For my technology project i have decided to design a set of skis specifically for dry ski slope use since theres not many mountains in England
I have a couple of ideas but would like to get some more info on certain aspects.
Firstly am curious to see whether if you would be able to bend the sidewall upwards creating a curve on the sides of the skis. Making it easier to carve on the difficult perma-snow material on the slope.
Also whether ski shape will affect performance on the dry ski slope
I have never skied on a dry slope, so I can't answer those questions.
When you describe "bending the sidewall up" it sounds like you're just describing a reverse camber ski. Yes, this will give you a better carve edge shape, that's not really the intent of a reverse camber ski. The point is to give you more lift when in powder. The downside is you have less edge contact when skiing straight, so the skis can be squirrly on firm snow (how they might ski on your artificial surface).
Sidecut is what gives you a carving edge shape when on edge, but then you still have a good stable ski (due to the positive camber) when going straight. You might just want to have a ski with ridiculous amounts of sidecut?
Looks interesting.... With global warming is this the future of skiing/riding? I imagine falling on it has to hurt. Can you actually carve a turn on it or do you slide into a turn?? I teach skiing and we generally teach skiers to roll both skis up on edge and carve a nice arching line. Is it possible to do that on perma-snow?
Sean - he means an edgeless, omni-directional ski. I think. Which shouldn't be too hard to accomplish, essentially make a reverse capped ski. Or a completely fiberglass "hull" like that one guy on biglines.
I doubt many here have skied on the stuff. And I'm not sure what you would need different. I mean technically you wouldn't have to worry about the width/surface area at all - not like you need float.
Damon wrote:Sean - he means an edgeless, omni-directional ski. I think. Which shouldn't be too hard to accomplish, essentially make a reverse capped ski. Or a completely fiberglass "hull" like that one guy on biglines.
Ahhhh, ok. Very interesting! For that you'd have to either have a machined bottom mold, or vacuum bag it upside down onto the top mold.
skidesmond wrote: Looks interesting.... With global warming is this the future of skiing/riding? I imagine falling on it has to hurt. Can you actually carve a turn on it or do you slide into a turn?? I teach skiing and we generally teach skiers to roll both skis up on edge and carve a nice arching line. Is it possible to do that on perma-snow?
Basically its an artifical surface so theres no powder to help carving, erm its kind of like skiing on a icy surface surface just not as bad. But lets hope this is not the future of skiing cos its crap!
Jack-UK-Rider - Thanks for the info. btw - since we on the subject of different types of skiing surfaces... There's a ski area in New Hampshire, USA called Tenney Mt. Two or 3 years ago they were making snow in the summer. I think it was about a 200 foot stretch. From what I heard it they'd make snow but it was basically a huge snow-cone machine and it laid down a thick blanket of snow similar to that of a snow cone. I don't know if they still make it or not. I went to there website but didn't see any mention of it , http://www.tenneymtn.com/skiing/index.php
I've skied a lot on Dry ski slopes, starting back in the late 70's. In the late 80's and early 90's I raced every other weekend on the stuff in summer.
There was is I recall correctly a ski specifically designed with dry slopes in mind This was the Grand Prix, by Atomic if memory serves. It was a cheap version of a slalom race ski in essence. Race ski stiff (ish) but with cheap extruded base which allegedly ran better on the surface than extruded. They were a marketing gimmick more than anything.
I haven't skied much if at all on perma-snow, but I do remember many experiments with carpet like similar stuff. Skis would run much faster on their edge than on their base, really strange. Most of our skiing and all of our racing was on the brush like Dendex material.
To help carve on a dry slope (yes you could carve on straight skis of the day) we would sharpen our edges at 75-80 degrees. With a flat base bevel. This would involve filing away a great deal of sidewall and topsheet. But it gave a knife like edge that would give some semblance of grip for a few runs.
To wax for a dry slope you had to understand that the lubrication was a sacrificial surface not a polished sliding one. Wax would be built up in thick layers of soft wax or even sloppy furniture polish. Just prior to stepping into the starting gate of a race we would spray and additional lubricating agent onto the base - Mr Sheen, Fairy Liquid 'n'' water and Graphite lube were amongst strong favorites. Not sure if any of these work on perma-snow or would even be allowed today.
The first time I skied shaped (or parabolic/hourglass as they were then known) was returning from a season in Whistler in '99. I supported some friends at a University dry slope race. I had Salomon equipes that at 185cm's were shorter than the straight skis most folks were still using. but they were significantly faster because they were easy to carve and you spent less time skidding. So shape does matter.
Hope some of this rambling and reminiscing helps .
i think he is trying to ask if it is beneficial to make the ski "edge high" not rockered. i think i know what you mean man. base grinding issues would be a concern. he wants "rocker" width wise? i dunno
warpig wrote:i think he is trying to ask if it is beneficial to make the ski "edge high" not rockered. i think i know what you mean man. base grinding issues would be a concern. he wants "rocker" width wise? i dunno
Basically am after a ski with no edges, so the instead of having a mould at the front and back am intending to create a mould all around the ski so theres no flat parts at all. Obvoiusly this would unsuitable for normal skiing am just interested to see whether it would make a difference on a dry slope.
Does this seem realistic or is it just impossible to make??? Btw i have little experience of ski design this will be my first!
Can you actually carve a turn on it or do you slide into a turn?? I teach skiing and we generally teach skiers to roll both skis up on edge and carve a nice arching line. Is it possible to do that on perma-snow?
