Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Welp... it finally happened. After 10 years of skiing I totalled a pair of skis. My favorite pair I've ever owned. K2 sidestash, 174cm, with hammerheads mounted on telebry plates.

I'm not entirely sure how it happened. It's been warm and the snow is melting and thin in spots, and the snow is variable between ice and slush.

Skiing on an icy section I thought I just caught an edge, took a big, but thankfully painless fall. Telebry released on my left ski. Got up. Got my ski back on, skied down (thankfully was only maybe 150 yards from the lift), it felt a little wonky skiing on them. Thought maybe my binding needed an adjustment or something. Got on the lift, and immediately as I was unloading at the summit my ski was going all over the place. Popped them off for an inspection, and found a heart dropping dent in the side of my ski. About 1cm deep and broken edge. "F*#K!". Thankfully there's a patrol lodge up there and got them to let me ride the lift down.

Based on the damage done it must have been a rock stuck in the ice, I cant imagine what else would have made such a colossal dent.

I took them to the best ski shop that I know of in the catskills, and they said "we wouldn't even know where to start, sorry."

So my favorite pair of skis are trashed.

These skis (174cm) are a bit on the shorter side for me 6'2" 220lb. But they are wonderfully snappy and playful and make nice quick turns (which I like in a ski). I got these skis a couple years ago, used on Ebay, for $150. And so now the hunt is on for a new pair. IF ANYONE HAS K2 SIDESTASH THEY WANT TO SELL, PM ME. Please! I don't have money lying around for a brand new set of skis. So something used would have to be what I go with. I'm open to skis that are comparable in size/shape/performance. Or ill have to find a way to make my backup pair work for me (read below).



ANY TIPS TO MAKE MY BACKUP PAIR SKI BETTER?
(Blue/purplish skis in the pic below)
I have a backup pair of skis I never use. They're skis i picked up off Craigslist, they are mounted with hammerheads, the skis came with many big coreshots that I filled in, I sharpened the edges and rehabilitated the bases. But i dont love the way they ski, they're old black diamond verdicts, as best I can tell they are from 2007. Fat and stiff skis, good side cut, mounted with hammerheads (no telebry). But every time I ski them I feel like I have no control over the tips and the edges on the tips always catch. Maybe it's a simple matter of detuning the tips? Or maybe the mount is too far back (I bought them mounted) they look far back as if to be used in seriously deep powder, not east coast groomers.

If I have to remount them to move the bindings forward I'd want to put a pair of telebry on them. But I'm hot sure they are worth the trouble.



RELEASABLE BINDINGS SAVE LEGS!
If my ski hadent popped off it would have been a bad time, no doubt. After this I know I always want my skis to release. I know the telebry system is heavy and all, but for 75 mm bindings I'm willing to make the weight sacrifice. the telebry system works great.

I found a pair of fischer pro mountain 86 ti online for around $200. These look radically different from the sidestash but still a potentially fun ski. They have binding freedom inserts for 22 designs bindings, for both manufacturers boot center and 2.5cm back. I'm wondering if this is a good idea to let me try a couple of different binding placements before mounting my telebry. Also wondering if this will interfere with mounting the telebry, dont want to swiss cheese the skis too badly

Telecat,

Sorry about your skis. Your story has reaffirmed my commitment to telebry plates. A little weight and even a little wobble is better than orthopedic surgery.

I have made my peace with swiss-cheese skis. Right or wrong I am personally OK with skiing skis that I have put the third mount on. In my experience epoxy is very strong stuff.

So after scouring the internet all night, looking for skis, I decided I might just go ahead and try to fix them. Worst case I break them more, best case i can keep skiing without dropping hundreds of dollars.

Ive opened up the ski at the wound site and cut off the broken sidewall. I'll attach pictures below

So there's a few guides online to cut out and replace edge sections. While I'm a little intimidated i think i can manage it if I take my time. This would be the most intense ski repair I've done. I've repaired core shots and done Ptex welds before.

I'm a little worried about what I should fill up the gouge in the side of the skis with to "reconstruct" the part of the core that has collapsed in.

I figured the plastic sidewall I could just rebuild with epoxy (2 ton? Or something more flexible?) But what should I pipe into the wood to reinforce that would epoxy be too stiff? Should I just use woodglue

Epoxy would be a good choice here, especially a good quality one. The area is relatively small and underfoot, flexing isn't going to be much of an issue. If you are using marine epoxy with fillers I'd soak the core first and then after it's absorbed I'd fill it with thickened epoxy. Don't let the soaking cure fully, you'll want some chemical bonding. You'll get a good bond this way.

What you're going to do with the edge is another matter, however.

Someone was dumping new, old stock K2 Waybacks on eBay a couple weeks back for under $200 shipped. Check there? Probably a similar ski.

Hey stec.

Thanks for the heads up. But I think they mustve sold. The wayback does look like a similar ski that I wouldve grabbed for that price.


Update on my repair progress for anyone interested:
-i managed to get the old broken edge bits out relatively pain free, and sanded out the old epoxy that was holding it down so I could get the new edge piece in.
in.
-tognar sells replacement edge sections for relatively cheap (and super fast shipping with priority mail). this was actually harder to cut than the original edge, which makes me wonder if K2 just has cheaper edge materia (I know their skis are unfortunately made in china), then I had to file the ends to fit the 45 degree angles I cut in the original edge
-I glued down the new edge and screwed it in with small edge screws, also sold by tognar.
-I then epoxyed the gouge in the ski. Used 2 ton epoxy for all of this

Tomorrow when the epoxy is fully cured I'll be welding new ptex down on the base. And then giving them a fresh waxing

The last part will be grinding the new edge section to be flush with the original edge. I dont have a belt sander or anything that could do this quickly and accurately. So I'm reeeeeeally hoping the ski shop would be willing to do this for me. But I also know they might say "no way we are touching that" in which case I guess I'll be filing
away..

It cost in total around $50 for all the materials I bought. This would be significantly more if I didnt already have a lot of the tools and materials I'd need.

Progress pics!

I'm impressed, that looks like a good fix.

Did you get much snow out of this storm?

Interesting job... Next time use something like West System Gflex for the epoxy... less brittle, more supple... and it won't show that much...

And filing is alright; if you use an electric tool, you might go too far.

For the ptex, I think you can get sheets (small?); it would work better. Because I do not think that filling with melted ptex candles will adhere enough. It does stick to ptex itself, but on wood or metal? not very good. I've heard people used GB Weld with some succès, but I never tried it myself...

You can get sheets by the meter. You will need metal grip too.

https://snowboardmaterials.com/index.ph ... e-material

Another thing; do not be too confident about a release system... Some time, the release could end up in an injury too. Everything is a matter of compromise. If the release setting is a little too stiff, it won't work. If it is a little too soft, it would release easily... (It depends on the terrain too). It happened to a guy I know in the woods, tree hugging, broken rib & broken clavicule... So do not rely on it too much... And check the little spring bars that keeps the pivot stuck to the plate; if it starts to wiggle, replace them. Telebry plates need to be service every year...