I’ve tuned a lot of skis in my day. Back when I was a racer at Burke Mountain Academy, Middlebury College, and the University of Colorado (as well as my two years on the pro tour), I was diligent about keeping my skis as well prepared as possible.

More recently, when my daughters began skiing, I waxed my family’s skis periodically, but didn’t touch a file or stone. Then, several winters ago, when they decided that they wanted to get serious about their ski racing as members of the Sugar Bowl Ski Team, I got serious too, buying a bench, vices, files, stones, iron, and wax. Admittedly, my efforts at tuning their skis were still decidedly old school.

But, in the last year, I found myself spending a lot more time downstairs in what has become the tuning room in our cabin on Donner Summit. It was taking me hours to prep their skis (and they still only have one pair of skis for SL and GS) and that was time that I was not spending with my family upstairs.

Now let me take a brief pause and explain the title of this article. I put “grind” in quotes because my use of the word has two meanings. First, as I note in the previous paragraph, tuning so many skis can be a real grind, meaning it stops being fun after a pair or two. It gets downright monotonous quickly. Second, for parents who don’t have a racing background and, as a result, don’t know how to tune skis, the use of the word grind means having to pay up to $100 a pair to have a ski-tuning professional grind and hand tune their children’s skis. Skiing is an expensive enough sport without having to pay to get multiple pairs of your kids’ skis tuned regularly. But I have learned recently, as noted in the title, that tuning skis doesn’t have to be a grind or a grind.

Last winter, as I was calculating how many hours I would be spending tuning skis if my daughters make a long-term commitment to our sport, I read an article on skiracing.com that reviewed some of the popular power ski sharpening devices. I had seen national team technicians use them for many years, but never thought that I would have a need or an interest. But, as I read the article, my first reaction was that I had to “git me one of them new-fangled gizmos!” My second reaction was sticker shock, as I saw how much these gizmos cost, in the $1000-$3000 range. Far beyond my pay grade however much I wanted one. So, I resigned myself to continuing to tune my daughters’ skis the old-fashioned way.

The Ski Racing article produced many comments from readers, one of whom mentioned a new power ski-sharpening tool called the Razor-Tune which she raved about (as did several other commenters) and called it idiot-proof (that was a prerequisite for an idiot like me!). And the best part, beyond the very positive reviews, was the price, starting at $500 for the basic kit. Now that was a price point I could wrap my wallet around!

I decided to call up the owner, Troy Scrivens (try doing that with one of the other power tuners!), an inventor and a father whose children were racers, to learn more about the Razor-Tune. He was familiar with my work in the psychology of ski racing and so, after talking for a while, he said he would send me a unit to try out.

I learned that the Razor-Tune has one big design advantage. Many of the other power ski tuners are placed on the edge with the base vertical, meaning that they sit rather precariously on the sidewall and can easily slip off and grind the edge the wrong way. But the Razor-Tune sits across the base with the base facing up, providing a stable platform and a solid feel.

There are several benefits to this design. First, it is nearly impossible for the Razor-Tune to slip off and ruin an edge. Second, you don’t need a vise to hold the ski in place while using the Razor-Tune. Third, you can use the Razor-Tune in the parking lot with a cigarette lighter car adapter. And, you’ll soon be able to use the Razor-Tune anywhere with its soon-to-be-released rechargeable battery pack (imagining laying down a razor-sharp edge at the start of a second race run).

Well, I’ve never endorsed a product before, but I’m doing so here because the Razor-Tune blew me away. I decided to start on my own last year’s SL skis because I wanted to get some practice before I tried it on my daughters’ race skis. I read the directions and watched the instructional video and then I dove right in. I felt a bit awkward at first as I got a feel for the Razor-Tune. But within 15 minutes, I felt like “Chief,” the long-time World Cup technician whom I had gotten to know when I worked with Team America a few years ago. Admittedly, of course, I only felt like him, but the results were still remarkable in three ways.

First, the edges were far sharper than anything I did using a file and stone. By gosh, my girls won’t have any excuses when they race on injected snow this winter! Second, in the past, it would take me upwards of 20 minutes to sharpen a pair of skis. But with the Razor-Tune, I had a pair of skis incredibly sharp in less than five minutes. Third, it was easy to get comfortable with using the Razor-Tune and the icing on the cake was that I didn’t screw up and ruin any skis. In fact, the Razor-Tune is so easy to use, my daughters have learned how to use it.

So, if you want to get your kids’ skis razor sharp this winter, or even better, if you want your kids to get their own skis razor sharp, in much less time, then I recommend that you run to your computer and order a Razor-Tune. I promise that your spouse and children will thank you. And you’ll also thank yourself because you’ll have so much more time to devote to what really matters in your ski racing family; tuning your own skis. Kidding!