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Comment by m463 | Hacker News Reader

I have to wonder...

The article shows edges and the effect of sharpening.

However, I would imagine corrosion makes much of the surface of the ski more abrasive and that could explain the grabbiness.

Is there any science behind the edge assertions? almost all of it is anecdotal.

I can't help but think of overengineering and a/v systems.

For example, I can't tell any difference from different speaker wires (except bad cables), but I do notice hiss in amplifiers. And I think OLED might be superior, but honestly dark scenes are horrible during daylight hours unless you have blackout curtains in the room with the panel. No review or marketing ever talks about these practical details. Same with reflections with glossy screens.

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You will see rust on your edges if you leave them wet and don't wipe them off. It can be removed with a soft gummy stone. A thick layer of wax left on the skis and edges keeps them rust free over the summer. Typically done for race skis or higher end skis.

I don't worry about corrosion much, but I'm tuning the skis I use on ice every couple of days.

My powder skis get waxed every few days, edges only to set up the angles once. Maybe once a season after that or to fix as best I can when hitting rocks.

Edges makes bigger difference in ski touring or more appropriately ski alpinism. Meaning tricky steep slopes where you sometimes switch skis for crampons and ice axe and put them on backpack, wildly varying conditions on the slopes. Or using ski crampons when its less extreme.

There, any advantage is very important, ie how precisely you put skins on skis to leave that little bit of edge for... edging, at least thats what we call it. I don't think it makes a massive difference there how sharp your edges are, but in steep icy/crusty slopes where your skis don't even leave a mark as you pass, only crampons a bit, everything helping is more than welcome. I never clean them thoroughly though so edges are rusty, 10-15 years of moderate use of skis makes no difference to me.

Also, in usual piste skiing in resorts, if you go really fast, at least relative to rest of skiers, and slope is a bit icy, sharp edges make a lot of difference in how stable skis are in turns. There even I can feel difference between dulled and sharpened ones.

> Edges makes bigger difference in ski touring or more appropriately ski alpinism

East Coast? I’m a Rocky Mountain skinner and I can’t remember the last time I edged off piste.

East coast touring…. Edges are nice even traversing on piste when you going up after the lifts have closed and the machined dust has been scraped off the hardpack. Also the one time a flexy ski is better on ice, when you gotta traverse a bumped out section…

Also have backcountry nordic pair with metal edges for similiar reason — tho i only debur them, never sharpened.

On piste skinning is mostly because it’s where the snow is until the back country fills in later in the season.

More like Mont Blanc ski ascent in my case... no room for mistakes on steeper slopes

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