Granite as a ski core

[Charlie]

So, I have been to ISPO at Munchen yesterday, very cool, so many new fat and really fat skis...but the true eyecatcher were skis with granite core ! Yes, you are reading it right. There is a small manufacturer of expensive custom made skis in Switzerland called ZAI and they have incorporated aprox. 1" wide strip of granite inside a ski, tip to tail. The rest of core is wood. I have been told that some german guy has a patent for this technology (strip of stone wraped in carbon...) and ZAI has an exclusive rights for using it in sports equipment. As you can imagine I couldnt stop staring at those skis!! I am gonna post some pictures later...FYI, price for one pair of ZAI skis with bindings is circa 3000 USD and that is for just wood-cored skis... OMG!!!

[RoboGeek]

boy that had to be heavy!!

[plywood]

well, ZAI are somehow well known here in switzerland for maxing high-cost luxury skis for all the rich people in switzerland

no, seriously. they`re handcrafted in disentis/sedrun. their skis are a bit like the volants: for the ones who have too much money....but not outrageous skiing skills. you buy them to show everyone that you own money. mostly ridden by people with a porsche cayenne and golfbags in the trunk

so i don`t think that the granite has any advantages we could use for our types of ski. i suppose it`s more like this: some guy invented a method to use granite in skis, so ZAI uses it just to say that their skis have granite in the core, but i really can`t imagine an advantage in terms of skiing attributes. more a marketing joke than really an improvement in skibuilding.

[Charlie]

^ exactly....that was my thoughts, just a marketing hype...but very interesting though...
They were not that heavy, the difference from full wood-core skis was about 200 grams.
And there is one advantage for us - it shows us that there are literally NO limits when choosing ski materials!

[plywood]

hehe yes, no limits. maybe we should suggest them to make a topsheet out of gold - even more prestige than granite

but it would be interesting to see how the outlast a longer use - i don`t think that vibrations are good for the stone. but these skis are built for people who need them one week a season for holidays in st.moritz anyway, so they don`t get used very often

but it`s interesting to see what is possible!
and here`s the website of zai: www.zai.ch

[skiguy]

I have skied zai's and I have done some research on them. I have seen a cross section of the current models and it does not have granite in it. On their website you can see photos of each layer being added to their ski. Maybe next years models will have granite. Of intrest is their use of cedar as their core and combination of Dyneema and rubber as their damping.

The zai ski is good in several areas; Fast, ez turns short and long, nice transition between different types of snow.

It also fell short for me in several areas; bumps, it turned but did not carve, it is set up where the bindings toe section is higher than the heel making you stand up and making your weight in the center of the ski and not foward, The ski was so ez to ski it took the fun out of skiing.

[plywood]

you have to look up under "news"
there they announce their WORLD INNOVATION it`s called the spada

[skiguy]

Thanks for the update. I guess they just introduced it at the show this week. I would think the granite would be more about marketing and less about preformance.

[bgriff624]

fun fact: in the 50's, people experimented with granite bowling alleys but the idea was later ditched as the bowling balls cracked the granite floor.

so...lesson: a granite ski core probably wouldn't be too great, especially if you like to huck cliffs

[skiguy]

The way I understand it, it is a fake granite. More of a composit like the fake granite countertop.. It sounds like a good marketing job and not a technical advancement.

[skisurfmirth]

I skied a few skis from the ZIA line up a few winters ago. I understand everyones feelings on the marketing hype, but the granite core skis stand as maybe the best preforming ski I have ever used. Super versatile, lively yet damp, fun and easy but stable when pushed. It might be all marketing bs, but I gotta say they make some damn good skis. However, I will never buy a skis that is worth 3x the price of my car though!

1st post!

[MontuckyMadman]

I thought they were made of basalt.

[Brazen]

Yabba dabba doo doo! Stone skis...what next, pigs for garbage disposals with carbon fiber jackets?

[EricW]

Yabba dabba doo doo! Stone skis...what next, pigs for garbage disposals with carbon fiber jackets?

as long as it's fat in the bacon parts...

[Huck Pitueee]

Those guys are so OLD SCHOOL! I only use carbon wraped lead.