what to build?

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o0norton0o
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:07 am
Location: Seattle

what to build?

Post by o0norton0o »

I wonder if any of you builders have gotten a formula for a tailoring a ski for a certain person or conditions. In all my years of skiing, I haven't skied that many different skis. I imagine that the ski that is most versitile is also the one that is the most mediochre. I am interested in what you builders think is the most important factor for making a good ski.

camber and flex for a persons weight:

length:

width and side cut:

Finally, Is it impossible to make a ski that has a long sweet spot under foot for packed conditions and still skis the powder comfortably? Do you feel that optimum specifications for hard pack vs powder make it impossible to make an exceptional ski for both?
thanks, inspiring website
norton
est sularis oth mithas
kohlrabi
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2005 8:52 pm

Post by kohlrabi »

I think the most important factor in making a good ski is taking into account where it is going to be the type of snow you'll most likely be skiing it in.
Greg
Posts: 225
Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 11:41 am
Location: Sweden but home is NW Washington

Post by Greg »

In my opinion, making a really good ski is getting the layup just right, and thereby improving the reliability of the ski. Second to that is building a ski that is just plain fun in whatever conditions you ski.

For instance, if you ski a lot of powder, you should build a fat reverse sidecut ski, if you like the park, build a ski for that, and so on. After 4 pairs of skis (and I think the Kelvin and the Kams would agree with this) I have found that getting the camber and stiffness the way you want in a ski is definitely the toughest part because these are affected by the most variables (the mold, materials used, heating, cure time, fiberglass, and everything else). On the other hand, the ski shape is a lot easier to adjust, as there is only one variable to control.

As for making skis fun and good for conditions... I find that when I go skiing, I pick the pair of skis that will be the most enjoyable. I have spent several days skiing reverse sidecut skis on groomers and had a blast trying to control the huge smearing turns you have to make. If I am feeling lazy though, I will ski a normal ski on groomers. In the powder though, I have totally converted to reverse sidecut as it is superior in the heavy, wet snow we get out here in washington.
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