Assuming most people here are most interested in off piste skiing this leads to an idea for measuring the hardness/density of the snow. Taking for instance a plywood board of 1 square meter and loading it in a uniform way with 100 kilos, and then measuring the depth of the depression in the snow might be one way of doing this. (Any other ideas not involving a large piece of plywood and heavy weights would be most welcome.) This might then give some indication of the type of forces acting on a ski in different types of snow. (Measuring in different conditions along with some qualitative (Measuring the density directly kg/liter might also be valuable) input might give some values for quantifying different conditions (champagne, soft, windpack ++) much like a grading scale in climbing.)
I think this sort of thing would be useful for comparing impressions on how a ski rides even in a global community such as this.
On another note: Has anyone done any real measurements of forces while actually skiing? I have an idea for equipping a ski with two pressure sensors under the boot (toe and heel) along with an accelerometer and hooking everything up to an arduino board (www.arduino.cc) and then riding with a computer in my backpack, logging data in different conditions. You could even use small strips of piezoelectric material to measure the tension and compression forces on the ski. This might then provide some certain figures when it comes to the forces acting on the ski, and again give some feedback to how we test the flex characteristics of the ski.
Svimen
Do I sound like a raving enginerd?
