10
MAR/APR 2019
CHRIS COSTIGAN
GET2KNOW| SKI/BOARD TUNE TECHS
SARA JOLICOEUR ing a beat up pair of skis look new again,
everyday has a challenge and I love a good
challenge.
Shop: Mt. Bachelor Tune Shop
Years Tuning: 17
Hometown: Greene, Maine
Years in Bend: 7 3. Tuning skis/boards looks very labor
intensive. How do you feel at the end
of a busy day? What do you do to kick
back and relax?
Busy days can be exhausting. A cold beer
or two is a favorite way to relax after a long
day at work. Fishing and woodworking are
some of my other favorite downtime activi-
ties.
1. How did you become a tuning tech,
who taught you the ropes?
In college, I started working at the rental/
repair shop at Stowe. There I started to learn
how to tune, there were many experienced
techs that showed me the way.
2. The tuning area of a ski/board shop
usually has its own micro-culture. Is it
different from say the retail part of a
shop? What is the most fun part of your
job?
The tune shop is definitely a different kind
of place. Being slope side we see some
interesting challenges every day. From go-
ing out on the snow to pry someone’s failed
snowboard buckle from their boot to mak-
DAVID SWORD
Shop: Crow’s Feet Commons
Years Tuning: 38....yikes
Hometown: Mt. Hood
1. How did you become a tuning tech,
who taught you the ropes?
My mother managed the rental shop at Mt.
Hood Meadows and I pretty much grew up
skiing and working there. I have worked in
shops, for equipment manufacturers, race
teams and everything in between. My early
ski mentors were Steve Bratt and Ron Kipp,
both of whom where sticklers for equip-
ment being in the best shape. Through their
guidance I was immersed in all things skiing,
reading everything I could, asking questions,
listening in on tech conversations and gener-
ally being an information sponge. Living on
Mt. Hood also proved valuable, as summer
skiing on the Palmer glacier attracted the
best athletes and mechanics from around
the world. As many World Cup tech’s spent
some (or most) of their Summer’s on Mt.
Hood, I had plenty of opportunity to learn
from the best.
2. The tuning area of a ski/board shop
usually has its own micro culture. Is it
different from say the retail part of a
shop. What is the most fun part of your
job?
The “back of the house” is certainly an inter-
esting place, and as many can attest, some-
times crazy things happen that should just
remain as memories. Most shops, however,
are very professional with the technicians
integrating with the sales staff, often lending
a hand out front. The best part of the job is
helping people get their gear back in shape.
New Ski Day is always celebrated, because
we are all skiers/riders and know what its
like to get new gear. When we can get a dif-
ficult job done, like repairing a serious “core
shot” on someones base, or simple one
4. Working in a tuning shop, do you get
much ski/ride time on the mountain. Do
you always go out with a fresh wax?
Fortunately my shop window looks out at
Pine Marten lift and there is an opportunity
to ski most days. I get on the hill a few
times a week. Always with a fresh wax.
5. Tuning is seasonal, do you have
another fun and interesting job on the
offseason?
Having a seasonal job has allowed me
to work in several different lines of work
throughout the years. Currently gardening is
my offseason gig.
like cleaning up rust and putting sharpness
back on an overworked edge, we know the
customer experience on the hill will be so
much better. We take great pride in what we
do, and hopefully that shows with the quality
of work and face to face interaction we have
with customer.
3. Tuning skis/boards looks very labor
intensive. How do you feel at the end of
a busy day. What do you do to kick back
and relax?
At the end of a busy shop day, everyone is
tired but strangely satisfied. When you love
what you do, working hard each day is easy.
A beer or whisky and then end of a day is
common, as is getting our personal gear
ready for a day on the mountain.
4. Working in a tuning shop, do you get
much ski/ride time on the mountain. Do
you always go out with a fresh wax?
Our staff probably average 3-4 ski days
a week. 1 or 2 days riding the lifts and
the others on early morning “dawn patrol”
missions up Tumalo or The Cone. We pride
ourselves in making sure our personal equip-
ment is dialed as well, so we totally nerd out
in the waxing world for sure.
5. What advice would you give someone
interested in tuning skis/boards in a
shop?
Get a basic tuning kit, attend clinics, practice
on your own equipment. Ask lots of ques-
tions. Go down the internet rabbit hole and
learn as much as you can. Look into an
internship with a shop or race team.
6. Tuning is seasonal, do you have
another fun and interesting job on the
off season?
We ski and bike year around. When skiing
becomes sparse, the Gravel and Mountain
bikes come out. I apply the same focus and
excitement towards bikes as I do skis and
snowboards.
Shop: Powder House
Years Tuning: 20
Hometown: Ballston Lake, New York
Years in Bend: 17
1. How did you become a tuning tech,
who taught you the ropes?
I wrangled a job at the Jay Peak rental shop
that started at 7:30 in the morning the day
after I graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh. At
some point that winter I started shooting skis
out of the back of an old Grindrite machine.
The ski/board bum thing was supposed to
be the year off before getting serious and
big with grad school. 20 years in, I’m finally
calling this a career.
I really learned how to tune skis when I
moved to Bend and got hired on at the Pow-
der House. I’ve learned from various clinics
and every new hire that joins the team. I’ve
even learned from a few customers. There
isn’t much room for arrogance in our shop.
Everyone has a special angle.....even our in-
house Viking and his edge assaulting “Park
tune”. I don’t get it, but the park kids do.
2. The tuning area of a ski/board shop
usually has its own micro culture. Is it
different from say the retail part of a
shop. What is the most fun part of your
job?
We all wear multiple hats: twist DIN, sell
product, grind, drill, wax, buff. There are
days where I don’t see any of my boot fit-
ters, but those guys are tuners and rental
techs as well. So they have to deal with
feet, and then come back to the shop and
join the ten hour rental push party—they are
commerce warriors. It’s the Powder House
ladies that are the unsung heroes of the
winter campaign. They have to sell the soft
goods, manage the rental line, and herd the
guys, who occasionally have the piss and
vinegar of alley tomcats.
11
The most fun part of the job is watching the
crew behave like family.
3. Tuning skis/boards looks very labor
intensive. How do you feel at the end of
a busy day. What do you do to kick back
and relax?
I’m not running off to any sort of gym after
a work push. The kick back and relax thing
is sometimes accomplished by putting on
some headphones and taking my pooch,
Norm, for a walk. Night walks are the best.
And there is the projector at my lady’s place.
Watching Netflix on that thing is all time.
There is usually a beer or three mixed in
there somewhere.
4. Working in a tuning shop, do you get
much ski/ride time on the mountain. Do
you always go out with a fresh wax?
I get to ride two days a week, which is
enough-ish. I wax constantly but I’m quick
and dirty about it.
5. What advice would you give someone
interested in tuning skis/boards in a
shop?
Secure an undergraduate degree in some-
thing meaningless and love the hell out of
winter.
6. Tuning is seasonal, do you have
another fun and interesting job on the
off season?
Next time you’re at the hill take stock of all
the Powder House Season Lease stickers
you see on equipment. There is nothing
seasonal about my job. I do a little guiding
for Cog Wild just to mix it up.
GUNNAR BARRETT
Shop: Skjersaa’s
Years Tuning: A bunch
Hometown: Bend
Years in Bend: My whole life
1. How did you become a tuning tech,
who taught you the ropes?
I became a tuning tech because my good
buddy Gary said he could get me a job tun-
ing skis in the winter. Drew Barber taught
me most of what I know today between
techniques and how to maintenance the
machines.
2. The tuning area of a ski/board shop
usually has its own micro culture. Is it
different from say the retail part of a
shop? What is the most fun part of your
job?
The back of the shop is different than out on
the floor, it’s a little less social in the back
because it’s loud and a tight space. The
most fun part of my job is making a pair of
skis look new again and ski well, it gets me
stoked when tunes come out nicely.
3. Tuning skis/boards looks very labor
intensive. How do you feel at the end of
a busy day. What do you do to kick back
and relax?
Tuning skis and boards is definitely labor
intensive, at the end of the night I feel pretty
exhausted, scraping lots of skis gets tiring
quick. To kick back and relax I like to sit on
the chairlift between runs then ski.
4. Working in a tuning shop, do you get
much ski/ride time on the mountain. Do
you always go out with a fresh wax?
Working in a tuning shop I get lots of ride
time! My ski and work schedule work with
each other allowing me to ski just about
whenever. I don’t always go out with a fresh
wax, only when one is needed!
5. What advice would you give someone
interested in tuning skis/boards in a
shop?
I would say to someone interested in tuning
in a shop, a sharp scraper can make the
world of a difference.
6. Tuning is seasonal, do you have
another fun and interesting job on the
off season?
In the summer I work in maintenance on
the J-J youth services property and throw
pottery.
Dani Whitehead | P: Austin White