(An argument between someone who fixes skis - Greg Guras - and someone who breaks them - Ingrid Backstrom. From Skiing Magazine 's September 2008 issue.)

Breckenridge , Colorado’s Greg Guras has tuned skis for the U.S. Ski Team since 1990. He hasn’t yet re-created the Sistine Chapel from P-tex, but he could. Here's what he has to say:

Look for freeskier Ingrid Backstrom charging descents in Valdez, Alaska, in Matchstick Productions’ Claim , out this fall (check out the trailer here ). Here's her take on tuning:

I admit it: Skiers benefit from a good tune. But guess what. I don’t always tune my skis. And my battered boards ski great in powder, crud, slush, and soft snow - which is where I want to be skiing anyway.

This may come as a surprise, but I’m not always looking for my skis to grip an edge - and I’m a former ski racer. Now that I spend most of my time on soft snow, having knife-sharp edges is pointless. Especially in powder. I want my skis to float and feather. This is why snowboards and fat skis are popular now: Sliding big, high-speed powder turns is awesome.

So here’s all I usually do to prep my skis: When I have a stray piece of dangling base after snagging a rock, I take the edge of my other ski, slice off the offending snaggle, and voilà: good as new. When I don’t wax my skis, sticky spring snow or flat run-outs can cause major slowdowns. But I see this as a training opportunity - it forces me to ski faster on the upper portion of the run or skate harder on the sticky parts so nobody has to wait. Translation: Poorly tuned skis might actually make me a stronger skier.

As for sharp edges saving lives, are you serious? You can try to place blame wherever you want, but in the end, it’s just a sad thing that happened. There’s no way to know whether or not a sharp pair of skis would have saved someone’s life.

I’ve grown accustomed to skiing boards au naturel , and they almost work better when they’re a bit worn in and softened. Too sharp a tune in soft snow causes edges to hook. That’s why any good tech will de-tune new fat skis: They’re too sharp with the factory tune. Plus, not tuning your skis means you can keep them suited to your skiing style, as opposed to getting a base bevel that’s more fitting for Alberto Tomba’s slalom skis.

Just because I don’t take extra special care of my skis, it doesn’t mean I love them any less. That said, if you’re willing to hook me up with a free tune, I’m certainly not going to turn you down.

This is a no brainer, always tune yer skis... doesn't matter where you ski... a fresh coat of wax will always reduce friction and therefore improve your skiing. granted I can get away w/ 3 days of not rewaxing if all I'm skiing is untracked POW but never more... even on Pow days there are places that will scrape wax off (chair loading and exit areas) so do what you want but a freshh coat of Wax never hurts and always helps... as far as the edges like you say if you're on hard pack or NE ice sharpen them... I usually leave mine alone unless there is a burr or gouge cause I hate hard pack and ski exclusively in the  west so my skis are dulled up nicely for the soft stuff....    so learn to do it and have a blast.........