Skis - Anatomy and Construction
Ski manufacturers seemed to run out of ideas on how to revolutionize the traditional Skis. For many years, they are finding ways to meet the technical challenges in making Skis. Many processes have been tried and used, and most of them included lamination and layering of numerous materials. Before, Skis were made of wood, and the shapes of Skis that manufacturers could make out of this material was very limited.
But with the aid of new materials and technology, new and improved Skis were produced by the middle of 1990's. Shaped Skis or Carving Skis are designed to turn. They have the right Ski Stiffness for precision, flexibility, and versatility in various Snow Conditions. The Tail and Tip of a Shaped Ski are wider compared to the Waist of a conventional Ski. Carving Skis with more shape and narrower waists are designed to stay on firm and smooth surfaces. These new Skis with "hourglass figures" are usually around 10 to 25 cm shorted than the conventional models. Thus, despite their width, Shaped Skis are lighter and has more agility.
However, it does not necessarily follow that you will be able to ski better if your Skis have more shape. For instance, the radically shaped parabolics, or the first batch of Shaped Skis, have caused a couple of problems to skiers. The very wide Tip and Tail and a very narrow Waist of a parabolic Ski allowed too much Ski flex when a skier was making Turns. This made the skier to whipped through the Turn much earlier than he should. Likewise, parabolic Skis would be ineffective in untracked soft Snow Ski Surface because the wide Tip and Tail would float more than the narrow Waist.
Wood is still used in making Skis. However, it just usually serves as filler to keep the light weight of the Ski. The most common materials used in manufacturing Skis are aluminum and fiberglass. Aside from these two materials, Kevlar, titanium, carbon, and boron fibers are also used in making Skis. As a rule of thumb, the rarer the material is, the less of it is present, and the more high-priced the Ski is.
The core, or the heart of the Skis which is wrapped in fiberglass, is often made of wood, but it can likewise be made of foam or other material. Traditional models of Skis have separate tops and sidewalls, and you may still find them commercially at a very high price. In 1989-1990, two Ski manufacturers (Elan and Salomon) introduced the type of Ski with a one-piece cap on the Top as well as on the sides. Nowadays, cap Skis are very evident. In this design, the one-piece cap of the Ski is made of fiberglass and it forms the Top and the sides. On the other hand, the Base of every Ski is made of a polyethylene synthetic with steel edges on the sides.
Monocoque design is probably the most advanced in Ski development. In this design, the upper surface of the Ski provides the stiffness and strength of the Ski by bending down in order to meet the edges.
The performance of the Skis is greatly affected by their shape, the materials they are made of, and how they are constructed. Moreover, Ski construction has a big role in determining the strengths and weaknesses of the Skis. For instance, there are Skis available which are designed for beginners, and Skis which are soft-flex designs are suitable in soft Snow. Other Skis are made for those who are already experts in Skiing, while the versatility of all-terrain Skis made them favorites of recreational Skiers.
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