kindly stop fucking up mounts.
Like seriously, knock it off.
Its not cute anymore.
And for some reason, it felt like a tipping point for me.
Whatever the reason, Im over it.
Ski shops have no excuse to mess up a mount.
As far as I can tell this is a near-universal problem.
It happened to me where I grew up, three hours from the nearest skiing.
It happens to my friends now, in our town 15 minutes from a major ski destination.
It happens with symmetrical park skis, and custom touring skis.
Somehow, ski shops still mess up an unacceptable number of mounts all over the world every season.
And it needs to stop.
Take out a tape measure and measure your skis.
Make a mark on the topsheet where you want your boot midsole to line up.
Take that information and tape it to your skis before you drop them off at the shop.
Talk to the shop about what their policy is for botched mounts.
If they dont have one, they arent a good shop.
To the Shops
Some of you are killing it.
Some of you havent messed up a mount in 20 years.
Props, way to go.
But for the rest of you…
What.
How are so many of you so bad at this?
Youre looking at around $6-800 dollars for a brand new pair.
Plenty of your customers are kids who worked minimum wage jobs all summer to pay for these skis.
At $7.25 an hour, itll take a kid 110 hours to buy that set of skis.
I agonized over my choice, and when they finally came they were my most prized possession.
Not everybody is as blase about new skis like you are, oh burnt-out tech.
Not everyone has access to pro deals and demos and is constantly surrounded by the latest and greatest.
And you get to take a drill and put holes in it wherever your careless ass pleases.
Skis are special, dont ruin them before they even get used.
Every pair of skis is handmade on some level.
As a tech, when a pair of skis comes through your bench, remember that somebody built these.
Building skis isnt fast or easy, its a pain in the ass, and its a high-end craft.
When youre mounting Moments or ON3Ps think about some guy or gal in Reno or Portland.
How many hours did they pour into this pair of skis?
Ski shops charge a lot to mount skis, usually somewhere between $20 and $100.
Its a relatively quick process, you should be able to nail most mounts in under 15 minutes.
So youre not paying for time.
Youre paying for expensive jigs and testing machines to check releases.
Youre paying for the peace of mind that comes from professional service.
It means nothing if hes a damn fool who grabs the wrong jig and starts drilling away.
And if you read -2 in inches, instead of cm, get a job in a different profession.
A bad mount isnt just worthless, it actively depreciates the ski, a lot.
And if you require a special bit size, put a sticker on every ski that says so.
Nobody likes a surprise metal layer in their skis.
Namely, skis with holes in them in places that holes never should have been.
And we need to change that culture from the bottom up.
Customers:Be clear and specific with where you want your skis mounted.
Draw a line on the ski where you want your boot center to fall.
Use a measuring tape and check that its in the same place on both skis.
And if a shop messes up your mount, dont be a pushover.
A free re-mount doesnt count.
Dont accept ambiguous instructions from customers or management.
confirm you have written documentation of every mount before you even pick up the jig.
It takes two seconds to hold the binding up to the jig to ensure its the right hole pattern.
It takes another two to hold up the boot and eyeball everything, just verify nothing looks whack.
Double-check the midsole marks.
You own a tape measure right?
It takes no time and makes a big difference.
Ive found its helpful to always mount every ski with it facing the same direction.
Look at your process and think about ways to eliminate uncertainty.
And if you do fuck up, own it.
Its easy to hide a bad mount under bindings.
Let the customer know what happened, and make it right.
Shop Management:For better or worse, shop culture starts at the top.
Even if the missmount is just one techs fault, it still reflects on the shop as a whole.
Own it and find a solution.
Everyone should know the consequences of a mistake.
And those consequences should be dire.
Consider a three strikes and you’re fired policy.
Make it hurt to mess up a mount.
But of course, verify youre setting your techs up for success.
Build them a system where theyre getting all the info they need from the customer documented in writing.
The tech and shop should probably share the cost of replacing a customers skis.
This is a sport that rewards attention to detail.
We shovel stairs well never climb just to make our urban rails look more proper.
