Flat ski base important for touring?

I always like to get my ski bases flat. I don't have access to stone
grinding so I use a sharp metal scraper and peel em down.

Lately I've been touring not racing. I wonder if flat bases are
helpful in touring.

Are they good in racing because set tracks are quite flat and one
wants an even weight distro?

Maybe even weight is nice in touring, too---however, there the track
is often very unevent itself. Still, why have high/low points on the
ski base to create pressure points if you don't need them.

Another reason why flat bases are nice is because it's much, much
easier to scrape off wax. I plan to flatten my new touring skis if
only for that reason alone.

I just got a new pair of Fischer BC Country waxable skis---when I hot-
wax em and scrape em---hardly any wax comes off. It's humorous. I'll
have to catch up on these. Maybe a 60mm wide ski is hard to make flat
at a factory. They're WAY edge-high.

I haven't had cap skis before---I hope there's plenty of base there
for scraping. Who knows, caps might have less base and I'll find
myself peeling it all off. Hope not! I'll be careful.

--JP

On Feb 12, 7:26 am, jeff potter wrote:
I always like to get my ski bases flat. I don't have access to stone
grinding so I use a sharp metal scraper and peel em down.

Lately I've been touring not racing. I wonder if flat bases are
helpful in touring.

Are they good in racing because set tracks are quite flat and one
wants an even weight distro?

Maybe even weight is nice in touring, too---however, there the track
is often very unevent itself. Still, why have high/low points on the
ski base to create pressure points if you don't need them.

Another reason why flat bases are nice is because it's much, much
easier to scrape off wax. I plan to flatten my new touring skis if
only for that reason alone.

I just got a new pair of Fischer BC Country waxable skis---when I hot-
wax em and scrape em---hardly any wax comes off. It's humorous. I'll
have to catch up on these. Maybe a 60mm wide ski is hard to make flat
at a factory. They're WAY edge-high.

I haven't had cap skis before---I hope there's plenty of base there
for scraping. Who knows, caps might have less base and I'll find
myself peeling it all off. Hope not! I'll be careful.

--JP

It is difficult to scrape a ski that isn't flat. Also, they tend to
track and/or turn differently than a flat ski - depending on how they
are "unflat" and where. For slogging around breaking trail or on soft
trails in the woods with little or no downhill turning, I personally
don't feel that flatness is much of an issue. If you're on packed
tracks and/or turning on packed or icy hills, flatness will be more of
an issue. But the waxing thing is there regardless.

Me? if I had skis that were as concave as you describe out of the box,
I'd bring them back and get a new pair. Alternatively I'd request a
stone grind to flatten them (rather than work them flat by hand). If
the seller wouldn't do it gratis, I'd have it done anyway.

I am not aware that the cap structure has anything to do with base
thickness. On the other hand, in my experience, some makes and models
have thicker bases than others - but that isn't because they are cap
or not.