Equipment Repairs

As the cost of skiing equipment continues to rise, the need to keep your current stock in working order grows.   

Skis

Skis can be repaired, depending on the type of damage.   Most local ski shops can do repairs to the base (bottom) of the ski, even for deep scratches, usually through a combination of stonegrinding and ptex material repair.   If the ski has some minor structural damage, like a small hole or slight delamination, those also can usually be repaired.   If the ski is actually cracked, then the structural integrity is gone and there is rarely a way to restore the ski to reliable performance.   Local ski shops also provide wax service at a reasonable price, and many have stonegrinding operations (stonegrinding refreshes the base of the ski, and can tune the performance to specific conditions).

Poles

Broken ski poles can not be fixed.  Most ski poles break in the middle or lower part of the pole, thus preventing them from being recut as a shorter length pole.  However, your local ski shop may be able to sell you a replacement pole shaft, which they can then transfer the basket and grip from the broken pole.  This is usually quite a bit cheaper than buying a new set of poles.   Issues with grips or baskets can be fixed or replaced at the local ski store.  New baskets are quite easy to install using a hair dryer, heat gun, hot water or similar heat solutions (car tail pipe??), and most ski shops sell replacement baskets.

Boots

Boots repairs can sometimes be handled by the local ski shop, especially if still under warranty.  If it is outside of warranty, then your best bet is a shoe repair shop.   Most shoe repair stores can fix problems like broken buckles, delaminating soles, and broken zippers.  A partial list of shoe repair shops known to repair ski boots include:

• Georges Shoe Repair (Arden Hills, MN)
• Georges Hockey Repair (St. Paul, MN)
• Georges Shoe Repair (St. Paul, MN)
• Hartland Shoe Repair (St. Paul, MN)
• Fast Eddies Shoe Repair (Minneapolis, MN)
• Repair Lair (Minneapolis, MN)
• Bob's Shoe Repair (Wayzata, MN)
• Ralph's Shoe Service (Richfield, MN)
• Mountain Soles (Portland, OR) - mail-order

Bindings

Depending on the damage, binding can be repaired or else replaced by a local ski shop.  Many modern skis come with an NIS plate premounted, which the binding is attached to.  Sometimes the bindings can detached from an NIS plate and can be reseated using an adjustment tool.  Small items, like a lost screw or the missing bumper, are also generally easily replaced at a local ski shop.