Your thoughts please.....

Quite close to where I live (Dorset, UK) we have an artificial ski slope. A couple of years ago it was renovated and fitted with Snowflex which is a vast improvement over the old 'thumb breaker' honey comb patterned surface they had previously.

I've skied there a few times, more so recently, and hadn't even considered using my own skis there.

A chat with one of the instructors raised an interesting point. His view was that a pair of skis are designed to last a minimum of 27 weeks of daily skiing (not sure where the 27 weeks came from but bare with me). That would equate to 27 years worth of skiing assuming the one annual trip abroad or 13 years with the far more ammeniable 2 trips a year. His question was 'are you really going to use the same pair of skis for 13 years?'.

He did recommend frequent waxing but was confident that the ski would have less chance of serious damage there than it would on a lot of resort pistes.

I think he's probably right. My only fear is some out of control 11 year old skiing over the top of them but then I suppose that could happen anywhere.

So I put it to you all, take them to the dry slope or leave them at home in the bag for 50 weeks of the year :?:

I had wondered much the same thing myself. How hard are artificial slope on bases ? My guess would be that the damage is nothing that a good stone grind couldn't fix befor the next real snow season. In which case you would have to weigh the cost of a stone grind against the cost of renting. How sharp are the edges on the rental skis and is there much wear on these ?

I'm actually getting back home to the UK for the first time in several years this june and one of the things I want to do is try an artificial ski slope.

Trencher

Your first impression of a dry ski slope will probably be 'oh my god I can't ski!' I've seen quite a few people do a few runs, complain it's nothing like snow and go home. I've found that after sticking it out for a bit it's actually quite useful as you have to exagerate everything that you do. Our local slope has a so called 'terrain park' with jumps and bowls etc which again I've found useful from a balance point of view as well as just becoming more comfortable on the skis.

The Snowflex slopes seem to be a lot better than the older 'honeycombe' surfaced slopes although apparently for racing they still prefer the older surface.

Where about's in the UK will you be visiting Trencher?

I love the issues you bring up Ellistine. It makes one refelect!

You can not put a set figure on the "life" of a ski since the conditions are so variable.

I ski everyday so, does my ski have a shorter life?

I say no since what is more important than ski days on slope is how you ski and where you ski.

Let me explain.

The number one factor is where you ski. That is the skiing surface. I have seen some skiers go over rocks, grass, fallen trees and even gravel roads in parking area. Such skis are "finished" after one season.

Assuming you take care of your skis, then the next factor is how you ski.
An effective skier is in sync with ski, that is the skiers uses the ski design to get "optimal" performance from ski. He/she does not "force" ski to do something beyond its physical design. I have seen many skiers try skiing in large mogul fields in which the ski is between two deep moguls. The ski is bend in the "valley" to its limite. This ski will not last a year.

I have seen skier slide sideways on ice in steep icy slopes and then stop on icy grooves. Such skiing will "degenerate" and ski structure.

I have seen skiers "hit" with their tips the walls of cabins or trees. Same result.


Also how the skier "tunes" his/her ski has great importance. I once bought a race ski that was four months old for $50. The racer had over tuned his ski and thus it had no edge. I mean NO edge at all since it had been filed on stone machine after every race!!

Now for the issue of keeping a ski for 20 years.
The design and improvements of skis is so much more pronounced these years that after 4-5 years skis are "outdated"! I mean not the look of the ski ( color, lettering, etc..) but the internal design.
Major changes are coming in the next 5 years in the design and feel of new skis. Yes there is a lot of "hype" concerning "revolutionary" designs which is just hot air, but there are some real changes coming.

I find after 4 years ( with skiing every week if not everyday) my ski "seems" to lack zing. Is it me or is it the ski? I do not know but let me tell you a small study I did last year.

Whenever I get any new skis, I always measure it on my bench. That is I have kept records of all my new skis in terms of ; tip flex ( with same weight over 20 years), ski torsion, tip curve, ski camber ( space between two skis when placed base to base).

I measure the skis at the end of every ski year.

I am amazed how well skis are built. In the 70's skis tended to get flat after 2 years of skiing. Now the camber of the modern ski holds up after 4 years.

The tips on many "older" skis was a problem area. Often skis would delaminate or just curve upward causing a longer more pronounced curve! No more.

The ski companies really are doing a great job!

I suspect the factor which will become very important in this discussion will be the ratio or index which I call skier/length index.
I find many skiers have gone overboard with the "short" ski selection. Ski reps have "sold" to ski store sales persons the idea that shorter is better. So I see more and more 250 lbs 6'2" male skiers on 165 cm skis.

Great for the ski store and ski companies since that skier will be back sooner. No 165 cm. ski can "hold" such a skier for more than a few months.

I now have a set of "top level" skis that are delaminated which I show my tuning class in order to demonstrate that even $1,000 pair of skis can "break down".

What is very interesting is that most break at the ski core/ski plate interface zone. Either the plate is too long or too hard!

By the way skiing on "plastic" is really a different feel and you really have to take the time to adjust.

Now try skiing on sand dunes. That will ruin a ski in seconds, not to mention the skier! I still am finding sand in the most unusual parts of my body. Last time I was in the hospital taking X-rays the technician had to do a second pass. I heard he kept X-ray plate to show his class!!!

But then that is another store for this forum!

How to "clean" your body after sand skiing!!!!

Keep asking interesting questions Ellistine!

Thanks Pavel for your info.

I've been in contact with a British company that makes ski waxes (whatever next!) that recommend a product called Polar X for skiing on plastic. It's basically an ultra hard wax for 'minus quite a lot' snow temperatures. Pavel, any issues with such hard waxes?

I've had a thought...

What I need is a pair of tired second hand skis that a) I could practice tuning and perhaps even enroll on one of Pavel's tuning coarses and b) use at the local dry slope.

Anybody out there got any interesting unloved 165cms going cheap?

ebay here I come :P

Right then, um, :oops:

It seems I now own a pair of new Rossignol 162cm Budweiser branded skis (assuming the ebay transaction goes through). It's funny how easy it is to get caught up in an ebay spending spree. I also bought three pairs of long boards for the bar at the bottom of the garden but that's a different story.

At this stage I don't actually know what model of Rossignols they are. All I know is they require some bindings. Are bindings fairly generic or have I caught by self a kipper here? I feel a 'Ski Hardware' post coming on once I know more about them!

Hard waxes. That makes sense, (don't expect to remove the wax in one pass of the scraper LOL) melts more slowely. On the other hand, that doesn't make sense. At high ambient temps the wax won't melt to lube the base as it should. As I understand it, artificial slopes use water sprayers. Does how wet the surface is, determine what struture you should use ?

Trencher