Ski Builders Forum

I study industrial design at the university of twente in the netherlands. I am currently working on a evolutionary product development project. My subject is (freestyle) twintip ski's.

I have currently identified the following main product concerns:
-edge endurance during grinding
-bindingposition (the large differences in adviced bindingpositions by manufacturers)

If you have an idea or vision about possible product improvement/evolution I would like to hear it. If you have other comments on or issues with the current skis I would also like to hear about it. It doesn't need to be freestyle specific, a lot of people use twintips as allmountain skis.

(I've made this post a bit short notice so I will be evaluating your posts saturday or sunday)

I am aware of design subjects on this forum, like: rocker/zero camber, bambo cores, etc.

I am looking for more extreme concepts which might be impossible to home build or issue's that have not been adressed yet. But don't worry about relevance, I would like to hear as much (crazy) idea's and issue's as possible.

(The Dynastar Trouble Maker deconstruction was also for this project. I am going to build skis, but that would be a different project.)

I am looking forward to your reactions!

I think that further research should be put into skiing switch related to the sidecut. Symmetric sidecut seems like a great idea, but your body shifts weight when skiing backwards, and you can't just flip your knee around 180 degrees either to provide the same edge pressure you might get when skiing forwards, so its not the same, ever. I have no idea where I am going with this though. Maybe just a sidecut that has to do with the muscles evolved in skiing switch vs. skiing forward.

Also, a way to reduce swing weight durastically. Maybe a honeycomb-like core that plywood does. And rocker would provide an amazing way to have a super-nimble ski.

I've posted on a number of forums and these are the reply subjects so far:

-Ski's (effective) running lengths should be specified in stead of the actual (total) length of the ski. Or manufacturers should specify both. (I think this is a good point)

-Reduction of (swing) weight. (also usefull and a lot of people on skibuilders.com have shown that this can be achieved. Weight of ski's can drastically be reduced, unlike little improvements like the rossignol WRS skis)

-Normal skiing and switch skiing involve different body orientations. The movements involved also differ. Maybe a better (ergonomical) geometry for switch skiing can be found through research. (I think this is a great idea, it's some thing I didn't think of. Unfortunately I haven't got the time to do this research . I think that this is a mayor oppertunity for manufacturers to improve their product.)

-binding (position)
-rental bindings are adjustable both ways so you can adjust your binding position. But they are heavier than normal bindings and some people feel that they have a more indirect feel and powertransfer. (weight is the main issue with rentals)

-inserts, has been tried by Line. But Line tried to introduce a skiboard (snowblade) insert configuration. So they also needed the adjustability of a rental binding and developed their own bindingsystem. The bindings were heavy (like rental bindings) and they had durability and performance/reliability issues. Which is why the Line insert system failed.

My binding idea:
Use more inserts so that both ends of a normal binding can be mounted and moved (allowing people to experiment with their binding position). The use of normal bindings wil require more inserts, but their will be no weight, durability and performance issues.

The fact that different bindings have different screw configurations is not a big problem. As with the Line skis other bindings can be mounted in the traditional way with woodscrews (as long as the core is not made out of soft wood). The possibility of using soft woods (like balsa) is an atractive advantage of using inserts.

The easy changing of bindings allows you to use one set of bindings on multiple pairs of skis. You can also use a touring binding and a normal binding set on the same pair of skis. You can completely remove the binding from the ski for compact transportation.


I am also thinking about a "green" product. Using renewable materials (like fast growing woodspecies, bamboo, and industrial hemp), these materials are also biodegradable. Only the steeledges can't be replaced by biomaterials. Steel (if not stainless) will rust away harmlessly in nature (and could be recycled).

Skis (especially twintips) are a disposible product. It's a good thing for manufacturers to look at the waste their skis produce. The environmental aspects of their product might become an important selling argument. An environmental product will also reduce waste material(s) from manufacturing.


New issues and ideas are still welcome!

ok...one of the big differences to aerospace enginering is the use of autoclaves to achiece maximum strengh with minimum weight due to pressing out of excess resin. how can a home builder make a cheap easy auto clave...i have not done it but sure someone has...i scuba dive o.k...so i have tanks filled to 200 bar pressure, would not want to use that much pressure but if you can capture some of that pressure wow.
would be great to hear any auto clave experience

I think it's wise to open a new topic for auto claves. I was looking for industrial product improvements (so stuff for the big manufacturers)....