Dear Jock:

My daughter wants to participate in a youth hockey program this winter. As much as I love her, the economic downturn prevents me from buying her all new gear. I’ve found an old pair of hand-me-down skates that should fit her fine. But I’ve heard hockey skates need to be sharp. I know how to sharpen a knife. Can I put an edge on her skates at home?
—Cheapskate

Dear Cheapie,

I hate to shut down a doting father’s handyman efforts, but I’ll be blunt: Do not attempt to sharpen your daughter’s hockey skates at home. Sadly, sharpening a skate blade is not anything like sharpening a knife. The sharp edge of a knife is a finely ground wedge. Sharp skate blades are actually two parallel edges separated by a precisely milled concavity. Sharpening skates requires specialized equipment and skill attained only through years of practice. Call The Telluride Nordic Center at 728-1144. Midnite Scholtes and his crew will hone your daughter’s skates to perfection. Tell her to play nice on the ice, —Jock

Dear Jock:

I work in a restaurant, so I have to schedule my days off one week in advance. Last winter I kept guessing wrong and missed all the powder. Where do I get a reliable weather forecast for the San Juans?
—Frustrated and Bitter

Dear Bitter,

Before I address your question, let me share a favorite quote from an old miner named “Whispering” Jim Dalpez who lived and worked in the Telluride area for many decades. In his golden years, Whispering Jim spent most of his time on a bench in front of the Floradora where he would exchange pleasantries with friends as they passed. Because of his longevity in the region, people would often ask him to forecast the weather. “Only fools and newcomers predict the weather,” was his booming response. “And I ain’t neither!” Whispering Jim passed away some years back, so your best bet for a weather forecast now resides somewhere in cyberspace. An obvious site to consult is www.weather.com, which is the online version of the Weather Channel. Another standby is the National Weather Service’s website at www.forecast.weather.gov. An excellent third option is www. weather.unisys.com. Of the three listed, Unisys provides the most technical maps of scientific-based information, so if you want the data to make your own decisions, start there. However, if you are trying to predict snowfall in the San Juan Mountains, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center at www.avalanche.state.co.us always seems to be accurate. Don’t forget to send them a donation to help fund their important mission of keeping Colorado’s backcountry skiers abreast of current avalanche conditions. A final snippet of weather advice passed on to me by my dear departed grandfather: “We’ll weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.”

—Jock

Dear Jock:

I was Nordic skiing last winter and I pulled an energy bar out of my fanny pack for a quick snack. I nearly lost an incisor on the frozen caloric brick. Any advice?
—Nearly Toothless

Dear Nearly,

Solving your problem requires nothing more than careful shopping and thoughtful storage. While Jock hasn’t bothered to conduct a formal double-blind study, he’s certainly noticed that some bars maintain pliability in the cold better than others. In general, the deciding factor seems to be texture. Energy bars comprised of highly processed materials seem to freeze faster and harder than bars made of more wholesome stock. For example, the classic Power Bars—which are some kind of mysterious whipped food substance extruded into bars—are wintertime jawbreakers. Alternatively, Bobo’s Vegan Oat Bars—which seem to be made by gently compressing partially cooked oatmeal into a cellophane wrapper—remain flexible down to subzero temps. Another option is to skip energy bars entirely and try Clif Blocks (small cubes of colorful jello-like substance) or Gu (a foil packet filled with a calorie-dense frosting). Whatever energy food you prefer, you should store it in an interior pocket next to your warm body. Keep those choppers intact!

—Jock

Dear Jock:

I’ve noticed some of the new skis have a strange shape with both tips splayed up off the snow like floppy bananas. What’s up with that?
—Just Curious

JC, You’ve spotted the newest trend in ski manufacturing. Traditionally, skis were built with camber. Think of camber as an arc in the ski where the tip and tail sit on the snow and there’s a gradual rise toward the center of the ski. Pushing the camber out of the ski allows your edge to carve on firm snow and pops you into the next turn when you release that pressure. On the flip side, some powder-specific skis are built with reverse camber, where the waist of the ski sits low and the tip and tail rise up. This design works great, as long you are always floating in bottomless powder. You’ve noticed a hybrid of these two concepts, known in the skiing and surfing industry as “rocker.” With the rocker design, there’s still camber underfoot, but the ski begins to rise off the snow before the actual tip. A rocker-tipped ski floats to the surface in deep powder and planes easily on the top of crud. It also facilitates breaking trail in deep snow. Although skis with rocker often have traditional camber underfoot, they sacrifice some edge hold on firm snow. Demo a pair of rocker skis this winter and let me know what you think. —Jock

Jock,

Lately, I’ve noticed some mountain bikes with larger-than usual wheels. Someone told me they are called “29ers” because the wheels measure 29 inches instead of the traditional 26. Are these bigger wheels the future of mountain biking?

—Just Curious

Dear Curious,

Your sharp eye has picked up a significant shift in mountain bike design. Gary Fisher came out with the 29er design three years ago, and a number of manufacturers have followed suit. Converts claim that the larger wheels, with more mass and, thus, more momentum, roll more smoothly over obstacles in the trail. Taller riders say these bikes offer a more comfortable fit than traditional sizes.

The latest twist is to use a conventionally sized 26-inch rear wheel with a 29-inch wheel in the front. Proponents of this setup claim the dual benefits of superior rear traction with the smaller drive wheel and a dampened ride with the larger front-end rolling mass.

Last summer, I borrowed a friend’s 29er to see what the fuss was about. After a test ride, I—an average-size human who abhors buying new gear—decided I didn’t need a 29er. But you should take your own test spin. Perhaps you’ll find that bigger really is better.

Ride on, Jock