10720 Yonge Street N.
Richmond Hill, ON., L4C 3C9
Phone (905) 883-5586
Fax (905) 883-3721
Toll free 1-888-536-6275
Kenmark Snowsports employs a highly knowledgeable staff who are specialists in the various services we provide. Here, you will find brief articles on how to improve and/or enhance your experience out on the slopes, on hills or on the track.
Feel free to utilize the question submission form located at the bottom of this page, should you not find the tip or answer you are lookin for.
Snowboards & Skis need to be regularly waxed to keep the base running nice and fast. Applying a fresh coat of hot wax every few times you ride is ideal. Or if you notice that your board's base looks especially dry or seems to be running slow, now is a good time for a hot wax. The following instructions are tailored to snowboards, but the same process applies to skis as well.
There are four things you will need:
Wax: be sure to buy ski or snowboard wax that is designed to be applied with a hot iron. There are plenty of choices, but a good all-temperature wax will work well in most snow conditions. Keep in mind that if you are going to be riding in temperatures above 32 degrees (spring skiing for example), a warmer weather wax would be preferable. The same applies to cold weather, for temperatures below 18 degrees or so you should select a cold weather wax. We suggest you experiment with different brands and varieties of wax, find what works best for you.
Scraper: pick this up at your favorite board shop along with the wax. Plastic or metal scrapers are both fine, just avoid really wide scrapers that are sometimes marketed for snowboards - they don't scrape as well as the smaller ones.
Iron: now might be a good time to invest in an iron designed especially for waxing skis and snowboards. These are smooth on the bottom and therefore apply a nice smooth coat of wax. Or you can go down to your nearest Salvation Army or Goodwill and pick up a used household iron for a few bucks.
Scotchbrite/SOS pads: these rough green pads are available at any grocery store next to the kitchen sponges.
Some optional but helpful items:
Base Cleaner: if your snowboard's base is dirty, clean it using a base cleaner (find this at your board shop) and a rag before you hot wax it.
Vices: setting up a workbench makes tuning and waxing your board much easier. Vices are available that hold your snowboard in place while you work.
There are essentially 4 steps; drip, iron, scrape, buff. Lets get started:
Drip
Put down an old sheet or some newspaper to catch dripping wax. Then put your board/skis base-up on your new vices (see optional items) or on some books.
Plug in your iron and set it to a medium heat. It should be hot enough to readily melt the wax, but not so hot that the wax smokes (important!). Hold the iron perpendicular to your board/skis with the pointed side down. Press the wax bar against the hot iron and hold it there. As the wax drips, move the iron up and down the along the base until you have stripes of dripped wax 1 to 2 inches apart. The wax will spread out a lot once you iron it in. Excess wax will be scraped off, but take care not to waste it. Set the wax aside.
Iron
Now iron in all that wax until the base of your board is fully covered. Keep the iron moving; leaving it in one area for too long can damage the snowboard.
Scrape
Turn off the iron and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the wax to set and cool. Now grab the scraper and scrape off any excess wax in a nose to tail motion. Scraping away all the wax may sound counter-productive, until you realize that a hot wax actually opens up the pores in a snowboard's base where you want wax to go. Excess wax will only slow you down.
Buff
After scraping, rub the scotchbrite pad in a nose to tail motion to take off the last of the wax and give your board a finishing touch. Don't worry about getting to technical with this step, just rough up the freshly waxed base a bit, until it gets that nice rough wax look. You are now ready to ride, have fun out there!
The initial excitement of the first run can turn quickly into the pain of sitting out the rest of the day; stretching is quick, easy and definately worth it. The problem with skiing is it is a "quick reflex activity" as well as a static activity (although one should never be skiing stuck in one position, but that is another tip). Warming up those muscles allows them to react quickly and avoids those nasty strains and sprains.
Watch here for stretch techniques coming soon.
Dec 20, 2005
An expert’s ski only (well, anyone could have fun on this but unless you're an expert it may not be the ski for you)
This is a carving experts dream, if you don't like this ski you're probably not good enough to ski it plain and simple (sinister laugh) but seriously the B5 is one full on ski.
Weight, weight, weight....most reviews comment on how heavy these skis are...THEY ARE NOT. Well, of course as in everything in life, its all relative. If you're already skiing on race stock or regular GS or SL skis then the weight of the B5 will hardly be noticed. I ski on Dynastar Omeglass 64 slalom skis with Look bindings..they are 1lb lighter then the 15.5lb weight of the B5. Having said that, once you take the B5 to snow the weight disappears.
I intend to give my feed back over the season, this review is based on 2 hours of snow time:
EDGE HOLD
The B5 will blow your mind, it was my first day of the season on snow so it was a matter of getting my ski legs back as well as getting used to a new ski, or better said TRUSTING the ski not knowing how far I could push it. I could not believe how solid the edge hold was, despite my terrible technique….I certainly did not feel progressive in my turns and often caught myself “striking a pose” basically doing the things that would cause a ski to wash out and yet the B5 in 2 hours NEVER lost an edge (hard pack machined groomed). I have skied on HEAD, ATOMIC, ELAN and DYNASTAR race stock and I can easily say the edge hold of the B5 is as good or better, especially if you’re trying to carve a circle!
I will have more to say in days to come.
SKI LENGTH
I am 5’7” 160lbs with my suit on; I contemplated what length for a while and still would like to try longer versions to compare. However, for the sake of versatility I have no doubt the 152 is the right length. I was skiing on a 157 Dynastar SL race setup all of last season and so far the B5 is far more exciting and stable to ride.
SKI WIDTH
This is wonderful to see again and it hasn’t been since the Dynastar 4x4 of years gone by that I have seen a wide waist ski not meant for just powder (power skis just don’t perform on the groomers) My initial impression is that I would like some more lift on the B5 but so far I have not been able to hit my boots to the snow. The extra width underfoot definitely gives me more leverage, I’m excited about this and can’t wait to report more on this aspect.
TURN SHAPE
I will offer more reviews on this but so far short radius turns are no problem and the B5 is lively and it seems like it returns more energy then I put in. In my short radius turns my body follows a straight line while my ski pivot/carve side to side to control speed. I can even manage my spiste turns quite well, leaving a uniform zig-zag down the hill. I ski in Ontario Canada and so far only skiing at Skyloft (www.skyloft.com) I could not find any instability speed-wise (check for my review after testing in Vail in two weeks)
MOGULS/AIR
I cannot wait to see how these skis do in the bumps, my SL skis were amazing in the bumps but my previous HEAD XP100 ski felt too stiff for the bumps (although I’ve been reading the professional bump skiers are on very stiff skis, so it may have been the shape of the ski that was causing problems).
REBOUND
I did find as I really pushed the ski when carving that I had to make sure I was centered if not a little forward on the ski, if I was even a little bit back the ski would take off beneath me. This is no where near a negative for me, and yes so what if the ski is not so forgiving, if you have the skill then you’ll love it. If you’re looking for just a cruising ski and the B5 is not it….certainly the B5 can be used for cruising, the caution is if you make a sudden movement pressure or on edge, the ski will react immediately and you better be paying attention.
RACE?
I will certainly plan to race the B5 in SL and GS just to see what happens, I do have no doubt that the B5 could be competitive. I suspect that the specialized race skis would definitely have and edge (ha ha ha) but I just don’t have as much fun on race skis as I did on the B5 for just playing around.
COSMETICS
Okay, I can admit it, I’m vain and I love to take care of my gear and I hope the B5 will hold up well. I skied the Omeglass 64 quite hard last season and unless they are inspected up close, still look new (lots of mogul skiing too!) I do think the 2006 B5 looks a lot better than 2005. It was interesting that people immediately noticed the Atomic Metron B5 when they spoke with me.
There so far is nothing that I dislike about the B5 and really am looking forward to report more on this ski. HAPPY SKIING!
Dec 26, 2005 - JC
BACK FROM VAIL:
Vail has more snow right now than it has had in the last ten years, and then some; they are 7 feet over the average for this time of year and let me tell you, it is SWEET. While there I was mostly in the pow pow, big soft bumps and all the other glories of big mountain skiing. I also went through everything else in between so I really had a great opportunity to ski the B5 in everything!
EDGE HOLD
The B5 demonstrates its edge hold best in hard pack to icy, so in the soft fluff of Vail, the edges really didn’t come into play except on the catwalks and groomers needed to get to the pow pow. That being said, the B5 was super rock solid on the groomed stuff and was such a joy to just rail. Even in the soft stuff, the edges were predictable and offered much confidence any time I needed them they were there.
SKI LENGTH
152cm would seem short, but you really have to remember that for the B5, ski length really doesn’t describe its shortness as it reflects its maneuverability, and yet, I did not find longer lengths any more stable. I LOVED the length in the powder and soft bumps and I did not feel any lost in stability. Do not feel afraid to ski a shorter length, its lighter and more fun.
SKI WIDTH
The extra width really was a great feature in the pow pow, but it was so much that you would just float on top. It’s difficult to describe, but I could ski the B5 deep or shallow just by shifting my balance from tip to tail. The best part of the width was the ability to leave the snow at will.
TURN SHAPE
I would suspect that the turn shape would be more progressive with something that is more powder specific or softer like the Salomon Pocket Rockets. However, if you’re willing to ski a little faster, the B5 will reward you. The platform underfoot was super stable and predictable, I could often straight line sections just pivoting my feet and the ride would be so solid. You could turn any shape with confidence at any speed, there was some sacrifice of smoothness at lower speeds but it seemed like the faster I went the easier things got.
MOGULS/AIR
Bumps bumps and more bumps, the B5 was so great in bumps of all sizes. I though maybe these skis would be too stiff since they were such GREAT carving sticks, but the really did feel “soft” in the bumps. Moguls of all sizes and the B5 seemed to make the slope feel smooth! I easily skied top to top off the bumps and in the air felt very relaxed and the ski was super stable returning to the snow. I did not expect the ski to be forgiving but just tuck them up bending at the knees and the B5 centers themselves underneath for a smooth landing.
REBOUND
I did find the rebound a little stiff in the soft snow, but this was only when I was going to slow. Find the right min speed and the B5 really holds well in the soft, you have to be a little more patient pushing out laterally, but again, if you have the skill, the B5 really rewards.
RACE?
Haven’t had a chance to race these B5 babies yet but coasting on the cat tracks passing people sure did feel good!
COSMETICS
Well, a picture is worth a thousand words so I’ll just have to get around to posting some before and after photos, but the B5 really held up well to a week of hard skiing.
More to come….
Jan 7, 2006 - JC
There seems to be a general rule floating around that ski lengths for experts is around forehead-high, nose-high for most others and chin-high for beginners. This is not only vague but will often result in less than happy times on the snow. The problem is the range of skis today don't fit the old ski sizing guidelines and is so much more determined by ski shape, stiffness, intended use, surface contact, skier skill and mass. At Kenmark we will set you up with the best possible ski for you but the surest way is to get out to a demo and try the ski; keeping in mind that skis taller than you will likely be more work and less fun. If you're new to the sport then definately start shorter, you will notice top professionals sking on lengths to the top of their chests!
more to come...
coming soon
Your helmet should fit snug and comfortable. Helmets at Kenmark come in lots of sizes, so odds are there’s a size for you. A good fit will give you the maximum amount of comfort, performance and protection. Plus a proper fitting helmet looks cool.
The front of your helmet should fit about 2/3 of an inch above your eyebrows. The helmets at Kenmark should sit level on your head, not tilted forward or back.
The proper fit is accomplished by following the simple steps below:
Measuring Tape
To determine correct size, wrap the tape around your head, just above the eyebrows. The tape should be placed comfortably around your head and not too snug. Many helmets are sized in centimeters, so when you measure your head you'll get values in the 50 to 60 range. Make sure you measure the largest part of your head. Note the size of your chosen model at the point of overlap. If you fall between two sizes, you should select the larger size.
After you receive your helmet, you can check out the fit as follows:
Putting on Helmet
Align the front rim of the helmet above your eyebrows. If the helmet sits too low you won’t be able to see, and crashing into lift towers is definitely not cool. If the helmet sits too high you’ll look odd and your helmet won’t protect you.
Check for Gaps
Pads should be flush against your head. If this doesn’t happen, try the next smaller size. A properly fitting helmet should fit like your favorite cap.
The Straps
Those things hanging from the side of your helmet, as good as they look, actually serve a purpose. They keep your helmet attached to your head. First, fasten the buckle below your chin. Pull on the loose ends until your helmet is snug. How snug? You should still be able to drink or eat without discomfort
Roll Test
With the chinstrap fastened, your helmet should be snug and comfortable. Try to roll your helmet off your head. If the skin on your forehead moves, you have a good fit.
Goggles
Our helmets at Kenmark are chosen to work with the majority of snow sport goggles. Read the instructions on fit that the goggle manufacturer has provided, then adjust your helmet as described above. Your goggles sit on the same place on your face, with or without a helmet. The top of your goggle should rest against the rim of the helmet. There should be little to no skin showing between the goggle and the helmet. Some older model goggles are not compatible with helmets and leave too much space between the helmet and goggle, or push down on your nose. If this is the case, it may be time for new goggles.