they both must work together harmoniously. Extreme care needs to be taken to keep the base bevel constant. This is even difficult for the most experienced tuners. Base bevels should be set when the ski is new or freshly stoneground. Using base bevel guides at that time insures accuracy. After this, if you are filing base edge, you are changing the bevel! No ifs, ands or buts about it.
The old 1st step of tuning, “base filing”, needs to be removed from all of our minds. Once bevels are set, the first step in tuning is to run 320 or 400 grit sandpaper wrapped around a file down each edge. As the season progresses eventually the bevel will increase and a stonegrinding will be necessary. Depending on how often you tune, stonegrinding is a good idea two or three times a year.
So don’t let the little stuff get you. To be as strong as you can be, make sure to pay particular attention to your changing equipment. Every little thing counts; the better you look out after your equipment, the better your skiing gets. Go fast and good luck.
Article by: Thor Verdonk, Rossignol Alpine Product Technical Advisor/U.S. Ski Team Manager
