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Join us for our winter tuning clinic series!  We'll cover an array of topics to help you keep those skis sharp and fast.  Check out the schedule below:

November 25th-  Intro to Race Tuning

December 23rd- Wax and Maintenance

January 13th- Advanced Tuning

February 17th- Tuning for Spring Conditions

Winter is approaching fast; Tahoe resorts start opening later this month. Are you ready? One of the best ways to start your season off right is a fresh tune and wax at Start Haus. How do you know if you need a tune? Take a look at your skis. If they have worn bases and nicked edges, you will notice the difference on the snow.

Well-tuned skis are more fun and easier to ski. Dull edges make turns harder to initiate and to keep on track. Rough bases can feel sluggish and make even a great ski feel lethargic. If your skis aren’t running smoothly on funky early season snow or your edges aren’t biting on those man-made icy patches, you’re more likely to throw in the towel and go into the lodge for drinks.

Ski bases dry out all summer long. You didn’t put storage wax on at the end of last season like we told you to, did you? If your bases are getting discolored, white or chalky looking, they’re drying out. Dried out bases also shrink, affecting the tune of your ski too. It’s not the end of the

Every year around late July and early August we get our annual influx of ski racers heading to the whiter pastures of the Andes and Southern Alps. Others are heading up to the summer camps of Mount Hood. This presents a good opportunity to take a look at your gear and see if it’s still up to the task. Have you outgrown your boots? How many holes are acceptable in race gloves? How about socks? What are the condition of my ski boots and skis?

We all have heard time and again that your boots are the most important article of gear- which is certainly true for ski racers. It’s hard to race when you’re hobbled in pain, or if your canting is catawampus. Summer camps are a great place to dial in gear and work on techniques or work on overcoming bad habits.

The following is a list of things we see and think are great items to be looking into at summer camps.

Ski Boots

If you’re in the same boots as the previous season approach the obvious questions first. Have you outgrown your boots? If yes obviously

Fresh now overnight with sun Saturday.  New snow on Sunday.  Stick to your Reds!

U10/U12 - Swix CH8 mixed with LF8 or Holmenkol Beta Red / Race Mix MID with Race Mix WET.

Good luck racers!

Come join us at Start Haus Tuesday December 27th at 6PM for a wax clinic and tuning workshop! Learn the basics of ski upkeep, wax selection, tip & tricks, and more. We'll walk you through the basics, demonstrate procedure, and offer up a free Start Haus World Cup tuning DVD!

As the season moves forward and more days are spent in the boots, liners begin to pack out and it changes how your foot is held in the boot.  In this video, Start Haus explores the options how to mitigate this, as well as how to do a check-up on your boot soles.

Here at Start Haus, we like building bikes.  So much so in fact, we've starting building up Tahoe dream bikes just for you.  Starting with a stock Giant bike, such as the Trance Advanced 2, we add and mod how we like to ride em.

First off, why keep all that extra weight on your crank?  With our custom built bikes, we like to git rid of the front derailleur and shifter hardware, swap out the cassette in conjunction with upgraded Shimano X1 components, add a RaceFace narrow wide chainring, thereby making an 11 by 1 drivetrain. But why stop there?!  We swap out the stock fork for one of our all time favorites, the Rock Shox Pike.  In either a 150mm or 160mm, the Pike is one killer fork.  Excellent damping, perfect travel, and amazing durability.

Beyond that, we might swap a stem, or throw on an upgraded wheelset like Stan's TR Flow's.  All this makes what we think is the perfect Tahoe trail bike.  Swing by and check it out!

There is much confusion in our marketplace on how and why a ski should be ground a certain way.  Not all grinds are created equal.  Even two different shops with the same machine will turn out different results depending on the specs that are used on the equipment, and by what technician.  Whether race gear or rec, this brief side by side comparison should help you cement your decision to bring your equipment to the specialists:  Start Haus!

Please note:  These images are not doctored (other that the addition of text or illustration) and have been uploaded in full resolution for you to better see the detail.  Click on em to see the detail!

Here is a side by side with a pair of skis ground by our techs, and a pair ground by the "other guys".  Both grinds are a pattern WS09.  The ski ground by the Start Haus tech is smooth, consistent, and otherwise perfect.  The grind by the "other guys" is far too deep a pattern, inconsistent, and was done with multiple passes creating

When snow is scarce, damage to your ski is inevitable.  When a gash in the base is deep enough to make its way through the base of the ski, we call it a core shot.  Some are big, some are small, but each repair gets the same skill and attention to detail.  PTEX is a repair some can do at home, but without the base grind, its impossible to get a ski back to looking and skiing like new.  Here is a step by step overview of what it takes to do a base repair.

Step 1:  Identify Necessary Repair

Step 2:  Prep Your Wound

Step 3:  PTEX

Step 4: Cleaning Up the Repair and Prepping for Base Grind.

Start Haus is well known for our World Cup caliber downhill ski tuning and waxing, but what you may not know is we bring the same level of excellence to cross country skis. One could argue (maybe not with a World Cup ski racer) that a proper tune and wax is even more critical on xc skis than on alpine because you have to work for every inch of movement, rather than with the aid of gravity.

First thing on a cross country skiers list should always be the bases - are they flat? A concave base, sometimes caused by lack of waxing, makes the ski slower and harder to turn. A convex base, caused by normal usage and wear, is also slow and makes the ski unstable. A grind will flatten out the base, clean up any nicks or dings, and take away oxidized base material that can make it harder for fresh wax to stick.

The grind also sets the pattern of the base - critical to the glide of the ski in different snow conditions. Using our Wintersteiger grinder, we can set different patterns - two of which are

As we gear up for another ski racing season, now is a great time to brush up on some of the basics - wax selection for race conditions and how to use the Start Haus #Waxcall when waxing your race skis.

First up, Jim walks us through all the waxes, overlays, additives & more, explaining what conditions each is for:

Next up, Jim shows you how to take a typical #Waxcall and use it when waxing your race skis:

Follow these tips, and stay up to date with our #Waxcalls throughout the winter so your skis are ready for the best performance in current snow conditions.

Find all the ski tuning tools and ski wax you need at Start Haus.

Some people go seasons without tuning or waxing their skis, and out on the slopes it shows, even if they don't know any better. Getting a fresh tune and wax at Start Haus is one of the best things you can do to get your season started off right. Here's why:

1) Well tuned skis are easier and more fun to ski. You're legs are probably a little rusty, don't add to first day frustrations with rusty edges or sticky bases. It takes us all a few runs to get our snow legs back, and if your skis aren't running smoothly on funky early season snow or your edges aren't biting on those man-made icy patches, you're more likely to throw in the towel and go into the lodge for drinks.

2) Ski bases dry out all summer long. You didn't put storage wax on at the end of last season like we told you to, did you? If your bases are getting discolored, white or chalky looking, they're drying out. Dried out bases also shrink, affecting the tune of your ski too. It's not the end of the world, but they'll run really