GOOSE

[rockaukum]

So one day a few weeks ago I was skiing with one of my sons. He is a boarder but had expressed interest in trying to tele. After a trip to the car for lunch we headed back out to the mountain. We took the beginner chair lift up to access the backside. Our discussion was on his interest in tele. At the top of the hill we went to the side of the run at which time he sat down and took off his snowboard and boots and switched with me. So it was my first time on a snowbaord and his first time on tele skis. I did okay and so did my son.
This all leads me to the next ski. It is finished and in the shop ready for the scraping of the wax.
Here are the skis fresh from the press

the tip with the name "Goose"

The finished ski with the logo

The skis are 171, 135-104-124 made from Poplar and ash core. Triax above and below the core. VDS over the edges. Top grafix is silk with the name "Goose" cut out of regular white printer paper and the plastic top sheet. Pressed at 45psi in a heated room (aprox 125*) for 15 hours.
Goose is the nick name I use for my son. He had no idea I made the skis and when I showed them to him he had a big smile.
So now I have a big delima. I am going up tomorrow and would love to try them out but am unshure if they need more time to cure. They came out of the press Sunday morning. Any advise would be great. At times like these (lots of snow falling even at 2000 feet) it is hard not to want to try them out. Even if it is for a few runs!
rockaukum

[vinman]

I love the perforated look on the graphic. sweet stuff.

[plywood]

real beauties!

well if they came out on sunday morning and you`re planning to ride them on..today i think they should be fine. i mean three days should be more than enough to settle

[Nick's Sticks]

Those look great. I hope they ski equally as well. Is the white line on the tail of the ski a graphic or some sort of structural thing?

[rockaukum]

Trip report......
They worked great! Of course it was some of the best conditions of the season! Fresh lines all day.
These skis were short for me, from 180 + down to 171. Did not really notice it much but with the 104 under foot the skis seemed to really stay on top. No problem with turning either. there was no hard pack to try the skis on (not that I would have bothered). All in all the skis are great and held up great too. The skis were made for my son who just happened to have a snow day and went with us but did not want to give up the snowboard to try them out. Maybe next time. Until then I guess I will have to keep testing!
The markings on the tail were a last minute graphic to show the ski dimensions. It is the reduced drawing of the ski with the length and ski dimentions.
rockaukum

[alexisg1]

hello,
very beautiful skis indeed, and nice shape !

2 questions :

- did you paint the "back" face of the logo "goose" ? I heard if you paint in white the paper on the face that goes on the fiber (not the topsheet) you get a very nice result.

- wood sidewalls ? Did you treat them ?

[rockaukum]

Alexix1,
On the logo, I just printed an outline of the word goose and cut it out. Durring the lay-up, after the last layer of glass was wetted out, I positioned the cut-out and put more epoxie on top then the topsheet. The paper was just plain and with the black silk under it makes the white paper appear slightly blue. So no treatment or painting of the paper. The sidewalls are just wood. I have others that are not treated and have not had any problems with them. On the brewskis it did put epoxie on the sidewalls because I was afraid the dug fir would have problems with the moisture. Hope that helps.
rockaukum

[user]

he didnt want to try them??? crazy kid

[rockaukum]

He was with his friends and did not want to be slowed down with two sticks on his feet!
He has since tried tele on the "brewskis" which are kind of big for him. He did fine for his first time out. The "goose" skis are a bit soft in the tip so the edge hold on firm snow is lacking at best. I will do another ski with a bit more torsional stifness to solve that.
Heading to North Star and Sugarbowl this week and hope to get a second pair of boots so we bothe can ski at the same time. that should help with the learning curve.
rockaukum