STIFF UPPER LIPS

MISCELLANEOUS:
weight: n/a
tipspacer:  ABS
inserts: none
width of wood core strips:  n/a
epoxy:  QCM; resin: EMV-0049; hardener: ECA – 408 (45 minute set); 4 to 1 mixing ratio
bladder pressure:  n/a
duration of pressing:  24 hours
other:  Titanal strips (1.0mm x 50mm x 1600mm) laminated above and below wood core

GRAPHICS:   Flannel with rice paper graphics
 

BUILDER:  Kelvin Wu and Kam K. Leang (Big Kam)

MANUFACTURED DATE:  September 2005

COMMENTS written by Kelvin Wu:
We designed the stiff upper lips to be an all around ski that can handle all conditions. It is also our first attempt to create a ‘production’ ski. We are planning on using it as a test bed for different core materials and designs. By varying the cores and keeping the shape the same, we should be able to see what effect the core has on ski performance.

This pair was made with a maple and birch core and a thin sheet of Titanal on top of the core. We also tried a new epoxy, which ended up causing some problems. After pressing for 24 hours, I took them out and the tails started to delaminate just from the stress of the edges. Apparently the QCM epoxy requires a very long (>2 weeks @ room temp) cure time and would require about 3 days in the press before it was safe to take out.

After 3 weeks the epoxy definitely got a lot stronger and I was able to re-press the skis by using a little west systems in the delaminated portions. It turned out better than I expected and you cannot see the delamination areas. We’ll see how it holds up to use though.

THE RIDE:

November 5, 2005 Steven's Pass, WA  A group of us took advantage of the huge dump of snow that Washington has gotten and check out Stevens Pass before they opened. It was also a good opportunity to test the stiff upper lips and the Daddy's Little Girls. There was about 4' of very soft snow and you would immediately sink to your waist if you took off your skis. Skinning in this deep snow made progress very slow and eventually got too steep and deep to make any upward progress. We were able to get three good runs in though.

Justin was skiing the Stiff Upper Lips, for most of the day, but we were able to swap for the second run. The Daddy's Little Girls seem to want to submarine in the deep soft snow and made if very difficult to ski. I think this is due to the huge camber, slightly lower tips, and I also mounted the binding on running length center, which put the binding about 2 cm forward of chord center. I basically had to lean way back and parallel turn to keep from face planting. Justin had the same experience with the submarining.

The SULs were completely different and did not dive. These skis have normal camber, and the binding were mounted on chord center. They are a very fun ski.

Here's a picture of Justin Davis working the Stiffs. Sorry about the blurry picture - lighting was bad.