Slalom Ski MC 2016

 

 

Core and composite innovation.

 

Through testing, we realized quickly that a balance had to be reached to make our ski perform as well as possible. While skis with a stiffer flex help a skier to maintain direction in the wakes, a stiff ski can be difficult to turn. On the other hand, while softer skis perform well around the buoys because the skier gets more direction without blowing the tail or ending in a wheelie, soft skis allow the tip of the ski to come around too quickly, and the skier has a hard time maintaining direction after the wakes. 

 

So the question was how to build a ski that would be soft enough for maximum angle out of the buoy that would still maintain direction so the skier would create maximum space before the buoy?

 

We first addressed the carbon we would use. We realized quickly that skis made with a carbon fiber and resin mix ("prepreg carbon") have high strength-to-weight ratios, and they are much more dynamic than skis built with traditional carbon fiber.

 

While the carbon helped us in our pursuit, the real answer came when we started testing high-density cores. High-density core gives the ski a slow and consistent deformation as a ski approaches the apex of a turn, giving the skier maximum control in the pre-turn. At the apex of the turn, the ski is at maximum deformation, and the resulting rocker caused the skier to be at maximum angle out of the turn. 

 

At that point, the ski also needs to rebound quickly at the end of the turn to allow the skier to quickly begin crossing the wakes with maximum speed all the way to the next apex. Additional testing led us to the realization that unidirectional carbon would help make the rebound happen. 

 

After the testing, we came up with the perfect formula for a ski that would perform at the highest possible level. 

 

We call that “the constant tip to tail rocker” 

 

 

 

Easy to ride

 

With the configuration of our ski, we ended up with a ski that is not only high-performing, but also easy to ride. A ski shape with a long flat spot and consistent rocker gives stability and predictability. Our goal, through our skiers’ experience, was to eliminate wheelies and blowing the tail.

 

While high-end composites are more expensive, and require more experienced labor, we could not turn away from our formula for the perfect ski once we discovered it. We decided to continue using the high-end products to create skis that are hand-built in France to get the best quality possible and maintain consistency from ski to ski.