What is a Core Shot And Can it be Repaired

A core shot happens when a ski or snowboard runs over something hard and sharp, usually a rock, which takes out a chunk of the base material and exposes the inner core of the ski or board underneath. Depending on the ski’s or board’s construction it will reveal a layer of wood, fibreglass, or metal. If the inner core isn't exposed then all you have a is a scratch, which you might still want to repair (see P-Tex below).

It's worth learning how to make small repairs to scratches yourself and we have all the ski tuning and repair tools to help you do them nicely. But for larger repairs like the core shots we're talking about here, it's worth having them done by an experienced snow sports workshop technician. The result will be better and last longer.

Although it feels bad to see the damage you’ve done, it’s usually not the end of the world. Our expert snow sports technicians at Outside Sports in Queenstown and Wanaka can most likely repair it, and the on-snow performance won’t be affected at all. And if your bases are all black, or if the core shot happens in a part of the base that’s black, then the repair can be pretty much invisible. 

Anything that can let moisture inside your ski or board is bad news. It can cause delamination of the layers that make up the ski and weaken the wood inner core. In emergencies where you can’t get to a workshop you can make small P-Tex repairs yourself. Larger core-shots can be protected with epoxy temporarily – but only until the first available opportunity to get your skis or snowboard to a workshop.  

There are two ways core shots are repaired and the method we use to fix it depends on the extent of the damage to the base of your ski or snowboard.

A narrow, short scrape can usually be repaired using a P-Tex candle. Hot P-Tex is dripped into the hole and then scraped level using a metal scraper. It’s worth noting that there is no strength in a P-Tex repair, and the P Tex in a repair won’t adhere to wax like sintered base material. 

If it’s a bigger chunk then a base-weld will be needed. Base-welding uses a section of replacement base material to repair the damage. An area around the core shot section of the base material is removed and a perfectly matched new section is bonded to the core of the ski or board using a special adhesive, An expertly done patch that’s followed by a base grind can be hard to detect.  

If you have coloured bases and/or graphics you’re probably going to be able to see where the repair has been made, because we won’t be able to colour match the base. On coloured/graphic bases the options are P-Tex or base material either clear or black. Generally clear is the better choice.  

A core shot that goes up to the edge of your ski or board is a bit more serious because it can weaken the bond between the edge and the ski. In that case a base weld is always the better option because as we mentioned above, there’s no strength in a P-Tex repair, and a weak repair will make it easier to pull out your edges and damage your ski even more significantly the next time you hit a rock. 

At both our Wanaka and Queenstown stores we have snow sports workshops where our expert technicians use the latest equipment like the new Wintersteiger Trimjet Racing edge tuner and base grinder to repair and performance tune skis and snowboards for everyone from recreational riders to the members of local and international ski racing teams and world champion freeride and freestyle athletes. 

You can book your workshop services online or by calling us.